The Bible is filled with amazing stories.  In its entirety it is THE story of God and His great love for people.  There are some passages that to this day you can tell are game changing passages.  Acts 10 is one of these game changers.  I’d encourage you all to take a moment and read all of it, but we will simply look at the end of the chapter.  To this point the church had been growing rapidly but the converts were almost all former Jews who had embraced Jesus as their Messiah.  Acts 10 is when God reveals to Peter the need to bring the gospel to the Gentiles as well.  Let’s look at what happens when he first does this together today. 

Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. 39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

God uses a Gentile named Cornelius and a dream that he gives Peter three times to begin to bring the gospel message to the rest of the world.  It might be easy to skip over the significance of this moment.  This is the moment when Christianity goes worldwide.  All the world is now open to receiving the message of Jesus and His love.  It should serve as a reminder to us all of how God uses little moments to do life changing things.  A simple opportunity to share your faith could result in hundreds or even thousands of people hearing about Jesus.  A simple act of kindness toward a friend or even a stranger can change everything for them.  I pray that God might help all of us to take advantage of those simple moments that can change the world.  May God use all of us this way to be world changers.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Has something ever happened in your life that immediately changed everything?  Some people have experiences like that where others gradually change over time.  Saul/Paul had one of those immediate life changing situations take place.  Let’s look at the story together from Acts 9.

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

When Saul in confronted with the presence of Jesus he goes immediately from being perhaps the greatest persecuted of Christians and the early church to calling out, “who are you, Lord”?  He then becomes one of the greatest evangelistic forces in all of history.  While his story is amazing the biggest question for us all is how do we experience and respond to the presence of God in our lives?  We need to seek encounters with Jesus and allow Him to change our lives as well.  It might not be immediate but His Spirit changes us from the inside out.  He takes the brokenness of our lives and makes beautiful things out of it.  He changes Saul from a persecutor to a proclaimer.  He wants to use all of us to build His kingdom and share His love with the world.  All we need to do is be willing to let Him.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Have you ever felt like God was telling you to do something?  Perhaps even something that might be out of character for you?  Sometimes it’s just a sense that you should call someone or go up and speak to someone.  There have been a few times where God has put it on my heart to reach out to a person who I haven’t spoken to in years.  I have found that when we are sensitive to God leading like this it tends to happen more often and God inevitably uses those moments in powerful ways.  There is one such moment recorded in Acts 8.  Let’s look art it together today.

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33  In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37]  38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

Phillip had a sense from God that he was supposed to run up to a random chariot that had an important official in it.  I’m sure somewhere in his mind he must have thought that this didn’t make much sense and perhaps could even be dangerous.  He obeys the Spirit and goes and God uses that encounter to not only bring the gospel to the Eunuch but also ultimately to bring the gospel to Ethiopia.  You never know just how significant it might be when we listen to the things that God calls us to do.  Those moments can literally be life changing.  I pray that God might give us all a sensitivity to hear those calls that Jesus gives to us through His Spirit and that like Phillip we might all answer the call.  You never know when God might use you to change someone’s life. 

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Today we look at the story of Stephen, who is often referred to as the first martyr of the Christian faith.  Of course technically Jesus is first and without His death there is no Christianity, but Stephen is the first one recorded after that.  He delivers an amazing sermon that takes the people of Israel through all of their history.  It starts in Acts 7:2 and goes all the way through some of the verses we are looking at today.  I encourage you to read the entire thing but for our purposes today we will simply look at the end of the chapter.

“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.” 54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

I am struck by Stephen’s boldness and the forgiveness he offers in the midst of being stoned to death.  When it comes to being bold in sharing our faith I think we often grasp at excuses for not doing it. “I don’t want to offend anyone.”  “I don’t know what to say.”  “I’ll leave that to the professionals.”  This story is a great reminder of just how serious the early church took the Great Commission.  It was one of the final messages of Jesus for us to go and make disciples.  I pray that God might give all of us the boldness of Stephen in sharing our faith and Jesus’ love with the world!

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Have you ever been part of a team where you were missing a key element?  When I was in middle school we had quite the exceptional football team.  We went undefeated for three straight years and honestly didn’t even have many close games.  At first we had a struggle though because we ran out of the shotgun formation and didn’t have anyone to play center and hike the ball.  Our first practices and even first few games we mishandled lots of snaps and even had a few lost fumbles as a result.  Finally we had a practice where coach made everyone practice at center.  It turned out one of our wide receivers was great at snapping the ball.  We had lots of people who could play receiver and catch but he was really the only one who could snap worth anything.  Once we had his skills we were unstoppable.  The same is true with the church.  When everyone is using their gifts and talents the church thrives.  Let’s look at one such situation in the early church from Acts 6. 

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Once these first Deacons were established and began using their gifts it said the word of God spread and the number of disciples increased rapidly.  That’s the thing about the church, it’s not about any one thing or one person.  It thrives when everyone is using their gifts well.  That is what God intended and why He gives us all spiritual gifts in the first place.  From serving to singing, from teaching to hospitality God needs each and every one of our gifts for things to really grow like they should.  I pray that we all might use the gifts He has given us to help build His church

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

Why do you do the good things that you do? When you help out another person what is the motivation?  There are all kinds of reasons we might help others.  Perhaps we have a genuine love or affection for them.  Maybe we are motivated by a sense of duty or obedience to help.  Maybe we like and enjoy how it makes us feel.  Sometimes, if we are honest, we might want to be noticed or appreciated for helping others.  In Acts 5 a couple does something really good but for the wrong reasons and they are dishonest about it.  Let’s look together at the story of Ananias and Sapphira. 

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. 3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. 7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” 9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” 10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

The problem certainly wasn’t in the generosity or even that they didn’t give all of the money.  The problem was all about their dishonesty and motivation.  They wanted people to think that they had given away all of the money from selling their property.  They wanted to be recognized and appreciated for their great sacrifice.  They were not truly motivated to serve Jesus and help the ministry of the Disciples.  I pray that God would give us the right heart as we seek to serve and love others.  Help us all to share God’s love with the world because we are called to and out of our great love for Him.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Are there people in your life that have a tremendous impact and influence on you?  You know the kind of people that just make you a little bit better when you spend time with them.  Jesus certainly had that effect on others and He continues to do so today.  Let’s look at another incident with Peter and John found in Acts 4 together today.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

I love the very last line – they took note that these men had been with Jesus.  They noticed that Jesus had clearly made an impact in the lives of Peter and John after all they were ordinary unschooled men.  The influence of Jesus was leading them to do extraordinary things.   My prayer for all of us is that the world might also notice the impact of Jesus in all of our lives.  People might notice that we have been with Him.  That Jesus has so rubbed off on our lives that we start to speak and act like He did.  The best way for this to happen is by spending time with Him in prayer and in the Word. 

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Have you ever seen someone change radically?  Maybe you haven’t seen them in awhile and they lost a lot of weight or changed their hair color.  Perhaps you have seen someone undergo a tremendous behavior change in their life do to new life decisions.  It is always amazing to me when you notice some of these changes.  I think that perhaps there is no greater change than what happens to Peter after He receives the Holy Spirit.  He was always impulsive, at times bold in other instances timid to the point of denying Jesus.  After Pentecost, Peter turns into perhaps the greatest human force of building the church.  Let’s look at Luke 3 at Peter’s continuing new bold behavior for Jesus. 

11 While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

Peter and John had just healed a man in the name of Jesus and through the power of Jesus.  People are astonished and so Peter uses this opportunity to immediately confront the crowd with the message of the Gospel.  He wants to take advantage of every opportunity to get the message out to the world.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit this is a new Peter.  He is taking the challenges that Jesus left Him with seriously.  I pray that God might grant us all a little bit of the boldness of Peter.  May we, like him, be a force that brings the Gospel to the world.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

To me it is such an amazing honor and privilege that God chooses to use us.  He asks us to be His messengers and gives us the honor of bringing the gospel to the world.  Certainly God could do it Himself with signs and wonders.  Jesus was here for 33 years and at the end only a few faithful were following Him.  Yet in Acts 2 Peter, yes Peter delivers one sermon and 3,000 people become followers of Jesus.  God does not need us to deliver His message but He chooses to use us which is our honor and privilege.  Let’s look at Acts 2 together today. 

36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”  When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”38 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. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

The thing is it is still God doing the work of changing hearts.  He just allows us to be His voice and carry His message to the world.  We are His plan so we need to be sure to faithfully share God’s love with the world.  That means loving others like Jesus loved.  Living like Jesus lived, and sharing His gospel message with the world.  After all if Peter can do it we all can!

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

As we conclude our walk through the book of Luke I figured we should continue on with his next letter, the Acts of the Apostles commonly called Acts.  It is a fitting sequel to the gospels as it shows the response of the disciples and other early church members to Jesus leaving and His giving of the Holy Spirit.  In that sense they are in the exact same boat as we are today.  Let’s begin this journey together today with the introduction to Acts found in chapter 1. 

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus knew that the disciples would have some moments of struggle after He left.  He left them with a clear purpose and He gave them (and us) the power to carry that mission out through the gift of His Holy Spirit.  That’s the beautiful thing about Jesus.  He doesn’t ask things of us that He hasn’t given us the gifts and strength to do.  We are tasked with the very same job as those early disciples.  We must carry Jesus’ message and love into the world through the strength and power of the Holy Spirit which He gives us.  Shoot, if Peter can do it anyone can right?  I pray that we might all carry on the work of Jesus and these early disciples and share God’s love with the world.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave