“THE FIRST CHURCH” ACTS 2:42-47 I. Introduction There is a church that is alive, and there is a church that is dead. In Revelation 2-3 Jesus speaks to seven specific churches – churches that actually existed in the first century. One of them (Philadelphia) was faithful to God and His word. One of them (Smyrna) […]
“…PIERCED TO THE HEART” ACTS 2:37-41 I. Introduction When speaking to someone about the salvation that is found in our Lord Jesus, are there cer-tain words you carefully try to avoid? Are you convinced that using terms like “your sins,” and “be saved” will turn people away? Are you concerned that you’ll be labeled a […]
“OUR EXALTED LORD AND SAVIOR” ACTS 2:22-36 I. Introduction John Wesley, the eighteenth century English preacher, trained many men for the gospel min-istry. When he thought they were ready, he would send them out to preach wherever and whenever they could. Upon their return to him he would ask them two questions: The first was, […]
“ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE LAST DAYS” ACTS 2:14-21 I. Introduction What was the first thing that the first pastor of the first church did on the first day of its existence? He preached a sermon! It was an expository sermon. That is to say that the preacher began with a particular passage of […]
“THE CHURCH IS BORN” ACTS 2:1-13 I. Introduction Imagine that you’re a new and untaught Christian. You’ve given yourself to the Lord as best you know how, but you understand little about the details or the doctrines of your faith. Yet you’re curious about a wide variety of issues as they relate to things like […]
“GOD’S SOVEREIGN CHOICE” ACTS 1:12-26 I. Introduction I want to begin this morning by going directly to the Scriptures. I want to let the Word of God firmly establish itself in our minds before we go on to this morning’s passage in Acts. So please open your Bibles to the Book of Proverbs. We sometimes […]
“THE PROMISE OF JESUS’ RETURN” ACTS 1:6-11 I. Introduction What is a true Christian? How can a true Christian be defined? Or let me ask the question this way: What are the specific marks of a true Christian? In Jesus’ first parable – the sower and the seeds – the Lord speaks of God’s Word […]
“THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT” ACTS 1:1-5 I. Introduction Many of you know that Ginny and I have lived in our home in Elkhorn for twenty-six years. As every homeowner knows there are things that break or wear out and need to be repaired or replaced. The door to our deck has never broken […]
“INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF ACTS” I. Introduction Imagine it is the year 61 – not 1961, but 61. Imagine that you are living in Antioch – not the Antioch in Illinois just across the state line. There is no Antioch in Illinois. There is no Illi-nois either. So you will need to imagine that […]