Gathering Recap - 12/07/2025 - Matthew 2:1-12 - Be Still Nations, The Magi Were Invited

Call to worship:

1 God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
    God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
    how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46:1-11

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What is the significance of the magi being invited?

How does God go about fulfilling His promises to the nations?

Where is God calling you to wait?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

Thank you for this Advent season where we remember the arrival of Jesus and His promised return, where He will make all things new.. Would you help us to regularly reflect on Your faithfulness, and place Your truth into the areas where we struggle to trust. Holy Spirit, help us to reflect the light of Christ to those around us.

In the name of Jesus we pray,

Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Matthew 2:1-12 - Faith Reading

Slide 1

The Big Idea

The Magi prove that God keeps His promise to bless all the nations of the earth

Slide 2

Who was Herod the King?

Slide 3

“There are lots of Herods in the New Testament—this one is the first Herod, Herod the Great, the King of the Jews. But the thing about Herod the Great, the King of the Jews, is that he wasn’t a Jew and shouldn’t have been king. He wasn’t from the tribe of Judah, or the house of David. He wasn’t actually a Jew—he was an Idumean, an Edomite, technically, one of Israel’s historical enemies.

He ruled by terror and murder. He was paranoid and at times seems legit crazy. At one point when he was literally on his death bed, he thought his own sons were trying to assassinate him. He’s literally on his death bed actually dying—so he had his own sons executed. By the last few years of his life it seems like he was completely out of his tree.”

Craig Hamilton

Slide 4

Who were the wise men?

Slide 5

“Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.”

Exodus 7:11-12

Slide 6

“Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler of the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.”

Daniel 2:48

Slide 7

““The group of Magi in question came “from the East.” They might have been Zoroastrians, Medes, Persians, Arabs, or even Jews. They probably served as court advisors, making forecasts and predictions for their royal patrons based on their study of the stars, about which they were quite knowledgeable. Magi often wandered from court to court, and it was not unusual for them to cover great distances in order to attend the birth or crowning of a king, paying their respects and offering gifts. It is not surprising, therefore, that Matthew would mention them as validation of Jesus’ kingship, or that Herod would regard their arrival as a very serious matter.”

Craig Chester

Slide 8

What was the star?

Slide 9

“And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.”

Revelation 21:23-25

Slide 10

What do the gifts mean?

Slide 11

The ultimate question: What’s the point?

Slide 12

“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse., and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 12:3

Slide 13

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

Habakkuk 2:14

Slide 14

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

Psalm 46:10

Slide 15

“Matthew plainly says that, though Jesus was the Messiah, born in David’s line and certain to be Shepherd and Ruler of Israel, it was the Gentiles who came to worship him.”

D.A. Carson

Slide 16

“And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”

Ephesians 2:17-19

Slide 17

The Big Idea

The Magi prove that God keeps His promise to bless all the nations of the earth

Gathering Recap - 11/30/2025 - Luke 1:5-25 - Advent: Be Still

Call to worship:

1 God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
    God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
    how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46:1-11

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How does recognizing the season of Advent help our following of Jesus?

What does faithfulness look like with unmet expectations?

If we’re called to recall truth, practice wonder, and trust daily, how can you map that out this season?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

Thank you for this Advent season where we remember the arrival of Jesus and His promised return, where He will make all things new.. Would you help us to regularly reflect on Your faithfulness, and place Your truth into the areas where we struggle to trust. Holy Spirit, help us to reflect the light of Christ to those around us.

In the name of Jesus we pray,

Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Luke 1:5-25

Advent is the season that, when properly understood, does not flinch from the darkness that stalks us all in this world. Advent begins in the dark and moves toward the light—but the season should not move too quickly or too glibly, lest we fail to acknowledge the depth of the darkness. Advent bids us take a fearless inventory of the darkness: the darkness without and the darkness within. Fleming Rutledge

“This prayer will be answered but in a richer sense than Zechariah and Elizabeth ever dreamed. No doubt Zechariah and Elizabeth, as devout Israelites, also prayed for the coming of the redemption of Israel. Both these prayers were to be answered in the same event because their son would prepare the way for the Messiah” Robert Stein

“Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;

Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;

Thy fate is the common fate of all,

Into each life some rain must fall.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“The one thing that He requires of us in response to deep waters is acceptance. This acceptance is not passivism, quietism, fatalism, or resignation. Peace and joy and faith will not be found in forgetting, and they will not be found in busyness or aloofness or the submission of defeat. They will not be found in anger at the “unfairness” of it all. St. Francis de Sales said, “Accustom yourself to unreasonableness and injustice! God sees these things far better than you do, and permits them!” Elisabeth Elliot

Gathering Recap - 11/23/2025 - Acts 19:21-41 - The Riot at Ephesus

Call to worship:

1 Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1:1-6

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How is Luke intentional in giving both theology and history?

What patterns do you see in Paul’s ministry?

How might the gospel bring disruption to the powers today?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We thank you for the gift of grace we find through the work of Jesus. We ask for your help to walk in wisdom and give an accurate witness of Your gospel as we go from this place. May Your Spirit guide us through the spiritual battles that we face. We praise You for the victory that belongs to Your people.

In the name of Jesus we pray,

Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 19:21-41 - Jack

21 Once all this had been finished, Paul decided in his spirit to go back through Macedonia and Achaea and, from there, on to Jerusalem.

“After I’ve been there,” he said, “I really must go and see Rome.”

22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, on ahead to Macedonia, while he himself spent a little more time in Asia.

“Great is Ephesian Artemis!”

23 Around that time there was a major disturbance because of the Way. 24 There was a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver statues of Artemis, which brought the workmen a tidy income. 25 He got them all together, along with other workers in the same business.

“Gentlemen,” he began. “You know that the reason we are doing rather well for ourselves is quite simply this business of ours. 26 And now you see, and hear, that this fellow Paul is going around not only Ephesus but pretty well the whole of Asia, persuading the masses to change their way of life, telling them that gods made with hands are not gods after all! 27 This not only threatens to bring our proper business into disrepute, but it might make people disregard the temple of the great goddess Artemis. Then she—and, after all, the whole of Asia, indeed the whole world, worships her!—she might lose her great majesty.”

28 When they heard this, they were filled with rage.

“Great is Ephesian Artemis!” they shouted. “Great is Ephesian Artemis!”

29 The whole city was filled with the uproar; everyone rushed together into the theater, dragging along with them the Macedonians Gaius and Aristarchus, two of Paul’s companions. 30 Paul wanted to go in to speak to the people, but his followers wouldn’t let him. 31 Indeed, some of the local magistrates, who were friendly towards him, sent him a message urging him not to risk going into the theater. 32 Meanwhile, some people were shouting one thing, some another. In fact, the whole assembly was thoroughly confused, and most of them had no idea why they had come there in the first place. 33 The Jews pushed Alexander forward, and some of the crowd informed him what was going on. He motioned with his hand, and was going to make a statement to the people to explain things. 34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted together, for about two hours, “Great is Ephesian Artemis!”

35 The town clerk quietened the crowd.

“Men of Ephesus,” he said, “is there anyone who doesn’t know that our city of Ephesus is the place which has the honor of being the home of Artemis the Great, and of the statue that fell from heaven? 36 Nobody can deny it! So you should be quiet, and not do anything rash. 37 You’ve brought these men here, but they haven’t stolen from the temple, or blasphemed our goddess. 38 If Demetrius and his colleagues have a charge they want to bring against anyone, the courts are open and we have magistrates. People can present their cases against one another. 39 But if you are wanting to know anything beyond that, it must be sorted out in the authorized assembly. 40 Let me remind you that we ourselves are risking legal proceedings because of this riot today, since there is no reason we could give which would enable us to present a satisfactory explanation for this uproar.”

41 With these words, he dismissed the assembly.

Gathering Recap - 11/16/2025 - Acts 19:1-20 - The Spirit and Power

Call to worship:

21 Remember these things, O Jacob,
    and Israel, for you are my servant;
I formed you; you are my servant;
    O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
22 I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud
    and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.

Isaiah 44:21-22

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What happens in Ephesus? How does it differ from other locations in Acts?

What is the difference between the baptism of John and the Spirit? How does an understanding of the old and new covenant help us discern the difference?

How does the Spirit work in both the ordinary and extraordinary means?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We thank you for the gift of grace we find through the work of Jesus. We ask for your help to walk in wisdom and give an accurate witness of Your gospel as we go from this place. May Your Spirit guide us through the spiritual battles that we face. We praise You for the victory that belongs to Your people.

In the name of Jesus we pray,

Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 19:1-20

Jer 31:31-34

2 Cor 5:17

“As throughout Acts, there is no set pattern. The Spirit came at various times and in various ways. What is consistent is that the Spirit is always a vital part of one’s initial commitment to Christ and a mark of every believer.” J.B. Polhill

The norm of Christian experience, then, is a cluster of four things: repentance, faith in Jesus, water baptism and the gift of the Spirit. Though the perceived order may vary a little, the four belong together and are universal in Christian initiation. The laying on of apostolic hands, however, together with tongue-speaking and prophesying, were special to Ephesus, as to Samaria, in order to demonstrate visibly and publicly that particular groups were incorporated into Christ by the Spirit; the New Testament does not universalize them. John Stott

Gathering Recap - 11/09/2025 - Acts 18:24-28 - A Man Named Apollos

Call to worship:

6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
    and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last;
    besides me there is no god.
7 Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.[a]
    Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
    Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
8 Fear not, nor be afraid;
    have I not told you from of old and declared it?
    And you are my witnesses!
Is there a God besides me?
    There is no Rock; I know not any.”

Isaiah 44:6-8

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How did the place of Apollos birth shape him? How have you been shaped?

What is the difference between helpful/unhelpful instruction on blind spots? What’s the posture

In what ways does the gospel give the environment for continued growth?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We thank you for the gift of grace we find through the work of Jesus. We ask for your help to walk in wisdom and give an accurate witness of Your gospel as we go from this place. May Your Spirit guide us through the spiritual battles that we face. We praise You for the victory that belongs to Your people.

In the name of Jesus we pray,

Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 18:24-28 Faith

You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you. Frederick Beuchener

Jesus may be in your heart, but grandpa is in your bones - Pete Scazerro

Gal 3:28-29

“Jesus may be in your heart, but grandpa is in your bones, and the task of discipleship is to get Jesus more and more into your bones.”- Pete Scazerro

Eph 2:8-9

Eph 2:10

1 Cor 3:1-9

1 Cor 3:10-23

The local church is an unlikely collection of people, and with earthly eyes it may be hard to see that we belong together. With spiritual ones, however, it is clear. In the church, we all have one testimony. Meghan Hill

Gathering Recap - 11/02/2025 - Acts 18:1-23 - People, Work, Promise, Transformation

Call to worship:

16 Thus says the Lord,
    who makes a way in the sea,
    a path in the mighty waters,
17 who brings forth chariot and horse,
    army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
    they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
18 “Remember not the former things,
    nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:16-19

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What was Corinth known for? How does the gospel take root?

How does the story of scripture help us reimagine our work? In what ways can your reflect Jesus in your work?

Where do you need a word of God to strengthen you?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We thank you for the gift of grace we find through the work of Jesus. We ask for your help to walk in wisdom and give an accurate witness of Your gospel as we go from this place. May Your Spirit guide us through the spiritual battles that we face. We praise You for the victory that belongs to Your people.

In the name of Jesus we pray,

Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 18:1-23

Our work can be a calling only if it is reimagined as a mission of service to something beyond merely our own interests. Thinking of work mainly as a means of self-fulfillment and self-realization slowly crushes a person. - Tim Keller

1 Cor 6:9-11

There is much to be cynical about—and it is a good answer if there has not been an incarnation. But if that has happened, if the Word did become flesh, and if there are men and women who in and through their own vocations imitate the vocation of God, then sometimes and in some places the world becomes something more like the way it ought to be.
Steven Garber, Visions of Vocation

1 Cor 15:57-58

Gathering Recap - 10/26/2025 - Acts 17:16-34 - The Gospel and Idols

Call to worship:

1 But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
    he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Isaiah 43:1-3a

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What does Paul see in Athens? Does anything about his response surprise you?

How does he present the gospel to the Athenians?

What is the response and how does that shape our expectations today?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,

We thank you for the gift of grace we find through the work of Jesus. We ask for your help to walk in wisdom and give an accurate witness of Your gospel as we go from this place. May Your Spirit guide us through the spiritual battles that we face. We praise You for the victory that belongs to Your people.

In the name of Jesus we pray,

Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 17:16-34 - Nathan

Acts 17:16-34

“Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God, your functional savior.” Martin Luther

Isaiah 44:12-20

The gospel does not come as a disembodied message, but as the message of a community which claims to live by it and which invites others to adhere to it. Therefore, the community's life must be so ordered that it "makes sense" to those who are so invited. Leslie Newbigin

Gathering Recap - 10/19/2025 - Acts 17:1-15 - Jesus is King, Look at the Book

Call to worship:

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What was the difference between the two cities?

What is the importance of Jesus promised and risen?

Why is repentance often met with resistance?

What is the connection between hope and holiness?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, and we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 17:1-15 - Faith

Acts 17:1-15

“The resurrection was indeed a miraculous display of God’s power, but we should not see it as a suspension of the natural order of the world. Rather it was the beginning of the restoration of the natural order of the world, the world as God intended it to be…The resurrection means not merely that Christians have a hope for the future but that they have a hope that comes from the future. The Bible’s startling message is that when Jesus rose, he brought the future kingdom of God into the present.” - Tim Keller

1 Thess 1:1-10

1 Thess 5:1-11

Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God's judgment, hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word. - JC Ryle

The Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne—everything— to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life! There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. - Sally Lloyd Jones

What’s going on?

Where is the good news?

How has the church seen this through history?

How does this shape us toward repentance/faith/flourishing?

Psalm 119:105

Hebrews 4:12

Ephesians 6:17

Gathering Recap - 10/12/2025 - Acts 16:11-40 - Gospel Breakthrough

Call to worship:

10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
    and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense before him.
11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
    he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
    and gently lead those that are with young.

Isaiah 40:10-11

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

Which of the multiple scenes from this account stick out to you?

How have you seen and experienced spiritual warfare?

Where are you looking to Jesus for clarity in the midst of uncertainty?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, and we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 16:11-40 - Jack

Slide 1

Scene 1: The Conversion of Lydia (16:11-15)

Slide 2

See Map that I'll send by email

Slide 3

Takeaways from Scene 1

1. God is sovereign in salvation

2. Obedience is our response to His work

Slide 4

Scene 2: The Exorcism of the Slave Girl (16:16-24)

Slide 5

Takeaway from Scene 2: We are wise to see the spiritual battle going on behind the scenes.

Slide 6

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6:12

Slide 7

Scene 3: The Conversion of the Jailer (16:25-34)

Slide 8

“From one perspective, Paul and Silas’s day was a picture of perfect mayhem. Their spiritual power was slandered; their gospel trampled by a mob; their innocence silenced by injustice. They appeared like two victims caught in the chaos of a merciless, purposeless world.

But such was not their perspective. For Paul and Silas, all the day’s sorrows rested in the hand of a sovereign God. God had called them to Philippi through a midnight vision. Was he now any less sovereign in a midnight prison? God had used them in Philippi to save Lydia and her household. Had he discarded them now? No, prison could neither thwart the plans of God nor remove them from his sight; of this they were sure.”

Scott Hubbard

Slide 9

Takeaway from Scene 3: We do well to ask ourselves “What does God owe me?”

Slide 10

“He lets things happen that I don’t understand. He doesn’t do things according to my plan, or in ways that make sense to me…

If you have a God great enough and powerful enough to be mad at because he doesn’t stop your suffering, you also have a God who is great enough and powerful enough to have reasons that you can’t understand…

And so often, if God seems to be unconscionably delaying his grace and committing malpractice in your life, it’s because there is some crucial information that we don’t yet have, some essential variable that’s unavailable to us.”

Tim Keller

Slide 11

Scene 4: The Vindication of Paul and Silas (16:35-40)

Slide 12

Takeaway from Scene 4: In the end, God wins. And so do His people.

Slide 13

The Takeaways from Phiiippi

1. God is sovereign in salvation

2. Obedience is our response to His work

3. We are wise to see the spiritual battle

4. We do well to ask ourselves “What does God owe me?”

5. In the end, God wins. And so do His people.

Gathering Recap - 10/05/2025 - Acts 16:1-10 - Investing in Others, Hearing From God

Call to worship:

6 A voice says, “Cry!”
    And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
    and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
    when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
    surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
    but the word of our God will stand forever.

Isaiah 40:6-8

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How does the church go about discipleship in the 1st century?

What kind of investment did Paul make in Timothy? Do you think the experience with Barnabas had an impact in his approach?

What do we glean from the early church discerning God’s will?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, and we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 16:1-10 - Josh

Individually the disciple and friend of Jesus who has learned to work shoulder to shoulder with his or her Lord stands in this world as a point of contact between heaven and earth, a kind of Jacob’s ladder by which the angels of God may ascend from and descend into human life. Thus the disciple stands as an envoy or a receiver by which the kingdom of God is conveyed into every quarter of human affairs. - Willard

The world is full of miracles. But none greater than how far a young person can be carried by someone else’s belief in them

Frederick Backman (My Friends)

“Almost anything in life that truly matters will require you to do small, mostly overlooked things, over a long period of time with him.” Zach Eswine

Map

“Our failure to hear His voice when we want to is due to the fact that we do not in general want to hear it, that we want it only when we think we need it.” - Dallas Willard, Hearing God

“Usually God’s guidance is not negative only but also positive (some doors close, others open); not circumstantial only, but also rational (thinking about our situation); not personal only, but also corporate (a sharing of the data with others, so that we can mull over them together and reach a common mind).” - John Stott

Gathering Recap - 09/28/2025 - Acts 15:22-41 - What a Strong Church Looks Like

Call to worship:

3 A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Isaiah 40:3-5

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What is the significance of the 4 prohibitions of the letter from Jerusalem to Antioch?

Why do we have a tendency to lay heavier burdens on ourselves and others?

What are some of the marks of a church that is being strengthened?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, and we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 15:22-41

2 Timothy 2:22

“Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone. - Dallas Willard

“They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonored, and yet in their very dishonor are glorified” Epistle to Diognetus (2nd Century)

Matthew 23:1-12

The early church understood well the powers at work in the Roman Empire. There were many gods who ruled and oppressed its citizens. Among them were Aphrodite (goddess of sex), Hephaetus (god of technology), Mars (god of war), Ploutos (god of wealth), and Bacchus (god of pleasure). At the top of the ladder, and unifying them all, was political power, deified in the Caesar, and nourished by the Imperial theology and religious practice. The powers and gods were the forces that most determined and shaped their lives. The church understood the oppressive and intrusive influence of evil. They understood the comprehensive scope and spiritual power of these cosmic powers to tyrannize their lives. Perhaps we shake our heads at the primitive and childish worldview that could ever conceive of a world populated by powers. After all, science has liberated us from such nonsense. Yet when we see millions addicted to pornography, it seems the goddess of sex is not dead. When we see millions of lives trivialized and emptied of significance by addiction to technology, we observe that the god of technology still wields power. When we experience the seductive power of a consumer society that inflames us with a desire for the senseless consumption of goods and experiences, we must grant that the gods of wealth and pleasure are alive and well. And the billions of dollars spent annually on arms betray our enslavement to the gods of war and national security. Economic forces, political powers, sexual addiction, technological seduction: it seems we are helpless before these powers. All scientific attempts to control them have failed. - Mike Goheen

“God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.” Augustine

Gathering Recap - 09/21/2025 - Acts 15:1-21 - Transforming Enemies

Call to worship:

6 6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake his way,
    and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
    and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:6-9

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How does the gospel transform enemies into family?

What posture do the apostles take as they sort through the questions of the 1st century?

In what ways does Jesus break down boundaries and barriers today?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, and we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Slide 1

God promised salvation to Israel...

God's blessings would come to the Nations through

the covenant with Abraham...

Circumcision was the standard means of entering

into full participation with the covenant people...

These Gentiles had not been circumcised...

They remained outside of Israel and therefore

could not participate fully in God's promises

Slide 2

Amos 9:12 (MT)

12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom

and all the nations who are called by my name,”

declares the LORD who does this.

Amos 9:12 (LXX)

12 so that the remnant of the people,

and all the nations upon whom my name was invoked upon them,

will search for me,” says the Lord who is making these things.

Slide 3

אדום = Edom

אדם= adam/ humanity

Slide 4

Deuteronomy 30:6

6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

Gathering Recap - 09/14/2025 - Acts 14:1-28 - The Miraculous and Mundane

Call to worship:

1 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens![a]
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds;
    praise him according to his excellent greatness!

3 Praise him with trumpet sound;
    praise him with lute and harp!
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance;
    praise him with strings and pipe!
5 Praise him with sounding cymbals;
    praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 150:1-6

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How do you see opposition meet the opportunities God has brought about?

In what ways does Jesus meet us in our shock, grief, longing, and hope?

What does it look like for the content and curriculum of our discipleship to be Christ?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, and we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 14:1-28

Assumption: Every day for Jesus' first followers were God-soaked. Something is wrong with me, or I am doing something wrong because I don't have many God-soaked days.

Reality: Scripture authors recorded a truncated history to show us who God is. Jesus and the first followers experienced many mundane days.

Contextualization is not - as is often argued - ‘telling people what they want to hear.’ Rather, it is giving people the Bible’s answers, which they may not at all want to hear, to questions about life that people in their particular place and time are asking, in language and forms they can comprehend, and through appeals and arguments with force they can feel, even if they reject them - Tim Keller

Gathering Recap - 09/07/2025 - Acts 13:13-52 - The Gospel and Grit

Call to worship:

5 Let the godly exult in glory;
    let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats
    and two-edged swords in their hands,
7 to execute vengeance on the nations
    and punishments on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with chains
    and their nobles with fetters of iron,
9 to execute on them the judgment written!
    This is honor for all his godly ones.
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 149:5-9

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

How does Paul present the story of the gospel?

What is the “good news” of the gospel?

How does the truth of Jesus produce a holy kind of grit in our lives?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, and we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 13:13-52

“This section relentlessly present’s Israel’s history as the history of God’s activity. From v. 17 through 23 almost every verb has God as it’s subject.” Beverly Gaventa

1 Cor 15:1-4

Evangelism is not persuading people to make a decision; it is not proving that God exists, or making out a good case for the truth of Christianity; it is not inviting someone to a meeting; it is not exposing the contemporary dilemma, or arousing interest in Christianity; it is not wearing a badge saying 'Jesus Saves'! Some of these things may be right and good in their place, but none of them should be confused with evangelism. To evangelize is to declare on the authority of God what he has done to save sinners, to warn men of their lost condition, to direct them to repent, and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. - Mark Dever

Romans 8:28-30

Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

Gathering Recap - 08/31/2025 - Acts 13:1-12 - People, Practice, Opposition

Call to worship:

1 Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
    his praise in the assembly of the godly!
2 Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
    let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!
3 Let them praise his name with dancing,
    making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.

Psalm 149:1-4

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What is unusual about the makeup of people in Antioch?

What were some of the early church practices and how do they translate to today?

Where have you experienced opposition in your life? How does the victory of Jesus meet those places?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, and we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 13:1-12

"Words make you think. Music makes you feel. A song makes you feel a thought" — Yip Harburg

“To pray is to accept that we are, and always will be, wholly dependent on God for everything….Prayer turns theology into experience.” Tim Keller

“The Spirit led the church in its mission. As throughout Acts, God took the initiative in every new development of the Christian witness; however, the church did its part. It fasted and prayed, seeking the divine leading in a mode of expectant devotion." - J.B. Polhill

Map

Gathering Recap - 08/25/2025 - Acts 12:1-25 - Murder, Rescue and Justice

Call to worship:

11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
    princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and maidens together,
    old men and children!

13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his majesty is above earth and heaven.
14 He has raised up a horn for his people,
    praise for all his saints,
    for the people of Israel who are near to him.
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 148:11-14

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What “difficult cup” were these early apostles called to drink? What difficult cup have you been faced with?

How did the early church approach suffering?

What does trusting in the justice of God look like today?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, and we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 12:1-25- Nathan

Title: Murder, Rescue, & Justice

“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” (John 20:22&23)

“Whatever it will cost you to be with God is nothing compared to what it cost Him to be with you.”

—Timothy Keller

“A Christian happens to mean a man who has discovered that Christianity is true, not that it is pretty or even practical. It may be a very strange discovery for a modern man to make; but some of us happen to have made it.” — G. K. Chesterton

“That force of earnest, halting prayer was mightier than Herod, and mightier than hell.” —G. Campbell Morgan

Long my imprisoned spirit lay


Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;


Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,


I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;


My chains fell off, my heart was free,


I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

- Charles Wesley

“Indeed, one cannot fail to admire the artistry with which Luke depicts the complete reversal of the church’s situation. At the beginning of the chapter Herod is on the rampage—arresting and persecuting church leaders; at the end he is himself struck down and dies. The chapter opens with James dead, Peter in prison and Herod triumphing; it closes with Herod dead, Peter free, and the word of God triumphing. Such is the power of God to overthrow hostile human plans and to establish His own in their place. Tyrants may be permitted for a time to boast and bluster, oppressing the church and hindering the spread of the Gospel, but they will not last. In the end, their empire will be broken and their pride abased” —John Stott

Gathering Recap - 08/17/2025 - Acts 11:1-30 - First Called Christians

Call to worship:

5 Let them praise the name of the Lord!
    For he commanded and they were created.
6 And he established them forever and ever;
    he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.[a]

7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all deeps,
8 fire and hail, snow and mist,
    stormy wind fulfilling his word!

9 Mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars!
10 Beasts and all livestock,
    creeping things and flying birds!

Psalm 148:5-10

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What issues did the early church have to work through?

How did the Spirit of God shape their theology and practice?

What might that look like today?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, and we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 11:1-30 - Josh reading

Slide 1

A biblical proposition… needs interpretation. It does not simply interpret itself… The only way to interpret… is to look at the biblical story that reveals God’s character through his actions…

The task of the church is to “faithfully improvise” the “rest of the story.” Christians are not called simply to live in the story; they are called to continue the story in their own cultural contexts. First, they must be grounded in the story. They must be people for whom the story “absorbs the world.” Second, they must together (communally) improvise the “rest of the story” faithfully to the story given in the Bible.

Roger Olson

Slide 2

Ritual Practices of a Typical Roman Meal

- A portion of the food being offered to the gods.

- Wine libations and the reciting of prayers in honor of the gods or of the dead.

- Possibly even being given a dining wreath with flowers considered sacred to the gods upon arrival.

Slide 3

Table comparing Acts 8:1 and Acts 11:19

https://services.planningcenteronline.com/plans/80966647#

Slide 4

That's a great way of putting it. Grace is something you can see. Presumably when you watch Judeans and gentiles sharing in prayer, sharing in the Lord’s supper, sharing their whole lives as brothers and sisters. You can’t fake that. It’s grace made visible.

- N.T Wright; The Challenge of Acts

Slide 5

Acts 26:28

28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”

1 Peter 4:14–16

14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

Slide 6

Romans 15:26–27

26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.

Slide 7

When grace is visible, when the story of God is lived out in the world, when the church is truly carrying the name of Christ… The standard conventions for who is accepted and who is left out are re-evaluated, the standard ways of giving and receiving are upended and the standard ways in which we categorize our theology can be challenged.

Gathering Recap - 08/10/2025 - Acts 10:1-48 - Hostility, Indifference, or Enthusiasm?

Call to worship:

1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
    praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels;
    praise him, all his hosts!

3 Praise him, sun and moon,
    praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens,
    and you waters above the heavens!

Psalm 148:1-4

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

This passage is a big deal in the story of redemption. Why is it so significant?

What dividing lines do you sense today?

What role is God calling us into today?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, and we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 10:1-48 - Jack reading

Slides

Slide 1

Big Idea

Christ’s plan includes not just us, but all the nations of the world. How will we respond?

Slide 2

(Map of Israel showing Joppa and Caesarea, to be emailed separately)

Slide 3

“It is more likely, therefore, that the point is that the Lord’s command frees Peter from any scruples about going to a Gentile home and eating whatever might be set before him. It would be a short step from recognizing that Gentile food was clean to realizing that Gentiles themselves were ‘clean’ also.”

Tyndale Commentary, I. Howard Marshall

Slide 4

“The conversion of Cornelius was a landmark in the history of the gospel’s advance from its strictly Jewish beginnings to its penetration of the Roman Empire. True, it did not settle any of the issues relating to Jewish-Gentile relations within the church, nor did Jewish believers take it as a precedent for direct outreach to Gentiles. But it did show that the sovereign God was not confined to the traditional forms of Judaism and that He could bring a Gentile directly into relationship with himself through Jesus Christ and apart from any prior commitment to distinctive Jewish beliefs or lifestyle.”

Richard N. Longenecker

Slide 5

John 10:16

And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

Slide 6

Matthew 28:18-20

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Slide 7

Three possible responses to God’s plan for the nations

Hostility

Indifference

Enthusiasm

Slide 8

Mike’s Definition of Missions:

God is using the preaching of the gospel to turn rebellious sinners around the world into redeemed worshippers of His Son Jesus Christ …

… and WE GET TO HELP!

Slide 9

“Lord, where do I fit?”

Gathering Recap - 08/03/2025 - Acts 9:32-43 - Questions, Holy Disruptions, And The Ministry Of Small Things

Call to worship:

12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
    Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
    he blesses your children within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders;
    he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends out his command to the earth;
    his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
    he scatters frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;
    who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them;
    he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
    his statutes and rules to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
    they do not know his rules.
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 147:8-11

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What questions are brought about in this text?

How have you experienced “holy disruptions”? In what ways did Jesus meet you there?

What is the significance of the small things in life and ministry?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, and we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

“The three Peter-stories Luke selects are i) a double miracle story how Aeneas was healed and Tabitha raised from death), (ii) a conversion story (how Cornelius was brought to faith), and (ili) an escape story how Peter was rescued from prison and so from Herod's evil intentions). Each may be seen as a confrontation - with disease and death, with Gentile alienation and with political tyranny. Moreover, in each case conflict gave place to victory - the cure of Aeneas, the resuscitation of Tabitha, the conversion of Cornelius, and the removal of Herod.”

- John Stott

“Gazelles—small antelopes spoken of in the Bible—are known for their grace and beauty. Some live where rains provide water. But one type, the Dorcas gazelle, can spend its entire life in the desert without drinking—receiving hydration only from plants. This gives it a mysterious quality rather like that of a Christian, whose source of life and love is an invisible fountain of living water, as Jesus promised (John 7:38).”

- In Touch Ministries

“The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man.”

- G. K. Chesterton

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27)

Gathering Recap - 07/27/2025 - Acts 9:1-31 - How Grace Works

Call to worship:

8 He covers the heavens with clouds;
    he prepares rain for the earth;
    he makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He gives to the beasts their food,
    and to the young ravens that cry.
10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
    in those who hope in his steadfast love.

Psalm 147:8-11

Gathering Video

Questions for reflection:

What surprises you in this section of scripture?

How does God use people in this account of Saul’s transformation?

Who seems to far off that you’re praying for?

Where do you see the grace of God at work in your life?

Corporate Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, and we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen.

Notes//Quotes//Slides:

Acts 9:1-31 - Larry/Jorgen

Grace is something you can never get but can only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth. A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There's nothing you have to do. The grace of God means something like: "Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are, because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you.” There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too. - Frederick Buechner

Gradually, and without violence, Jesus pricked Saul's mind and conscience with his goads. Then he revealed Himself to him by the light and the voice, not in order to overwhelm him, but in such a way as to enable him to make a free response. Divine grace does not trample on human personality. Rather the reverse, for it enables human beings to be truly human. It is sin which imprisons; it is grace which liberates. The grace of God so frees us from the bondage of our pride, prejudice and self-centeredness, as to enable us to repent and believe. One can but magnify the grace of God that he should have had mercy on such a rabid bigot as Saul of Tarsus, and indeed on such proud, rebellious and wayward creatures as ourselves. - John Stott

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;

I fled Him, down the arches of the years;

I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways

Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears

I hid from Him, and under running laughter.

Up vistaed hopes I sped;

And shot, precipitated,

Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,

From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.

But with unhurrying chase,

And unperturbèd pace,

Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,

They beat—and a Voice beat

More instant than the Feet—

‘All things betray thee, who betrayest Me

Francis Thompson, The Hound of Heaven

Romans 10:14

“Put all this together, and what do we have, as the central, shaping marker of the new worldview, taking the place and bearing the weight that the Jewish symbols had borne within the worldview of Saul of Tarsus? We have precisely the gospel, the euangelion, the ‘good news’, rooted in the ‘good news’ spoken of in the Great Prophet, confronting the ‘good news’ carved in stone around Caesar’s empire. We have the symbol by which Paul declared that he was himself defined, the anchor of his own vocational mindset: Paul, an apostle, set apart for the good news of God; I am not ashamed of the good news, because it is God’s power for salvation to all who believe; the Messiah did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel; woe to me if I do not announce the good news; I do it all for the sake of the good news; let me remind you of the gospel which I announced to you, which you received, in which you stand firm, through which you are saved; the gospel of the glory of the Messiah, who is the image of God. The gospel, the gospel, the gospel. It defined Paul. It defined his work. It defined his communities. It was the shorthand summary of the theology which, in turn, was the foundation for the central pillar for the new worldview. It carried God’s power. That was just as well: the worldview, and those who lived by it, were going to need it.” NT Wright

“Grace is God acting in our life to bring about, and to enable us to do, what we cannot do on our own. Grace is for all of life and not just for forgiveness. Grace is not opposed to effort (action)-though it is opposed to earning (attitude). Grace is inextricably bound up with discipline in the life of the disciple or apprentice of Jesus. “Grace,” of course, as an active agency in the psychological and biological reality of the disciple.” - Dallas Willard

Eph 1:7-10

What you need to drive out an old passion, is a new passion, a greater passion. What you need is an over-mastering positive passion. To the degree, that you see Jesus on the cross, loosing absolutely everything for you, He will become a beauty to you, He will become so beautiful in your eyes that you'll be able to change these things that control you now, they'll loose their power. Do you know how to work on your heart like that? It's only by rejoicing in and resting in what Jesus Christ has done for you. Then you can replace your idols. And if you really want to change and want to pound the Gospel more deeply into your heart - Jesus Christ must become your over-mastering positive passion. Tim Keller

All which I took from thee I did but take,

Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.

All which thy child's mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:

Rise, clasp My hand, and come!'

Francis Thompson, Hound of Heaven