Sermons on Acts (Page 3)
In Acts 20, Paul continues his travels on his third missionary journey. Very little information is given about these stops in his journey—save for one interesting story about a young man from Troas who fell asleep while the church members were having an all-night discussion with Paul about Scripture. In this study, we focus not…
Paul and the believers in Ephesus were experiencing true repentance and its effects. True repentance always has an effect—on both the life of the one repenting and to all those around that one. This morning, we hope to examine some of these effects of repentance with the goal of challenging ourselves to experience true repentance…
In our study together last week, Paul had just arrived in Ephesus on his third missionary endeavor. As was his custom, Paul began teaching and preaching Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah in the synagogue there in Ephesus. In our study today, we’re going to take some time to note the impact that Paul…
In our previous studies in the Book of Acts, Paul was in the midst of his second missionary journey when he arrived in Corinth and ended up staying for 18 months of fruitful ministry. But now the time had come for Paul to move on to be able to complete this journey and begin anew.…
As we come to the end of Paul’s Second Missionary Journey, we realize that Paul arrived in Corinth physically and emotionally spent—burned out—and he was in desperate need of rejuvenation. That is exactly what he received when he arrived in Corinth. In this study, we will spend some time examining all the ways that Paul received encouragement and instruction during this difficult time and try to apply some of these same principles to our lives as well.
How can we know God’s will for our lives? That is a question that believers have been asking for centuries! It is a question that I grappled with as a teenager; and a question that I still seek answers to today. We never outgrow the need for seeking God’s will. In this study, we find Paul and Barnabas ready to set sail on yet another missionary journey, but conflicted over some of the details of the journey. In spite of human failings, God’s will was accomplished in and through these men.
In the life of Joseph we are able to see what is referred to as a “Type” of Christ because there are aspects of their lives that correspond to one another. In other words, as we look at the life of Joseph, it is a picture of what God promised He would do for mankind to save them from the desperate state of sinfulness that we are in because of Adam and Eve. We must be careful in considering Joseph as a “Type” of Christ; in that, we must not deify him in any way. He was a man, lost in his sin and disgrace, which trusted God and it was credited to him for righteousness—just like his great-grandfather, Abraham. In this study, we will look at some of the corresponding attributes of the lives of Joseph and Jesus.
We have a responsibility to communicate the gospel effectively. That means that we need to use whatever method is most effective whenever we are sharing the gospel. In our text this morning, we will see that the Apostle Paul used at least three methods for communicating the gospel. The Bible relates the responses to the gospel message too. We need to imitate the Bereans in the way we approach the teaching and examination of God’s Word.
We cannot forget that there is immeasurable power behind the message of the Gospel! The same power that was at work in Philippi is the same power that is at work in and through us. There is power in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We must be careful not to box God in by our cynicism and lack of faith. Our faith in God rests in the power of the gospel—“for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘the righteous shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:17).
When thinking about the ways in which God leads His people, R. Kent Hughes said, “God can use unhappy, perplexing failures to bring fresh purpose and direction to our lives… Even when we are at fault, God will use our failures to bring greater blessing… God will lead us according to his own perfect plan for our lives and ministries. We must be careful not to box God in by our prior experience. The most important thing by far is our attitude… We need to yield to his caring hand.”