Second Thoughts with Austin Gentry

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | The Christmas story has 3 main journeys: Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem; the shepherds’ journey to the manger; and the Magi’s journey from Persia to the home of Jesus. Looking at the Magi’s journey, we can see a number of truths about God’s character and a host of principles of Christian living that apply just as much back then as it does to our journe...

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | The book of Exodus opens with a context of Israel's rapid multiplication and horrid suppression in Egypt. But after 400 years, God breaks the silence, and we are given one of the greatest examples of God's compassion, wisdom, and action for His people in all of Scripture. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | Acts ends with another display of God bringing about salvation in an uncanny, epic fashion. Many times, it seems like God's promise to take Paul before Caesar will not come to fruition; but in many faith-inspiring turns of events, God works fulfillment, salvation, and glory once more. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | In Acts 22, the apostle Paul stands before his persecutors, almost in a 'full-circle' moment. At one point, he was persecuting the Christians in Jerusalem; now, he is being persecuted as one himself. In Paul's last words to the Jews in Jerusalem, we can see a blueprint for how to share our faith effectively with others.

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | While the New Testament certainly gives clarity to the event of the Second Coming of Christ, it is certainly not a new idea or new development. Throughout the Old Testament, God gives His people many pictures, promises,  and prophecies about this 'day' that marks the end of our age and the beginning of the next, one that Jesus then claims as His own....

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | In Acts 19, Paul embarks on his third missionary journey and camps out in the city of Ephesus for more than 2 years. During his time, God works in many different ways to work different types of people - and He does the same today, as well. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | In Acts 18, Paul arrives in the city of Corinth with no money in his pockets, no people alongside him, and no place to stay; but a hot passion in his heart. Immediately, God provides him with ministry friends, financial means, and a place to do ministry - and 18 months later, the gospel goes forward in a place that seemed otherwise impossible. How? By God&apos...

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | As Paul begins his second missionary journey, God frustrates his plans... while leading him to just the right place, at exactly the right time, specifically to meet the right people. In all the open and closed doors, God's providence guided even their instinct of faith, when they did not have all the information before them. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | In what is formally called the 'Olivet Discourse,' Jesus shares with His disciples many things concerning the end of times. In them, we find motivation, purpose, peace, perspective, and victory, not just for eternity, but also for everyday life. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | Acts 15 and 16 mark a critical shift in the narration of Acts and salvation history: namely, Paul and Barnabas 'break up' after a sharp disagreement, but God uses their division to actually multiply His kingdom purposes to raise up new leaders, restore others, and redeem still more. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | The book of Judges is a tragic book, telling in many different ways the tired refrain of man's rebellion against God and subsequent enslavement to horrid gods and empty idols. Jephthah, one of God's judges, is no better than the people he is delivering; but his little bit of faith in the right direction makes an eternal difference, despite all the ca...

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | As Paul and Barnabas trek through Asia Minor on what is their first of four official 'missionary journeys,' they stop at a place called Antioch Pisidia, where they are met with a zealous welcoming as well as an equally zealous antagonism. Here, we see that people's responses to the gospel have more to do with their own heart and less to do with...

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | Acts 13 marks a key shift in the book Acts —  thematically, geographically, and demographically — as Luke directs our focus away from the church in Jerusalem and now to the church in Antioch. There, we see what a healthy, dynamic church culture looks like: in the church, from the church, and for the world.

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | God brings Peter to Cornelius, and Cornelius gathers a crowd for Peter, so that God can declare the good news to the Gentiles. Acts 10 marks what may be referred to as the 'Gentile Pentecost,' which mirrors in many ways the first Pentecost in Jerusalem for the Jews. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | Acts 12 features a duel of power between good and evil, God and Satan, Peter and Herod. In Herod, Satan tries to stomp out the gospel through unchecked power and sinister strength. But in Peter, God advances his Kingdom through trust, prayer, weakness, silence, and invisibility. The weakness and foolishness of God overturns what the enemy meant for evil, for g...

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | As Peter moves throughout the Mediterranean, he has two miraculous interactions - one with a paralyzed man, and another with a deceased woman - that replicate and repeat Jesus' own ministry. This story tells us something about apostolic authority back then as well as Jesus' heart for us today.

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | Acts 9 marks a milestone moment in the early church and also in the history of the world: the dramatic conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Even though Saul wasn't looking for God, God sought him out. And the ways God brought Saul to repentance and salvation is oftentimes how God brings us into the fold as well. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | In Acts 6, the church faces a new type of opposition. It's not external (like persecution or imprisonment) nor is it internal (like corruption or temptation); this time, it's somewhat 'passive opposition' where no one is necessarily at fault; there is natural dissonance, natural conflict, compounded with the stress and strain of natural gro...

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | Acts 5 features a cultural and spiritual war taking place between the establishment of Israel and the up-and-coming early church. As Satan takes extreme measures to stop the message of the gospel and salvation from spreading, God ensures that the Truth is preserved and people are brought into His Kingdom. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | In the first 4 chapters, the book of Acts shows how the church originated, operated, continued in the ordinary, and faced opposition. So far, the only opposition was external, i.e., physical harm and imprisonment. However, this type of opposition doesn't thwart the growth of the church; in fact, it enhances it all the more. At the turn of Acts 5, Satan ch...

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | In Acts 4, the Sanhedrin arrests the apostles for healing and teaching in Jesus' name - which was not a violation of the law, only the Sanhedrin's perceived sense of power. In the Sanhedrin, we can see a profound picture of ourselves and the culture around us: the priority of self, and Jesus' authority interrupting our autonomy and authority.

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | As the church continues in their regular routines and rhythms of life, their ordinary obedience to God gives way to extraordinary events. As they follow God each day, He directs their paths... to the right people... at the right place... for his perfect will. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | Acts unfolds in an action-packed way: the apostles receive the authority of Jesus, the Holy Spirit descends at Pentecost, many in Jerusalem repent of their sins and follow Christ, and the first church is born. But now what?  At the end of Acts, we see 5 defining characteristics of this new church, marking its health, structure, and lifestyle.

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | After the disciples waited, the Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost - and the church is born. In chapter 2, we see three main realities of the Holy Spirit - His arrival, activity, and aim. 

Second Baptist Church - Houston, TX | Acts opens with a great transition, that is, Jesus leaving His disciples and ascending into heaven. As He leaves, the disciples wait, pray, and prepare as they await the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and stand on the precipice of a new era in salvation history: the church.