Rooted Together

God triumphs over all opposition, even persecution and imprisonment lead to God's glory and growth of His kingdom! God's people will endure persecution. James is killed and others were violently attacked. Peter was arrested. The church's response was to pray. They do not pray as a last resort but as their primary weapon. Pray especially and initially in troubled times.  Peter for the second t...

What do we do when God is moving, but some of His people aren't? To make that clearer, what do we do with naysayers? You will have times of ministry that are going well, but some of the church people aren't excited to see God moving. What do we do with that? We see, that the gospel isn't hindered by naysayers. Our hope is that the gospel will change the hearts of those who don't get excited about...

This chapter is much more than about food. It is about all of us. Who can be made pure? All people who believe in Jesus for salvation. Join me as I dive into chapter 10 of Acts and explore this much beloved, often perplexing and misinterpreted passage. 

We will see that Saul's encounter with the risen Jesus forever changes the direction of his life. How has Jesus changed yours? 

This is actually one of my favorite passages in the book of Acts. So much so in fact that I wanted it to be its own episode. In this episode, we glean what it means to truly listen to the Holy Spirit as He guides our lives. 

The church faces intense persecution and yet they do not shrink back but instead go everywhere preaching. In this episode, we will zoom in on one of those scenes. The gospel will overcome Simon's jealousy and continue to spread to the Samaritans. 

Stephen faces a difficult trial. He is thrown into a mob scene where the witnesses are false and the truth doesn't matter. He doesn't respond with anger, nor plead for his life. Instead, he doubles down on the truth of the gospel. He was never truly alone. God never left him.  #Acts #NewTestament #Bible #God #Journeyingthroughscripture 

I feel that it is necessary to respond to a friend's class they have started to activate people's prophetic ministry. In this episode, I specifically want to lock in on how this friend used Acts 2:14-18 and applied to it a meaning that was not meant by the writer or Peter who is speaking. It is important to know how to read Scripture and not to simply read it to get what we want to see out of it....

The early church saw exponential growth. Such growth was not without its growing pains. We look in today on a situation between the Greek-speaking widows and the Hebrew-speaking widows and how the early church solved the complaint. More importantly, we see how the church used this situation to continue to grow.  #Acts #JourneyingthroughScripture #Bble #God 

There is a grave danger in spiritual hypocrisy. Such actions have deadly consequences in the lives of believers and in the life of the church. This is a difficult story. What do we do with it? How do we put feet to this text?  #Acts #Newtestament #christianpodcast #hypocrisy 

How do we speak the Word of God with boldness? Step one is we will not be able to unless we have been with and met with Jesus. Two, the Holy Spirit must be working through us. We see in this chapter the Holy Spirit has filled Peter and John and they boldly proclaim the gospel. When they face threats from the religious leaders of their day they go to the church and pray for more boldness. God grant...

What a revolutionary thought for modern times from ancient times. We don't have to live according to the cravings of our earthly bodies. Our modern culture screams that we must live according to the orientations of our "true selves" as if the apex of existence is self-realization. Yet God has called us to self-sacrifice. We must be and are called to be more than the sum of ourselves, likes, orient...

Peter and John heal a man in the Temple. The healing draws a large crowd and Peter and John seize the opportunity and share the gospel fulfilling the call of Jesus to be His witnesses. Will we be in awe of God today? Be in awe of the gospel!  #Acts #healing #newtestament #God 

What does it look like for the people of God to be filled with the Holy Spirit? It looks like a people, who are proclaiming the gospel, listening to and digging into the Word of God, devoting themselves to fellowship, and devoting themselves to prayer. Does this reflect your life? If so, continue to grow in Christ. If not, I implore you to reflect on this chapter and to reflect on the gospel. Thes...

How do you view the resurrected Jesus? Is he a means to establish your kingdom, or is Jesus the Savior of all who has commanded His people, bought by His blood, to grow His kingdom. Jesus has called all of his people to be his witnesses. No, he does not give you a suggestion, but says, "you will be" my witnesses. But Jesus does not ask us to do this in our power but in the power of the Holy Spirit...

What comes to mind when you think of the book of Acts? I think of, Spirit baptism, casting lots, tongues of fire, shipwrecks, snake bites, and many more exciting stories. But most of all I think of a mass movement of God through His people. I think of a movement of God that would turn the world upside down. A movement that would take scared, trembling fishermen and transform them into brave fisher...

Our spouse is to be a seal on our hearts. Only they have access. They are to be a seal on our arms so that others may see our love for our spouse. In this finale we see the main themes of the book revisited. We are to awaken love at the right time and we are to teach others to do the same. We are to do the same spiritually. Set God as a seal upon your heart. Seek Him exclusively. Love God and do n...

Our couple spends these two chapters reconciling from their fight. A godly reconciliation is not rushed through.  #journeyingthroughthescripture #marriage #love #oldtestament #songofsongs #Bible #God 

It happens. Conflict is much like Thanos, it's inevitable. It is not if conflict happens that is the mark of a good marriage, it is how the couple deal with conflict. In this chapter, our couple has a fight. Let's see how they handle conflict. Instagram: Journeying through Scripture  #conflict #marriage #love #oldtestament #God #grace #repentance

The biblical idea of sex is grounded in the context of marriage. Our couple has made it to the wedding night. All of their passion and arousal is now in the right context. To use the language of this chapter, they are in the garden and are enjoying the fruits.  #love #christian #god #oldtestament #songofsongs

Our marriages and weddings should be reflections of our hope in the gospel.  #gospel #bible #oldtestament #god #songofsongs #love

A mature love seeks after the right person at the right time.  #marriage #love #songofsongs #oldtestament #bible

Godly love matures, grows, and deepens as the relationship endures different seasons of life. So too does our relationship with God.  #bible #God #oldtestament #songofsongs

Pleasing, godly love is stable, secure, and it is refreshing and sustaining. Lastly, it acts at the appropriate time and context.  #love #songofsolomon #bible #oldtestament

In the episode, we see that godly love is expressive, passionate, and secure. Our love for our spouse should also reflect our love for God as it is to be expressive and passionate as well as secure in Christ.   #love #relationships #songofsongs #oldtestament #bible #god