Grace Bible Church, of Seabrook, MD Sermons

Acts 10.9-43

• Question 1: Is a healthy fire there?
  • Am I hungry? (9-16)
  • Can I welcome a stranger? (17-23)
  • Can I push through false guilt? (24-29)
• Question 2: Can I get over myself & change?
  • Will I step out of the boat of my worldview? (30-35)
  • Do I practice the simplicity of the Gospel? (36-43)
  • Can I stop making people jump through hoops? (44-49)
  • Can I overcome the false scruples of my own conscience? (11.1-18)

Acts 9.1-22

Meta Question: Can You Handle The Truth?

• What is really driving my ambitious passion? (9.1-2)
• Who do I really feel like I have most hurt ? (9.4)
• Can I get an intervention from a courageous bystander? (9.10-15; 26-27)
• Am I patient with people in God’s “prophetic gap”? (9.29-30)
• How much have I grown in imitating God’s gracious heart ? (26.12-18)
• Have I boiled my faith walk down to the core issues for me? (9.15-16)

Acts 7.54-8.25

Lessons the Early Church Learned:

• A.  Master the Message (Acts 3.12-21; 4.5-12)
• B.  Keep the Mission Paramount (Acts 4.32-5.11)
• C.  Speak Truth to Power (Acts 5.29-39)
• D.  Create Forms That Facilitate Function (Acts 6.1-8)
• E.  Internalize the Gospel (Acts 7.54-60)
  • 1. Gain a correct view of Jesus (54-56)
  • 2. Stop trying to control results (57-59a)
  • 3. Focus on your union with Jesus (59b)
  • 4. Master the art of forgiveness (60)
• F.  Commit to the Process, not the Results You See in Other People (John 6.26-41; 59-71)
• G. Lead Your Heart to:
  • 1. Accept Loss (8.1-3)
  • 2. Embrace Change (8.4-25)

Acts 7.44-8.1

• A.  Master the Basic Message
• B.  Keep the Mission Paramount
• C.  Speak Truth to Power
• D.  Create Forms That Facilitate Function

  • The Deacons were the first “form” the Apostles created

  • Simple forms allow us to keep our focus where it needs to be

  • Human nature flips it and puts form over function, thus killing power and efficiency.

  • Think in Terms of Identity, Function, and Form.

  • When Deacons were established, the organism added an organizational element

Some Food For Thought...

• What if God's "righteous anger" was not what most think it is?
• What if "forgiveness" was not quite what you think it is?
• What if fulfilling our mission as a church had a lot more to do with processing anger and unforgiveness well than we want to admit it does?
• What if we admitted that our entire culture is steeped in anger and unforgiveness?
• What if we stopped imitating the culture and ditched our shallow attempts at righteous indignation?
• What if we actually took the lead in defusing anger and mastering the art of forgiveness?
• What if we stopped excusing our shortcomings in these areas?

• E Internalize the Gospel (Acts 7.54-60)
• Gain a correct view of Jesus (54-56)
• Stop trying to control results (57-59a)
• Focus on your union with Jesus (59b)
• Master the art of forgiveness (60)

John 6:26-41, 6:59-71

• A. Master the Basic Message (Acts 3.12-21; 4.5-12)
  • We must own what we did to Jesus (3.12-15)
  • We must give Jesus the credit (3.15-16)
  • We must be gracious and understanding (3.17-18)
  • We must emphasize repentance (3.19)
  • We must point people to the future Kingdom & judgment (3.20-21)
  • We must not be intimidated (4.5-10)
  • We must emphasize that Jesus is THE Way (4.11-12)
• B. Keep the Mission Paramount (Acts 4.32-5.11)
  • Keep unity of heart and soul with each other (4.32)
  • Emphasize God’s grace and the resurrection of Christ (4.33)
  • Meet each other’s needs.  It’s a powerful testimony! (4.34-37)
  • Stop playing games.  This really is life and death! (5.1-11)
  • Lessons learned from Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5.1-11)
  • Duplicity kills. Sometimes literally
  • The mission of the church is paramount.  It can be life or death
  • We must integrate both a missional and a therapeutic approach
  • But as long as we are on earth, the mission is paramount.
  • GET BACK IN THE GAME
  • Integrating Missional and Therapeutic (Mission versus relationship
• C.  Speak Truth to Power (Acts 5.29-39)
  • Keep God first (5.29)
  • Be bold, but focus on the essentials (5.30-32)
  • Don’t expect the powerful to like you (5.33)
  • Pray for a Gamaliel in positions of influence (5.34-39)
  • What can we learn from Gamaliel?

• D.  Create Forms That Facilitate Function (Acts 6.1-8)

Acts 4.32-5.11

• A. Master the Basic Message (Acts 3.12-21; 4.5-12)
  • We must own what we did to Jesus (3.12-15)
  • We must give Jesus the credit (3.15-16)
  • We must be gracious and understanding (3.17-18)
  • We must emphasize repentance (3.19)
  • We must point people to the future Kingdom & judgment (3.20-21)
  • We must not be intimidated (4.5-10)
  • We must emphasize that Jesus is THE Way (4.11-12)
• B. Keep the Mission Paramount (Acts 4.32-5.11)
  • Keep unity of heart and soul with each other (4.32)
  • Emphasize God’s grace and the resurrection of Christ (4.33)
  • Meet each other’s needs.  It’s a powerful testimony! (4.34-37)
  • Stop playing games.  This really is life and death! (5.1-11)
  • Lessons learned from Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5.1-11)
  • Duplicity kills. Sometimes literally
  • The mission of the church is paramount.  It can be life or death
  • We must integrate both a missional and a therapeutic approach
  • But as long as we are on earth, the mission is paramount.
  • GET BACK IN THE GAME
  • Integrating Missional and Therapeutic (Mission versus relationship)

• C. Speak Truth to Power (Acts 5.29-39)
  • Keep God first (5.29)
  • Be bold, but focus on the essentials (5.30-32)
  • Don’t expect the powerful to like you (5.33)
  • Pray for a Gamaliel in positions of power (5.34-39)

Acts 2.29-47

Main Idea: ACT Like the Early Christians

• Get the Symbolism of Pentecost
  • Pentecost was originally celebrated as a wheat harvest festival, fifty days after Passover. (Lev. 23.15-21, Num. 28.26-31, Deut. 16.9-12)
  • It was a pilgrim festival and a holiday. Jerusalem was very crowded at this time.
  • The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the beginning of a better harvest!
• Grasp the Significance of What Happened
  • In Genesis 1-11, God deals universally with all humanity.
  • In Genesis 11, God divides humanity into different tribes or ethnic groups by creating different languages.  This was done to prevent a universal, evil, one world government.
  • In Genesis 12, God chooses and selects the Hebrew people by calling Abraham.
  • In Acts 2, God is showing that he is moving beyond Israel, and Israel’s unbelief, by overcoming the curse of Babel through the Pentecost gift of languages and the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Tongues then is a sign of judgment for unbelief AND a sign that God is moving beyond the Old Covenant. (1 Cor. 14.20-22)
• Gain Spiritual Spontaneity’s Power (Acts 2.42-47)
  • [What the early church “just did.”]
  • Apostles’ teaching
  • Fellowship
  • Lord’s Supper (or Church Pot Lucks)
  • Prayer
  • Awe
  • Miracles by the Apostles 
  • Held all things in common
  • Attending gatherings at the temple
  • Meeting in homes & eating
  • Praising God
  • Good community reputation.
  • God added to their number.

1 Samuel 1.1-4, 1 Samuel 19.1-5, 2 Samuel 1.5, 2 Samuel 1.17, 2 Samuel 1.26

Godly Friendships Are Rare

Godly Friendships Are Different

Godly Friendships Are Essential

Godly Friendships Are Meaningful

Acts 1.1-26

Main Idea: Act Like the Early Christians

1. Gain an Overview of the Book of Acts
   • The Three 3’s of Acts
     • Three Stages
       • Stage 1: Jerusalem and Judea (1.1-8.4) (Peter)
       • Stage 2: Samaria (8.5-12.25) (Peter)
       • Stage 3: The End of the Earth (13.1-28.31) (Paul)
         • Three Journeys (13.1-21.16)
         • Three Trials (21.17-28.31)

2. Consider What Was Accomplished Historically

3. Revisit This Thing Called “Church”

4. Act on Some Key Points (Acts 1.1-26)

   1. Embrace the Mission (1.3-8)

   2. Make the Most of God’s “Gracious Parenthesis” (1.7-11) 

   3. Pray and Wait for the Spirit (1.12-14)

   4. Plan, but don’t over think it (1.15-28)

From Biblehub.com

Revelation 19.11-16, 20.1-6, 21.1-5

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

• Win the First Fight First
  • Seek Simplicity and Purity of Heart (1 John 3.1-3)
  • Change the Way You E-VALUE-ATE (Matthew 7.1-6)
• Frame History Correctly (Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 15)
  • EDEN ---- [ENTROPY] ---- ETERNAL STATE
• Fight Right (2 Corinthians 10.1-6)
  • Meekness: Mastery of the Self’s Response to God
  • Gentleness: Mastery of the Self’s Response to Others
• Know Your Vulnerabilities
  • GET REVELATION’S MAIN POINT!!!
  • Babylon (luxury & materialism) (Rev 17-18)
  • False Prophet (false religion & spiritual power) (Rev 13)
  • Beast (power & control) (Rev 13)