Acts 9:31 Ingredients of a Healthy Church A. “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied” (Acts 9:31). B. Take your time with this God-breathed summary. Why was the church multiplying? What was contributing to the growth? What ingredients were being brought together to cause this growth? •INGREDIENT #1: The_________of the Lord Reverent_________(Heb 10:31) Humble awareness of his omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence (Heb 12:28-29) Careful__________________of his commandments (Heb 12:25) •INGREDIENT #2: A willingness to_________in the paths defined by the Lord New identities in Christ as defined by the Lord (Eph 2:17-22) Everyday_________living as defined by the Lord (Eph 4:1) Belonging to and building up the church as defined by the Lord (Eph 1:22-23) •INGREDIENT #3: The______________of the Holy Spirit __________________of the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:22-24) Encouragement provided by the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:36) __________________revealed by the Holy Spirit (1 Tim 4:1) •INGREDIENT #4:______________who are dedicated to and invested in building Equipped for the work of ministry (Eph 4:11-12) Striving for the__________of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God (Eph 4:13a) Progressing toward maturity into him who is the head, into Christ (Eph 4:13b-16) •INGREDIENT #5:_____________ Peace with________through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1) Peace with my past, my present, and my future (Rom 15:13) Peace with each____________(Rom 14:19)

1 Corinthians 13 in Reverse A. 1 Corinthians 13 is a beautiful passage of God-breathed Scripture that calls us to walk in the “more excellent way” of love. One of the best ways to summarize this sort of love is ________________. B. If we look at it in reverse, we quickly discover that it doesn’t have the same beautiful ring to it.If I speak the language of selfishness, I am speaking the language of this __________ and of rebellious ____________; there are plenty of noisy gongs and clanging cymbals that speak this language. And if I had prophetic powers, and understood all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I had all faith, so as to remove mountains, but I live from a heart of selfishness, I am _______________. If I say that I would give away all that I have, and I would deliver up my body to be burned, but am inwardly self-centered, I _________ nothing. Selfishness is _______________ and _____________; a self-centered heart is full of ________ and ______________; self-centeredness reveals itself in _______________ and _______________. Selfishness insists on its ______ way;a self-centered mind will lead me to be ______________ and _______________; self-centeredness has no qualms about celebrating _____ or mocking what is ______. Selfishness is ____________ and ______ -skinned; a self-centered spirit provokes me to be thoroughly _________, always ___________,and consistently willing to give ____, give ____, and walk away from what matters _________. Selfishness will be brought to a shameful, disgraceful _______…For now, pettiness, bitterness, and hatred abide in this world; but the temporary root of all this rotten fruit is ___________________. (1 Worldliness 13)

Acts 13: What Will You Do with the Grace of God? A. Let’s take a look together at Paul’s very first recorded sermon, documented in Acts 13 during Paul’s first missionary journey. Paul and Barnabas have come to Antioch in Pisidia. It is a Sabbath day in a synagogue. B. “After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message…‘If you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.’ So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said…” I. God Raises Up a Great _______Nation_______: The Message of God’s Law • ______Genesis_______: God chose Abraham and his descendants as a means of bringing grace into the world • ______Exodus_______: God made Israel into a great nation during their slavery in Egypt; at the right time, he led them out • ______Exodus_______ - __________Deuteronomy______________: For 40 years, God put up with Israel in the wilderness • ______Joshua______: After destroying 7 Canaanite nations, God gave Israel their land as an inheritance II. God Raises Up a Great _____King_____: The Message of Israel’s Future • ______Judges______: God gave Israel judges until Samuel the prophet • _______1 Samuel_______: In the days of Samuel, Israel asked for a king; God gave them Saul for forty years • ______2 Samuel________: When God had removed Saul, he raised up David to be their king  God testified of him: “I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do my will”  David wrote some beautiful psalms that not only praised God, but prophetically looked forward to God’s Holy One  David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, died and “saw corruption” III. God Raises Up His Own ____Son____: The Message of Mankind’s Salvation • _______Matthew_______ - _____John_____: Of David’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised  Before Jesus’ coming, John proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel  But John also made clear that he was not the long-awaited Deliverer  Inhabitants of Jerusalem and the Jewish rulers did not recognize Jesus nor understand the utterances of the prophets  In fact, they fulfilled the utterances of the prophets by condemning Jesus  Though they did not find in Jesus any guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed  When they had carried out all that was written of Jesus (_2 Samuel______________ - ___Malachi____________), they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb  But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to men and women who are now active witnesses (___Acts_______) IV. God Raises THE _____Questions___________: “What Will You Do with My Grace?” • “We bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled by raising Jesus from the dead, no more to return to corruption” • “Let it be known to you therefore, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone can be set free” (____Romans_________ - _____Revelation_______________) • “What will you do with God’s grace?”  Will you fall into the very trap the prophets foretold?  Will you come into contact with and continue in the grace of God? “All this took about 450 years.”

Jesus Believed the Old Testament; So Can I A. God is light. God is not silent. His word is an expression of himself as light. B. The “sacred writings” now serve as our God-given lamp (2 Tim 3:14-4:5). C. Jesus repeatedly and consistently looked to the Old Testament as an historical, factual, dependable source of revelatory light. So can we! What did Jesus think of the Old Testament? When did he reference it, and how? •________________(Matt 19:3-5; Gen 2:24) •Adam and Eve (Matt 19:4-5) •_________’s murder of Abel (Matt 23:35; Luke 11:51) •Noah’s construction of the ark (Luke 17:26-27) •God’s judgment of the world by a___________(Matt 24:37-39) •Abraham (John 8:56-58) •________(Luke 17:28) •The destruction of Sodom by fire and sulfur (Luke 17:29) •Lot’s________who became a pillar of salt (Luke 17:32) •Isaac and Jacob (Matt 22:32) •God’s speaking to Moses out of a burning_________(Mark 12:26) •God’s provision of manna in the wilderness (John 6:32) •The writings of_____________(Luke 24:27; John 5:46-47) •The bronze serpent that snake-bitten Israelites could look to for healing (John 3:14) •____________(Matt 12:3-4) •The glory of King Solomon (Matt 5:29) •The____________of Sheba (Matt 12:42) •Elijah and the widow of Zarephath (Luke 4:25-26) •Elisha and the healing of_____________(Luke 4:27) •Jonah’s three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish (Matt 12:39-40) •The men of_______________who repented at the preaching of Jonah (Matt 12:41) •Isaiah (Matt 13:14-15; John 12:38-41) •_____________(Matt 24:15) •Zechariah (Matt 23:35; Luke 11:51) Jesus Believed the Old Testament; So Can I A. God is light. God is not silent. His word is an expression of himself as light. B. The “sacred writings” now serve as our God-given lamp (2 Tim 3:14-4:5). C. Jesus repeatedly and consistently looked to the Old Testament as an historical, factual, dependable source of revelatory light. So can we! What did Jesus think of the Old Testament? When did he reference it, and how? •________________(Matt 19:3-5; Gen 2:24) •Adam and Eve (Matt 19:4-5) •_________’s murder of Abel (Matt 23:35; Luke 11:51) •Noah’s construction of the ark (Luke 17:26-27) •God’s judgment of the world by a___________(Matt 24:37-39) •Abraham (John 8:56-58) •________(Luke 17:28) •The destruction of Sodom by fire and sulfur (Luke 17:29) •Lot’s________who became a pillar of salt (Luke 17:32) •Isaac and Jacob (Matt 22:32) •God’s speaking to Moses out of a burning_________(Mark 12:26) •God’s provision of manna in the wilderness (John 6:32) •The writings of_____________(Luke 24:27; John 5:46-47) •The bronze serpent that snake-bitten Israelites could look to for healing (John 3:14) •____________(Matt 12:3-4) •The glory of King Solomon (Matt 5:29) •The____________of Sheba (Matt 12:42) •Elijah and the widow of Zarephath (Luke 4:25-26) •Elisha and the healing of_____________(Luke 4:27) •Jonah’s three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish (Matt 12:39-40) •The men of_______________who repented at the preaching of Jonah (Matt 12:41) •Isaiah (Matt 13:14-15; John 12:38-41) •_____________(Matt 24:15) •Zechariah (Matt 23:35; Luke 11:51)

I Believe, But Sometimes I Doubt. What Should I Do? A. The father of a son with an unclean spirit:“I believe; help my unbelief!”(Mark 9:14-29). B. A leper:“If you will you can make me clean”(Mark 1:40-45). C. Thomas:“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe”(John 20:19-29). I. When it comes to your__________, you are not alone. II. When it comes to your________________, you are not alone. III. When it comes to your______________, you are not alone. IV. Your walk of faith will depend on: -Your estimation of___________ -Your willingness to be_________,______________, and__________________

Did God REALLY Create the World in Six Days? How Do I Know? ∙ 2014 Youth Lectureship ∙ Jason Hardin Fears or hesitancies related to confessing a belief that God created the world in six days: “And there was evening and there was morning, the first day” (Gen 1:5) • Yom (Hebrew) – “day” o Can be used of a period of time (Gen 2:4) o More than 200 occurrences in the Old Testament that are linked to some numeric value, always indicating a typical day • Yomin (Hebrew) – “days” o More than 1,700 occurrences in the Old Testament that are linked to some numeric value, always indicating a typical day • How were the terms used by Moses in other sections of his writing? o Genesis 30:16 – “in the evening…that night” o Exodus 18:13 – “The next day…from morning till evening” o Exodus 20:8-11 – “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” o Genesis 1:8, 13, 19, 23, 31-2:4 – “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished” “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light…” (Gen 1:3) • Throughout the Bible, God’s creative work is spoken of in terms of instantaneous execution o Psalm 33:6-9 – “For he spoke, and it came to be” o Psalm 148:1-6 – “For he commanded and they were created” o Hebrews 11:3 – “The universe was created by the word of God” “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created…” (Gen 2:4) • Compare to Genesis 5:1 – “This is the book of the generations of Adam” • The book is claiming to be an historical account of what happened! “He who created them from the beginning made them male and female…” (Matt 19:4) • The New Testament treats Genesis 1-2 as an actual, reliable, historical event o Paul (2 Cor 4:6; 1 Cor 15:21-22; 2 Cor 11:3; 1 Tim 2:13) o Jesus (Matt 19:4) o Luke (Luke 3:23-38) Biblical strands that begin to unravel if Genesis 1-2 aren’t appreciated as literal:

The Challenges of Living as a Young Person of Faith How Do I Know? ∙ 2014 Youth Lectureship ∙ Alex Bestoso 2 Timothy 1:8-14 [8] Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, [9] who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, [10] and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, [11] for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, [12] which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. [13] Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. [14] By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

Is Christianity REALLY the One and Only WAY? *** How Do I Know? *** 2014 Youth Lectureship . Nathan Matthews Is Jesus a Lord, a liar, or a lunatic?Why is salvation only in Christ?1. Because Christ is the only one who has come to this world - God manifested in the flesh – and died for the sins of the world.2. Because Christ is the only one who can properly mediate between God and man.3. Christ is the only one who backed up His incredible claims.4. Because Christ is the only one who was raised from the dead, never to die again, and fulfilledHis own prophecies.5. Because Christ is the ultimate Judge, we will all stand before Him.Is it possible to know Jesus today and be a follower of Him?

The Challenges of Raising a Young Person of Faith *** How Do I Know? ∙ 2014 Youth Lectureship ∙ Jason Hardin We want our children to avoid… We want our children to be dedicated to…*Feet *Hands *Mouth *Ears *Eyes *Sexuality *Mind

Did Jesus REALLY Rise From the Dead? How Do I Know? ∙ 2014 Youth Lectureship ∙ Nathan Matthews Evidence #1: The testimony of the gospels Evidence #2: Jesus died and was buried Evidence #3: The empty tomb Evidence #4: The manner in which the resurrection was reported Evidence #5: The post-resurrection appearances Evidence #6: The conversion of Saul and James Evidence #7: The willingness of the disciples to die for proclaiming the resurrection Evidence #8: The existence of the church Alternative #1: The empty tomb was caused by: • The women went to the wrong grave • The body was stolen • The body was eaten Alternative #2: The apostles were hallucinating Alternative #3: The “swoon theory”