Salem Magley Church Podcast

In this sermon, Pastor Chris explores Acts 19, where we see that the good news of the gospel isn't just a story of personal transformation, but a challenge to the very fabric of the world. It's a call to die to our old selves and follow Jesus, relinquishing the the power of the evil forces of Satan, the flesh, and the world.

In this sermon, Pastor Chris explores Acts 16 where we learn that Paul's approach to ministry required him to know himself, and to know his audience. He knew his strengths and weaknesses, and how his story could connect to his audience. He also know the barriers that would block his audience from hear the gospel, and he did his best to remove them. Join us as we learn together and are challenged t...

In this sermon, Pastor Chris explores Acts 15, where the Jerusalem council faces the challenge of how new Gentile Christians will be welcomed into the people of God. After listening, praying, and studying scripture, the leaders of the Jerusalem church explain their decision: Gentiles may follow Jesus without converting to Judaism. What we learn from this, Pastor Chris explains, is how to handle co...

In this sermon, Elder Alan Toy challenges Christians to remain persistent in their faith, regardless of the trials that come, just as many faithful believers have done before us.

In this sermon, Pastor Chris delves into the book of Acts to explore the unexpected outcomes that often accompany the work of spreading the gospel.

In this sermon, we delve into the pages of the Book of Acts to uncover a powerful lesson: Nothing can stop God from seeing his mission to Fruition. Join us as we explore the intriguing story of Herod Agrippa, a ruler who dared to challenge God's divine mission and faced the consequences.

In this sermon, Pastor Chris dives into Acts 10, where Peter's vision and his encounter with Cornelius reshape the early church's understanding of who is included in the Kingdom of God.

In this sermon, Pastor Chris explores the vision of Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. Saul, known later in Acts and throughout the New Testament as Paul, hunted down Christians before he become one. In this sermon, Pastor Chris explains that, with Jesus, our past never has to influence our present or future. God often will meet us in the least likely of times, if we simply look for him, and...

In this sermon, Pastor Chris explores what happened in the life of the early church after it was scattered because of the death of Stephen in Acts 8. This scattering of the early church provided it an opportunity to spread the message of Jesus outside the bounds of traditional Judaism. In Acts 8, Philip shares the message of Jesus first to a Samaritan village then with an Ethiopian Eunuch. Each of...

In this sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Pastor Chris explores the story of Stephen's death in Acts 7. This story comes down to the question of where and how God plans to work through his people. The Jewish people of the day believed God worked through the law of Moses in worship at the temple, but Jesus' first followers claimed that God worked in and through all who followed Jesus thr...

In this sermon, Salem Magley Elder Shelly Netherton calls on all Jesus followers to life a life of faithfulness to the way of Jesus. She does this by exploring Acts 6, where the early church is faced with the challenge of learning to live as a diverse community. Their solution is to appointed seven leaders to oversee the life of the community. From this group of leaders we meet Stephan, who from t...

In this sermon, Pastor Chris looks at Acts 4 and 5 and explores the idea that life in the kingdom of God isn't about us, but others. These ideas are made clear in the end of Acts 4, where the early Christian community is described as sharing all their positions for the greater of the community. Then, in Acts 5, we see this lifestyle set against several different groups of people who misuse the mis...

In this sermon, Pastor Chris explores Acts 4:1-31, where the story of the first Christian's earliest encounter with the Jewish leaders. In this story, Peter and John are arrested for healing a lame man and then preaching the gospel in the temple courts. As this passage unfolds, the religious leaders reveal that they view early church as a threat to their power. Because of this, they attempt to sil...

In this sermon, Pastor Chris explores the community life of Jesus' first followers. The story of these followers, recorded in Acts 2:42-3:26, tells of a young community who share everything in life: worshiping together, eating together, and supporting one another. We also learn that this community was powered by the Holy Spirit, and that they continued to welcome new members who choose to turn fro...

In this sermon, Pastor Chris calls on all to pledge their allegiance to Jesus as king as the final chapter of life as we know it begins to unfold. This call comes out of a close look at the story of the Day of Pentecost in the second chapter of Acts, where the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit is narrated. In this story, the earliest followers of Jesus received the Holy Spirit, which marked t...

In this sermon, guest speakers Matt and Jamie Moore share a bit of their story about living on the way of Jesus.

In this sermon, Pastor Chris explores the opening chapter of the book of Acts. In this sermon, he explains that Acts is a sequel to the Gospel of Luke, and that it continues the story of Jesus. He explains that while Luke’s gospel focuses telling the story of Jesus’ life on earth, the books of Acts shifts it’s focus on Jesus’ story going out into the world through the witness of Jesus’ earliest fo...

In this sermon for the First Sunday after Pentecost: Trinity Sunday, Pastor Chris explores the doctrine of the Trinity. In this sermon he first looks at the picture of God painted at the Old Testament, noting that God reveals himself to be complex. He then looks at how Jesus and God are revealed in the gospels, and then finally how the later New Testament authors talk about Jesus, is Father, and t...

In this sermon for the Day of Pentecost, Pastor Chris explores how the coming of the Holy Spirit makes the moment when God has finally come to remake the world. First, we explore how the Feast of Weeks, or the Feast of Pentecost, informed the early Christians celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit by setting apart time to prepare and anticipate. Second, we explore how the Feast of Weeks incl...

In this sermon for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Pastor Chris explores why Jesus' followers remain behind on earth after he returns to heaven to the right hand of his Father in the event that Christians call the ascension. To answer this question, Pastor Chris explores texts from Acts 1:6-14, 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11, and John 17:1-11. In these texts we see that Jesus planned to leave his followers...

In this sermon for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Pastor Chris explores what it looks like to follow Jesus. The main text for this sermon is John 14:15-21, and in this passage Jesus tells his disciples if they love him then they will keep his commands. The Hebrew Scriptures explain often tell the Jewish people to love God by keeping his commands, and Jesus' statement strongly parallels this. When Jes...

In this sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Pastor Chris explores Jesus’ claim to be equal with God. Jesus makes this claim through conversation with his disciples in John chapter 14 when he first tells his disciples that he will prepare a place for them in his Father’s house. Jesus then tells his disciples that he is the only way to his Father, and finally he claims to fully represent his Fath...

In this sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Pastor Chris explores life in the world after the turn of the resurrection of Jesus. By looking at John 10:1-10, Chris points his audience towards the role that Jesus places in all of our lives as both our true shepherd and the one through whom we enter to receive salvation.

In this sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter, Pastor Chris explores the story of the Jesus talking with two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus from Luke chapter 24. In this sermon, Pastor Chris explores the central roll the suffering played in the turn that happens in the world after Jesus death and resurrection. Specifically, Jesus makes it clear to his two disciples from the Hebrew Scriptur...

In this sermon for the Second Sunday in Easter, Pastor Chris explores the story of Thomas and his doubts about the resurrection of Jesus from John 20:19-31. In this passage, Pastor Chris explains that John told the story of Thomas with the hope that his audience would come to believe in the resurrection of Jesus in spite of seeing Jesus' physical body. John's challenge to his readers is to weigh t...