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When the Christian church first received its power – Acts 1&2 – audio
The Book of the Acts of the apostles recounts how the church of Jesus Christ grew from a handful of unsure disciples to the faith “that turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). Written by the physician Luke, the account is invaluable. Here we get through the first couple of chapters with commentary and rabbit tangents as needed. Lord bless you!
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The standard of an authentic Christian life – 1 John 3&4 – audio
Here we follow up on last week’s opener of First John with chapters three and four (and a brief overview of the end of chapter two). Lord bless you!
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Becoming ‘spiritual’ and knowing God’s inner ‘witness’ as your true north
One of the tragic outcomes of the otherwise commendable practice of studying the Bible is those who fail to become “spiritual” and come to experientially “know” God in their daily lives. These are those who read, think about, and possess the knowledge of God’s Word and truth and suppose to follow God based solely on their perception of what is “biblically correct.” Wait! Some of you may be saying. Isn’t that what we are supposed to do? Well, yes, and no – sort of, but not really.
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A litmus test of true Christianity – The Epistle of 1 John 1&2 – audio
Actually the entire epistle of First John is a litmus test of the Christian faith, and that was fully intentional. John the apostle was combatting Gnostic and Docetic false teachings and with a shepherd’s heart, he was spurred to pen the epistle for which innumerable others since his day can be eternally thankful. The epistle brings into sharp contrast truths about the Lord Jesus Christ and what He and the apostles expected of authentic disciples. In this study we go on the usual rabbit trails, as we otherwise go line by line through the first two chapters. Lord bless you!
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Spiritual discernment in light of the original apostles’ doctrines – sermon audio
The world of Christianity is vastly different today than it was in the the first century when they were following the apostles’ doctrine (Acts 2:42). The apostles were qualified as such in that they were eyewitnesses to Jesus Christ’s life, ministry, and resurrection. This combined with abundant foundational revelation from God and Christ’s acknowledgement of their preeminent status in His kingdom makes them an order of magnitude above the Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and, well, anyone before or since. Revelation 21:14 says the names of the original 12 apostles (including Matthias who took the place of Judas Iscariot who fell) will be written on the foundation…
