Sermon Title: Love Your Neighbor

Passage: Luke 10:25-37

Preacher: Ashley Herr

Why we pass by on the other side:

• Assume

• Helpless

• Afraid

• Exhausted

• Inconvenient

• Undeserved

The Samaritan sacrificed his:

• Safety

• Time

• Money

• Pride

Jesus is teaching us in this parable:

• by seeing the needs around you - physical, financial, emotional, relational, and spiritual needs

• by feeling compassion for those in need - listening to the story, learning their perspective, loving them in whatever situation they are in

• by taking action to love those in need

We love because the God who is love first loved us! (1 John 4:8,19)

Reflect on what Jesus is calling us as his followers to both DO and BE - to love your neighbor as your self and to be a neighbor who shows mercy

1. WHO is God calling you to love?

2. HOW is God calling you to love?

3. Remember WHY we love!

Sermon Series: Acts - Our Story, Our Mission

Sermon Title: Stephen’s Story

Passage: Acts 6:8-8:2

Preacher: Ashley Herr

Sermon Series: Acts - Our Story, Our Mission

Sermon Title: How can I help?

Passage: Acts 6:1-7

Preacher: Ashley Herr

Sermon Series: Acts - Our Story, Our Mission

Sermon Title: The Cost of Obedience

Passage: Acts 5:12-42

Preacher: Ashley Herr

Sermon Series: Acts - Our Story, Our Mission

Sermon Title: Radical Generosity

Passage: Acts 4:32-5:11

Preacher: Ashley Herr

Sermon Series: Acts - Our Story, Our Mission

Sermon Title: Praying for Boldness

Passage: Acts 4:5-31

Preacher: Ashley Herr

Sermon Series: Acts - Our Story, Our Mission

Sermon Title: In the Name of Jesus

Passage: Acts 3:1-4:4

Preacher: Robin Philip

Sermon Series: Acts - Our Story, Our Mission

Sermon Title: The Story of Pentecost - Part 2

Passage: Acts 2:22-41

Preacher: Ashley Herr

1. The Incarnation (v22)

2. The Crucifixion (v23)

3. The Resurrection (v24-32)

4. The Ascension (v33-35)

5. The Big Idea (v36)

Uses familiar imagery from the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures:

• wind describing the Spirit of God (Genesis 1, Ezekiel 37)

• fire describing the presence of God (Exodus 3, 13, 19, 40)

1. The Spirit empowers us, to fulfill the mission Christ has given us

1. Recognize the severity of your sin (v37)

2. Respond to your sin (v38a)

   • Repent

   • Be Baptized

3. Receive God’s Grace (v38-40)

   • Forgiveness of Sins

   • The Gift of the Holy Spirit

1. Allow the Spirit to stir, revealing your sin, shining a light on what remains hidden in the dark

2. Recognize the severity of your sin - against God and against others - and the damage it has caused

3. Repent of your sin, turning from sin, turning to Jesus, and trusting in Jesus

4. Receive God’s grace and His forgiveness

5. Don’t just respond in faith through repentance, but also in obedience through baptism! If haven’t been baptized and you’re ready, please let us know! We’ll fill it up for this coming Sunday!!

Sermon Series: Acts - Our Story, Our Mission

Sermon Title: The Story of Pentecost - Part 1

Passage: Acts 2:1-21

Preacher: Ashley Herr

Uses familiar imagery from the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures:

• wind describing the Spirit of God (Genesis 1, Ezekiel 37)

• fire describing the presence of God (Exodus 3, 13, 19, 40)

1. The Spirit empowers us, to fulfill the mission Christ has given us

2. The Spirit unites us

3. The Spirit overcomes what divides us

• True with regard to gender (v17b)

• True with regard to age (v17c)

• True with regard to social class or caste (v18)

1. A Prayer of Reflection: Why am I so reluctant to the leading of the Holy Spirit?

2. A Prayer of Petition: Help me to be more reliant on the leading of the Holy Spirit!

• “God has come to them, on them, with them.“ - Willie James Jennings (Acts from The Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible series, p28)

• “Imagine peoples in many places, in many conquered sites, in many tongues all being told that their languages are secondary, tertiary, and inferior to the supreme languages of the enlightened peoples. Make way for Latin, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, and English. These are the languages God speaks.“ - Willie James Jennings (Acts from The Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible series, p30)

• “to speak a language is to speak a people. Speaking announces familiarity, connection, and relationality.“ - Willie James Jennings (Acts from The Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible series, p28)

• “This new world order begins with collapse. God shakes foundations, especially ones that wrongly claim divine imprint.“ - Willie James Jennings (Acts from The Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible series, p35)

Sermon Series: Acts - Our Story, Our Mission

Sermon Title: Devoted to Prayer

Passage: Acts 1:12-26

Preacher: Ashley Herr

A church devoted to prayer prays:

• Passionately

• Dependantly

• Expectantly

• Persistently

• Regularly

• Collectively

• Privately

We are growing in our devotion to prayer by:

• Don’t just say you’ll pray; stop and pray

• 9:30AM prayer in the lobby on Sundays

• Sharing prayer requests in the Info Card

• Offering prayer after service

• First Wednesday prayer in the Upper Room

• Praying over the prayer requests shared by guests of The Pantry

Discerning God’s will requires

• Scripture

• Wisdom

• Prayer

We’re devoting the month of May to being devoted to prayer by:

• Join us for 9:30AM prayer in the lobby each Sunday in May

• Share a prayer request with the elders each Sunday in May

• Ask someone how you can pray for them, then stop and pray for them, each week in the month of May. We’re praying that we would be able to pray for 500 people this month. Text us the name of the person you prayed with to us at (312) 548-1139 so we can be praying as well!

• Join us for First Wednesday prayer this Wednesday, May 7th, at 7PM in the Upper Room

• Monday: Luke 6 - The Sermon on the Plain

• Tuesday: Luke 7 - Stories of Healing

• Wednesday: Luke 8 - Stories revealing Jesus is Lord

• Thursday: Luke 9 - The Transfiguration

• Friday: Luke 10 - Jesus Sends Out the 72

• Saturday: Acts 2:1-21 - Pentecost Part 1

• “Discernment, in a most general sense, is the capacity to recognize and respond to the presence and the activity of God…it requires us to move beyond reliance on human thinking and strategizing to a place of deep listening and response to the Spirit of God.” - Ruth Haley Barton (Pursuing God’s Will Together, p10,11)