We see in this passage, God took Paul out of the spotlight for three years. Three years in solitude and obscurity, for a time to grow and deepen; to develop his inner life and connection with God. How are you making yourself available to grow deep with him?

God asked Ananias to do something that Ananias was not comfortable doing. It’s easy to obey God when we feel like it, but that’s not faith. You will never know that God is trustworthy if you don’t take the risk of following him.

Guest Speaker, Eddy Aleman, General Secretary of the Reformed Church in America, preaches about the Holy Spirit and the ways we can be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus clearly calls those who are in relationship with him to tell others about him. In this passage, Philip wasn’t sent to preach to the masses… One person matters. Who has God put in front of you?

Sent: Simon – Simon got Christianity backwards; he wanted the Holy Spirit to work for him, not the other way around. We need to remember that the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it – including us.

Sent: Suffering – Living a Christian life isn’t all happy. There are lots of disappointing situations in the lives of those who follow Jesus. But God promises to be with us and Jesus is on the throne.

The two stories in this passage are connected in two ways. Both involve people seeking God and daughters.

The Messiah: Change – God doesn’t change, we can count on him. But many things in this world will. We cannot become who God wants us to be if we remain what we are.

A Look Back A Look Ahead – Executive Pastor Dan Schuknecht encourages us to be imitators of Christ. There are three areas we may need to address as we seek to be more like Christ: our thoughts, our words or our actions.

Pastor Mike highlights key family members in the genealogy of Jesus. He didn’t have the perfect family and neither do we. But God loves us like family and wants a relationship with us.