Exploring God’s Word with Brad Thurston

Growth in understanding  From the beginning the Old Testament speaks of God’s desire for all to come to a knowledge of the truth.  The promises are not just for Abraham and his descendants, but for all who will call upon the name of the Lord! But the Jews see their purpose as defending God’s honor through their traditions and laws.  So though the prophets declared it, it is not something that thei...

Means of communication: we often take communication for grated and assume that the way we do it is perhaps the only way, or the right way to communicate sometimes this is quite funny! We have a lot of fun on the mission field thinking of the ways miscommunication plays in our lives: for example, assuming a person is deaf, when they don’t know the language we are using.  Or not knowing how to commu...

Introduction “I can worship God anywhere”. “Church is full of hypocrites.” Church is not a castle for elitist people, it is more like a hospital full of every kind of human sickness where folks seek to be healed.  It is not intended to be a cruise ship with every kind of luxury, it is supposed to be a lifeboat rescuing those drowning in human misery. The church was never intended to be a club for...

Meeting people who leave important footprints in our lives affect us and others as well. I have met a lot of well-known people in this world, but they were not the ones who impacted me the most. Some impacted me with a sentence, or a particular teaching, or their lifestyle.  Over the course of my life, there have been many mentors who have profoundly influenced me. Some don’t know me or how their...

Introduction On the way into Jerusalem, the crowds gathered and waved their Palm branches and shouted out praise as Jesus rode on a donkey into the city of Jerusalem.  It was a strange mixture of misunderstood preconceived ideas and Jesus accepting their worship even though he knew they were not properly interpreting the scriptures. All would be revealed at the right time! They would see that the...

Things are different when Philip comes. This is the next step to the advancement of the Kingdom of God: The Kingdom advances in the following ways: 1. Through persecution 2. Through preaching the Word with signs and wonders following: what we do and what God does! 3. Through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit – what is God’s method? His desire? His Purpose? 4. Through overcoming internal struggles ...

If you have been protecting the purity of the faith in one God, and his presence in the temple, and his laws for 4000 years, how can you put up with such a dramatic different interpretation of the scriptures that you have protected for so long? This is a major attack on our way of life, our historians, our traditions, our beliefs, our hope? For the Sanhedrin, it means their jobs, their livelihood,...

Zeal: what leaders protect and what they perceive their role to be – defending their way of life Zeal for the Jews from the Old Testament: The story of Moses in deliverance, the tabernacle, and the giving of the law: one God and the restoration of life as in the Law.  The stories of zeal for God that are told to the children: the story of Phinehas -in Numbers 25 and Psalm 106 as well as Elijah and...

The answer to the question: “Is this so?” - is not simply yes or no. Paul does reply succinctly: “while Paul said in his own defense, “I have committed no offense either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.”” Acts 25:8 Explain the style and parts of this sermon, the longest single discourse in Acts: Abraham, Joseph, and then Moses with the end challenge. The respons...

Multiplication in a new direction             Growth as the Spirit leads. Question is this: why does the movement not have a name? Because they don’t see themselves as being outside of what is Jewish. Their worldview is very different from ours.  They see Jesus as the waited Messiah, so it is the completion of what they have been trying to defend. Here is the clash that the leaders had with Jesus,...

Now at first sight, there are some ways to interpret this growth within the church, and the nature of disputes, some getting preference over others, which is often true. Or we can see it as a growing structure and pattern for developing organizational systems that are biblical, leading to how we run local churches.  I have just felt uneasy here, putting a very modern western individualistic busine...

Empowerment and Authority The Holy Spirit fills them again with boldness, and they take on a direct assault on the traditions of the elites. They return to the place where they had been arrested into the domain of the elders and leaders who commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, no they increase their following. The believers acknowledge the leadership and authority that Jesus gave to t...

Story line: in the midst of persecution there is a good response:  prayer. The result was an approval from God and the gift of confidence which they had asked for! The prayer is in stages: praise, God’s word, confidence in God’s will, ways and ability, request for confidence in the face of threats, request for miracles for others. God’s reply: a shaking, and an infilling of the Holy Spirit! Dictio...

When you think of the Presence of Jesus, what would you normally think about? Respect, awe, fear, amazing glory, praise, wonder, speechlessness, astonishment, blown away! I cannot think that “times of refreshing” fits into that list.  Some might think, guilt, shame, ugliness, fear, awkward, lost, evil, bad, judged, deceived. But we need to see the three parts of this sermon You are guilty even whe...

The lights at Christmas, including our home.  Something about lights, kids love them, we love them, we love the joy if brings. It was a short encouragement sent by a former Swiss missionary to Brazil that made me start to think of all that the Bible has to say regarding light: If one candle burns, it can light hundreds of other candles without ever loosing  any of it luster and glow. Light travels...

Notice the sequence in this verse: God’s motivation God’s generosity God’s method God’s purpose Verse 17 shows the importance of both a sender and a sent one in order for salvation to occur. As a church we need to identify with the nature and character of God:  see John 15: 10,11 We have the same spirit, the same nature as Jesus. How is that developed and grown in us? First the natural then the sp...

What did the first church look like? No purpose built buildings, but the first church nursed public areas and homes for their gatherings. Compare what the first church looked like in relation to what we tend to think church looks like. People tend to do what Jesus leads them to do rather than follow a fixed set of expectations. The birth of church life was not organized by administrators, but was...

The text of the sermon is both powerful and culturally relevant.  Peter knows who his audience is, and how to approach them.  This is important, as cultures change and methods change, but the Gospel does not. The truth of the lawgiver and creator remains unchanged, and his truth is absolute.  It does not change with the culture and that is what makes this sermon to this audience so powerful. Peter...

Understanding the moment: Fear, Misunderstanding of both Scripture and what the resurrection means. The departure of Jesus and not knowing what to expect. An internal gathering and prayer meeting that was quite safe. And then… Start with the end result of this event: Peter is speaking to a gathered crowd, and the first thing he does is quote Scripture. The impact of this encounter with the Holy Sp...

The events surrounding the preparation for the encounter with the Holy Spirit: Obedience Prayer The unity of the 120 including the women from Galilee and other followers from the 70. Mary the mother is present for the second encounter after her pregnancy announcement. She experiences the Power and activity of the Holy Spirit twice. Practical matters to be seen to: Some kind of structure for decisi...

The big Idea: It’s all about Jesus The ongoing Acts of Jesus The next big event is going to be the graduation from training to empowerment!  Get the foundation right. Start again at baptism! Remember what happened? Luke 3:15-17;21,22 It is more than repentance, it is new life – the prophecy of John will be fulfilled They must wait upon the Lord expectantly – they have seen, heard, and now somethin...

The struggles surrounding the resurrection, combines with summation of the work of Jesus along with his instructions for future of the Kingdom of God.  Wrestling with so many different aspects of how Jesus did things, how his words are filled with truth and clarity about matters of eternal value, not just temporal value. From miracles to confronting critics, facing fearful events with calm and ass...

Overview: The reaction of the disciples is even more dramatic. Jesus even rebukes them for their lack of faith. The commission is simple and clear The addition in Mark of the activity of the Holy Spirit points to the continuity of the ministry of Jesus The obedience to the call and the activity of Jesus  The focus begins with the words of testimony shared that focus on the reality of an encounter...

If Jesus is alive from the dead, then all the other miracles mentioned in the Bible are easy to believe.  Jesus, by his appearances, is letting the disciples know how he will affect their lives for the future.  The finished work of Christ is accomplished.  Now the unfinished work of Christ must also be accomplished! This work includes your participation!  Who does Jesus choose to send? The importa...

Our focus in the next few weeks will be to examine Jesus’ strategy, his purpose and plan for the greatest movement in history. The commission in Luke 24 focused on the finished and the unfinished work of Christ. In John the commission focuses on the methodology of our commission: if we want to know how Jesus sends us to a lost and dying world, then we need to know how the Father sent Jesus. That i...