Truth Encounter: Acts - Impacting Our World

Where we live in Texas almost everyone likes the classic western cable station. The climax of a good Western from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly to Wyatt Earp is the shootout. The Old West was done by 1900, but hundreds of years earlier in about AD 49 the Apostle Paul and his sidekick, Barnabas, got in a showdown in a synagogue. The climax there moved the truth about Jesus outside the walls of Judaism and begins to explain how the Gospel has now planted its truth on every continent. Turn to Acts 13:44-52 and let's discover who received eternal life and who doesn't.

Turning points in the road -you can go one way or the other. We have all faced these decisions, but what do we do when we come to a fork in the journey that could decide our final destination? This is the kind of choice a rabbi offered his audience in a synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia in Acts. Turn to Acts 13 and check out this week's Truth Encounter. It's decision time.

Don't we have enough problems here? Don't we need our best preachers and teachers to stay at home in our churches to establish and strengthen us? When the challenge comes to take the Good News across borders and cultural barriers, reasons for not doing it multiply. The first century church of Antioch didn't listen to any of these excuses. They were too full of the Holy Spirit and He led two of their most gifted teachers to move out. Acts 13 records what happened.

Take your winner. One side had a divinely handsome king, all the soldiers, the prisons, and the executioners. The other side's only weapon was a home prayer meeting. Which side would you choose for the winner? Turn to Acts 12 and let's discover whether prayer or political power wins.

Why are some of the strongest relief ministries in the world such as World Vision, Samaritan’s Purse, and Food for the Hungry rooted in the truth that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life? Because from the beginning of the Church in the 1st Century spiritual needs were not divorced from physical needs. In Acts 11 we will discover how a dominantly Gentile Church in Antioch gave to the predominantly Jewish Church in Jerusalem. Meeting the needs of others is our Savior’s DNA. It should be ours.

Dr. Robert Jeffress' claim that Governor Romney was not a "Christian" ignited a firestorm of accusations and grabbed the latest political news cycle. What do we mean today when we call someone a "Christian?" Where did the term come from and what did it mean in the 1st Century? Before we join the shouting match, why not open up to Acts chapter 11 and let's examine the first time the label "Christian" was used.

It's a powerful story from the days of Elisha, an Old Testament prophet. The Syrians, have laid siege to Samaria, Israel's northern capital, cutting off its food supply. When starvation begins to turn the people into dry sticks, four lepers decide to turn themselves over to the enemy. The worst that could happen is that they will kill them, but they might just give them something to eat. They arrive at the Syiran Camp and get the surprise of their lives. There's enough food and supplies for thousands, but no soldiers. The four lepers begin to gorge themselves on the food, but then they remember the starving people back in the city. They return and share the good news. Today's message from Acts 10 faces us with the question facing the lepers, ”Will we gorge ourselves on Christ's forgiveness through Calvary or will we break out of our "in" group and share the incredible news?”

People listen when paralytics stand and when deaconess returned from the dead. How did Jesus use miracles in the first century to spread the Gospel, is He still doing this today, and what about when the miracle doesn't happen? Turn to Acts 9 verse 32 and let’s join the Apostle Peter as he uses power evangelism to transform lives on the Mediterranean coast.

Have you ever gone to church and found it hard to get connected? One of the most valuable gifts in the Body of Christ are those unselfish folks who recognize that "I"m new here look" and reach out with warmth and openness to new people. In the first century the Jerusalem church almost closed the door on the man who would become one of the church's most influential teachers. Turn to Acts 9 and let's explore together how the persecutor became the proclaimer.

Imagine the worst thing that could happen to you! Would it mean that God's plans had come crashing down? I feel like that when bad things happen, but that's why this week’s lesson "Blindness from Heaven" is so important. When Stephen was stoned in the first century it looked like God was against the ropes, but turn to Acts 9. God was about to choose a new champion for Christ.

Mention Ethiopia and famine immediately comes to mind. What needs to come to mind is explosive church growth, like the early days in the Book of Acts. When a one-party communist state was instituted in 1974, evangelical Christianity was outlawed. When freedom came to Ethiopia in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Block, the number of evangelical believers in the country had doubled from four million to eight million. How was the Church born in this country? Who brought them the good news? What difference should it make in our lives this week? Turn to Acts 8:26-40 and let's take a look at the birth of the Ethiopian Church.

James Arthur Ray used to rake in millions teaching his secret to success and wholeness. He was welcomed on Oprah and Larry King. Now for the next twelve years he will have to persuade inmates about his success. A jury in Arizona convicted him of involuntary manslaughter in the death of three during his Sweat Lodge Ceremony. How can you know when The Secret is delivered to you that it's a lie? Let's find out as Acts 8 uncovers the con of a first century James Ray.

I thought Jesus' followers were supposed to be known for their love feasts, not for their slug fests. Have you ever experiences a church fight? If so, then before you move down the road, you must listen to what Dr. Luke has to say in Acts 6 about the first church fight. Listen, you might learn how to further the Kingdom, instead of tearing it apart.

We discovered this week what happens when people become possessed by the thousands with the spirit of freedom. The crowd could be seen from space and the jubilation could be felt around the world. The spirit of freedom is contagious and it was a more powerful Spirit that gripped the first century believers in Jerusalem. Can we tap into that same Spirit today? Acts 2:41ff exposes us to the basics to Essential Church 101.

Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen are exploding, Dallas' Super Bowl was stymied by ice and snow, and the rest of the country to the east followed suit. Who is control of this planet anyhow? Contrary to popular opinion the Apostle Peter does not believe that human power or blind fate is at the controls. Instead his message at Pentecost to over three thousands Jews faces us to decide who we believe is actually in control. Listen.

It's Super Bowl week in Dallas and Jerry Jones and the rest of the NFL are doing everything they can to get everyone "Up" for the Big Game between the Packers and the Steelers. The world press core is here. Dallas Convention center is filled with the NFL Experience, and every hotel from Dallas to Fort Worth is decked in Packer or Steelers colors or both. What did God do to get Christ's followers up for the biggest assignment in history? Turn to Acts 2 and let's see if we can discover some fresh wind and fresh fire.