Have you ever been sucker punched? Don't let life blindside you.
Sex, drugs and rock & roll…some seem acceptable and some others do not. But who says? There seem to be some “acceptable sins” for people who love God, but who determines what is acceptable and what is not? Unfortunately, it’s usually our culture that makes those rules. According to society, getting drunk is ok once in awhile, but being an alcoholic—that’s a sin. Being addicted to drugs is unacceptable, but cheating on your taxes is cool, if you can get away with it. Caring more about watch...
Have you ever named something…or, better yet, someone? I have named a few things in my life. As a child, I named pets. I named (or, rather, had veto powers over) our two daughters, Isabella and Peyton. I have also named a church—which is weird! You kind of expect churches to “come with” names (like 1st, 2nd or 3rd whatever…yes, I have seen a Third Baptist in a town).
Have you ever named something…or, better yet, someone? I have named a few things in my life. As a child, I named pets. I named (or, rather, had veto powers over) our two daughters, Isabella and Peyton. I have also named a church—which is weird! You kind of expect churches to “come with” names (like 1st, 2nd or 3rd whatever…yes, I have seen a Third Baptist in a town).
Ever feel like God is distant? Like He's not active in your life? Want to know His Will for you? God is always working in the world around you--you just need to learn to recognize him. But how can you recognize someone you barely know?
Is culture sneaking into the church? Has it become more important than Jesus. We would all say no, but how do we act, what would our lives say? When someone tells you they want to begin to follow Jesus, do you give them a list of do's and don'ts?
Paul talks about how to get our priorities straight and how to live like it is Jesus alone, not Jesus plus one.
I was having lunch with a local minister who has been a great support to me while planting Catalyst and I asked him what were some of the best sermon series he had done. After just a little bit of thinking, he got this great big smile on his face and said, “You asked for it.” I sat there waiting for an answer. . . and after just a second of strange silence he said that was the name of the sermon series.
I live in a neighborhood where they’re building new houses like they it’s going out of style, so I see it over and over again. They move the dirt, pour the foundation, and a few days later, out come the carpenters to frame the structure of the house. From the roof to the interior walls, it is at that point you can begin to see what the house will really look like.
Peter is a blue-collar kind of guy - an ordinary, uneducated man. He denied Christ and put his foot in his mouth so often, he should have worn peppermint-flavored socks. (Just kidding, they didn’t wear socks with their sandals. Only elderly, white American men do that.) Peter took the lessons he learned in life and wrote them down for Christians who were scattered everywhere. We will spend the next six weeks discussing what Peter can teach each of us as individuals, and as the Church as a whol
