York Alliance Family of Churches Podcast

Understanding the story of Jesus requires a big picture understanding of the important phrase "according to the Scriptures." Paul invites us to engage the great story of God through His simple statement of the gospel. Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration are simple and clear movements in God's story that help us to discover where we fit.

Apprenticeship to Jesus isn't about checking a series of boxes or gaining the requisite knowledge, but rather about a lifetime journey of being with Jesus, becoming like Him, and learning to do the things that He would do if He were me. Of course that means that we will need to change. The change process is at the heart of discipleship, and a clear way to see whether or not I'm being formed by Jesus.

Just as baptism played a prominent role in the early church, the sacrament of baptism is a key part of our journey with Jesus. The proclamation of baptism is a beautiful declaration of the gospel and one that every follower of Jesus is called to enact. The question we must ask is the one that came from the Ethiopian eunuch: "Why shouldn't I be baptized?"

For too many of us, our default view of the Holy Spirit is that of a mysterious power or force. However, the Bible is clear that the Spirit is a person who indwells followers of Jesus. It's by recognizing the person of the Holy Spirit that we begin to walk in step with Him rather than seek to use His power for our own ends.

The story of the first martyr in the early church is a sober reminder to us that standing up for Jesus can have a significant cost. The question of whether or not we would be willing to die for Jesus as Stephen did, while difficult, is much more straightforward. The challenging question we each must face is whether or not we are willing to live for Him.

There is a sacred call to serve Jesus, and there is great diversity to that calling. The Kingdom is populated with many different kinds of people with many different gifts. However, we're all called to use what we have to serve and we're all called to proclaim the gospel through our words and deeds.

Movements that come from God will ultimately endure, regardless of the opposition. We are invited to move with God through the power of the Holy Spirit but, even when we don't, His Spirit continues to achieve His purposes. Each of us must ask the question: Am I moving with God, opposing Him, or standing on the sidelines?

Whether we are aware of it or not, God by His Holy Spirit, is always revealing Himself. When He does, what God does can seem at times gracious or at other times severe. The Ananias and Sapphira story teaches us that it is always both. How can we respond in faith and draw near to God when God seems “mean”?

Our response in the face of threats and danger tells us something about the depth of our faith. When the early disciples faced persecution, they prayed in a remarkable way, trusting God to use them even more. But it didn't end there—their prayer then led to lives that witnessed the presence of Jesus in them.

While there is certainly a place for formal learning and study, they are not the only way to learn. In fact, when growing in Christ, there's no substitute to actually being with Him. What was notable about the disciples to the people around them was that they had been with Jesus, and the same thing should be true for us today.