This sermon is the first message in a five week series titled Wisdom in the Way of Christ. Each message is an overview of one of the five wisdom books from the Old Testament. Job is the first of the wisdom books. Job’s main theme is that suffering is common in this life - but God is greater than our suffering, and reveals Himself to us in it. This overview of Job introduces the books of wisdom and then moves on to survey Job by examining the books introduction, it’s four dialogues and it’s conclusion. Many lesson are drawn out from Job as well as the key to Job’s perseverance under such severe trial. Because Job was written about a real sufferer and about the God the sufferer knew and served, this book is particularly helpful for those who are in the midst of suffering themselves. Job teaches us that suffering is not random but rather, has a purpose. The book also shows how the Lord is Himself in control of suffering. The misconception that health, wealth and wisdom are markers of God’s blessing while suffering is not is also revealed. And Job shows that the gospel is the only solid foundation which provides bedrock upon which to stand during times of suffering and trial.

In the same way fruit trees and plants require care, feeding and protection in order to be healthy and fruitful, so do churches. And the work of care and oversight of Christ’s church falls to a group of men known elders. In this sermon, from Acts 20:28, the apostle Paul’s charge to the elders of the church at Ephesus is expounded and the work of church elders is explained. We learn from Paul’s charge to these elders that church elders are tasked with the oversight and care, first of themselves and also of the church. And they are to lead, feed and protect the church primarily because of what the church is - the church of God and the bride of Christ. Because church elders are tasked with the care of Christ’s bride, in Christ’s absence, Paul impresses upon the Ephesian elders, as well as to elders today, the urgency of fulfilling their task and excelling in their work, for Christ’s sake.

In this sermon, taken from Acts 20:17-27, Paul is speaking with the elders of the church at Ephesus and as he reminds them of his ministry among them, a profile of a servant of Christ emerges. We learn from Paul how an approved servant of Jesus Christ is one who serves humbly and sacrificially and whose service is gospel focused. Paul modeled this type service for Christ in hopes that the Ephesian elders would continue to do the same after his departure from them. The lesson for us in todays church is that Paul’s profile provides a good pattern for servants, whether one’s ministry is to ones wife, children, peers or as a deacon, elder, community group or youth leader or for servants in children’s discipleship.

All of the recorded sermons and speeches in Acts, up until chapter 20, are either preached to unbelievers or are given in defense of the gospel message. In Acts 20, however, there is an exception to this rule in verses 7 to 11 and 17 to 35. In those verses Luke recorded two instances where the audience was christian; and in Luke’s description we see a picture of early worship, teaching, oversight structure and leadership character. This sermon, which is taken from vv. 7-11 and 17-28, focuses on each of these pictures to provide a three dimensional profile of the New Testament Church.

Gathering together to worship God is something the church has always valued and treasured. Luke gives us a snapshot of the church in Troas eagerly gathering to hear from Paul before he left town and then the unthinkable happens… Paul speaks a little too long, in a hot and stuffy room and a young man, fighting to stay awake falls asleep and out the window to his death. Paul displays the power of God by raising Eutychus back to life. It is easy to look back from our time and place and see this as a somewhat humorous episode, but as we dig into the passage of scripture and the cultural context we learn a lot about a commitment to worship and what it means to have a heart awake to God. This message will challenge you to identify barriers you have in your heart to worshipping God and point you to Jesus who delights to make dead things come to life.

As a christian do you ever feel the watching world sees you as limited and inadequate? And do you feel this inadequacy? If you answered ‘yes’ to these questions, you are in good company, because the Apostle Paul and his companions felt the same as well. In this message, weakness in ministry is examined from the life of the apostle Paul and his travel companions. And we clearly how, as the gospel was proclaimed in the world it was spread by people who were weak in the eyes of the world, but God moved with power in their weakness. This is because his strength is made perfect in our weakness. For, as J.I. Packer observes, weakness is the way!