Acts 2 Sermons

There are few words we long to hear more than “I love you,” yet the phrase is often difficult to say or hear—and even harder to live out. In this sermon from Dr. Mark Foster, we explore what the Bible teaches us about what love is and what love does. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Facebook Instagram Youtube Twitter

Who tells you who you are? The actions you take without thinking might answer that question. Dr. Mark Foster shares two habits that can help make your life worth living again as we conclude our sermon series, Surviving the Pandemic. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Facebook Instagram Youtube Twitter

Would you like to do your best, focused, uninterrupted work? Would you like to connect with your family? Would you like to open yourself up to the voice of God? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then this sermon by Dr. Mark Foster, and especially the daily habit he recommends, is for you. It is proven to work, and it is not complicated. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Wat...

We will become the stories we give our attention to. What stories are you paying attention to? Are you tired of endlessly consuming whatever story an algorithm chooses for you? Dr. Mark Foster shares two habits that can help us experience a life defined by the greater story God invites us into. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Faceboo...

We become what we do. Where are your habits leading you these days? In this sermon, Dr. Mark Foster explores two habits that can help form us into the people God made us to be. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Facebook Instagram Youtube Twitter

Our country and our world seem more divided than ever. Whose side is Jesus on? In part two of Surviving the Pandemic, Dr. Mark Foster shares how Jesus navigated the divisions of his day and what he has to say to us today. Some audio elements have been removed to honor copyright restrictions. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Facebook I...

Trouble is nothing new for people of faith. We may have never lived through a pandemic before, but the people of God have survived far worse. This week, Dr. Mark Foster begins a new sermon series exploring what our ancestors in the faith can teach us about enduring and thriving in difficult times. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Face...

You may not be able to ensure that your circumstances are joyful, but you can choose joy even in difficult circumstances. Rev. Brandon Blacksten shares how we can experience God's joy in any circumstances. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Facebook Instagram Youtube Twitter

Anyone feeling anxious these days? When fear, anxiety, and worry get the best of us, we can find ourselves immobilized and unable to act. We might even behave in ways that are immoral. But fear doesn't have to control us. In this message, Rev. Brandon Blacksten explores how Jesus' disciples responded to fear and what we can learn from their example. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch...

All of us have some level of anger in us, but when anger lingers, it can cause all kinds of problems in our lives. In this sermon, Dr. Mark Foster explores what the Bible says about the source of anger and how we can keep it from getting the best of us. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Facebook Instagram Youtube Twitter

Envy has the potential to ruin what is most valuable and important to us. Looking around and comparing ourselves to others makes us miserable. But less is actually more when it leads to contentment. In this sermon, Dr. Mark Foster shares how we can move from envy and comparison to peace. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Facebook Insta...

Guilt is to our spirit what pain is to our body. Guilt is a signal that we have acted against our personal values. In this sermon, Dr. Mark Foster looks at the role guilt plays in our lives and how we can keep guilt from getting the best of us. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Facebook Instagram Youtube Twitter

God’s acceptance doesn’t come from the condition of our hearts, but the condition of our hearts does determine our openness to God’s work in our lives. In this sermon, Dr. Mark Foster shares what Jesus says about our hearts and what is most important to God. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Facebook Instagram Youtube Twitter

Cancel culture isn't something new to our society today, and it isn't something that the church has been immune from. From the earliest days of the church, we have struggled to not separate ourselves into "them" and "us." Pastor Mark wraps up "The Book of Acts" sermon series by exploring how the early church formed unity community. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship...

The leadership of the church in Acts 13 was a multicultural, multi-ethnic, and economically diverse group that models what is possible when God's people come together. In this sermon, Dr. Mark Foster and Dr. Victor McCullough explore how we can achieve that unity and diversity in a divided society. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Fac...

In 15 years, the church of Jesus Christ grew from a small sect in Jerusalem to a group of thousands in Samaria, along the Mediterranean seacoast, and into modern Syria and Turkey. In another 15 years, it would spread all the way to Rome, the capital of the empire. Dr. Mark Foster tells the story of how the church grew and spread, even in the face of challenges and persecution. Download the Sermon...

When we do what's right, we expect to be applauded, but sometimes we're criticized. Yet when we persevere in doing good, God works through us to unite people so there's no longer them and us—there is unity. In that unity, we can rejoice in what God is doing and encourage those around us. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Facebook Insta...

We all grow up with assumptions about which people are "our people," but God moves us beyond those assumptions. In Acts 10, Peter finds himself in the 'wrong' neighborhood with the 'wrong' people, and the Holy Spirit comes to a Roman centurion and his family. In one of the great turning points in the history of the church, people who were enemies become family. Today, the Holy Spirit still invites...

True fellowship shares much more than common beliefs or core values. It involves time together and shared meals in homes, and it reflects heaven on earth. The early followers of Jesus came together from all over the known world and formed a community where everyone was welcome, showing us the possibilities for true fellowship today. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship...

After all the disruptions of recent weeks, now is the time to remember who the church really is. We are much more than people who gather in a building once a week. We are the people of God on mission with Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit. In this message, Dr. Mark Foster shares about the birth of the church and what it means for us today. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the...

Even in Jesus' day, racism was an issue. Jesus' teaching challenged his hearers to go beyond loving people who were easy for them to love. He taught them even to love their enemies—like Samaritans. And when we love God and love neighbor, unity happens. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Facebook Instagram Youtube Twitter

When we go through events like a global pandemic, we desperately want things to be different than they are. Yet if we don’t learn to take life as it comes, we will always be waiting for our real lives to begin, and God’s desires for the world through us will go unrealized. In the stories of the Babylonian Exile and the early church, the Bible teaches us how to take life as it comes so that we can...

In the midst of a global pandemic, problems abound, and we often want out of those problems as quickly as possible. But God is not as concerned about getting us out of problems as in getting us through them. Problems bring us to the end of ourselves, and they teach us to rely on God, who uses those problems to help us grow. While it's uncomfortable, when life is disrupted, we can learn to embrace...

Blame feels good at first, but ruins us over time. It keeps us stuck in shame. But when we learn to own our stuff, Jesus helps us create a new life of freedom and joy. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Facebook Instagram Youtube Twitter

If we don't leave our baggage behind, our past will become our present. But baggage we carry around does not go away until we deal with it. In week 4 of the Disrupted sermon series, Dr. Mark Foster shares how acknowledging, grieving, and forgiving can set us free to enjoy the freedom God has for us. Download the Sermon Notes Watch the Sermon Watch the Full Worship Service Follow Acts 2: Website Fa...