Acts 1:12-26 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms,

“ ‘May his camp become desolate,

and let there be no one to dwell in it’;

and

“ ‘Let another take his office.’

21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

1 John 1:1-4

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

Psalm 127:1-5

Psalm 19

1 Peter 1:1-12 The Road Most Traveled: A Study on Suffering in 1 Peter.

James 1:13-15 The scripture speaks a lot about the advancement of God’s Kingdom. This expansion however doesn’t happen in a top down enforcement of Christian values but by individual Christians bringing redemption organically into their own lives. Today, that requires us to step-up and bring peace into the midst of a culture war. In this series, we will be engaging with the current views of our culture to see how the Christian worldview can bring real progress by changing the ways we view things as diverse as friendship, work, poverty, prisons, and sex. By learning how Christianity speaks to the views of our culture, we can identify brokenness that we are called to step into and truly serve the culture we are in.

1 Corinthians 6:12-20 The scripture speaks a lot about the advancement of God’s Kingdom. This expansion however doesn’t happen in a top down enforcement of Christian values but by individual Christians bringing redemption organically into their own lives. Today, that requires us to step-up and bring peace into the midst of a culture war. In this series, we will be engaging with the current views of our culture to see how the Christian worldview can bring real progress by changing the ways we view things as diverse as friendship, work, poverty, prisons, and sex. By learning how Christianity speaks to the views of our culture, we can identify brokenness that we are called to step into and truly serve the culture we are in.

How much joy do you experience on a daily basis? How real and lasting is it? Is there anything we can do to have more joy in our lives? These are the questions we are considering in this sermon series Philippians – Intentional Joy.

Why is it that our search for spiritual answers often comes up empty? Are we just talking in circles about questions that don’t actually have any answers, or is it that we are asking the wrong questions? The Bible gives us several examples of people that question Jesus directly, that Jesus doesn’t answer directly. By examining these interactions we can see how Jesus exposes the false assumptions in the questions of others and learn to ask better questions ourselves.