The Central Moment

Everything that God does sovereignly and miraculously in our lives should ultimately lead us to deeper intimacy with him. We are to have faith for the supernatural, but not in a way that makes us spiritual consumers with no heart for God beyond self-interest.

The ‘love Jesus, hate church’ movement of the past few decades would have been incomprehensible to the Apostle Paul. The church is the community of those who belong to Jesus -- set apart to him and being made more like him.

Spiritual abuse by church leaders is antithetic to authentic New Testament pastoral leadership. However, the Apostle Paul modeled a different way that provides Christ-centered hope for every victim.

How suffering and joy can go together is one of the paradoxes of the Christians life. And yet Paul would later write to the church in a city where he had been severely beaten and encourage them to “rejoice.”

We can’t put God in a box when it comes to how he leads us. Sometimes in Acts we see God using dreams and visions, or people running for their lives because of persecution. But there is also the closed door method -- for many, not a favorite!

It’s always painful to watch Spirit-filled people experience disagreements so sharp that they eventually need to part ways. But Paul and Barnabas could not agree over ministry values and, indeed, went their own ways -- only to see the Lord use it for his purpose.

Discerning God’s will is often a blending of the spiritual instincts that have been formed within us as we walk with the Lord with a sense of the leading of the Holy Spirit. May we all grow in our sensitivity to the Lord’s leading!

In discerning truth, our experience must always line up with God’s Word. That is what the early church did in resolving a potentially explosive issue. They took what God seemed to be doing and lined it up with the Scriptures before they came to a final conclusion.

Church councils throughout Christian history have helped to clarify foundational Biblical doctrines on issues such as the nature of Christ and the Trinity. But this very first church council in Acts 15 had the important task of clarifying the gospel itself.

Have you ever experienced conflict and disagreement with other believers? Have you been a part of a church that has been deeply divided and in danger of a split? Welcome to Acts 15!

The relationship between Paul and the original twelve apostles was a fascinating and sometimes complicated one. Here, however, Peter honors Paul while making us smile as the early church finds its footing and the New Testament Scriptures are being penned.

There is an experiential dimension to walking with Jesus, and there is an ethical one. Peter was used by God in many experientially supernatural ways to minister to people, but he was also concerned ethically about how people lived their ordinary lives.

Even the best of us can still miss it -- like Peter. But Paul stands up to him, intimidated by nothing. Let’s keep calling each other on to true holiness and not hypocrisy.

It’s amazing how we can pray with faith and yet not expect anything to change. This humorous moment in the life of the early church is a case in point. May God surprise us again!

It’s amazing what God can do through flawed people, for the sake of His glory. Peter’s failures, thankfully, were not the final word on his life. Jesus is the restorer; Jesus is the miracle worker; Jesus is the difference-maker!

If you were trying to explain the gospel to people who were religious but not followers of Jesus, what would you say? This glimpse into early first century preaching gives us the answer.

It was a church of “firsts.” So much of the pattern of the church that you might attend today traces back to this ground-breaking church. It is a church that still sets the bar for what our churches can be spiritually, racially, and missionally.

Have you ever been hungry for God but felt like an outsider to the church? There is hope -- the hope of a relational encounter, a truth encounter and a power encounter that will embrace and include you.

Denial, delusion, defiance -- they represent the barriers to change in our lives. But one of the greatest conversions in church history demonstrates that those barriers melt away when they come face to face with Jesus.

Could Jesus step into our reversals and use them for his glory? Could people who are running for their lives actually extend Christ’s Kingdom? It happened early in the history of the church and it has not stopped!

Around the world today people are laying their lives down for the cause of Christ. The very first martyr in Christian history was Stephen. His story inspires us to pray again today for the persecuted church.

One of the keys to effective leadership is the ability to sort through priorities, discerning what to say ‘yes’ to and what to say ‘no’ to. Around the potentially reactive issue of discrimination, the leadership of the early church chose priorities wisely and strategically.

Come join a great prayer meeting going on in Acts 4! Corporate prayer in Jesus’ name on the part of people who are united in faith is potent and consequential. See for yourself.

Christ’s miraculous intervention in our lives has two purposes -- compassion for us and glory for him. Signs and wonders represent God’s intervention in our lives and reinforce gospel proclamation in the marketplace.

If we were to take away church growth seminars, church buildings, and liturgical traditions, what would we have? The Bible gives us a snapshot of the very first church before any of those trappings -- and it is incredibly compelling!