This summer we are looking through the Bible, the true story of a holy God lovingly restoring His broken world through Jesus Christ, gathering people from every nation who might belong to His forever family.
Week 1 – Genesis 1: Creation – Family By Design.
Week 2 – Genesis 2: Image of God. The Family Resemblance
Week 3 – Genesis 3 The Fall – When the Family Broke.
Week 4 – Genesis 6-8;12 - A promise to rebuild the Family.
Week 5 – Exodus 2-4;12-14-The Exodus; Rescued into Belonging
Week 6 – Exodus 19-20 – The Law; Family Set Apart.
Week 7 – 2 Samuel 7 – Longing for a Forever Home.
Week 8 – John 1:1-18 – The Incarnation, Closer than Ever.
Week 9 – 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 – The Cost to Bring Us Back
Week 10 – 1 Corinthians 15 – Resurrection. Dawn of Forever.
Camp Fairwood – Romans 3:19-26. Declared Righteous
Camp Fairwood– Romans 6. Living Like we Belong.
Camp Fairwood– John 13:34-35. Known by our Love.
Big Idea: In Christ, we are SENT through the Holy Spirit, empowered as the Church to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. In sharing the hope of the gospel, we will face opposition. In Stephen, we see a clear picture of unwavering faith in the face of persecution, showing how trust in Jesus enables joy even in suffering.
Luke – Volume 1: The gospel advancing in the life and ministry of Jesus.
Luke – Volume 1: The gospel advancing in the life and ministry of Jesus.
Acts – Volume 2: What Jesus continued to do to advance the gospel to the nations through His apostles after he left.
Acts 1:1-8
1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;
Acts 1:1-8
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:1-8
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:1-8
Acts 5:27-28
27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.”
Where to next?
The gospel will move into Judea and Samaria by God’s hand, even if it shatters the plans we would have made.
Acts 7:51-8:8
51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” 54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and
Acts 7:51-8:8
Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Acts 7:51-8:8
60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7:51-8:8
60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 1And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to
Acts 7:51-8:8
prison. 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.
Stephen is killed. The church is scattered. And yet—the gospel advances…
Stephen is killed. The church is scattered. And yet—the gospel advances…
…This is the way God often works...
Genesis 12:10
10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.
Genesis 50:19-20
19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Acts 4:27-28
27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
Acts 6:3-6
3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.
Acts 6:8-15
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”
Acts 6:8-15
12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Acts 7:51-8:8
59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7:51-8:8
60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 1And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to
ACTUAL STATE
DESIRED STATE
THE GAP
ACTUAL STATE
DESIRED STATE
THE GAP
JESUS!
“The Calvary road with Jesus is not a joyless road. It is a painful one, but it is a profoundly happy one. When we choose the fleeting pleasures of comfort and security over the sacrifices and sufferings of missions and evangelism and ministry and love, we choose against joy. . . . In the pursuit of joy through suffering, we magnify the all-satisfying worth of the Source of our joy. God himself shines as the brightness at the end of our tunnel of pain”.
- John Piper– Desiring God, pg 287–88
Acts 7:51-8:8
prison. 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.
Acts 7:51-8:8
prison. 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.
Acts 7:51-8:8
prison. 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.
Acts 7:51-8:8
prison. 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.
Our Challenge:
Not that much joy in Jesus intentionally leaking out into the lives of others.
“How do you motivate your church people to evangelize?”
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
��Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.��Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.
Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, pg 44-45.
Genuine Faith:
Head🡪Heart🡪Hands
Disciple:
The Problem: Shallow Theology
The Result:
The Problem: Shallow Theology
The Result:
Diminished experience of God’s glory.
Mainstream Approaches: Compromised/Adapted Evangelistic Methods
Mainstream Approaches: Compromised/Adapted Evangelistic Methods
Mainstream Approaches: Compromised/Adapted Evangelistic Methods
Mainstream Approaches: Compromised/Adapted Evangelistic Methods
Mainstream Approaches: Compromised/Adapted Evangelistic Methods
Mainstream Approaches: Compromised/Adapted Evangelistic Methods
Mainstream Approaches: Compromised/Adapted Evangelistic Methods
Mainstream Approaches: Compromised/Adapted Evangelistic Methods
Mainstream Approaches: Compromised/Adapted Evangelistic Methods
Mainstream Approaches: Compromised/Adapted Evangelistic Methods
ACTUAL STATE
DESIRED STATE
THE GAP
JESUS!
MONDAY Matters:
MONDAY Matters:
MONDAY Matters:
MONDAY Matters:
MONDAY Matters:
MONDAY Matters: