Red Rocks Baptist Church

Every Christian, no matter your age, gifting, background, or personality, can learn to effectively share the gospel. What steps do you need to learn to practice effective personal evangelism?

When Philip preached Christ in Samaria, many people believed, including Simon, but when Peter and John prayed for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit, Simon's sinful heart was exposed by his misguided request. Our confidence to faithfully live on mission comes from the power of the gospel, so to increase our confidence, we must see the gospel powerfully at work.

We can't expect God to work in our midst if we aren't ready for Him to work. Why would he amplify our witness if we are woefully unprepared to be Christ's witnesses? Stephen's martyrdom was the providential tipping point that launched the church into bringing the gospel to Judea and Samaria.

When Stephen showed from Israel's history that the Council had sinned just like their fathers, but to a greater degree because they had rejected the Messiah, instead of responding with humble repentance, they reacted with murderous rage. When the Word of God convicts your heart, you have a choice to make: humbly agree with the truth or stubbornly resist it.

Filled with the Spirit, Stephen bears witness to Jesus as the Son of God, which results in his death as the Church's first martyr. By following Stephen's example, we can grow in our ability to be faithful witnesses of Jesus.

If we fail to see or refuse to accept the role the Bible gives to the congregation, there will be no way to have a healthy, unified church. Preaching Big Idea: As the body of Christ, the role of the congregation is to hold forth the glorious gospel of Jesus in both word and practice.

Biblical clarity about pastors increases trust and teamwork within a local church by removing confusion, setting proper expectations, and increasing unity as we serve the Lord together.

In our culture, the common and "acceptable" type of pastor bears little to no resemblance to the biblical model. God requires pastors to be men of integrity so that their lives and ministries will point attention only to Jesus Christ, not themselves.

The apostles created a group of "helpers", in part, to protect their ministry of prayer and the Word, which laid the foundation for the NT's teaching on the role of local church pastors. A biblically faithful pastor must lead the church to follow Jesus and obey His mission by laboring in the ministry of prayer and the Word.