Crosstown OKC Sermons

Jesus promised that everyone who believed in him would be empowered by his Spirit to advance the blessings of his kingdom throughout the world. That promise was fulfilled when Jesus entered his glory in surprising fashion As the good news of his kingdom spread, his followers found that they were empowered by the Spirit of Christ to proclaim the same message of salvation through Jesus alone.

Christians have been given the Holy Spirit to make them witnesses of Jesus and his kingdom. We have been transferred out of the kingdom of death and brought into the kingdom of life. But we are often tempted to go back and to submit to the slavery from which we have been delivered. The only way forward is to discern the voice of the Spirit, and to go his way, wherever he might take us.

Jesus promised that when the Holy Spirit came upon his disciples, they would be his witnesses, representatives of his own presence in the world. To be Jesus’s witnesses, then, we must depend upon his Spirit whom he has given to us. We must learn how to rely upon the Spirit’s help so that everyone may know about God’s love.

A Christian is a person who possesses the Spirit of God. And to have God’s Holy Spirit is to be assured that God will transform a person, making him or her the image of God that they were always meant to be. Holiness is the Christian’s destiny, but it is also the Christian’s duty to prioritize and to cultivate over a lifetime of discipleship.

The Spirit of God unites believers together in one faith. Believers have the responsibility to maintain unity. The church has the privilege to practice this unity.

The Bible claims to be telling the true story of the world. The story it tells gives us hope that the God who created the world will also save the world from the destructive power of sin. This story is centered around Jesus, but it necessarily involves us who believe in him. Because of the promise of God’s Holy Spirit who has come to dwell among his people, God will empower us to fulfill the good...

At last, Paul arrived in Rome. The journey had not been easy, but Paul was reenergized by the other Christians he meet there. Calling for the Jewish authorities, he expounded to them faith in Jesus as the realization of Israel’s hope. Though his testimony was not accepted, Paul was undeterred. He knew that, regardless of his own fate, the good news of Jesus and his kingdom would never cease to be...

Paul and his travelling companions had an eventful journey to Rome. A relentless sea storm and a devastating shipwreck threatened to take away all hope for surviving the trip. Paul played no small part in keeping hope alive, his presence in the catastrophe signifying God's desire and power to save people from destruction.

The Roman governors tried to figure out why there was so much fuss about Paul. But even after putting him on trial, they remained puzzled. Though they could find no guilt in him, they sensed that he was motivated by a powerful conviction that they themselves would have to face one way or another.

Despite many warnings, Paul returns to Jerusalem at the end of his 3rd missionary journey. Plots stack against him, but he is eager to give a report on his ministry, willing to face persecution, ready to witness to the hope of the resurrection, and wise to use his Jewishness and his Roman citizenship for the gospel. The Lord is by his side encouraging him, as we witness how the Romans are now more...

The Apostle Paul wanted to get back to Jerusalem before Pentecost, but he first needed to complete his mission. He comforted the believers with the life-giving message of the kingdom of God. He entrusted the church to the sustaining power of God’s grace. And he remained resolute in his determination to complete what the Lord had called him to do, no matter the cost.

As disciples of Jesus, Christians join their Lord in the advance of his kingdom on earth. This mission, though guaranteed to succeed, will not be easy. All disciples will need to know the power of God's Holy Spirit as they confront the powers of darkness, who will do their best to discourage even the bravest among them.

Standing before the highest council in Athens, Paul made his case for the resurrection of Jesus as the hope that everyone is looking for. Traveling on to Corinth, Paul found dear friends who would partner with him in promoting this message. Encouraged by Jesus himself, Paul remained in Corinth for some time, establishing a church community who would bear witness to the power of the resurrection.

Paul and his companions traveled into Macedonia, concluding that God was calling them to preach the gospel there. They came with good news, although the message they announced kept causing trouble. The preaching of Jesus and the resurrection was the turning point, providing the help that many were seeking, while also upending the world’s greatest powers that held the world in its evil grip.

Paul and Barnabas’s missionary journey had been a success, in spite of the hostilities they faced from non-believing Jews. But now it was Jewish Christians who were causing a problem, teaching that Gentiles had to become Jews in order to be fully incorporated into the true people of God. This issue had to be resolved in order for the mission of God to continue.

Paul and Barnabas continue the 2nd portion of this first missionary journey, where we see the message go out more to the Gentiles. Opposition is increasing and accelerating. Will the apostles cave and stop their mission? Or will they continue to preach the gospel? This passage shows us how through adversity, the message continues boldly, and breakthrough takes place with a mass conversion of Genti...

As the church in Antioch flourished, it became apparent that God was urging the believers there to take the good news on the road. Paul and Barnabas are sent out on the first Christian missionary journey. As they proclaim the good news of Jesus, they see the kingdom of God joyfully received by many while they are also forced to confront the powers of darkness that will not give up easily.

It is not a surprise when the church grows and is effective in ministry. But it is also not surprising when the church is persecuted and hindered in its gospel work. Regardless of how the world responds to the church and its mission, Christians are urged to persist in prayer, assured that no earthly power will be able to stop the advance of the kingdom of God.

When the message of Jesus arrived in the important city of Antioch, a great number of the Gentiles there became believers. Barnabas was thrilled when he saw this evidence of God’s grace, and he sent for Saul to help him teach these new believers. Soon these disciples of Jesus came to be known by a new name because of their devotion to Jesus and his kingdom.

Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the world is being transformed. The risen Christ is the world’s true king, and he will see to it that justice is done for all. Everyone who wants to share in the saving realities of his kingdom is invited to join in the work of his kingdom.

Coming to faith in Jesus is a drastic transformational event: those who encounter Jesus are no longer the same. And the change from death to life demands a change from passivity to activity – to take action to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God, no matter the place or the cost, trusting the Spirit of God, the power of God, and the wisdom of God – not our own.

When Saul of Tarsus travelled to Damascus to arrest any Christians he could find there, he experienced something that would radically transform his life forever. Somehow, he came to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was raised from the dead and was, in fact, the Messiah. In these defining moments of his life, Saul of Tarsus finally began to understand the message he had been given to proclaim all ove...

After a successful ministry in Samaria, God led Philip into contact with a very unique person from Ethiopia. This man had a lot going for him, but he knew that something was missing, and he hoped that he might find what he was looking for in the worship of Israel’s God. When Philip told him about Jesus, everything began to make sense, and the Ethiopian returned to his homeland filled with joy.

When the Christians in Jerusalem were scattered by persecution, Philip went to Samaria and “proclaimed to them the Christ.” Astonishingly, many of the Samaritans believed and were baptized. When they received the Holy Spirit, even the most elite among them recognized the presence of a superior power to any other they had known before.

Christians can easily forget that what Jesus has done for them is to bring them into the realization of the great Jewish hope. By tearing down the barrier between Jew and Gentile, Jesus has made God accessible to everyone on equal terms. Those who approach God through Jesus are now being joined together as God’s eternal dwelling place and a sign of hope to the world.