Sermon Central
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Be The Church, The Book Of Acts
Contributed by Tom Owen on Dec 7, 2010 (message contributor)
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1. Be The Church
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
It’s good to get a time of refreshing…What does God want for our church in 2009? You know, we’ve been going through the book of John for the last year and a half having just finished it before the holidays. And the book of John ends with Jesus preparing His disciples for His ...read more
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2. People Who Tell The Truth About Jesus Christ
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
[“Jesus” represented by the media – married, aquarian, self-claims, Jesus and satan brothers, Jesus a created god, etc.] There’s so many voices giving the world the wrong impression of who Jesus really is. It’s up to us as Christians to tell the world and to show ...read more
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3. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
[2] Decisions, decisions, decisions. What an important part of our life. You know we make literally hundreds of decisions every day. Some over the mundane things in life and some over the important things in life. But making good and wise decisions is so important. Especially if we’re ...read more
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4. Rushing Wind
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
[Fighting falling fence/wind during hurricane story.] You know, when that wind gets blowing, it’s going to move things to wherever it’s going. In today’s passage we’re going to see the ‘wind’ of the Holy Spirit blow through the early church and move the ...read more
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5. Jesus Is Both Lord And Christ
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
You know sometimes we run across things in life that intrigue us and confuse at the same time. We don’t quite understand what we’re seeing – but we can’t look away. And sometimes we’ll do anything to find out more about it. [Discovery channel giant snake and mummies ...read more
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6. We The Church
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
[Basket experiment: slips of paper, Describe yourself, good and bad, no names.] Basically, [2] this is our church. Who we are as people is who we are as a church. The church isn’t just a name or a building or even a worship service. The church is God’s people together trying to ...read more
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7. A Church With Favor
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
[Computer comparisons – slow vs. fast.] You know churches can be a lot like those two computers. Some churches can be so cluttered with stuff and so outdated that they don’t operate efficiently. They’re more frustrating than joyful. They take so much effort to do what ...read more
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8. The Great Adventure
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
[2] You know, some people are more adventurous than others. For some people adventure means going mountain climbing or skydiving. For some people adventure means trying a new salad dressing. I’m somewhere in the middle. I like safe adventure. [Giant water slide story.] I firmly believe ...read more
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9. Eternity Is Now
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
[2] How long is eternity? Think about it. Just how long is eternity? Can we even wrap our minds around how immeasurable the eons of time will be in eternity? I think we’re such a time-obsessed culture that it’s hard for us to imagine anything besides finite time. Think about it, ...read more
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10. Our Cornerstone
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
God is so faithful! He’s faithful to us as individuals and faithful to us as a church. And as long as we continue to be a church that’s all about [2] loving God and loving others, God will continue to bless us and show us His faithfulness. We show our love for God when we’re ...read more
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11. Shake And Bake
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
[2] How many of you have ever heard of the cooking method called shake ‘n bake? [Shake ‘n bake demonstration.] Ever feel like that piece of pork? Let me rephrase that… Ever feel like that piece of meat? Wait a minute… Ever feel like your trapped in a situation ...read more
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12. Walk The Talk
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
[2] Boy if there’s one thing that’s irritating its hypocrisy. [Al Gore’s house, doctor’s office with ash tray examples.] Hypocrisy is a hard thing to deal with. But you know what, all of us at one time or another find ourselves being a hypocrite. All of us at one ...read more
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13. Doing What God Wants
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
[2] Has God ever asked you to do something that was really hard? You knew God wanted you to do something, but you had a difficult time following through. Even though you knew it was the right thing to do; that it was God’s thing to do; but you just couldn’t do it? [Seeing car with ...read more
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14. Waiting Tables
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
[2] Isn’t it nice to be served? You know, when you go to a nice restaurant and you have a great waiter that really takes care of you? Makes you feel good to be served. I went to a restraint once with my family and they had the best wait staff you could imagine. [Napkin in the lap ...read more
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15. Opportunity Knocks
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
When is it the right time to tell someone about Jesus? When is it a good time to share with someone the beautiful words of life? You know when the right time to be a witness for the Lord is? [2] When opportunity knocks. When God gives you that opportunity to share. I think too many Christians ...read more
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16. True Christianity
Contributed on Dec 7, 2010
Learning how to be the church in today's world through learning from the book of Acts.
We live in a time in history where religion and spirituality seems to be at an all-time high. Everyone seems to have some sort of religious belief system – even if it’s something they found on the internet or something they made up themselves. And to go along with all this ...read more
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17. Every One Reach One
Contributed on Jan 14, 2011
Verse by verse through Acts
A couple Sundays ago I got my heart broken after church. [Whataburger closed story, (didn’t get the word out).] What if that happened in Christianity? What if we didn’t get the word out? Then more churches would start closing and more people would be going to Hell. But what ...read more
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18. What Is Baptism
Contributed on Jan 14, 2011
verse by verse through Acts
You know there’s some things that we can do to express important messages without ever saying a word. Flag in the front yard – “I love my country…it’s the best…” Sports team jersey – “I love this team…it’s the ...read more
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19. Getting On The Right Side Of Reality
Contributed on Jan 14, 2011
verse by verse through Acts
[2] Through the first eight chapters of the book of Acts we’ve seen some amazing things happen in the early church. We’ve seen thousands of people get saved. We’ve seen incredible miracles happen through the hands of the apostles. And we’ve also seen intense opposition to ...read more
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20. Protecting Our Own
Contributed on Jan 14, 2011
verse by verse through Acts
We live in a world where we need protection. - police protect us from criminals - medicines protect us from diseases - laws protect our rights and freedoms - seat belts, air bags, helmets - insurance protect our finances - armed forces protect us from… We live in a world where ...read more
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21. Life Can Hurt But God Can Heal
Contributed on Jan 14, 2011
verse by verse through Acts
[2] Life can really hurt sometimes, can’t it? Whether it’s something we bring on ourselves or it’s something that just happens, theirs times when life really hurts. [Lucy’s hand, Kenny’s business, dad’s daughters stories.] At times, life can really hurt. ...read more
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22. Culture Blind
Contributed on Jan 14, 2011
verse by verse through Acts
[2] This week we find ourselves back in the book of Acts learning how we can be the church instead of how we can just go to church. As we continue our studies we keep in mind that our main goal as a church it to help people become mature followers of Jesus Christ. But let me ask you this, are ...read more
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23. Believing Outside The Box
Contributed on Jan 14, 2011
verse by verse through Acts
Open the eyes of my heart Lord, I want to see you; I want to see you. Do we really mean the words of that song? Do we really want to see God? Do we really want to see Him for who He is, and what He expects and what He’s doing? Do we really want to see God? I’m convinced that one of ...read more
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24. When Our Lives Do The Talking
Contributed on Jan 14, 2011
verse by verse through Acts
[2] Where are the genuine people today? Where are they? It doesn’t seem like anyone tells the truth any more. And you know what, it doesn’t even seem like people are expected to be truthful any more. Lying is commonplace, accepted and even expected from time to time. Do we have any ...read more
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25. Expect God To Be God
Contributed on Jan 14, 2011
verse by verse through Acts
Isn’t it funny how we get surprised by things that shouldn’t surprise us at all? [Gaining weight, speeding ticket, pregnancy examples.] Isn’t it funny how we get surprised by things that shouldn’t surprise us at all? Especially when it comes to God-things. ...read more
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26. When Its All About Jesus
Contributed on Jan 14, 2011
verse by verse through Acts
[Newlyweds vs. couple married for 40 years view of marriage.] Now let’s translate that thought into our relationship with God; Our faith; etc. [New vs. old Christian’s view of the church.] Today we need to make sure that we haven’t lost our first love. You see, [2] when ...read more
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27. Overcoming Jealousy
Contributed on Jan 14, 2011
verse by verse through Acts
And now an inspirational reading from Shakespeare’s play Othello: O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on; That cuckold lives in bliss who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger; But, O, what minutes tells he o'er; who ...read more
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28. The Gospel Adventure
Contributed on Jan 14, 2011
verse by verse through Acts
[Living vicariously through reality television illustration.] You know we have our own form of reality tv right here in church as we study through the book of Acts. The book of Acts is basically the true story of the [2] gospel adventure and how it changed the face of the world by changing ...read more
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29. Freedom In Christ
Contributed on Jan 14, 2011
verse by verse through Acts
If you were to ask most people what they think is the greatest thing about being an American, they’d probably say that the best thing about being an American is having freedom. We love living in the United States because here we are free. Being an American citizen means we are politically ...read more
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30. Second Chances
Contributed on Jan 14, 2011
verse by verse through Acts
Have you ever failed at something? [TSTC Crusade story.] But thank God that wasn’t my only chance to do something for the Lord. Thank God for second chances! [2] This morning we’re going to look at how we serve a God of second chances as we continue our studies through the book ...read more