You Belong 5

Jesus Plus Nothing — The Jerusalem Council in Acts 15

In Acts 15, the young church faces its first great conflict: a group insisting Gentile believers be circumcised and keep the whole law of Moses to be saved. Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and James answer with a settled verdict — salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, Jesus plus nothing — while calling believers to lay down their liberties in love so they never cause a weaker brother to stumble. The message calls us to be an iron pillar on the gospel and a reed on the non-essentials, bearing one another's crushing burdens without taking over the load only each person can carry.

He Got Two — The Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25

Preaching from the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30, this message confronts our lifelong habit of comparison — the reason so many of us bury the one gift we've been given while staring at what everyone else received. The tension is that we all see ourselves as the one-talented servant, convinced our little isn't enough to matter for the Kingdom. The call: stop looking around, start looking down, dig up your talent, and put it to work with what's already in your hand.

Open Doors, Hard Roads — Acts 14

Following Paul and Barnabas from Iconium to Lystra and back, this Sunday's message in Acts 14 dismantles the idea that an open door from God means an easy road. We were reminded that opposition, misunderstanding, and even being stoned and left for dead do not mean we missed God's will — the presence of opposition does not mean the absence of God. The call is simple and hard: stay faithful, give the glory back to Jesus, and don't quit, because God still produces fruit through seasons of suffering.

Sent From Worship — Acts 13

Preaching verse-by-verse through Acts 13, this Sunday's message traced how the first missionary journey was born not in a strategy session or a fundraising campaign but in a diverse church at Antioch that worshiped, fasted, and listened to the Holy Spirit before being sent out. The central tension is that the world is full of voices that sound spiritual but make the straight path to Jesus crooked, so the church must recover discernment rooted in Scripture and a check in the Spirit. The call is to become a worshiping, word-centered, sending church that keeps preaching Jesus from the Scriptures no matter who opposes us — because we never know whose heart God is already working on.

Maybe Yes, Maybe No: Empowered, Not Enabled — Acts 12

Working through Acts 12, this Sunday's message walks through Herod's persecution of the church, James being put to the sword, and Peter sleeping between two soldiers the night before his execution until an angel walks him out of prison. The central tension is why God lets James die yet delivers Peter — and the reminder that God doesn't enable us, He empowers us, asking us to do what we can while He handles what only He can. The call is to pray earnestly and with expectation, use the reason God gave us, and trust the God who sees the whole picture even when we only see earth.