In this sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Pastor Chris explores the story of Stephen's death in Acts 7. This story comes down to the question of where and how God plans to work through his people. The Jewish people of the day believed God worked through the law of Moses in worship at the temple, but Jesus' first followers claimed that God worked in and through all who followed Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Chris explores how this disagreement lead to Stephen's death, because the religious leader saw him and the early Christians as a threat to the gatekeepers to worship at the temple. In the end, we learn from this passage that Jesus dwells in his people, and that each and every one goes into the world with his power and presence.

In this sermon, Salem Magley Elder Shelly Netherton calls on all Jesus followers to life a life of faithfulness to the way of Jesus. She does this by exploring Acts 6, where the early church is faced with the challenge of learning to live as a diverse community. Their solution is to appointed seven leaders to oversee the life of the community. From this group of leaders we meet Stephan, who from the beginning exhibits a life of faithfulness.

In this sermon, Pastor Chris looks at Acts 4 and 5 and explores the idea that life in the kingdom of God isn't about us, but others. These ideas are made clear in the end of Acts 4, where the early Christian community is described as sharing all their positions for the greater of the community. Then, in Acts 5, we see this lifestyle set against several different groups of people who misuse the mission of God for their own benefit. The of this sermon is to be people who live the way of Jesus, which is a way of life that is about others.

In this sermon, Pastor Chris explores Acts 4:1-31, where the story of the first Christian's earliest encounter with the Jewish leaders. In this story, Peter and John are arrested for healing a lame man and then preaching the gospel in the temple courts. As this passage unfolds, the religious leaders reveal that they view early church as a threat to their power. Because of this, they attempt to silence Peter and John.

It's in these moments where we see that the message of Jesus is never neutral. We can only choose one path in life, and choosing to follow the way of Jesus is a rejection of other paths and the power they offer. What will you choose?

In this sermon, Pastor Chris explores the community life of Jesus' first followers. The story of these followers, recorded in Acts 2:42-3:26, tells of a young community who share everything in life: worshiping together, eating together, and supporting one another. We also learn that this community was powered by the Holy Spirit, and that they continued to welcome new members who choose to turn from their old life to follow Jesus. In this sermon, Pastor Chris calls on people to join a new nation, under a new king, with a new future.

In this sermon, Pastor Chris calls on all to pledge their allegiance to Jesus as king as the final chapter of life as we know it begins to unfold. This call comes out of a close look at the story of the Day of Pentecost in the second chapter of Acts, where the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit is narrated. In this story, the earliest followers of Jesus received the Holy Spirit, which marked the beginning of the final chapter in God's story to rescue humans from their rebellion so that they could return to him.

This message is made clear through the witness of the Apostle Peter, who calls on the audience who witnessed the power of the spirit on that Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem to repent and turn from their older lives and to follow Jesus as king. The call on all of our lives today is to do the same.

In this sermon, guest speakers Matt and Jamie Moore share a bit of their story about living on the way of Jesus.

In this sermon, Pastor Chris explores the opening chapter of the book of Acts. In this sermon, he explains that Acts is a sequel to the Gospel of Luke, and that it continues the story of Jesus. He explains that while Luke’s gospel focuses telling the story of Jesus’ life on earth, the books of Acts shifts it’s focus on Jesus’ story going out into the world through the witness of Jesus’ earliest followers. In this sermon, Pastor Chris hits home on the point that though Jesus has left earth, he still works through his followers. Further, he makes it clear that our story as followers of Jesus is Jesus story lived through us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In this sermon for the First Sunday after Pentecost: Trinity Sunday, Pastor Chris explores the doctrine of the Trinity. In this sermon he first looks at the picture of God painted at the Old Testament, noting that God reveals himself to be complex. He then looks at how Jesus and God are revealed in the gospels, and then finally how the later New Testament authors talk about Jesus, is Father, and the Holy Spirit. All together, a complex view of God emerges that the early Christians began to refer to as the Holy Trinity.

In this sermon for the Day of Pentecost, Pastor Chris explores how the coming of the Holy Spirit makes the moment when God has finally come to remake the world. First, we explore how the Feast of Weeks, or the Feast of Pentecost, informed the early Christians celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit by setting apart time to prepare and anticipate. Second, we explore how the Feast of Weeks included a first fruits offering, which Christians offer themselves to fulfill. Finally, we explore how the Feast of Weeks is a harvest festival, which requires the proper timing. After the coming of the Holy Spirit, the people of God are finally equipped and empowered to God the work of God in the world. Together, this festival marks the beginning of God's work of remaking the world through the work of his followers, who are empowered by the Holy Spirit.