from Acts 2:42-47
Psalm 85:6 reads, “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?”
This longing undergirds our series and this season of revival we are asking God to bring. What is hindering your rejoicing? What is getting in the way of you living completely surrendered to the love and presence of God in your life? Where do you need revival?
We are all being formed by someone or some thing…the question is: Who or what are you allowing to form you? Imagine a life ordered toward following Jesus, being loved by Him, learning from Him, and modeling your life after His…when we choose to do that we find that the thing we are growing into is Christ. And everything changes as a result.
w/ Vern Collins
*Including invitation to Communion
from Ephesians 3:7-12, Colossians 1:15-20, 1 Peter 4:8-11
It’s one thing to consider HOW the church thrived in the midst of such challenges, but when we stop to consider the WHY behind the church’s thriving in impossible circumstances, it could just change our understanding of what it means to be a part of the church!
w/ Vern Collins
from 2 Timothy 3:10-17 and Hebrews 4:12-13
There are times that God is faithful to grant us those mountain top experiences…those times that we experience His presence and power in tangible ways. While those moments are a gift, while they stir our faith in important ways…the reality is, life is not lived in those perpetual mountaintop experiences.
The early believers experienced some life-changing moments with the Lord, but they also faced unbelievable challenges…what was it that sustained them…that kept them rooted in the face of such difficulty.
It was their commitment to Scripture…their willingness to remain connected to God through His Word.
w/ Vern Collins
from Acts 4:32-35, Acts 2:44-45, 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, and 1 Corinthians 16:1-2
Imagine a community in which the Gospel has run so wild that the manner in which lives are lived actually begin to reflect the hope and the freeing nature of the truths of the Gospel…but not just in your own life…in the lives of those around you…because YOU…because THE CHURCH is living with an integrity that is reflective of the reality of the Gospel in the way that others are cared for and provided for.
w/ Vern Collins
from 1 Peter 1:13-21 and Philippians 1:27-30
The call in a life of following Jesus is a call to holiness…the problem is, we either see that as something we don’t want to be lumped into, or it seems like an impossible aim. What if our hang ups with pursuing holiness weren’t in what it is, but in our misunderstanding of it? What if it weren’t meant to be burdensome, but instead was meant for freedom?
w/ Vern Collins
from Acts 2:42-47, Matthew 28:18-20, and 2 Peter 1:3-11
We have noted for the past several weeks that the disruption that was the persecution that the Acts 2 church experienced, instead of dousing the flame lit by the Holy Spirit, served only as a catalyst for explosive growth. What is different? Why does it feel like the church is struggling so much in this season of disruption? Perhaps one of the glaring differences is that the early disciples took SERIOUSLY the call from Jesus to go and make disciples! Imagine if your life began to be leveraged so that others might come to know Jesus!
w/ Vern Collins
from Acts 2:42-47, 1Corinthians 10:14-17, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
When we examine the worship practices of the early church, we find that there is little difference between the elements of worship used then and the ones we use today…and yet, it seems that the early church was so ignited in their love for Jesus and their commitment to the sharing of the Gospel that we have to wonder where the difference lies…
It is possible that it is not the power of the Holy Spirit, or the power of the Resurrected Jesus that has diminished, but that we might be treating worship like an add-on as opposed to the lifeline for our walk with Christ?
w/ Vern Collins
from 1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-12
What does being the church in a world that might be fed up with the church look like? How do we not only proclaim who Jesus is to the world, but also reflect Jesus in this world?
w/ Vern Collins and Laura Byrch
from Ephesians 1:15-23
What is the foundation upon which you are building your life? What is the foundation upon which the church is to be built?
What if aligning your life and the life of the church under the Lordship of Jesus isn’t about stifling life, but about finding freedom and purpose. Looking at the early church in the disruption it experienced, one of the things that Paul and apostles sought to continue to uphold, was the headship of Christ as the catalyst for life to the full and a church that is flourishing.
w/ Vern Collins
from Acts 11:19-30
In a time of such uncertainty and disruption, many of us find ourselves asking questions around what it means to be the church and what it means to be a part of the church.
The hope we have in the midst of this, however, is that this is not the first time the church has been through seasons of challenge or a time of disruption.
If the church is still meant to thrive, and we are still meant to thrive as a part of it, then there must be something we can learn from those who have gone before us.
For the next 10 weeks we will “Reimagine Church,” by looking back at how the church began.
w/ Vern Collins
from Colossians 3:16-17, Acts 2:42-47
While the word “disciple” appears over 260 times in the New Testament, the word “discipleship” does not appear once.
Is discipleship meant to describe the process of your own journey in following Jesus or is it meant to describe the work of making disciples? Well, simply put-the answer is-YES.
Throughout the New Testament…even throughout all of Scripture we learn that the act of following God’s leading in our lives is not a straight line…today we would say that it is not a “program” that one follows…but we can say that it is a PROCESS.
Where is Jesus calling you to take YOUR next step in the journey of following Him? Is it in your own relationship with Him? Is it in the work of inviting others into life with Jesus? Ask Him…
w/ Vern Collins
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Our Ambitious Prayer for the church (adapted from Jonathan Leeman’s “18 Things to Pray for Your Church”)
Heavenly Father, as we seek to be a church that reflects the hope of Your Son, Jesus in this world, our prayer for this church is…
That it would grow in being distinct from the world in love and holiness, even as it engages outsiders.
That faithful elders would use Scripture to train members to do the work of ministry.
That a hunger for studying the Gospel would form among members so that they can guide and guard one another in it.
That a culture of discipling would form in which making disciples is viewed as an ordinary part of the Christian life.
That adult members work to disciple children and teenagers and not just leave the journey of discipleship to programming.
It is with the help of the Holy Spirit and in the Name of Jesus we ask these things, Amen.
from Acts 2:42-47
Somehow we have allowed ourselves to become convinced that busyness equals fruitfulness. The reality, however, is not that we are left admiring all that we’ve accomplished…rather, we are often left just trying to hang on. Though the invitation to a healthy rhythm and the command to rest, the truth is, many of us are simply committed to things we can’t readily drop or opt out of.
So rather than put off taking our next step in belonging…rather than waiting until we get through “this busy season” (which never seems to come)…what if we reimagined what it could look like to be connected….to BELONG to the Body of Christ? What if we allowed God to redefine how our time is spent?
w/ Vern Collins
from 1 Corinthians 12:12-26
We are conditioned from an early age that if we have any hope of success, we need to be set apart. This is great for those who feel like they are, and a road block for those who feel less than unique in a world that values distinction.
The problem is, our distinction often creates division, so we find ourselves not only suffering the effects of this, but trying to compensate for it by calling for unity in the midst of our diversity.
Paul argues, that as the Body of Christ, we find unity because of our diversity, not in response to it.
How would the church begin to look different; how would your life begin to look different if you saw yourself as one part of the whole, and began to value the parts around that also contribute to the church being the body of Christ?
w/ Vern Collins
