This Sunday, we step into one of the most intense chapters in the book of Acts.
James is executed.
Peter is imprisoned.
Herod exalts himself like a god.
And yet — Jesus is not threatened. He is reigning.
Acts 12 smells like the battlefield. But what we discover is this: when you stand against Jesus, you lose — and when you belong to Jesus, you triumph, even through suffering.
This chapter reminds us of two massive truths:
• Nothing can stop Jesus’ kingdom from advancing.
• Gospel advancement doesn’t come without significant cost.
We will see both warning and hope. Judgment and rescue. Execution and deliverance. And above it all — a triumphant King.
If you are exploring Christianity, or know those who are, this text lovingly but clearly presses a question onto your heart: What will you do with King Jesus?
And for those who belong to Christ, this passage steadies us in a world that is increasingly uncomfortable with bold faith.
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💭 Two Things to Think About
1. What would it cost me to follow Jesus? Am I prepared for faith that is costly — or only faith that is convenient?
2. Do I truly believe that nothing can stop Christ’s kingdom? Or do I panic when cultural winds shift and opposition rises?
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🙏 Two Things to Pray About
1. Pray for courage. Ask the Lord to make you steady, bold, and prayerful — not reactive or fearful.
2. Pray for rescue — and readiness. Pray that Jesus would rescue the lost from judgment… and prepare His church to endure hardship with confidence in His triumph.
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Also, this chapter ends with one of the most comforting summaries in Acts:
“But the word of God increased and multiplied.” (Acts 12:24)
Herod falls.
The gospel rises.
Jesus wins.
Let’s gather ready to worship the triumphant King 🙌🏼

That name started in Antioch.
Not in a cathedral.
Not in comfort.
Not in cultural power.
But in the middle of persecution, scattering, bold preaching, deep discipleship, and radical generosity.
This Sunday we’re in Acts 11:19–30.
The gospel keeps moving.
The church keeps growing.
And for the first time, disciples are called Christians — people who belong to Christ.
So here’s the question:
If someone watched your life for a year…
would they know who you belong to?
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🤔 Two things to THINK about before you come:
1.Does the gospel still move me?
Not just something I believe — but something I love, speak about, and live from?
2.Am I actually being shaped as a disciple? Who is walking with me? Who am I investing in?
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🙏 Two things to PRAY about before you come:
1.Pray that God would deepen your love for Christ.
That the gospel wouldn’t feel familiar and dull — but alive and weighty again.
2. Pray that the Spirit would make us a generous, courageous church.
Marked by proclamation.
Marked by discipleship.
Marked by joyful obedience.
See you Sunday, Trails Church.
Let’s live like we belong to Him.

Acts 10:1–11:18
This week’s text isn’t a side story.
It’s a history-shifting moment.
Like… one of the most important turns in the whole Bible.
The question behind it all:
What did it actually take for us to be accepted by God?
Because we all have an answer to that —
even if we’ve never said it out loud.
Acts 10 blows it up.
God doesn’t just save a few “religious types.”
He throws the door wide open.
Full acceptance.
No second-class status.
Even the apostles are like,
“Wait… God did WHAT?!”
That’s how massive this is.
As you read Acts today before coming to our gathering, sit with that question:
👉 What was required for me to be accepted by God?
Bonus: read Ephesians 2:11–3:6 — Paul explains the theology behind this moment.
Pray we’d actually feel the weight of this:
God doesn’t just tolerate us.
In Christ, we’re brought all the way in.
See you soon.

This week we’re in Acts 9 and yes — it includes a woman named Dorcas 😌 but this passage is way deeper than a funny name.
We’re watching Jesus do the impossible:
a paralyzed man walks 🦵
a dead woman lives again ❤️‍🔥
But here’s the twist: the point isn’t “wow, miracles.”
The point is WOW, JESUS.
These stories are signposts. They show us that the risen Christ is still full of compassion, still powerful, and still building His Church — not through celebrities, but through:
- ordinary faithfulness
- long seasons of suffering
- and simple obedience
Jesus doesn’t waste our seasons of suffering. He uses them.
💭 2 THINGS TO THINK ABOUT BEFORE COMING
1️⃣ Where do you feel “stuck” right now?
Aeneas was stuck for 8 years. Jesus met him there. Your limitation, weakness, or frustrating season might be the very place where Christ wants to show His power.
2️⃣ Do you underestimate your “small” faithfulness?
Tabitha wasn’t preaching sermons. She was sewing clothes and caring for people. And God used her life to shake a whole city. Quiet obedience is never wasted in the Kingdom.
🙏 2 THINGS TO PRAY ABOUT
1️⃣ “Jesus, help me trust You in this season instead of just trying to escape it.”
Ask for eyes to see how He might use even hard things for eternal good.
2️⃣ “Make my life useful for Your Church.”
Your words, your home, your gifts, your compassion — pray that Christ would use your everyday life to draw people to Himself.
Come ready to see not just what Jesus did… but what the risen Jesus is still doing. 
See you soon

Acts 9:19b-31

Last week, we saw how Saul met Jesus and heard from Jesus how Saul would be His chosen instrument to:
1) preach about Jesus to his fellow Jews, to Kings, and to the Gentiles.
2) to suffer on account of the name of Jesus.
This week we’ll see how Saul’s life begins to demonstrate these words from Jesus as he begins preaching about Jesus in the same places where he once plotted the death of Christians.
And, as he does, his old friends and colleagues begin scheming how they will kill him so that they can silence him. 
Throughout the rest of Acts, we will see this pattern continue in Saul’s life: how he preaches the name of Jesus and suffers on account of His Name. 
Through it all, we will see how Jesus builds His Church.

This Sunday, we are in Acts 9:1–19, one of the most gripping passages in the book of Acts—the story of how Jesus stops Saul in his tracks and turns a persecutor into a disciple.
But as we’ll see, this isn’t a story about a man finding his way to God through effort, morality, or religious sincerity. As we see, Saul wasn’t searching for Jesus at all.
Rather, it’s a story about Jesus—about His sovereign and gracious pursuit of His enemies, His power to interrupt rebellion, and the kind of grace He loves to show as He turns opponents into His people and sends them out on His mission.
We can’t wait to dive into this text together!
Two things to THINK about beforehand 💭
👉 1. What does Saul’s story reveal about who Jesus is—not just what He does?
This isn’t a story of human effort or religious improvement, but of a risen King who confronts, exposes, and saves His enemies.
👉 2. How does Saul’s conversion challenge the idea that anyone is “too far gone”?
Are there people in your life you’ve quietly written off as unreachable by grace?
Two things to PRAY about beforehand 🙏
👉 1. Ask God to help you see Jesus clearly in this text—His authority, His mercy, and His power to save.
Pray that your heart would marvel again at grace you didn’t earn.
👉 2. Pray for softened hearts—yours and others’.
That Jesus would continue doing what He’s always done: turning enemies into brothers and sisters, and sending ordinary people out on His mission.
Looking forward to gathering, opening God’s Word, and worshiping together this Sunday.

In our passage this week, Philip encounters a rather unique individual in the middle of the desert, one of the most powerful men from an African empire. He is a eunuch, but he is also a convert to the worship of the God of Israel.
In this passage Philip shares the gospel with this man starting with a passage from Isaiah 53. As you prepare for the sermon, along with reading Acts 8:26-40, read Isaiah 53 as well. Meditate on this stunning prophetic portrayal of the sacrifice of Jesus. And consider God’s providence in the Spirit’s orchestration of this incredible encounter.
Pray that we too would open our mouths to explain God’s word by the guidance of the Spirit with those we encounter. And may we see God’s goodness to bring near those who are far-off.

This Sunday we will consider the advance of the gospel into Samaria in Acts 8, showing how Christ brings joy, unity, and freedom even into a place long marked by division, idolatry, and spiritual darkness.

Through Philip’s preaching, the Samaritans receive the good news, experience real transformation, and are welcomed fully into God’s people with no second-class status. 

Against this backdrop, Simon the sorcerer emerges as a warning example—someone who appears to believe but ultimately seeks to use God’s power for personal gain and self-advancement. 

The gospel continues to spread despite human failure, the passage invites us to reflect: whose name are we really seeking to make great—our own, or Jesus Christ’s?

Pray that the Lord would give you a humble heart, willing to be examined by His Word, and ready to receive the gospel not as a tool for self-gain, but as the power of God for salvation.

Luke 2:22-35 this good news of great joy will continue to be revealed. There we learn that this good news is for more than just Israel; Jesus will be a light of revelation to the Gentiles.
However, included with this prophecy of great news is a warning. The arrival of the long-awaited Messiah will be met with great opposition.
However, we can be encouraged that the hearts of many will be revealed through him. This includes those with whom you share the light of Christ through your life!
As you prepare for our time together, pray that we would be those who continue to share this “light of revelation” despite the opposition we may face for following Christ

Luke 2:15-21

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.