Waterbrooke Church

Here at Waterbrooke, we have been studying the New Testament book of Acts. This Sunday, we are in Acts 9:32-43 as we celebrate Easter Sunday and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The entire book of Acts is both a demonstration and a defense of the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Dr. Brandon Crowe from Westminster Theological Seminary writes: “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the key emphases of Acts, and this helps us appreciate the theological unity of the entire book.” I would say that the resurrection is THE key emphasis of the book of Acts. The resurrected Christ has transformed His timid disciples into bold apostles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Their changed lives and their bold ministries are proof of the resurrection. The pouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is proof that Jesus is both risen and reigning. The conversion of multitudes of people is proof of the power of the risen Christ, beginning to change humanity. Saul of Tarsus’ radical conversion is clearly declared to have happened because of his encounter with the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus. For Luke, every advancement of the kingdom of God into the nations is proof of the resurrected Christ. Acts displays what Jesus continued to do as the risen and reigning Savior and King to advance His kingdom and to bring the nations to Himself. The resurrection has changed everything!

I have said repeatedly that one of the joys that I get from being pastor of Waterbrooke Church is how many people are on mission together in our congregation. Whether it is locally or globally,

Waterbrooke has continually had people who go into prisons, or motorcycle venues or restaurants and bars or to the nations to share Christ. We have people reaching Asia and people serving in women’s centers and women’s prisons.

The One of the new exciting ministries that we have begun is the Refugee Ministry Team that is currently begun to serve an Afghani family. Many of you are truly seeking to be a light in your workplaces, neighborhoods and homes. In our passage this week, Acts 9:26-31, Luke shows that missions happens because of the local church and the local church grows through missionary engagement.

Missionary Mack Stiles who along with his wife have served in church ministry in Dubai and in Iraq was once asked by an individual here in America, “What can we do for you, Mack?” Mack replied, “The best thing that you can do for me,” I said, “is to make sure you keep your church healthy. I can’t do the work there if churches are unhealthy here.”

This Sunday, our sermon was called Church and Missions: Advancing Together. God really is up to something fantastic and I pray the Holy Spirit will encourage us at Waterbrooke with His vision for the church and for the nations.

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Have you ever been really wrong? I mean really, really wrong? Have you ever been outspoken or opinionated about a subject and then made a huge discovery that radically shifted your position?

Imagine in our ongoing study of the book of Acts, just what it must have been like for Saul of Tarsus. In an instant, on the road to Damascus, Saul discovered that he was completely wrong about Jesus. Imagine how that felt. He had not only been outspoken against the Church and its message about Christ, but he was violent in his opposition to Jesus. He had approved of the stoning of Stephen to death. He had arrested and beaten and imprisoned numerous men and women. He had threatened many and was bent on stomping out this movement called, The Way. Then, he met Jesus. And he realized that he was wrong.

That’s our sermon title for this week: Radical Re-formation: How the Truth of Christ Changes Us and Keeps Changing Us for the Rest of Our Lives. I think this is deeply encouraging as we discover that we are all in the School of Christ if we are believers and because of His forgiveness and grace, we can continue to learn what it means to live our lives by faith in Him. Looking forward to worshipping with you this Sunday. Invite a friend. Christ is worthy of our praise!

Welcome our Guest speaker,  Brian Thomas, as he brings us the word Mark 12:28-34

When we come across “what can man do to me” in our Bible reading, it sounds a little flippant doesn’t it? Men and women do an awful lot of terrible things to other men and women. There is plenty to fear in this fallen world. But this phrase came from David while people were actively chasing him with the intent to kill him. How can he say such a thing? Stop running for a second and you will see what man can do to you!

Our sermon this Sunday was called “Two Blind Men”. In Acts 9:1-18, we will see the radical conversion of a Christ-hating Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus. The conversion is so stunning that Ananias, a relatively anonymous Christ-loving disciple at Damascus, has trouble getting his head around it. Yet, Christ chose Ananias to be the very instrument he wanted to bring Saul to Christ and to commission Saul for the mission of the gospel.  

Here is something that we perpetually need to get our heads and hearts around: Unlikely people are used by Christ to save unlikely people and to set them on mission for the gospel. Christ purposely chooses the nobodies of this world to advance the kingdom of His Son. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 reveals how this shaped Paul’s understanding of how God does his mission: “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human might boast in the presence of God.” Do you actually believe this? Do you believe that Christ uses weak and broken people and nobodies to advance his eternal kingdom? Does it excite you? Does it make you expect the unexpected to happen? 

Come this Sunday as we watch God work His weird and wonderful way of salvation to the surprise of two completely unsuspecting men. May it cause us to rejoice at God’s ways and to begin to expect God to do the unexpected in and through our lives. See you Sunday. Bring a friend. God is so good!

In Christ,

In the book of Acts, Luke is reinforcing for us what he repeatedly emphasized in the gospel of Luke: Our God has come to rescue and to restore the outcast and the sinner. It is one of the most beautiful truths of the Christian faith that God loved us while we were yet sinners. God seeks to restore those who have rebelled against him and those who have been really far from Him. God saves the least likely.

This Sunday, we studied Acts 8:1-25. After the stoning of Stephen, absolute mayhem breaks out. Acts 8:3 reads, “But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” Isn’t that awful and yet wonderful at the same time? What is happening is traumatic to those believers yanked out of their homes and thrown into prison. But… what is clear is that God is up to something. He has plans for that persecutor of the church, Saul of Tarsus. Saul is in God’s sights.

One of the things that we regularly see in the customer service industry is articles on how to improve customer response times. For example, in one study, it was revealed that 70% of the people who evaluated customer service said that the quicker a business responded and resolved customer issues dictated whether they were viewed as having good quality customer service. Your response times indicated how valuable your customers were to you.

Are you eager to follow Christ? Are you going out of your way to get above the crowd and the noise to see him and to hear him? How is your Christ response time? Come this Sunday as our sermon is called Improving our Responsiveness to Jesus. I think you will find it encouraging and helpful. 

In Christ,