Outward Church - Acts
Lessons Learned in Acts | Acts 28:11-31 (End of Acts)
We started our series in Acts on January 5th, 2020. Acts is the first big book that we’ve covered in its entirety. Today is our 56th sermon in this series, Outward Church. How do you feel? Has anything changed in your life, in our church’s life? The question, as we come to a close, is twofold. 1) What did we learn? 2) And what are we doing about it? The heartbeat of Acts is missions. Jesus outlined the book in…
A Great Big Snake Story | Acts 28:1-10; 1 Samuel 17 (David & Goliath the Serpent)
Elijah really likes The Jungle Book. One of the characters in that story is a really big and sneaky snake named Kaa. He’s a python, and he’s famous for his colorful, hypnotic eyes and his ability to put Mowgli into a trance. He nearly catches and eats Mowgli, but Mowgli escapes. Snakes are a part of popular culture, from Indiana Jones to Harry Potter to the movie, Anaconda, and Snakes on a Plane (neither of which I’ve seen). But, our…
Trust the Pilot | Acts 27:1-44
Flight 5220 took off “from Magadan Airport, just north of the Sea of Okhotsk in far eastern Russia” this last December.[1] Shortly after takeoff, the airplane threw its almost 200 passengers down, then up, and the plane dove, then recovered. One aviation website reports, “Picture one of those terrible C-grade Hollywood movies that show an airliner out of control, with baggage bins coming open, carry-ons floating through the cabin and oxygen masks dropping. It was that kind of awful. And…
Always Be Prepared | Acts 25:23-26:32 (How to outline my testimony)
A couple of years ago, Monica and I went through this brief stent where we were really into TV shows about preppers, people who are prepared for disaster. We’d watch these shows, and it would always go like this. “Katie lives in downtown Salt Lake City, but she’s been stockpiling canned goods, dried food, and has a bug-out bag ready to go if she needs to leave in a hurry. Katie is afraid that the famous salt-lake city volcano could…
The Highest Court | Acts 25:1-22 (When we face injustice)
Have you ever faced injustice? Have you ever been treated unfairly? Maybe a boss mistreated you at work, or a family member or friend did not treat you right. Maybe you can think of a family member or friend who has experienced injustice. My dad told me the story of how he was let go from his job for something he had not done, and it was painful for him. Maybe you’ve faced something similar. As we look at the…
Gospel Courage | Acts 24:1-27 (Paul before Felix)
I remember the first time I jumped off the high-diving board in my hometown pool. This wasn’t an Olympic high-diving board, nor was it a diving board at pool level. You had to climb up four or five rungs. I was young enough to be wearing a life vest, and I was scared. And I went out to the end of the diving board. I looked down at the water. And then I turned around, and I climbed down. As…
Unexpected Deliverance | Acts 23:12-35
There’s something wrong with our youth; and I don’t mean our teenagers. I mean the children. There’s this thing that they are just addicted too. It gets in their brains. They always want to watch it, and sing it. That’s right, I’m talking about the dangers of Encanto, Disney’s newest adventure for the whole family. We watched Encanto a couple weekends ago and now we’re listening to Surface Pressure and We Don’t Talk About Bruno so many times. Here’s the…
God’s Work in Emotions | Acts 22:22-23:11
Today is a big day for Cornerstone for two reasons. First, we finally made it back to Acts! I last preached Acts in Juneand, Lord willing, we’re going to finish it by Easter. Second, today is the first day of our new worship service format—which is 20 minutes of worship, 20-minute message, and 45 minutes of discussion. And this is terrifying for me because I normally preach 30-35 minutes. So this is going to be an experiment, for all of…
Three-Part Testimony | Acts 21:27-22:22 (Jerusalem riot & Paul’s speech)
This morning, I got up thinking about the first time I ever shared my testimony, my story of coming to faith in Christ. In college, I took a spring-break missions trip down to Chinle, Arizona, to the Indian reservation to run a program for kids. I think we must have talked about sharing our testimonies because, on the drive down, I spent time writing my testimony. I wanted to share it, but I didn’t volunteer myself. But a few days…
When Facing Resistance | Acts 21:1-26 (Agabus & Paul’s Nazarite Vow)
Jamie is a Senior in college. That summer, she works at a Christian camp as a camp counselor. She leads hikes, runs workshops, and leaders her cabin time small group. She even gives some of the devotionals in the large group setting. Over the course of the summer, she begins to sense, not with audible words, but deep in her soul that the Holy Spirit might be calling her into Christian ministry. Jamie doesn’t know what that means, so she…
Passing the Baton | Acts 20:13-38
I know some of our teens do track. I think that’s pretty cool. I never did it, but my brother Matthew did the long jump and ran hurdles, 110 and 300. I love watching the Olympics, which are supposed to happen this summer in Tokyo. There are all sorts of great events, especially the team-relay events. The 4×100 involves four sprinters, who each pass a baton to one another before sprinting to their next partner. Did you know that in…
Freak Accidents | Acts 20:1-12 (Eutychus’s fall)
*Content Warning! The audio version (and maybe the written version) of this message, may be highly troublesome to those who have experienced disabilities and/or seizures. I have done my best to make the written manuscript easier to read. – Pastor Jonathan Today I’m talking about freak accidents. I am going to tell a true story of sudden death, a tragedy that hit me personally. Our Elders and Deacons recently did a mental health training through Harbor Christian Counseling in Boston…