Cahaba Park Church Podcast

The people in Matthew 21:12-22 tell us a great deal about the main message. It’s a curious story, filled with contrasts. The blind, lame, and broken are made healthy while a healthy-looking fig tree is made to wither. The children and uneducated outcasts of society get it right while the professional religious folks and disciples get it wrong. God is telling us that no amount of good works will earn us good standing with God. Instead, the belief we need is a gift.

In our study of the book of Acts, we have discovered that when the Holy Spirit accompanies the preaching of the Word, people come to know and love Jesus. When people come to know and love Jesus, community is born. Gospel-centered community brings hope and healing. We have also seen that wherever the Spirit is at work, there is opposition. What do we do when we are faced with opposition? Acts 4:23-31 teaches us to pray!

With the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the first followers of Jesus, the Church in Acts has been gathered into community and is thriving. Now, in Acts 4, they face their first significant opposition. It is in the face of such opposition that Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, empowers His Church to do His work of restoration in the world. The most compelling proof that Jesus Christ is risen is that His people resemble Him as He lives and works through His Church. The Church that resembles Jesus will be attractive and thriving even as it faces opposition.

So far in our study of the early chapters of Acts we have seen how Spirit-filled preaching produces conversions and conversions leads to community. In Acts 3, we see how Gospel community leads to hope and healing. As we read Acts 3:1-10 remember that despite our physical condition, we are all spiritually broken like the lame man portrayed in this passage and are in desperate need of Jesus.

In Acts 2:42-47 we discover what the early church believed and did, and how God was at work among them. In this passage we see a beautiful picture of putting other people’s needs ahead of your own and the resulting community that comes from the Spirit’s presence among a people group. Our church can look like that church because we have the same Spirit at work in us.

New churches are born when the Spirit of God accompanies the preaching of the Word. He produces believers who are born not by what they do but by repenting of what they do. Those believers receive forgiveness of their sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and genuine Gospel community.

It often is tempting to do the work of God without the power of God. In Acts 2:14-36, we discover that the power at work in the church is the Holy Spirit. Why should we remember this truth? The Spirit reminds us of the hope we have in Christ, of the eternal plan of God, and of the person we worship. The Spirit is the power of God in the work of the church.

The book of Acts is glorious! This is not because the individuals were glorious; rather, because we see our great and glorious God build His church through the most unlikely group of people and in the most unlikely of ways. It is from these meager beginnings (little money, few proven leaders, no technological truths for propagating the Gospel, persecutions, hatred, and obscure newness) that the church explodes. This book provides truths for the way the Lord will continue to build His church as He redeems Birmingham and beyond.

Reverend Sergey Betin Evangelical Presbyterian Church Belgorod-Dnestrovsky, Ukraine Salvation history reflects the sovereignty of God, who through his providence makes us active participants in this wonderful work.

The church at Antioch plays a prominent role in the Apostle Paul’s various missionary journeys. This church loved Paul, this church sent Paul, and this church received Paul. The reality of the Resurrection had so impacted the people of Antioch that not only were they converted to Christianity, but their relationships were transformed. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ gave them an eternal perspective concerning their relationships with those closest to them, and a very present perspective concerning their relationships with surrounding communities.

Our Advent sermon series focuses on the way Christ fulfills the the Old Testament offices of Prophet, Priest, and King. After considering the ways Moses, Aaron, and David were called by God to minister to His people, we will look to Christ, for it is to Him that the prophets, priest, and kings of Israel point. Christ reveals to us, by Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation. He offered Himself up as an atoning sacrifice to reconcile us to God, and He makes continual intercession for us. He subdues us to Himself, rules and defends us, and conquers all His enemies.

Our Advent sermon series focuses on the way Christ fulfills the the Old Testament offices of Prophet, Priest, and King. After considering the ways Moses, Aaron, and David were called by God to minister to His people, we will look to Christ, for it is to Him that the prophets, priest, and kings of Israel point. Christ reveals to us, by Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation. He offered Himself up as an atoning sacrifice to reconcile us to God, and He makes continual intercession for us. He subdues us to Himself, rules and defends us, and conquers all His enemies.

Our Advent sermon series focuses on the way Christ fulfills the the Old Testament offices of Prophet, Priest, and King. After considering the ways Moses, Aaron, and David were called by God to minister to His people, we will look to Christ, for it is to Him that the prophets, priest, and kings of Israel point. Christ reveals to us, by Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation. He offered Himself up as an atoning sacrifice to reconcile us to God, and He makes continual intercession for us. He subdues us to Himself, rules and defends us, and conquers all His enemies.

True disciples must love others.