In our passage this morning, we find a summary of how the church engaged with stage one – their ministry in Jerusalem. They were a healthy church – and their neighbours were compelled by what they saw.

The Christian life is joy-filled, but it is also simultaneously heart-breaking. It is glorious and exhausting - exhilarating and debilitating. It is up and down and everything in between. Nevertheless, if you are a Christian then, by the grace of God, you will continue to put one foot in front of the next. Because, according to Jesus -Matthew 24-13-, the one who endures to the end will be saved.

The believer, when confronted with anxiety, depression, indecision, uncertainty and hardship naturally has to ask themselves, again and again, WHO IS THE GOD IN WHOM I TRUST- Why do I trust Him- Is He mighty to save- Psalm 111 helps us answer this today.

What is the greatest invitation you have ever received- This morning we are going to look at the greatest invitation that we have ever been given. And that invitation is found in Luke 14 in a parable Jesus told- The Great Banquet.

The way that you respond to hardship, spend your money, treat your neighbour - the way you conduct yourself when no one is watching - EVERYTHING about you is shaped and dictated by your view of God. Who is He- What does He require of you- What will it be like when you stand before Him- When you think about God, what do you see-

Christ followers are worshipers - that is our purpose - why we were created. As worshipers, in relationship with God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, worship is what we have been called to do, as a way of life, all the time. --What we do personally, privately, and then live out publicly, gets poured out as an offering on the Lord's Day in corporate worship.