Second Thoughts with Austin Gentry

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | In Acts 22, the apostle Paul stands before his persecutors, almost in a 'full-circle' moment. At one point, he was persecuting the Christians in Jerusalem; now, he is being persecuted as one himself. In Paul's last words to the Jews in Jerusalem, we can see a blueprint for how to share our faith effectively with others.

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | While the New Testament certainly gives clarity to the event of the Second Coming of Christ, it is certainly not a new idea or new development. Throughout the Old Testament, God gives His people many pictures, promises,  and prophecies about this 'day' that marks the end of our age and the beginning of the next, one that Jesus then claims as His own. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | In Acts 19, Paul embarks on his third missionary journey and camps out in the city of Ephesus for more than 2 years. During his time, God works in many different ways to work different types of people - and He does the same today, as well. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | In Acts 18, Paul arrives in the city of Corinth with no money in his pockets, no people alongside him, and no place to stay; but a hot passion in his heart. Immediately, God provides him with ministry friends, financial means, and a place to do ministry - and 18 months later, the gospel goes forward in a place that seemed otherwise impossible. How? By God's grace, direction, and favor, and by Paul's practical ministry each day.

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | As Paul begins his second missionary journey, God frustrates his plans... while leading him to just the right place, at exactly the right time, specifically to meet the right people. In all the open and closed doors, God's providence guided even their instinct of faith, when they did not have all the information before them. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | In what is formally called the 'Olivet Discourse,' Jesus shares with His disciples many things concerning the end of times. In them, we find motivation, purpose, peace, perspective, and victory, not just for eternity, but also for everyday life. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | Acts 15 and 16 mark a critical shift in the narration of Acts and salvation history: namely, Paul and Barnabas 'break up' after a sharp disagreement, but God uses their division to actually multiply His kingdom purposes to raise up new leaders, restore others, and redeem still more. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | The book of Judges is a tragic book, telling in many different ways the tired refrain of man's rebellion against God and subsequent enslavement to horrid gods and empty idols. Jephthah, one of God's judges, is no better than the people he is delivering; but his little bit of faith in the right direction makes an eternal difference, despite all the carnage and sorrow of his own sin. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | As Paul and Barnabas trek through Asia Minor on what is their first of four official 'missionary journeys,' they stop at a place called Antioch Pisidia, where they are met with a zealous welcoming as well as an equally zealous antagonism. Here, we see that people's responses to the gospel have more to do with their own heart and less to do with the message itself. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | Acts 13 marks a key shift in the book Acts —  thematically, geographically, and demographically — as Luke directs our focus away from the church in Jerusalem and now to the church in Antioch. There, we see what a healthy, dynamic church culture looks like: in the church, from the church, and for the world.