Jesus is who you think. He is after the marginalized. He is after those who are on the outs. In fact, if you've experienced shame, that is good evidence he is coming for you. You are in the very center of his mission statement.
—Ed Welch
The Object of Paul's Hope (Acts 22:30-23:11)
Pandemic, Pentacost, and Paul (Acts 21, 17-38)
“Covid-19 is not a blessing. It is one more obvious, terrible instance of a broken world. But amid all the reasonable concern, we shouldn’t lose sight of the deeper cause of our anxiety—our mortal fear, [death]—and the unprecedented chance within this life to become fuller, richer and more joyful human beings...No sane person would ever give thanks for a pandemic. But if we take the chance it gives us to become truth-tellers, lovers and reconcilers, we may well wind up giving thanks for what we have become.”
—Kavin Rowe, Professor of New Testament, Duke University, article from the Wall Street Journal
Feed the Sheep (Acts 20:17-38)
“He said to him a third time, ‘Simon, Son of John, do you love me?...Feed my sheep.’ ” — Jesus with Peter, John 21:17
“Don’t beat the sheep or eat the sheep. Feed the sheep.” — origin unkown
The Image of the Lamb (Revelation 5)
“Repeated crimes awake our fears, and justice armed with frowns appears. But in the Savior’s lovely face, sweet mercy smiles, and all is peace, all is peace .... He lives! The great Redeemer lives! What joy the blest assurance gives! And now, before His Father, God, pleads the merit of His blood. He lives! The great Redeemer lives! What joy the blest assurance gives! And now, before His Father, God , pleads the merit of His blood. He lives, oh, He lives.” — Anne Steele, He Lives
Raising of Eutychus (Acts 19:21-41)
“Good writing is about telling the truth. We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not share this longing, which is one reason they write so very little. But we do. We have so much we want to say and figure out.” — Anne Lamont
“It is a world where the battle goes ultimately to the good, who live happily ever after, and where in the long run everybody, good and evil alike, becomes known by his true name...That is the fairy tale of the Gospel with, of course, one crucial difference from all other fairy tales, which is that the claim made for it is that it is true, that it not only happened once upon a time but has kept on happening ever since and is happening still.” — Frederick Buechner
The Mechanics of Idolatry and Christianity (Acts 19:21-41)
“When you are with God, that is what you are; you are no more and no less. Who you are with God defines all the rest.”
— Jack Miller
Living in Christ's Reality (John 7:37-39)
“Thou will supply my every need, on to the end whate’er befall. Through life, in death, eternally, Thou art my all.”
—Third verse of “Thou Art My Life” (or “Jesus My Savior”) by Charlotte Elliot, who became an invalid around age 30, and remained so the rest of her life. About her physical condition, Elliott wrote: “My Heavenly Father knows, and He alone, what it is, day afer day, and hour afer hour, to fight against bodily feelings of almost overpowering weakness and languor and exhaustion, to resolve, as He enables me to do, not to yield to the slothfulness, the depression, the irritability, such as a body causes me to long to indulge, but to rise every morning determined on taking this for my motto, If any man will come afer me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
Where is our Power? (Psalm 46)
“Be careful what you put your hope in. Every human being functions by hope. You will attach your identity, your meaning and purpose, your inner security to something. It never works to attach your hope to something horizontal. Lasting hope is only ever found vertically. Be careful what you’re afraid of. Fear never produces anything good in your life. I think fear of the march of cultural things that we think are wrong, that threaten human identity, massive changes in sexuality, in gender, in morality – that fear can make you run some place and associate with things that you think are speaking your language that may lead to complete compromise on what you actually believe and where you actually find hope.”
—Paul David Tripp
[Unfortunately, sermon audio is not available for this week. Please check back for our next sermon.]
The Necessity of the Holy Spirit (Acts 18:24-19:20)
“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe“
—Ephesians 1:15-19a