Lance dives into Acts 16, where Paul and Silas are punished for having the faith to save a girl tormented by demon, and find themselves flogged and sent to prison, not that they let it get them down.

“Sometimes the only way through it is a hallelujah.” To praise even in the face of punishment and torment - that’s difficult to do. But their faith had an impact. Can ours have the same?

Acts 16:16-40

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As we look at the story of a Gentile church in crisis in Acts, Lance talks about the way political differences have divided the church in the wake of Covid.

Lance is reminded of a church he served at, and how one fateful decision sealed the direction of the church.

The choices we make drive us towards or away from relationship with our neighbors. Living in community requires choice. What is going to be the thing that holds us together in community?

Acts 15:1-35

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Lance talks about a time he ended up in Vegas and made a tentative attempt at gambling at a slot machine, which ended poorly.

But prayer, he reminds us, is not gambling. You aren’t just putting coins in a slot machine and hoping something good comes out.

And the story today, of Peter being rescued from prison in the Book of Acts, is a clear example of the power of prayer.

Acts 12:1-24

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Lance takes a look at a church in Acts that where people were coming from everywhere and all walks of life - and asks what we can do to create the same movement.

We are a missionary movement. There is still good to be done.

Are you looking at the gifts that are all around us? There are so many people here we can lift up.

God is weaving together a tapestry made out of all of us to make a beautiful church.

Acts 11:19-30

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In the book of Acts, Peter is given a vision from heaven of every type of food, letting the Jewish people that he has declared everything clean. But the picture is much bigger - Jesus was letting Peter know that everyone was invited, and everyone was invited just as they are.

Jesus asks us to invite everyone into his church. Lance challenges us to extend that invitation with an open hand.

Why do we expect people who have never sat at the feet of Jesus to act like Jesus?

Acts 10:1-48

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When Paul first began preaching in the streets, it was clear immediately that something incredible was happening. People’s lives were being transformed.

When the Holy Spirit is doing something, he calls for us to jump in and become a part of it. We can’t ask people to join something unless we’re already in it ourselves.

Are we willing to go? Are we willing to go deeper? Are we willing to go all in?

Acts 9:19-31

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Amanda tells the story of Saul being blinded, healed, and transformed to become Paul, a faithful disciple of Christ. She compares it to the Choose Your Own Adventure books she grew up with - except that in the Book of Acts, we learn that anything is possible.

In the same way that God called Paul on the road to Damascus, He calls us to lift our eyes and see the world the way He sees it.

Where is God trying to turn things upside down?

Acts 9:1-19

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This week’s scripture, the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, is one that Lance struggles with. But like the Ethiopian in the story, he doesn’t give up - he keeps wrestling with it.

The Ethiopian eunuch in this week’s scripture was excluded from Jewish life, but Philip recognized that God had called him to witness to him, because God calls us to liminal spaces.

Wouldn’t we all do well to go when and where God sends us?

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Acts 8:26-40

It’s Father’s Day, which gives Lance a chance to start off the sermon with a few dad jokes, to great appreciation from the congregation.

Lance explores a conflict within the early church, and casts that same conflict forward to today’s church.

We each have a calling from God, and it’s important for each of us to live that calling. That’s the only way the church will grow.

Acts 6:1-7

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On Father’s Day, Brant reminds something his father once told him: “conflict exists everywhere - the choice we have is how we deal with it.” Today’s Scripture is about the early church’s decision to meet conflict head-on.

To unwrap what’s happening in today’s Scripture, Brant explains the concept of “gongysmos” - which is a real Greek word and not just a growl, he insists.

Acts 6:1-7

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