The Daily Discipleship Podcast

Peter was familiar with trials, but he also knew Jesus.  Who better to inspire our faith by reminding us of the outcome of our faith?  May your faith result in expressible and glorious joy, even in the midst of life's trials.  Your one job - Trust God!  It is God's part to work on your behalf as you trust him!

Today we gain a little historical background into the book of 1 Peter.  To whom did he write?  What was their situation?  What encouragement does the opening salutation of an Apostle bring? 

Acts abruptly ends, at least the recorded record of the Acts of the Apostles; however, God's Acts continue today.  How is God at work in your life and around the world?  How will you join with God in what He is doing?

All the way up the court system of Rome, Paul's constantly kept his trust in Christ and his witness was consistent - Jesus is the Christ, the only means of salvation.  How do we do on trial?  In the midst of life's storms (in Paul's case a literal one), we must keep our eyes on Jesus.  One other key practice of life is to turn to view things circumspectly.  Don't know what I mean?  Listen.

The Apostle Paul presents an amazing example of staying cool under pressure and presenting a solid case.  In the midst of it all, he continues to uphold in his life and unfold with his lips his testimony of Jesus.  May we always be prepared to do the same.

In the next 5 broadcasts we will unpack the course of the Jewish and Legal Trials of the Apostle Paul.  In the midst of every turn, Paul remains faithful to the Lord Jesus while leaning into the rights afforded him as a Roman Citizen.  He goal was to fulfill the duty assigned him by the Lord Jesus - to carry the Gospel to Rome.  Are we faithfully executing our duties?  What is your duty?  What is...

Always be prepared to share the testimony of what God has done in your life, but remember that it may not always work-out in your favor.  And when it comes to defending your rights, always do it in a way that is reflective of Christ.

Disciplemaking is relationship building.  When we invest our lives in others by helping them grow in Christ, deep meaningful relationships result.  Following Christ as a disciple can also be costly, as we will begin to see in this chapter.

Paul had a large entourage who traveled with him.  They were people who wanted more of Gospel partnership.  A key to effective disciplemaking is that a disciplemaker doesn't travel alone.  Disciplemaking spreads to the those responsible for the care and nurture of the church - the elders. 

The concern for money generated by the production of idols guised in concern for the goddess Artemis led to a riot in Ephesus. The message of Christ was impacting their money and they didn't like it. We can't serve both God and money.

Acts 19:11-20 records the unique Holy Spirit power given to the Apostle Paul.  While we might not have the same gifting given to us, we can certainly aspire to exercise the same faith - asking God to do great things.  We must be careful, though, of being phonies because sometimes terrible things happen to those who fake it in Jesus' name.  In the midst of it all, God can use the pure and God can u...

In this episode we cover the first 10 verses of Acts 19 and see how God sent His Holy Spirit to the believers in Ephesus, marking and verifying the power of the Gospel in what was then known as Asia - now modern day Turkiye (Turkey).  Verse 10 indicates that all the Jews and Greeks living in the Province of Asia heard the Gospel...powerful!  A key question we ask out of this is how we get along wi...

Acts 18, part 2 ended abruptly due to a technical crash, today's episode concludes the chapter, seeing the establishment of Apollos as another very capable communicator of the Gospel.  We also noted how Priscilla and Aquila instructed Apollos from their home...an example to us to open our homes for disciplemaking purposes.

In this episode we witness the multiplication of disciplemakers through the life of Priscilla and Aquila into the life of Apollos and the spread from there.  We will also discuss the role of women and our need to know how to reason, to provide a good apologia for the Gospel. NOTE:  this broadcast ends abruptly at the end as a technical difficulty cut the mic.  Pick up in Chapter 18, part 3 for the...

Sometimes ministry support needs to be supplemented by work outside of ministry activities.  This is often called bi-vocation.  From time to time, the Apostle Paul even supplemented his ministry so that multiplication could happen resulting in a movement.  From ministry to multiplication to movement - that is our prayer, that is our goal. 

If we want to excel at marketplace witness (witness where we work, play and live), we need to do more that study our Bibles, we also have to study culture to know how to speak into it.  Paul provides an outstanding example of just that in this passage. 

Paul and Silas continue to spread the Gospel further west as they preach and reason in Greece.  The Gospel is meant to be spread to every town and village and people group.  The Gospel bring both conversion and trouble. 

Sometimes things don't go our way. Sometimes even serving the Lord diligently and faithfully can lead to problems (like imprisonment), but God can always use our problems in powerful ways for His glory.

Sometimes we are set on the direction we are determined to head when, all of a sudden, God introduces a different plan.  As we follow His leading, we will bear even greater fruit. Is God trying to lead you somewhere?  Are you going to follow?

While we hate to see divisions and factions among God's people, God can and does often use those for the multiplication of His work.  Is kingdom multiplication part of your prayers and way of thinking? Remember, God's math is not the same as ours!

Some groups add various other factors which they believe are necessary for salvation, things which go beyond the teaching of Scripture.  This is nothing new, as we shall see in Acts 15.  Just what is necessary for salvation?

What does one really need to do in order to be saved?  Some groups add various practices or customs which must be observed in order to be considered "saved".  The council of the first leaders of the Church clarified the issue even then.  What is the answer to those adding various steps in order for one to be saved?  Let's learn.

In spite of brutal persecution, the Gospel mission continued and the believers were encouraged by what they heard, elders were appointed, and the Church was strengthened.  Are we willing to engage ourselves in doing or supporting Gospel mission without persecution as those who face persecution and march boldly on?

For as wonderful as the Gospel is, it is not always palatable to people.  Sometimes they just don't want to hear it, and they may even go to great lengths to stop its spread.  

The teaching of the missions team was so powerful in their presentation (Holy Spirit Power) that they were invited to remain and to further explain the truths of the Gospel and the whole city came out to hear it.  What would it take in our towns and cities to get the whole town out?  What plans for outreach does your church have or should a new church plant have for reaching the city?  The same th...