Episodes
Wednesday Jan 30, 2013
His Vision, Our Vision
Wednesday Jan 30, 2013
Wednesday Jan 30, 2013
A CITY SET ON A HILL - 1/27/13 This is Jesus’ vision for His church. As one author commented, we could just as easily paraphrase Jesus as saying to His church “You are to be an infectious influence in the world.” When Jesus spoke of a city set on a hill, no doubt his hearers thought of Jerusalem. It is indeed a city on a hill, and on its central high spot sat the Temple. Its roof reflected the sun by day; its lights radiated in the darkness of night. It could not be missed for miles around, either by day or night. Jesus intends this image of a city set on a hill to reveal to us as that the church must be prominent in the world if we are to influence the world. The word “prominent” comes from a Latin word which means to jut out or to stand out. Just as a hill STANDS OUT against the landscape, so the church is to STAND OUT in the world. So how does the church stand out in the world? We must stand out in truth, in hope, and in love.
Tuesday Jan 22, 2013
The Power of Corporate Prayer
Tuesday Jan 22, 2013
Tuesday Jan 22, 2013
SERIES: THE DIFFERENCE PRAYER MAKES 1/20/13 This passage begins with Peter in prison. The Jews pressed these attacks against the early church because they hated the Gospel they preached. Herod persecuted the early church because it gave him a boost in the political polls. And you can be certain the devil was behind all of it because he wanted to stop the church. Paul reminds us that our battle is not with flesh and blood, but with the spiritual forces of darkness in operation behind these entities that oppose God, His people and His purpose. (Eph 6:12). The church realized that this was a critical situation. If Peter it would have a damaging impact on the church. Their response was not to circulate a petition, calling for a stop to the executions of Christians, or to organize a protest outside of Herod’s palace. No...they called a prayer meeting. The enemy's sole purpose in every age is to stop the work Christ, but God's answer is always His mighty working in response to prayer. Acts 12 is a powerful and clear example of the fact that when the church prays TOGETHER, it can and does make a difference.