Providence Church

Underneath all the bright lights of commerce, culture, and “coolness" in Ephesus, there were dark powers at work. There was a spiritual battle taking place, and the souls of men and women were at stake. What can drive back the darkness in a place like Ephesus? Only the power of God’s word and God’s works.

When the Pharisees complain that Jesus is welcoming sinners, Jesus tells a story with a surprising twist. It’s a story that’s makes us stop and consider the gracious heart of God and where we are in relation to him.

Athens was a city made up of many different belief systems, but beholden to none of them. And into this pluralistic city, filled with many ideas and many gods, steps the Apostle Paul, a man who had staked his life on one idea and entrusted his life to one God. We can learn a lot from Paul about taking the gospel to a pluralistic culture.

The call to Macedonia and the church plant in Philippi remind us that the gospel can go anywhere and change anyone.

Acts 15 forces the early church to answer a question at the heart of the gospel: What does it take to truly belong to God’s people? Their answer clarifies how we are saved by grace and how that grace shapes the way we live together.

If you want to talk about Jesus with people who are not familiar with the Bible or the gospel story, you have to ask two questions: 1) What story do they live in? 2) How does the gospel reframe that story?

When Paul and Barnabas come to Antioch in Pisidia, the first place they take the gospel is the synagogue. This is in keeping with Paul’s belief that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes; first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. This encounter in Antioch reveals several things about the gospel: It’s a fulfillment, it’s an offer of forgiveness and freedom, and it’s a f...

The gospel changes the world by changing people. In Antioch, we see the good news of Jesus transforming lives, forming communities that reflect Christ, and sending ordinary people into God’s mission.

God brings together diverse people through faith in Jesus and makes them a family.

How could the man who was the most ruthless enemy of the church become the most famous advocate for Jesus. The answer is: Jesus totally transforms him. And if Jesus can do that for Saul, he can do it for anyone.

In Israel, kings and priests were never the same person, but Psalm 110 says the Messiah is both. The king who sits on the throne is also the priest who brings you into his presence.

We may genuinely want to obey God, but wanting to obey and actually doing it are two different things. Psalm 40 shows us where to look when our obedience falls short.

We live in a turbulent, noisy, intimidating world, with people and nations clamoring for power and position. Sometimes we wonder if the world is going to be okay. But Psalm 2 gives us confidence that God has the whole world in his hands. His anointed King reigns over the nations!

Psalm 24 is a reflection on God as a King, and it points forward to Jesus as the king of glory. He ascends to the holy place and invites us to follow him. He is the way to God, the ruler over all things, and when he returns we will reign with him. 

Jesus is the man that Adam was made to be. He is the true human being. The good news about Jesus is not just that he saves us from our sins, but also that he restores our identity and purpose as humans.  

We gain confidence in God by experiencing him personally. And that is possible because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. He is the holy one who did not see corruption. In Christ, we can say that God is our refuge and we will not be shaken.

If Psalm 22 is about the cross of Christ and Psalm 24 is about the crown of Christ, then Psalm 23 is about the confidence we can have in Christ. Psalm 23 is a confidence Psalm, a psalm of absolute trust. And there are three clear confessions of confidence in this Psalm that can be our confessions too.    

This is the Psalm of the Cross, quoted by Jesus as he suffers and dies for the sins of the world. This Psalm brings us into the experience of Christ’s premeditated passion to deliver and rescue us from the sin and death and bring us into the dwelling presence of God.

Jesus is the blessed man of Psalm 1. Through our union with him, we receive his righteousness and we resolve to walk with him in the way of Psalm 1.

In this beautiful story, God arranges a divine encounter to take the gospel to just one man. And he does it through another man. And, even though this story has some extraordinary elements, it’s really just the ordinary way God works to bring people to himself. The Spirit of God uses the man or woman of God to share the word of God to bring people to faith in the Son of God.

The gospels moves out in word and deed. It brings people in to fellowship and community. And it spills over in abundant joy.

In Acts 6–7, Stephen faithfully serves, boldly proclaims Jesus, and becomes the first Christian martyr. His story reveals that suffering is not evidence of God's absence but often part of following Christ. In this sermon, Brad Watson explores how opposition cannot stop the mission of God, why believers share in the life of Jesus, and how the hope of resurrection transforms even death into victory.

As the early church grew, it faced much opposition. But the greatest threat to the growing church might have been growth itself. Because growth brings challenges and complexities that can distract the church from the mission of God.    

The mission of God will always meet resistance and opposition. But whatever comes our way, we can seek God, and he can give us courage to do the work he has called us to do.

Here in Acts 4 we have a confrontation between the religious leaders and the apostles. And at the root of the confrontation is the name of Jesus. His name dominates the entire episode and is what the controversy is all about. There is no other name like the name of Jesus.