Grace Baptist Santa Clarita: Service Podcast

This weekend we start a series on classic spiritual practices. Sometimes these are referred to as spiritual disciplines because they are to be regular activities in the lives of those yearning to follow Christ closer and closer and delight more fully in His grace and truth. None of these are magic, but they are powerful habits through which God the Spirit can work in and through us to magnify the glory of God. And, after all, that’s why we’re here!

For the last couple chapters in the book of Acts, we have seen the Gospel move forward in amazing ways. We’ve seen the conversion of Saul, the preaching of the Gospel to the Samaritans, the faith of the Ethiopian eunuch and even a Roman centurion. But back in Jerusalem, the central place of worship for the Jews, we learn of the authoritarian hand of King Herod coming against the church and, more specifically, against the apostles of Jesus Christ.

When Peter returned from Caesarea he was immediately confronted with criticism. But he carefully related how he was on God’s side, obeying God’s commands, and seeing God’s salvation being experienced by Gentile believers.

The recent Supreme Court decision brought a monumental shift in American culture as same-sex marriage was official declared normal and institutionalized as a constitutionally protected human right. What are we, who have taken up the cross to follow Christ, to think and do?

Last week we saw Peter, now aware of God’s global plan, travel to the home of a Roman centurion. This week we hear the very first Christian sermon delivered to a non-Israelite audience and see the door swing wide for the gospel. This monumental event opened the floodgates of the gospel to flow “to the ends of the earth,” and we are privileged to partner with Jesus in the ongoing rescue mission of that gospel.

Last week we saw how God certified Peter as his appointed representative through the working of miracles. This week we see how God first transformed Peter’s theology and then fueled his behavior to open wide the doors of the gospel to the Gentile world. It is no understatement to say that Acts 10 changed the world, and its theological ramifications continue to call every Christ-follower to align his or her racial and ethnic beliefs with the revealed Word of God.

This weekend we take a look at two miracles performed by Jesus Christ through Peter. Each of them bears an uncanny resemblance to a miracle performed by Jesus himself. It is apparent that Peter’s place as an Apostle is being affirmed through miracles in order to prepare him to take the Gospel to the Roman world. After we look at these miracle stories, we’ll also answer some important questions about miracles today.

The extension of saving grace to an Ethiopian was no isolated incident. Luke now moves quickly to show that God’s desire for his Gospel to go the “ends of the earth” is right on schedule.

As the story of Jesus rushes out from Jerusalem, we see the first radical intersection with a foreigner. But he is not just any foreigner. He is a descendant of the cursed line of Ham and a eunuch! But God’s mission doesn’t see anyone as outside the saving power of Jesus, and so Philip is directed down to the desert for a divine appointment.

It may shock us to realize that some who align themselves with Jesus do so, not out of a Spirit-brought conviction of sin and a desire to entrust their lives to Jesus Christ, but rather for personal gain alone. In this text we meet such a man in Simon the magician of Samaria. He wanted to add the power of God to his magic show and attempted to purchase it with money. Today it is not unusual for people to “try Jesus” in hopes that their situations may get better. But the gospel is not about adding Jesus to your life. It is about realizing you have no life, are spiritually separated from God by your sin, and your only hope is to entrust the whole of your being into the hands of Jesus through repentance and faith in the promises of God.

Following the martyrdom of Stephen we might have expected the church to fade away. After all, their faith now put them at great risk. But what we find is just the opposite. The persecuted church became the powerful church as they went about “gospelizing”! May the message we carry fuel our lives in the same way, to the glory of God.

Throughout the first five chapters of Acts, the church has been in something of a “honeymoon phase.” God has been blessing them with tremendous growth, power, and bravery to face all opposition. Even in the face of persecution, the gospel is powerfully going forward and the church is being built up. The church seems bullet-proof! But in Acts 6, the church faces its first internal conflict. Acts 6:1-7 not only gives us the solution to this conflict—it serves as a paradigm for what unity in service looks like in the church.

The apostles are at it again. Numerous miracles and healings are taking place, and Jesus is being proclaimed. However, the high priest and his associates are jealous, and in their rage, they imprison the apostles. God is faithful. He sends an angel to release the apostles from prison with the command to go preach “all the words of this life.” When the Sanhedrin find the apostles in the temple area again, they escort them to stand trial. Tensions continue to rise, and for the first time the consequences are physical. Journey with us through Acts 5:17-42 and see how God’s people respond.

Up to this point, Luke’s attention has been on the Apostles. But what has happened in the lives of the thousands who have responded to the gospel in repentance and faith? How has their worldview been transformed? In this text we see the practical elements of the early church and come to understand just how we should demonstrate our distinctiveness as Christ-followers before a watching world.

The rhythm of new covenant living is beginning to set in. What Jesus experienced in His earthly ministry is now being experienced by His disciples. The target of persecution has shifted off of Jesus and on to them. How does the church respond? They pray, and once again God proves that He is faithful. The apostles receive a fresh filling of the Spirit so that with great power they are able to continue their work of testifying to the resurrection of Jesus.

As we celebrate the empty tomb we also must contemplate the deep, eternal significance of the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ. Today, through the life of Peter, we’ll see the tragedy of self-serving belief and the triumph of saving faith.

Peter’s sermon of explanation and exhortation in chapter 3 got John and him in trouble with the religious leadership. Now, standing before the Council, Peter delivers another powerful presentation of Jesus Christ, despite the great risk of imprisonment or worse. He was not moved by fear of losing what he had, but of failing to use what he had been given. He and John were committed to live up to their calling to “speak of what we have seen and heard.”

In chapter 2 Peter stood to explain the miraculous coming of God the Spirit and the amazing gift of languages. In chapter 3, Peter is once again called upon to explain the miraculous healing of a man lame from birth. In both cases, Peter begins with a connection to his crowd and moves to a proclamation of the Good News of Jesus. This is an apostolic example of being intentionally available to be part of what God is doing in drawing those around us to Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

Acts 2 is widely referred to as the day the Church was born, and today we will look at what it was like in its earliest days. For many, Luke seems to be painting a picture of an ideal church, one which we should try to copy in our time. But was that really his intention? Was everything he wrote meant to prescribe what we should do today, or was it meant to describe what the Lord was doing then? As we study this portrait of the newborn church together, we will see what God was doing in His people then and what He continues to do in His people now.

After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-13) Peter addresses those who were mocking the Spirit’s ministry in declaring the “mighty works of God” through different languages. Peter seizes this opportunity to bring clarity to the gift of the indwelling presence of the Spirit and, more importantly, proclaim how this gift is linked to the redemptive mission of God through Christ.