The church in Ephesus was a great church, an awesome church, a tremendous church, but it had one humongous problem that dealt with loving Jesus. What we are going to learn from this church is this – the only way to love Jesus right is to love Jesus best. We need to hear what Jesus says to this first church, to our church, and to us if we want to learn from the mistakes of the church in Ephesus. 

Today, we are going to look at the seventeenth chapter of the book of Acts. In our key passage, the Apostle Paul is in one of the greatest cities of the world at that time, Athens, and while he was there, he had the same challenge of sharing the truth of the resurrection that we have today. He wanted to bring the sunshine of Easter into the darkness of a lost city that is so much like the lost one we live in today. As we study his words, are going to learn why that empty tomb has such grave significance and how we can most effectively present the gospel to the world. 

As we wrap up this series, we are going to look at what I believe is probably the most misunderstood, misused, and misapplied verse in the entire Bible. By the way, it is not just unbelievers who misapply it and misunderstand it, but sadly many believers make the same mistake. This verse is in regard to judgmentalism. People equate the church today with a holier-than-thou attitude that screams what they are against and whispers what they are for. They hear the criticism, but they don’t see the compassion. They hear the condemnation; they don’t feel the care. And I humbly admit for a good bit of this we are guilty as charged. So, we are going to dive into what Jesus said and what Jesus didn’t say about this whole matter of judging so that we can make sure we’re not only interpreting Scripture correctly but that we’re also living out Scripture correctly so as not to turn others away from the church. 

Bigotry and prejudice is both an attitude and an action. You either see yourself as superior to someone else or someone else is inferior to you, and this mindset is going to lead you to treat them in a bigoted, prejudicial fashion. Everybody likes to say for the most part, “I’m not a bigot” and pretend that we are always totally objective, but the truth of the matter is we are not, even though we want to be. This is not a problem just for the modern church. The early church dealt with the problem of prejudice and the bias of bigotry a thousand years ago. James, the brother of Jesus, actually dealt with this problem in a book he wrote by his name. Today, when we think of bigotry we think primarily in terms of race, but in this particular case this was the prejudice of affluence and achievement, not of ancestry, but as you are going to see what James said to the church applies perfectly to any kind of bigotry including racial prejudice and racism. James does us a huge favor. He shares with us, not just what a bigot is, but what a bigot does and why any form of bigotry is not a misdemeanor, but it is a felony in the eyes of God. 

When it comes to understanding how Scripture and science are connected, many people simply say that the Bible is not a scientific textbook (which is true), and the Bible was not written primarily to teach us about science (which is also true). So, even if the Bible may be completely wrong when it comes to science, we can trust it when it comes to the more important questions of life and death and eternity. That sounds good in theory, but it is completely wrong. When Jesus was talking to Nicodemus about the physical process of birth, He makes this incredible statement, “If you won’t believe what I say about earthly matters, why would I expect you to believe what I say about heavenly matters?” It is a fair question. If I cannot rely on the Bible when it touches on any subject like history, science, morality, or philosophy then how can I trust it when it comes to theology? Those are the questions I want us to consider as we dive into this message. 

It is by consensus the number one reason people don’t come to church, criticize the church, and have no use for the church. Every church has hypocrites. Frankly, that shouldn’t really be surprising. The movement that Jesus started produced many hypocrites. As a matter of fact, being the largest religion in the world, Christianity has probably produced more hypocrites than any other movement in history. The word “hypocrites” is used seventeen times in the New Testament and every time it is used by Jesus. Nobody used it or talked about it as much as he did, who first critiqued religious hypocrisy in a way that shaped the way we look at it and made it such a negative term. In the Sermon on the Mount, He dealt with this issue of hypocrisy head-on and shared with his disciples then and his followers now how to avoid holy hypocrisy. If we are going to break down barriers and build bridges to unbelievers and especially the next generation, Jesus tells us three things we have to do. 

Have you ever asked the question, “If God is good, why does He allow evil and suffering to happen in the world?” It’s a question many have asked, and sadly, many don’t know how to answer it. But in this message, I want us to take a look at the story of a man named Asaph as we try to find a way to answer this question that haunts humankind, Christian or not. Asaph was playing by the rules, doing life by the numbers, went to church, paid his taxes, didn’t cheat on his business deals, was a good dad and husband, and always tried to do the right thing and yet he said, he was “Afflicted, and every morning brought new punishments.” We don’t know whether he struggled with physical disease, financial ruin, or family problems. His thinking was, “What is the use of living right if God is not going to do right and I’m going in the wrong direction?” When we find ourselves in a similar situation, wondering the same things, there are three things we must do. 

When we get to heaven and we stand before the Lord, I am convinced that one question he is going to ask us individually and as a church is this one simple question, “You only had one job. Did you do it?” We don’t have to wonder what that one job is because Jesus clearly spelled it out. What he is about to say is not just to pastors, preachers, professors, priests or professionals. He is talking to people of all stripes, all colors, all ethnicities, men, women, rich and poor. We all have the same job. As a follower of Jesus, you are going to understand why we only have one job and why we should always be doing it. 

We are in a series we have been calling “Lost in Translation.” We have been dealing with some big biblical words that even many Christians don’t really understand the meaning of; they get lost in translation. Sanctification is one of the most important biblical words, but we don’t hear much about it anymore. However, even though this word is not talked about nearly enough, it is so important that we understand what it means to be sanctified or we are going to be out of the will of God. The word literally means to be set apart. But how does God set us apart? Well, that’s what we’re going to look at in this message – three ways God is working to accomplish our sanctification while we are still here on this earth. 

There is no greater illustration in the Bible of a complete and total conversion than of a man by the name of Paul. In fact, it may be the most famous conversion in history. His conversion is well documented. It is talked about in detail three times in the Book of Acts. In fact, the story of Paul’s conversion occupies more space in the New Testament than any other event except the crucifixion of Jesus. It may be the most intense, in-your-face, radical encounter with Jesus in all of the New Testament. But even though Paul has one of the most talked about conversion stories of all time, that doesn’t mean our own stories of conversion are any less miraculous. With that in mind, I want us in today’s message to look at three things that happen anytime someone experiences conversion.