If you are a Christian, you have a story to tell. While the heart of evangelism is telling the story of Jesus, it also involves each of us who are Christians too. Paul understood this principle and used his story to help build a bridge to Jesus for others. This lesson considers three ways he did this in Acts 22:1-16.
It is clear that God deems preaching important. In Rom. 10:14, scripture states that preaching is needed for people to hear and believe the word. In this lesson, we examine the first sermon ever preached in the setting of the new church God would establish on the day of Pentecost after Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. An examination of this sermon in Acts 2 helps us understand "Why We Preach."
It's not easy to be a Christian in our modern, post-Christian society. Standing with Jesus is out of touch and makes us feel uncomfortable in our world. Yet, in some ways, that's always been true. A story in Acts 4 is the perfect example of this. After Peter and John were told not to preach about Jesus anymore, they assembled with other Christians and prayed a prayer affirming how to face a world that threatens our faith. What they affirmed in Acts 4:24-30 is the heart of the Christian's faith. Today we should affirm the same basic beliefs as we continue to be the church of Jesus in a hostile environment.
After Paul was converted to Christ, he was really a changed man! In Acts 22, a few years later, Paul speaks to a group of angry Jews and what he said on that occasion might be called his sermon on change. He explains who he used to be, what happened when he came to Christ and what God wanted him to do afterward. In his message from so long ago, there are lessons for us to learn today.
Acts 17 is the well know discourse to the Athenians about "the Unknown God." The theological points in this sermon are so powerful, but this lesson's main emphasis is to see how Paul used cultural awareness to share Jesus on that occasion. Since our culture is very similar to the one in first century Athens, we should really pay attention and incorporate this knowledge into our outreach today.
The church, in its first few years of existence, went through some tough times. One of those times was during the reign of Herod Agrippa I. As he stretched out his hand to harass the church in those days, in Acts 12 we learn three things Christians ought to do during these kind of times.
Brother Gary Bradley from the Mayfair church of Christ in Huntsville, AL was our guest preacher this weekend. In this lesson, he gave us the first three things the first century church did to open the door to new Christians.
Brother Gary Bradley from the Mayfair church of Christ in Huntsville, AL was our guest preacher this weekend. In this lesson, he gave us the first three things the first century church did to open the door to new Christians.
