PASTOR TIM JUPP

Paul had been very pre-suppositional in his approach every where he went; what is notable here is his use of evidence.  But make NO mistake; his approach remains very pre-suppositional: “there is really only one God, you once knew Him, you have always known about Him” Some will hear, some will not; either way, anyway and everyway it will always be about Jesus. The good news is Jesus! Paul’s apolog...

Paul obviously believed there was a time to Stand Tall and stand firm; a time to be strong and time to muster all authority. Here, at Philippi, Paul’s confidence in the leading of God was obvious. God had fashioned an unmistakable path to the equally unmistakable call. No matter how evil the adversary, how hopeless the circumstance or how dangerous the potential reprisal, it was time to be bold an...

Some doors He opens and some doors He closes. It can be difficult to know what to do next, so just do what you know is right, go above and beyond and get tough when the going gets tough. God will give you clear direction!                        We must be working our Fathers business if we want to know what business we have in His work. It’s about inertia: the Spirit won’t direct a body not in mot...

This passage leaves us with questions we cannot definitively answer and good people have disagreed as strongly as Paul and Barnabas over it. While I am certain there is blame in this separation I’m not certain whose it is! Or ... what portion belongs to who! But this is what I know; God is merciful and long -suffering: He will take our foolishness, our faults and failures and turn them into buildi...

In this life you will meet some people who are just agitators, trouble makers that thrive on attention drawn from the drama they created. They are out there and they will be in the church. Wherever they are not apposed with spiritual integrity, they will be the cause of great destruction!! Paul and Barnabas held their ground and appealed to the only higher authority on the planet: the result, ‘the...

There will always be some who wish to make salvation earnable and therefore deservable but it is not There will always be some who wish to add necessities to our faith; we must not allow them. We believe Ep 2:8,9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, it is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, it is not of works, lest anyone should boast. but....There are necessary things to live God...

They say, everyone’s got a story! I seldom meet someone who doesn’t have a story. They’re out there and I suppose in their own way that is their story. But what we usually mean when referring to ‘their story’ is the stuff they’ve been through! It’s trials, tribulations, afflictions, illness and deaths that mark out journey here on this planet. It’s sin, divorce, assault, grief or poverty that unfo...

We find here some simple lessons on how to face opposition. Sometimes you dig in, sometimes you run but you never stop playing the role God has called you to play . What is certain is; Satan will attack, first with subtle suggestions of error, then mischievousness innuendo, followed by malice slander with intent to destroy. Therefore, be on guard, recognize the enemy and ‘show the devil to the doo...

We preach Jesus because there is life in no other. Acts 4:12 "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved." We cannot predict when the Spirit will call or when He will stop calling. No one can say where or when revival will come or when it will end. But… we can say with great certainty; 1) The enemy will rise to...

The Spirit of the living God will lead Christ’s church into victory every time the children of God obey. But a culturally driven tolerance for all manner of wickedness and sin is leaving the church powerless. We have been allowing our attempts to remain relevant to supersede simple obedience. God forgive us! We need whole- hear-ted teaching and unquestioning obedience to the Word of God! It’s comp...

‘The Hand of the LORD’ was with them and great many people believed and were taught in Christian doctrine. Here in Antioch ‘Christianity’, at least in name, is born. The very idea that ‘The Supreme Being’, who cannot ignore sin, is willing to completely forgive it, was such good news to the heathen theist, they could not and did not resist. When the hand of the Lord accompanies the efforts of sinc...

This story is the turning point of ‘The Acts of The Apostles’.                                              No human being is common or unclean. Nobody is to be spurned, shunned, rejected, despised because of his ethnic origin or race or culture or physical traits or social restraints. All of us have a history and all come to the foot of the cross the same way! Repentance of prejudice is not easy...

The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns and without which none of the other truths would much matter. Without the resurrection, Christianity would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all other human philosophy and religious speculation. – John MacArthur Before you meet Jesus as Judge, you may meet him this very morning as the Forgiver of sins—the Peacem...

The name of Jesus is able to do what no amount of human persuasion or human power can ever do. He alone can impart strength and sensation to paralyzed legs. His power alone can raise a corpse from the dead. He alone can call a soul out of spiritual bondage and impart eternal life . He is still doing great wonders in changing depraved natures, breaking hard hearts, subduing obstinate wills, enlight...

What grace was it that could lead the Saviour's heart to speak to such a man as Saul,    who had breathed out threatenings against His church? Had he not haled men and women to prison?? Had he not compelled them in every synagogue to blaspheme the name of Jesus Christ? Oh but the transforming work of God ! —and quite radical!!.   Through a personal encounter with Jesus, this man named Saul is...

Conclusion : I remember Terry and Liz when we transitioned to Essex county and the ministry, how we were accepted, encouraged and helped into the life God had planned for us.  We needed such friends that for the love of their Lord intervened into the darkness of our world so we could see our path forward. Ananias played that role for Saul, a new friend when desperately needed in the transition of...

The church hadn’t begun its missionary work. They could have sent Phillip and Stephen a few weeks earlier and maybe everything had been different, but God had told them they would take the gospel to Samaria and so they would! This baby church, still learning, not a year old: indeed, was a fragile group of transformed Jesus followers who’s fellowship was suddenly destroyed but they could not keep s...

Stephen’s conclusion is this; “nothing has changed”. Men have always been a race of rebels: good men have been slow to obey: even the best of our fathers had to learn the hard way. Most rejected the truth in ancient times; it was so in Stephen’s day and so it is in ours. You are of the remnant, the faithful few born into this race of rebels , a populace with hard hearts and slow ears. but we, memb...

Stephen, a man of Spirit, a man of faith, plays such a small role in the establishment of the church, we could easily pass by him but I would argue, he played the supremely crucial role. He is not just a link between the fisherman and the Pharisee, he is the bridge from the Hebrew to the Hellenist, and he is the catalyst of world evangelism. Stephen wasn’t just the obedient blessed deacon; he was...

Do not think for one moment that the gates of hell will not attack. Satan desires the church to be an embarrassment to her founder and Lord. Know this, without doubt, as soon as people begin to repent and seek after the righteousness of Christ, the enemy arises and sews seeds of complaint and murmurings in the ranks, sometimes even over real issues! So you say ‘so-and-so’s’ got issues; well, that’...

The enemy is real and his attacks don’t have to any make sense but God calls for a Holy church to do His Holy work, not to fear! In a culture where holiness and piety have become bad words, we ought to expect opposition, insult and tribulations: we ought to respond to opposition by continuing somewhat stubbornly, somewhat cautiously but always faithfully. In fact, we ought to flourish when we joyf...

The church had real fear of the local authorities and real fear of interrupting the work of God and so the miraculous was limited to apostles. But in the midst of the fear, a sweet spirit was maintained among the brethren who held the apostles in high esteem and met door to door. The church of the 21 century must recognize the limited power of the authorities and recognize a greater authority call...

When the pouring out of the Spirit comes Satan is always there to counterfeit and destroy. He even uses “well-intentioned dragons” with pretence in their heart and willingness to compromise. We must guard our hearts against self deceit and judge ourselves so that we will not be judged.  “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep” 1Co 11:30 "The Church has never been ha...

All the best attributes a man can know, stem from association with Jesus. If Jesus resurrection is the single most important truth in human existence then all men everywhere should hear of it. But will they believe it? People’s ability and/or willingness to listen will be altered by how we live our lives. They must see a human demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s transformative power in us.  Radical...

It’s a crazy mixed up world. Darkness rules and often sides against you with no reasonable cause except that you are light. But John MacArthur says: ‘Persecution always results in growth. Mark that. If you're obeying the Lord and you wind up in a mess, you can assume that God ordained the mess. So stick around, there's something that's going to happen in that mess.’ When the real re...