From Lost 2 Found

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”      -Acts 2:37-39 When God’s word is at work, as it obviously did through Peter’s preaching, there must be a response. God’s word always calls for a response. When the law quickens our spirit and awakens us to our hopelessness, we may respond with indifference, disbelief or repentance. Is repentance enough to be saved? Do we receive the Holy Spirit through repentance? Not according to this passage of Scripture! The promise spoken of by Peter is Christ’s promise of the Holy Spirit, which Peter links directly to the act of baptism. Through baptism we r...

2009 Adult Sunday School Plan Topic: Adult Confirmation: a thorough overview Rationale: Many adults in the church have not participated in confirmation instruction in their youth. Of those who did, it was many years ago, and some have expressed a desire to have a refresher course. The nature of corporate worship leads us to repeat certain activities (Communion, Baptism) or statements (Lord’s Prayer, Apostle’s Creed) without taking the time to explain and teach what we are doing and why. Repetition can be useful for low-level learning, but can be counter-productive to higher-level understanding and applying. Adults need the opportunity to not only hear the teachings of the church, but to evaluate and at times even question them, in order to develop spiritual maturity. Challenges: Students will likely possess a wide variety of experience with the topics presented. Some may feel they know all they need to know. Others may feel as though these teachings are no longer relevant f...

When the day of Pentecost came…all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit…when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart.  -Acts 2:1ff God’s Holy Spirit, promised by Christ, came with a power that overwhelmed all the disciples of Christ and worked in them “as the Spirit enabled them.” What was the response of others? verse 6: they came together in bewilderment verse 7: they were utterly amazed verse 12: they were amazed and perplexed and were asking questions verse 13: Some made fun of them, even accusing them of being drunk How do people respond to the Holy Spirit’s powerful presence in my life? I don’t often see bewilderment or amazement. I don’t often receive questions. I seldom am accused or ridiculed. Is it possible that I stifle the Spirit’s work, for fear of how people will respond. I notice that none of those mentioned responded with faith, but evidently some were prepared for a faith-filled response to the preaching that followed. The Spir...

“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” -Acts 1:11 It has been said that it is not polite to stare, yet staring seems to be a part of our human nature. Too easily we get fixated on someone or something and we are unable to move past it. How long would the disciples have stood and stared if they had not been instructed to move on? In the church today we talk about keeping our eyes on Jesus, but do we do it at the expense of our mission? We must find a balance between watching for Christ and living for Christ. Is it a fair question to ask: “Which would Jesus rather have us doing when He returns, watching for him or serving others in His name?” He is coming, but until He returns we must be about the business He has called us to – loving others in His name and making disciples of His kingdom.

I am just beginning to read this work by Henry and Melvin Blackaby. My interest in it stems from having been radically tranformed by God through Henry Blackaby's study " Experiencing God ." It truly has affected how I see the world, ministry, and myself. My hope for " A God-Centered Church " is that I will discover ways to help lead others in my congregation and in my community to experience God and be radically tranformed as well. I claim no expertise, only a honest and sincere hope in a rising, living Savior and a firm belief that He desires for us to know Him in a way that is far deeper than most modern Christians currently experience. Here are a few quotes from the introduction which help to lay the foundation for the rest of the book: "Their [Christians crying out for somthing more in their relationship with God] struggle tends to come from the fact that they never understood the nature of God's great salvation. More specifically, they never unders...

I have heard that a pastor's job is to help people prepare for death. While there may be some truth to that it not only seems a bit morbid but also a bit simplistic. Just what then is a pastor's job? Most people know that we teach and preach God's Word. For sure that is number one. To do this part of the job well one not only has to spend a considerable amount of time studying and learning God's Word, but also needs to know that make up the congergation. The more I know about the audience, the easier it will be to apply God's Word to their situations. That brings me to the number two part of the job: knowing your people. This is most easily accomlished by spending time with them. Unfortunately that is not always so easy to do. Sometimes their schedules are full and they really just don't have time for you. Other times, they have misconceptions about the role of Pastor and assume that they shouldn't spend time with you because you have more important things t...

Acts 2:14, 22b-41 14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 22 "Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 "David said about him: 'I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. 28 You have made known to me th...