Sermons Christ Community Church: Daytona Beach, FL

Authentic Christianity has to learn to live with the mysteries and uncertainties in life. Sometimes in the midst of these mysteries it is hard to see the point. There are two things that the book of Acts seems to make perfectly clear... 1. The ways of God are sometimes mysteriously unpredictable, and 2. Authentic Christianity means rejoicing in God in spite of the mysteries of faith.

The word hypocrisy actually means "play-acting". We all are vulnerable to this. But what is the sin beneath hypocrisy? The answer is "dishonesty". One of the biggest accusations against Christians is that they are hypocrites. And of course that is correct. We are hypocrites. However, it is seldom pointed out that this is why we are Christians in the first place. We need Christ as our Savior. Without Christ we are all condemned to an inconsistency between word and deed. Christ is the only one who lived a perfect and consistent life.

Many people today have mixed feelings and a lot of questions about the church. How important does the church have to be to a follower of Christ? What are the most important things that the church is supposed to do? How committed should I be to the church? The passage that we've come to in Acts 2 helps us with these questions.

Air is something that you can't see, but don't think that because something is invisible it is weak or unimportant. It is because of the quality of air as invisible and yet powerful that God compares air, wind and breath to His Holy Spirit. In fact, the words for spirit, breath and wind in the Bible are identical. The wind is a physical reflection of the spiritual truth that the Holy Spirit is real and powerful.

The life, the ministry, the crucifixion and resurrection and ascension of Jesus has brought about a radical new situation in our relationship with God. Pentecost was like the dawning of a new day, the ushering in of a new relationship with God for everyone who believes in Jesus Christ. In this sermon, pastor Larry Kirk discusses the unique way that God the Holy Spirit is present with us after this amazing event called Pentecost.

We need to understand the gift of the Holy Spirit is an important part of the gift of redemption. The gospel is not that you have to save yourself by trying to be good enough to earn God's love. It is not that! It is that God, in love, sent his Son, to pay for our sins through His death on the cross. Jesus promised that if we come to him, admit that we need him and trust in him as our Savior he will redeem us by his grace. He also made it clear that what he gives us when we turn to Him is not only forgiveness but Himself to live in us. When you believe in Him He comes in to guide, empower and change you from within. His resurrection and ascension are the proof that He is alive and he will not only forgive our sins but live in us by His Holy Spirit if we trust in Him.

Life is a search for a voice we can trust -- a single voice that puts all other voices into quiet perspective, a voice that settles the loudness around us and speaks peacefully yet clearly and confidently. A voice we can follow. (Joseph Stowell, Following Christ, p. 3) Throughout this series of messages on Following Jesus we've been hearing that one voice that claims to be the voice we should follow.

In first Corinthians Paul is writing to a large Christian church in one of the greatest ancient cities in Greece and he has to confront their resistance to the reality of the resurrection with solid evidence and careful reasoning. Paul presents this evidence and makes arguments because, inspired by the Holy Spirit, he wants to persuade us of something very important.

If you like irony, Palm Sunday is for you. Irony is when there is an incongruence, a difference between what is said and the reality, or what is expected and what actually happens, or what things look like and what they really mean. In the story of Palm Sunday, Jesus comes into Jerusalem with the crowd shouting his praises but at the end of the week they are screaming for his blood.

What does it mean to follow Jesus when it come to politics? There are some things that seem clear in the Bible. First, God has ordained government for the good of society. Second,God has limited the authority of government. Peter reminds us in Act 5 that "we must obey God rather than man". Third, in Matthew 5 Jesus called us to be salt and light in our culture.