One of the great problems the early church wrestled with was how "Jewish" the new followers of Jesus had to be. How many of the customs given by God in the Old Testament applied to non-Jews?

And related to today, what do we do when people from different cultures want to follow Jesus and join our church?  Rural vs urban vs "hood" vs "redneck" vs business class vs educated vs tradesman vs...

That is what we explore in today's message where we look at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. 

As the early Jewish believers begin to spread the message, they initially ignore the gentiles. Why would these people care about what God is doing? But the Holy Spirit challenges the early church's idea about who is included in this new Kingdom of God that is breaking into the world. 

In the book of Acts we see the Spirit of God come upon the followers of Jesus for the first time. This is something new! And this new movement of God results in a community of believers that live differently from the way the rest of the world works.

There is no event in human history with a larger impact than the death and resurrection of Jesus. But why? Why do Christians keep this event so central to our faith? That's what we'll be talking about in today's episode. 

Today we look at the person of Jesus. Jesus reveals God to us more completely than any other prophet or writer can, and that has implications for how we understand the Bible and the teachings from Jesus.  

Join us as we explore the implications!

This week Eric again brings us the message, this time from John 3. This is a well know part of scripture and Eric did a great job going deeper with it for us! 

Enjoy this lesson on another important part of Jesus' ministry.

The next couple of Sundays we'll be learning about some of Jesus' well known teachings. This Sunday we have guest preacher Eric Sipes with us to talk about the "easy yoke" and "light burden" of Jesus from Matthew 11. 

Sometimes it's hard to get along with people who don't see the world like we do. Today our world has split and polarized along lines of beliefs and opinions and worldviews, and it is easy to belittle the "other side."

But Jesus gives us a challenging teaching that mandates we do something different. 

Listen in to see how Jesus teaches that our actions towards others should mirror God's actions towards us. 

Be Our Guest Sunday is April 12. Sign up to visit our church on our website: https://www.scienceridgechurch.org/plan-your-visit

How do you get people to like you? Jesus wrestled with some similar challenges. 

What kind of Messiah will Jesus be? How will Jesus gain a following? That is one of the questions we ask as we explore the beginning of Jesus' ministry. 

(Stay tuned to the end and I share a 2nd idea about the symbolism of Jesus' temptations.)

You are also welcome to join us for the Be Our Guest Sunday, April 12, 10am.   https://www.scienceridgechurch.org/plan-your-visit

Why does a sinless Jesus request to have a baptism of repentance? 

That is what we will explore in this massage as we begin to explore the ministry and message of Jesus. 

If you are curious about church or are wondering about the best Sunday to check us out, mark your calendar for April 12. We have a special "Be Our Guest" Sunday at 10am, followed by a free meal. We'd love to have you join us!

https://www.scienceridgechurch.org/plan-your-visit