Mcc Podcast

This Sunday I get to conclude our Ekklesia series by jumping straight to the last verse in the book. For the last few weeks we’ve been following how God used Paul. Paul, who helped start at least 10 new churches in his life. Paul, who wrote 13 of the of 27 books in the New Testament. Paul, who influenced people whose names appear on books in the New Testament, people like Mark, Luke, Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and others whose names you may recognize: Barnabas, Silas, Apollos, and Aquila and Priscilla. In the big picture, in the grand scheme of things, when we consider the eternality of God's Kingdom and the work that is done in His Name, in terms of lives that are affected not merely for a lifetime but for all time, it seems fair to say that Paul “lived on mission.” Why was that? And is it possible that what made Paul's ministry so successful and to leave a legacy of so many touched and changed lives for the sake of Jesus, is it possible that those things can be true of you and me and even what G

By now, you should be seeing some obvious characteristics of the early Church. Acts doesn’t paint a rosy picture of first century Christians. We see personality clashes and differences of opinion regarding strategy. The missteps of God’s people trying to be a part of Kingdom building. This week Rich will guide us through chapter 18 where we see the fruit of Christian’s loving God, loving people and living on mission. Did you think we came up with that on our own?!? Take a few minutes to read through chapter 18. Familiarize yourself with the people in the story. Dig around in the background and even look at what they go on to do. Your investment in the lives of your neighbors is a wonderful part of God’s redemptive plan. That’s what it means to Live On Mission!

For this weekend, to get you thinking about what we’ll be seeing that God chose to reveal about Himself through His church then (and His church now), fill in this blank: Outside of the Spirit of God, one of the most powerful tools the early church had was __________. How would you answer that? Miracles? People sharing their faith? Good deeds? There are a lot of ways to fill in that blank. This weekend may surprise you as we will be in Acts 16 with Paul and Silas, in prison, singing.

This week we see another HUGE moment in Acts. The first 12 chapters focus on the work of the Apostle Peter and the church in Jerusalem. But beginning in chapter 13 that focus shifts to the Apostle Paul and the church in Antioch. So this week we will see what God is saying to us about being a witness for Him.

This Sunday is special as we turn a corner with an event in the life of the early church. What we talked about last week, the conversion of Saul (later known as the Apostle Paul) was a major event for the early church, this week is about to be a bombshell. And if this is your first time reading through Acts, you probably won’t pick up on this. And maybe if you’ve read this book many times, it’s possible you still did not pick up the significance.  Today we read about a man named Cornelius who became a disciple of Jesus. And he was a Gentile. The FIRST Gentile convert to the church. And I know we’ve talked about this, but a Gentile is anyone who is not a Jew. So for all of you who are gentiles like me, this is a pivotal moment for us.

Eric and our intern Leah talk about the gospel.

Eric and Josh talk about sanctification.

This week, we will continue our study of Acts and early church disciple making. This series has been so fascinating to examine and I am really excited to hear what Mike will share with us about Paul!

Kingdom work. It’s a call for us all. Not just a pastor, not just a select few, but for all who call on Jesus as lord and savior. This week Eric will be diving into Acts chapter 6 and 7 as we learn from an early disciple of Jesus, Stephen, and discover what it looks like for us to proclaim the Gospel and step into Kingdom Work.

The 1st Century Church was a remarkable thing to observe! There are so many things that we can see that marked a pretty discernible difference from then to now. Words like passion, commitment, and sacrifice are prominent in my mind. This Sunday we will be studying Acts 4 together. Please read through it a time or two before Sunday. That chapter's stand out word to me is Courage. We will talk through why. See you then!

We are taking several weeks to look at the church and what the Bible tells us happened when the church started and how that plays out today. Last week I shared that the word that we translate “church” is the Greek word “ekklesia” which means, “the people called to assemble for a specific purpose.” The church, in Jesus’ mind, was never merely a location, it’s always been people who come together for a specific purpose. At MCC we say that we come together to be equipped to Love God, Love People, and Live on Mission. God was about to build a kingdom without borders, and He would call it the church. The Book of Acts is a history of the church written by Luke. And when we want to understand what God intended the church to be, this is where we look. And last week we looked at the church being born and taking its first breath, the first message of the church, 3000 people being baptized. And we were off and running. This week we will see what happened immediately after.

Eric and Chad sit down to talk about the Holy Spirit.

If you missed last week, we have begun a series of messages where we will walk through the book of Acts. We’re calling it Ekklesia.   The Ekklesia means a people called to assemble for a specific purpose. It’s understanding that God gathers us (like on Sundays) so He can send the church into the world, as opposed to the church being a building where we open the doors and expect the world to come to us.   I love that Acts 17:6 (KJV) tells us that the church bought into the idea so much that it had the reputation of turning the world upside down!  So for the next several weeks we are looking at words that describe the kind of church that God sends to turn the world upside down. And last week we saw the beginning of the birth of the church. And Jesus told His disciples to wait for the gift His Father would send. (Acts 1:4). That gift they were waiting on was the Holy Spirit. And in our verses this week, the Holy Spirit shows up! And we see how He sends His Holy Spirit to us today. 

This week Craft sits down with Mike and Rich as they talk through the Essentials For Salvation

The church has not always existed.  I’m not talking about MCC. Did you know that 50 people met in May of 1954 to start MCC?  I’m talking about THE church.   If you go back to the beginning of the Bible in Genesis, the church is not there.  But in all fairness, nothing else is either, except God.  The church is nowhere in the Old Testament.   The church is nowhere in the gospels.   It isn’t until Jesus has gone back to heaven that the church shows up.  And the church turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6 ESV).  We are looking at how God did and does turn the world upside down through the church. We will be settling into the book of Acts, the story of the beginning of the church, to see how God wants to turn our world upside down through us. This week we will begin at the birth of the church in Acts 1.

This week Craft sits down to talk with Mike and Rich about the context of Luke and Acts and how to understand the biblical context!

This Sunday Mike will conclude our Future/Past series. Last week I got to honor and encourage our graduates, and not just them but all of us, about the future and the traps that can catch us and negatively impact our future. This week Mike will help us look back. Just as important as it is to look forward, it’s equally important to have moments where we look back. We’ll see why. And we’ll look back as individuals, as disciples, and as a nation. ____________ Make sure to download the Bible App to help you develop a habit of reading scripture: https://www.youversion.com/the-bible-app/ Also, join Right Now Media for free as a member of our Church: https://exploremcc.org/right-now-media/

This week, as we celebrate our graduates, we kick off our new series, Future/Past, where we will be looking at what God has for each of our futures as well as why it’s important to remember our past. There are a few times each year where it naturally makes sense to look ahead to the future: January when a new year begins, May when students are graduating, and August when students head back to school and the regular rhythm of life returns after living the summer rhythm of life. However, whenever we get into a conversation around our future each one of us has a few different traps that we can fall into. However as we will find in scripture God has a way for us to escape each of these traps or avoid them all together. ____________ Make sure to download the Bible App to help you develop a habit of reading scripture: https://www.youversion.com/the-bible-app/ Also, join Right Now Media for free as a member of our Church: https://exploremcc.org/right-now-media/

You’ve probably heard this before but Abraham Lincoln said, “The greatest lessons I’ve learned were at my mother’s knees.” Perhaps you too. But we also want to acknowledge something about this Sunday right out of the shoot. Mother’s Day is not an easy day for everyone. For some because you agree with Abraham Lincoln, your mom was great, but she is gone. Maybe this is your first Mother’s Day without her or maybe it’s been many, but it just hurts, especially on the day set aside to honor moms. Or maybe your mom was not loving, or worse, and today is a very difficult day. Or maybe you’ve tried to be a mom, and can’t. I am so sorry. I want you to know that our hearts are with you. But for those who have or had moms who loved you well, for those of you who ARE moms who reflect well the smile of God to your families, we want to honor you this Sunday. So we will conclude our He Gets Us series with a message about children. ____________ Make sure to download the Bible App to help you develop a habit of re

This Sunday we will be taking a look at a red hot topic: Justice. Notice I didn’t say social justice? There’s a huge difference between the two. We live in a time that cultural pundits change the meaning of words/phrases. If you don’t define the terms, we could be misled or even worse, you could confuse the people that you are asking God to help you influence. What is God expecting us to do? How can we show love AND tell the truth at the same time. It is not only possible, it’s our job as Christ followers! We will look at the OT book of Micah and the teaching of Jesus in the NT Gospels. ____________ Make sure to download the Bible App to help you develop a habit of reading scripture: https://www.youversion.com/the-bible-app/ Also, join Right Now Media for free as a member of our Church: https://exploremcc.org/right-now-media/