In seeking a biblical understanding of who and what the church is there is no better place than the book of Acts. This message launches our verse by verse study of the NT book sometimes called the Acts of the Apostles. This first installment looks at some important instructions that Jesus gave His apostles in building His church in preparation for His coming Kingdom.

In our culture, we have so much at our fingertips. Sometimes that is a tremendous blessing and other times those resources are the very things hindering our spiritual growth and effectiveness in the Kingdom of God. How do we rely on God and use stuff, while not relying on stuff and using God? This will be a key to our relationship with God, personal growth and effectiveness as a church community.

If we have received Jesus and believe in His name, we are now children of God!  Yet, we can suppress what He wants to do in our lives. This week we will discover what it means to quench the Spirit and even what it means for a person to "blaspheme" the Holy Spirit. Growing in awareness of Him will allow us to deepen and grow in our relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Knowing the Holy Spirit begins and continues by responding to His invitation, voice and lead. We need to recognize what His mission to humanity is, what His plan for the believers in Jesus is and present ourselves as available to Him. He will still accomplish much in us and through us.

The Holy Spirit is in the business of convicting. What does conviction by God Himself entail? What does it look like? The Spirit of God wants to do work in us. He desires to deliver and apply all that Jesus has accomplished to His Church, the people and family of God.

The Holy Spirit is often the most neglected person of the Trinity. In this mini-series with our study of The Church, discovering the Holy Spirit as a person and familiarizing ourselves with His function, role and work will be critical as God develops, grows and utilizes the collective body of believers in Jesus.

The final verses of the book of Mark offer some interesting and albeit controversial understanding of Jesus' ministry as we continue to consider it as a model for The Church's ministry in our modern world.

In your lifetime what has most changed your personal world? Is it someone or something? Most of us have many things and people who have impacted our lives. But only one thing and one person can impact our lives for both this life and the next. This Sunday we CELEBRATE that Jesus after being crucified and killed has risen from dead...defeating not only dead but the sin that led to death. Join us in celebrating the Ultimate World Changer.

It is Good Friday. For us, it is indeed good. For God? It is and was good as well. We enter into unexpected ways Jesus' action on the cross provided everything we need for our spiritual and physical restoration. Get ready, because Jesus wants to give all of his life to you  in exchange for yours.

We are entering a season of remembering the accomplishments of Jesus on the cross and in the resurrection. To personally participate will take recognizing and acknowledging the problems we find ourselves in. God has provided a complete solution. Our calling and action is to trust by faith in the solution God has fully  provided.  We will be forever changed as a result!