Lead Pastor
Sermons by Wade Allen (Page 35)
Paul and Barnabas are nearing the end of their first missionary journey. As in all the previous cities on their journey, they meet up with some stiff opposition—resulting in the stoning of Paul in Lystra. Left for dead, Paul had a decision to make…
There are some preachers and teachers in Christendom today that would have you believe that Christianity is all about health and wealth. While this may sound good—and sell a lot of books—it is unbiblical. Over and over again, the Bible asserts that believers will go through difficult circumstances in life—this is God’s work in us to conform us to the image of His Son. As Paul and his companions continue on their first missionary journey, they experience both good and bad along the way. It is important for us to follow the example of Scripture in how we respond to both good and bad fruit in life.
As we learned in the previous study, the church at Antioch of Syria follows God’s leadership by setting aside Barnabas and Saul as missionaries. In the process of beginning his missionary career, Saul transitions to being known as Paul. As the missionary band…
The situation facing the church in Jerusalem was seemingly hopeless. King Herod had just executed the Apostle James, and Peter was in prison awaiting execution as well. The church was praying for his release, but they really didn’t think it would do any good. How would they continue without Peter and James? Is there really power in the prayers that we pray? Can we really trust that God hears us and acts upon our prayers?
Up to this point, each time the Israelites cried out to God, He sent a deliverer; however, this time He first sent a prophet to proclaim the message from the Lord before sending a savior to deliver them from the hand of the Midianites. God reminds the Israelites…
What does it mean to be called a Christian today? We live in a time when the term Christian has become one of the most unclear descriptors in the English language. Many people today are willing to say, “I am a Christian” but would never consider saying that they are “disciples” of Jesus Christ. They are merely cultural Christians. Sometimes I wonder, if people were to look at us and our church and evaluate us today, what nickname would they give us?
As we look at a long section of Scripture today, we will see how that God is methodically moving Peter to see that the gospel is for everyone—not just the Jewish elite. In His sovereignty, God moves Peter from one situation to the next, opening his heart to ‘the Nations’ and releasing a lifetime of bigotry and prejudice. It is sometimes hard for us to imagine the Apostle Peter as bigoted or prejudiced, but we must consider who he is within his cultural context and the Jewish people looked down upon the Gentiles. In this passage, God uses a series of events to open Peter’s eyes to the simple truth that the gospel “is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile” (Romans 1:16b). So it is time for us to ask, “When will we get beyond our prejudice, our misconceptions and our elitism and be willing to seek after all people with the gospel?”