Our Study in Acts continues...

Remember that blustery fisherman dude with a temper, who 50 days prior had fearfully denied the Lord three times?

He is beautifully forgiven and restored by Jesus over breakfast following His resurrection, and then before Jesus ascended to heaven, told him and the other disciples to WAIT... something exciting is going to happen that will fill you with courage and empower you for ministry.

That same blustery fisherman - Peter - then stands up in front of thousands and ... well... it's the beginning of an unstoppable force called the Church of Jesus.

This following proposition may be controversial but here goes...

Without the events of Acts 2, there is no Christianity.

There. I said it.

The Incarnation of Jesus proved He was a missionary to the world He created.

The Cross proved His great sacrificial love and plan for salvation.

The Resurrection proves the hope we have of eternal life and our enemy of death being ultimately defeated.

The Ascension proves Jesus is truly Lord and King

BUT I would submit without PENTECOST all of these events would be lost as footnotes of history if the good news didn't get OUT.

It DID and it changed EVERYTHING

There might be as many opinions as there are people as to what it means to BE the Church and BE a true disciple

Sometimes in the business world, when the organization begins to drift or lose their core values, there is a strategic effort to return to the founder's vision and template.

I can't help but think our "Founder's" vision and values for The Church and for true discipleship can best be found in the unique book of Acts

There isn't a boring page to be found and some of the narratives are so radical, one might ask "could this even happen in 2024?"

Yes. I think it can.

We are planning to dig deep into all 28 chapters and hope that you will join in the journey... perhaps by reading ahead, bringing your Bible & notebook, or most of all asking yourself every week: "How can I translate this first-century expression of being the Church into my 21st-century context for the sake of being Jesus' witness everywhere I go?"

Context is everything...

Think of a simple word like "ball"

1. A cylindrical toy or sporting apparatus that most often bounces (noun)

2. A dance party where you dress in formal attire (noun)

3. To have a good time, as in, "we had a ball" (idiom)

That's just one example, and we are typically adept at parsing out words depending on their context; but in a theological context what does it mean that both THE WORLD is an enemy of our soul AND that God so loved THE WORLD He gave His only son?

How can it be something we are to both avoid AND engage with? How can it be we are to hate it AND make it our Mission?

Join us for the conclusion to this series - Fight the REAL Enemy.

Pastor Glenn is only partly right. I (Jonathan) only hate MOST country music. There's one cowboy I hold in hallowed esteem... The "man in black"... Johnny Cash.

A committed Christian, who had previously done some "hard livin’ ”, Johnny wrote nuanced songs of faith AND of struggle. This is one of my favourites:

The beast in me is caged by frail and fragile bars

Restless by day and by night rants and rages at the stars

God help the beast in me

Sometimes it tries to kid me that it's just a teddy bear

And even somehow manage to vanish in the air

And that is when I must beware

Of the beast in me

A folksy take on an enemy we all live with - what the New Testament calls THE FLESH

As much as our inclination is to make PEOPLE our enemy, we actually remember that our battle is not against "flesh and blood" (Eph. 6:12). The first of our real enemies is Satan.

I realize in our modern world there are many - even Christians - who put as much credence in the Devil as they would in mythological villains like Medusa, Loki or "the Boogey Man".

Unfortunately, Satan is very much real and at work in our world. Sometimes we may overestimate his power, but he is quite effective in one particular way.

Learn how Jesus Himself combated the one He called "the accuser of our souls"

Some are uncomfortable with equating the Christian walk with "war" or "battle" imagery (while others are perhaps a little too comfortable with it). I assure you our Church forefathers had no such reservations.

Make no mistake, we are in a FIGHT... a fight for souls! Unfortunately many are directing their resistance at the wrong foe... namely PEOPLE!

Join us in the 4-week series to learn who the real enemies of our souls are and how to fight them!

There are many of you in our Church family living with long-term illness. Many of you live with, or love someone, suffering in this way.

One thing is true for ALL of us. Everyone will be afflicted at some point in their life with an area of brokenness that needs healing. Physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. The secular sciences are finally recognizing that these aspects of our whole selves do not operate in silos. Body, mind and spirit are deeply interconnected. In fact, Scripture has always alluded to this interdependency.

NAC's own Rachel Van Halteren understands the link between these aspects of our WHOLE selves. Through her own story of long-term illness and her vocational expertise in homeopathic and holistic health, you will be challenged and encouraged to think about your own healing journey differently.

We have never seen this kind of widespread cultural affliction of Anxiety & Depression.

It is no respecter of age, race, gender or even whether you are a Christian or not. You may not struggle with it personally but you definitely know and love someone who does. Brett Ullman is part of the "walking wounded" and his story is both raw and hopeful.

"Yes, YOU!"

In this brief wrap-up of our summer series "Get in the Game" we will talk about the last spiritual gift (and it's a doozy) and then I suppose the onus is on you...

How has God uniquely wired you?

What is your role in "the body"?

What will it take for you to get off the sidelines and into the game?