Ccf Sunday Messages

Every wondered the source of the word "simony"? Well, Acts chapter 8 gives us that story, as Philip goes to Samaria to preach the gospel. In that area a sorcerer has enjoyed fame and popularity--even God-like status--which is quickly challenged by God's power through signs and wonders as the gospel is preached. Simon becomes a believer but then wants to purchase this power from the apostles, generating a strong rebuke from Peter (who along with John had come when they heard the work God was doing in Samaria). God's power displayed through the Holy Spirit is a free gift, not something that can be acquired through money or any human effort!

This week we finished the sermon that Stephen gave under the power of the Holy Spirit before the Sanhedrin. His sermon ended with some strong words of correction that could either be taken to heart, or cause resentment and anger. We quickly find out which way the religious leaders took it as they immediately were so filled with anger that they dragged him out of the city and stoned him, starting a season of intense persecution towards the young Jerusalem church. As Pastor Steve noted however, God had a plan in this as everywhere the christians went, they began to spread the gospel to the surrounding world!

In the middle of Acts chapter 6, we are introduced more fully to Stephen, one of the deacons chosen in the first part of the chapter who is clearly teaching by the power of God and His Spirit, and it is causing much frustration against the religious elite who can't win debates against him! They arrest him, falsely accuse him, and in front of the Sanhedrin he begins the longest recorded sermon in Acts, teaching them through the Old Testament the history of their own faith and God's ways, which in the end will anger them even more. This week Pastor Steve covered just over half of Stephen's sermon in front of the Sanhedrin; we'll finish the rest next week!

As we enter chapter 6, the church has obviously continued to grow and are facing other challenges--like the demands of ministry, and complaints from those who feel like they are being overlooked. God gives wisdom to the apostles and they appoint godly men, filled with the Holy Spirit, to do the work of ministry so that the apostles can focus on teaching the word. This is the beginnings of what we call the role of deacon within the church.

As we continue our study through Acts, the frustration within the religious elite is starting to show. During this next trial, after arresting all the apostles this time, they accuse them of spreading their message throughout all Jerusalem, and obviously they have been unable to stop it due to the power of the Holy Spirit and the boldness provided by God to this growing band of followers! Signs and wonders follow the teaching, as well as God's divine intervention in their prison stay, releasing them in the night by an angel. It is Gamaliel who through his wise words advises the council to leave them alone, lest they potentially end up fighting against God, which he knows would be a losing proposition!

The early church response to their first significant persecution was not to run, but to go to God and pray for boldness to continue teaching in His name! Persecution also brings purity, and as the incredible love and sharing of the church bring about gifts of property and acts of sacrifice, a couple who decide to lie about their gift gets swift judgement from God directly as Peter confronts them. Listen in as Pastor Steve teaches from the final sections of Acts chapter four and the beginning of chapter five.

After the healing and sermon by Peter in Acts chapter 3, the religious leaders and temple authorities are upset at the resurgence of the name of Jesus and the teaching that is being done in His name on the temple grounds. Given the healing has brought wonder and amazement to the crowds, they don't like the fact that the crowds are now listening intently to Peter and more are starting to believe the message and join the early church. To try and correct this they arrest Peter, John, and the lame man and try and threaten them away from speaking any more of Jesus. Listen in as Pastor Steve teaches through the continuing story of the early church in Acts as they face their first persecution.

In Acts chapter 3, Peter has another chance to preach after the healing of the lame man at the temple gate called "Beautiful". The healing had gotten the people's attention, but instead of drawing attention to themselves, Peter uses it as another chance to share the truth of the power of Jesus Christ to bring about healing--not just physical but emotional and spiritual. Peter preached that He was the one who made us whole again and blotted out our sins by His power!

The response to Peter's sermon in Acts chapter two is amazing! From the 120 disciples gathered on the day of Pentecost, now 3000 are added after just one sermon! So, what did they do? They began the early church practices of teaching, prayer, fellowship, and breaking bread together. Pastor Steve applies these principles to our church life today and calls us to be more intent on living out this loving fellowship that was such a draw in the early church.

As we enter the main section of Acts chapter 2, the day of Pentecost arrives along with the promised pouring out of the Holy Spirit. One of the outcomes is Peter's powerful sermon that cuts to the heart of the hearers. Listen in as Pastor Steve teaches through this section of chapter two as we continue our discovery of the Holy Spirit in Acts!

After Jesus ascends back to heaven, the 120 disciples return to Jerusalem as Jesus instructed them, where they begin to wait and pray "all in one accord." Pastor Steve took us through the rest of Acts chapter one and the first few verses of chapter two leading up to the event where they are all filled with the Spirit, finding application along the way for us from this early unified gathering of believers.

Pastor Steve opens up our new study "Discovering the Holy Spirit in Acts", and takes us through an introduction and the first eleven verses of chapter one. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to the disciples and then ascends into Heaven opening the start of the early church age.

We have finally reached the end of our study through the gospel of Mark! Pastor Steve took a few detours in this last section of Mark 16 to cover important topics like textual criticism (as verses 9-20 are not in all of the earliest manuscripts) and baptismal regeneration (which cannot be taught from these verses), as we made our way through Jesus's commissioning of the disciples for ministry to "go and preach" throughout the world. Steve encouraged us to listen and heed the call of God wherever He would take us to preach and minister around the globe.

Dave Vollmer, one of our assistant pastors, gave a challenging message from Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 about being careful not to harden our hearts. Rather we can approach God with boldness because of our position in Christ. He admonished us to cherish the Word as a treasured letter from our Father.

We move from the finality of the end of chapter 15--where Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin, asks for Jesus's body as a final way to honor Him (as he was a secret disciple)--into chapter 16, the amazement of that Sunday morning with the stone rolled away and an empty tomb. It is the women who come early to also pay their respects to Jesus, not even knowing how they would deal with a sealed tomb, but they encounter an angel and are told the amazing news that his is "no longer here, he is alive!" Pastor Steve shared several arguments for the validity and arguments for a bodily historic resurrection of Jesus.

Continuing in Mark chapter 15, we finally have the end of the trials and Jesus is handed over to be crucified. Unable to carry his cross, Simon of Cyrene is conscripted to do so from the crowd as they make their way to Golgotha--the place of the skull. Pastor Steve details the prophetic events unfolded from Psalm 22 and the need for us to live the "crucified" life and accept the suffering that is ours as followers of Christ if we truly align ourselves with him.

We now enter chapter 15 in the gospel of Mark which continues the trial of Jesus, now being brought before Pilate and the Roman authorities, which the Jews need because their only hope for a death sentence is via the Romans. Pastor Steve brought us back to Isaiah 53 and the picture of the "suffering servant" that definitely points to Jesus as the fulfillment.

This week we finally finish up the 72-verse long chapter 14 of Mark's gospel! In this final section we move to the courtyard where the high priest and a partial Sanhedrin condemn Jesus in the middle of the night, breaking many of their own rules of order to do so. The focus turns to Peter, however, and his blatant and strong denial of even knowing Jesus as he watches the proceedings from a distance. Pastor Steve applied this picture of a serious fall to our own lives and had us consider the restoring grace of Jesus even when we fall in such a significant way! May we realize that we need to get back up and find God's grace when we fail and find ourselves potentially even more valuable for ministry after we have been restored.

Jesus and His disciples have left the upper room and their Passover meal, crossed the Kidron Valley and have gone into the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus has an intense time of prayer with the Father. Judas is already unfolding the plan with the religious leaders to betray Him. In all of this we can learn about true surrender--surrender to the Father and His will over our own. Listen in and see three pictures of surrender in this next section of Mark chapter 14.

On this communion Sunday, Pastor Steve took a brief section of our continued study through the gospel of Mark, only looking at the few verses where Jesus predicts Peter's denial that night after the arrest. We, like Peter, can be overly confident in our strength and underestimate our lack of courage in the face of possible hardship. The good news is that Jesus already knew that he would return and be restored, just as we can when we are weak and stumble. We need to have the filling of the Holy Spirit and persist in "adding to our faith" so that we will not stumble.