Grace Chapel Church of Christ: Recent Episodes
Grace Chapel
Throughout Acts we see teams of people working together to get the good news to the people. One threat is the internal needs of the church.
-We Can Do More Together-
The most active agent in evangelism is the Holy Spirit. To effectively break the huddle we must follow the Spirit.
A strength of the early church was how well they took care of one another, yet they were never a closed group.
In this "Break the Huddle" halftime speech, Rob reminds us that as we wait on the Holy Spirit, we should let the Holy Spirit search our hearts.
The Israelites had to change in the wilderness and teach their children a better way forward.
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)
The Bible presents God, or perhaps better said, God presents Himself, through the words of the Bible, as the creator of everything that exists. As we begin this new series focused on repentance, it is important that we get to know the God who asks all people to repent.
The resurrected Jesus commissioned his disciples to complete his mission on earth, as they took the gospel to the ends of the earth. It is a powerful thing to be commissioned. This is the place/moment where authority, purpose, and meaning are bestowed.
In John 17, Jesus said that he accomplished the mission that his father had given him. As he had been sent into the world, he was now preparing to send his disciples as well. As he breathed his last breath (John 19) Jesus declared, “It is finished.” His work in the body was done, but the work of his new body (the Church) was just beginning.
Jesus gave his disciples the opportunity to do what they had seen him doing. It was through these moments of intentional training that they were equipped for the mission he would later give them.
As Jesus prepared to call those who would follow him during the remaining time of his ministry on earth, he felt the weight of what lay ahead. Before choosing the twelve disciples, Jesus spent a night in prayer—the whole night. In this act of intentionality, we see how invested Jesus was in what was to come.
As the Church was on mission throughout the book of Acts, we see a lot of characters playing their part: Peter, Paul, Barnabas, James. Through it all, however, there was one main character working behind the scenes--the Holy Spirit. We need the fire of the Spirit to fuel the mission of Jesus again today.
The Holy Spirit is the one who helps us become like Jesus. We can't do this on our own, no matter how hard we try. There are lots of things we can, in theory, do without the Holy Spirit, but this is not one of them.
Jesus tells his disciples it is better for them if He leaves, because then He will send the Holy Spirit. Most of us struggle to believe that it is better to have the constant indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us, rather than the physical, bodily presence of Jesus right here with us.
We live in a culture in which many make the claim that nothing is spiritual. Scripture, on the other hand, claims that most everything is spiritual. If our eyes were opened to the spiritual reality around us we would see God, and other spiritual presences, at work all around us.