This week we begin the Book of Acts. Here’s a brief outline of Chapter 1 with the audio and notes:
I. 1:1-3 Introduction: Christ’s Resurrection
II. 1:4-8 The Promise of the Holy Spirit
III. 1:9-11 Christ’s Ascension
IV. 1:12-14 Waiting for the Promise
V. 1:15-26 The Selection of Matthias
Audio: Acts01.mp3
Notes: Acts01.pdf
Sin begins in the heart. The lust, the greed, the envy, the anger and every other evil thing starts there – deep within. The words of Jesus don’t leave much room for interpretation:
“For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, …” – Matthew 15:19-20 (NKJV)
Therefore, how crucial it is that we protect our hearts from the junk that naturally forms there, collects there and then begins to rot. Consider the wisdom of Proverbs 4:23:
“Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.” (NKJV)
Or, as the New Living Translation puts it:
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.”
Let’s be careful what we think about, what we meditate upon and in what directions our hearts might tend to go when we aren’t keeping them under control. The psalms reveal how prayer and the application of the Scriptures contain the remedies discovered by ancient men of God:
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”
– Psalms 19:14 (NKJV)
“Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.”
– Psalms 119:11 (NKJV)
Keeping our hearts in the right place takes effort, but the Lord is right there to help us in guarding them if we avail ourselves of His strength. The Holy Spirit in the heart of every believer in Jesus is more that sufficient for the task.
Dan Petersen formerly led a home fellowship here at Horizon Central and is now one of our Servant Senders missionaries. He serves in the UK doing college campus outreach with UCCF in Glasgow, Scotland.
In today’s message Dan very articulately explains some of the essentials of the gospel and our faith. He then ties these elements to the church’s call to evangelism. Here is the audio file:
Even the most enthusiastic reader of the Bible would probably agree that the genealogies are not very exciting. Lists of names, mostly difficult, are hard to get through and even harder to learn anything from. Still, here and there, we can find a little lesson. This passage, from the early chapters of 1 Chronicles, that longest stretch of geneaological data, contains a simple, timeless truth.
The sons of Reuben, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh had forty-four thousand seven hundred and sixty valiant men, men able to bear shield and sword, to shoot with the bow, and skillful in war, who went to war. They made war with the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. And they were helped against them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand, and all who were with them, for they cried out to God in the battle. He heeded their prayer, because they put their trust in Him.
– 1 Chronicles 5:18-20 (NKJV)
Daily we face the onslaughts of the world, the flesh and the devil. We’re stupid to try to fight these battles on our own. We’re way too weak and we ought to know it. So what hope do we have for victory? The same hope these ancient tribes of Israel possessed. We can cry out to God in the battle and put our trust in Him.
Central Reflections 