Sermons from Sweet Home

In this text Luke tells us about one of the evangelistic efforts of Philip. He came across a sorcerer who thought he could buy the ability to perform miracles through the Holy Spirit. Here we see a perfect example of a mindset permeating the world today: People who want what God can give, but who don't really want God, people being more interested in the "miracles" of Jesus than the "man" Jesus! 

Satan thought that the death of a disciple of Jesus, a preacher of the Gospel, might cause other disciples to keep quiet. In this text we see the opposite happen. The death of Stephen fueled the disciples to run away, and they did. But everywhere they did they preached the message of the cross. It spread like wildfire.
We find in these four verses something powerful that the modern church needs to think about carefully. Can the average "church member" teach someone the Gospel? In these few verses we see the "preachers" of the church stay behind in Jerusalem and ordinary Christians spread the Gospel as they move outwards from Jerusalem. No wonder the early church grew so well and fast and had such an impact. They were not just Christians, they were disciples of Jesus!

Ofcourse we can expect Jesus to speak often about prayer. He came from heaven, for all eternity has never been separate from His Father, and now He found Himself here on Earth in the realm of sin. But Jesus remained in contact with heaven. And people saw this communication and they also wanted to know how to speak to the God of heaven from this sinful realm we live in.
So what did Jesus do? He taught on prayer, and He demonstrated prayer. In this lesson you can expect a brief and broad look at some prayer principles that Jesus believed in. I don't think there is a better mentor than Jesus to teach us to pray. If you are battling with your prayer life slightly, it might be a good idea to pop an ear into this lesson. 

Imagine for a moment a pheasant-looking man, dressed in basic clothes, walking around 1st Century Judea and claiming to be the Son of God. Who would believe him? Yet, this is what Jesus did. He continuously spoke about his divine identity. but the cool thing is this: He proved what he said! That is why he did so many miracles, the confirm that he is indeed divine.
Jesus identified himself to the people of his day in numerous ways...Son of man, Son of God, Messiah, Alpha and Omega...etc. What do all these phrases really mean? Why did Jesus call himself these? And what does it all mean to us? Well, in a nutshell, if Jesus really is who he claimed to be, it changes everything...and we get to trust what He says!

In this text we see the first blood being drawn by the enemy of the church. Satan has made numerous attempts to stop the Jesus movement, and now he tries a new strategy: kill one of the servants of Jesus. Join in on this lesson as we look out how graciously Stephen embraces the purpose that God had set out for him in death.  

In this text we see a recording of Stephen's great speech before the Sanhedrin. He skillfully connects with his audience, but then rationally, Scripturally, and prophetically dismantles their erroneous perspective on Jesus. The ending of his speech costs him his life, but we thank God for his example of courage. 

If you were walking past your neighbors’ house, and you looked in and saw that they were watching TV, but you also saw that their house was on fire, you'd rush up and bang on the door yelling: "Your house is on fire!" You wouldn't stand there saying, "Aw, I don't know. They look so happy and they're having such a nice time. They're right in the middle of a movie. Maybe they'll be upset." If you told them, would you be considered a lunatic? No! You'd be a hero. But not till after they realized what you're saying was true.
This is in a nutshell what Jesus came to do: To warn us of coming judgment, to warn us that if we don't have Him as our Savior we would have to pay for our own sins. His whole purpose for coming to Earth was to "seek and save the lost" (Luke 19:10). That is why he spoke about it so much and why he challenged us to do the same. We have a mission to fulfil, to make disciples, to witness to others how God has changed our lives, to preach the Gospel and to sow the seed of the Word of God wherever we go.

In this text we see some wise guys confront Stephen, a servant of God full of the Spirit. They are zealous for the "truth" they learnt from their fathers and this truth contradicted the message that came from Stephen. When they couldn't "overpower" his ability to dismantle their "own truth" they resorted to immoral means to silence him.
They hated Stephen because they hated the truth. They loved their own belief system and tradition more than the truth. Some people are unfortunately still the same today. They are zealous for things that are not grounded in truth. And when you speak up for the truth, they make you the enemy and resort to all possible means to silence you.

Jesus spoke the most about His Father and where He lives. There is a place where God is and Jesus came to invite us there. But Jesus also spoke extensively about another place, hell, a place where God is not. And Jesus came to warn us to not go there. What exactly does Jesus say about hell?
Perhaps that hell was never created for us, but for someone else. Perhaps that hell is not a physical place in this universe, but rather something far beyond our wildest imaginations. Perhaps that the real suffering in hell is due to the absence of God. Perhaps that going to hell is an individual choice of each individual ad not God. 
Whatever we think about these things, hell surely is no place we want to be. Jesus' teaching on Hell reminds us that sin is serious, God is holy, the message is urgent and the cross is incredible. 

As we read between the lines of this text it becomes evident that Satan is using another strategy to halt the spread of the Gospel. It is a very similar strategy as is seen in the church today. Satan pits one person, or group against another. Disagreements and conflict in the church. 
Satan loves using this strategy, because it diverts our attention. Christians fighting each other is always a better option for him than Christians fighting together against evil in this dark world. How do the Apostles handle this situation?
In their wisdom they manage to settle disagreements and find a way for the ministry of the Word of God to continue making progress.