Acts

Acts | Part 2

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.”

These were some of Jesus’ very last words on Earth. And yet, a little over a week later, something happened. Jesus released His Spirit on the disciples who went out proclaiming everything Jesus did. Their proclamation was the day The Church began.

You cannot tell the story of the early church without also telling the story of the person, work, and power of the Spirit of God. He’s everywhere on almost every page of Acts.

We hope that during this series, we experience afresh not only who the Spirit is but experience all the potential He can unleash in and through us when it comes to walking more closely with Jesus, including prayer, worship, and being on mission.


To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: The Movement of God

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: A Family On Mission With Him

(Sermon) (Scripture Guide) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Who’s In and Who’s Out

(Sermon) (Scripture Guide) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: The Church in Antioch

(Sermon) (Scripture Guide) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: The Power of Persistent Prayer

(Sermon) (Scripture Guide) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: Mountains, Molehills, and Which Ones to Die On

(Sermon) (Scripture Guide) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 7: The Church in Philippi

(Sermon) (Scripture Guide) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 8: The Church in Athens

(Sermon) (Scripture Guide) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 9: Responding To God’s Greatness

(Sermon) (Scripture Guide) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 10: Living in the Dash

(Sermon) (Scripture Guide) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 11: The Storm and the Shipwreck

(Sermon) (Scripture Guide) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 12: The Story Continues

(Sermon) (Scripture Guide) (LifeGroup Guide)


We want to focus on particular tools to help us learn to follow Jesus more closely. Since Acts concentrates so much on spreading the name of Jesus, our corporate practice is mission.

To help us grow in this practice, we've created a six-week-long guide to work within your group. Each lesson comes with discussion questions, a teaching video, and worksheets to print out for everyone in your group.


To accompany our book and further expand on the topics covered in this series, we’d recommend the following books and videos to you.

 
 

Acts

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.”

These were some of Jesus' very last words on Earth. And yet, a little over a week later, something happened. Jesus released His Spirit on the disciples who went out proclaiming everything Jesus did. This was the day The Church began.

You cannot tell the story of the early church without also telling the story of the person, work, and power of the Spirit of God. He's everywhere and on almost every page of Acts.

So as we start a new year, when many of us are slowly regathering and relearning exactly how and what it means to be and do church together, let's begin it the same way as it started with the early church. Together, let's embrace and get to know the unlimited power of the Holy Spirit that dwells with us to be with Jesus and do what Jesus did.

We hope that during this series, we experience afresh who the Spirit is and experience all the potential He can unleash in and through us when it comes to walking more closely with Jesus, including prayer, worship, and being on mission.


To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: The Mission of Acts

(Sermon) (Scripture Guide)

Week 2: The Spirit of Acts

(Sermon) (Scripture Guide)

Week 3: How to Start a Fire

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 4: The First Fruit of the Spirit

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 5: The Meaning of the Miracles

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 6: Spirit-Filled Witnesses

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 7: The Spirit and the Flesh

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 8: You’re Only as Healthy as Your Secrets

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 9: Condemned on Earth, Applauded in Heaven

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 10: Following the Work of the Spirit

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)


To help us grow in our understanding of God’s goodness, we decided to write a book for this series. You can download the digital version here.


To accompany our book and further expand on the topics covered in this series we’d recommend the following books and videos to you.

 
 

Stand-Alone 2018 | Lessons From Church Planting

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By 325 A.D. Christianity had spread like crazy. Scholars say over half of the Roman Empire had become Christian. Kenneth Scott Latourette, a history professor at Yale, said:

“Never in so short a time has any other religious faith—or for that matter any other set of ideas, religious, political or economic— ever achieved so commanding a position in such an important culture without the aid of physical force, or social or cultural prestige.”

It all started with twelve guys on a hillside with no power, no money, no celebrity endorsements —they just had an absolute conviction that Jesus had risen from the dead and a strange power poured into them called the gift of the Holy Spirit. The key was that every person, not just a handful of specialized apostles, carried the message wherever they went.

Now there are over 2 billion Christians across the world, but the work isn't done yet. Today we continue the mission of extending the Gospel to people of all ages, races, genders, backgrounds, economic statuses, and political affiliations. Join us as we see how our LifeGroups and church can grow from looking at the Lessons From Church Planting.

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LISTEN TO SERMONS & DOWNLOAD RESOURCES

To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series. Homelinks are a tool used to connect parents and their children by helping them review what's being taught on Sundays - we'll be posting one for each week of the series. 

Week 1: Athens (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)