Resource Library

The tyranny of the urgent demands our time and forces us to put off the truly important. We need to stop and reconsider what's important. When we do, we'll discover that we're missing the essential ingredient we were made for: worship.

Acts 2 tells the story of a time when the Holy Spirit affected a sermon Peter preached where over 3,000 people came to faith. And the Holy Spirit is just as powerful today as He was at the time of Pentecost.

Pentecost is when Christians celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. Today the Holy Spirit’s presence is just as powerful and evident in the lives of believers as it was at the time of Pentecost in the Bible.

Acts 2 marks the successful delivery of more than three thousand “baby” Christians! It was the miraculous, Spirit-fuelled birth of the church. What an adventure! A large gathering of people witnessed the incredible, supernatural power of the Holy Spirit and heard the life-changing Gospel message preached by Peter and the other apostles. Birthday: Pentecost.

One of the most remarkable eras in the history of the church occurred during the first century. Shortly after Christ had left the earth, His disciples (who became apostles) led congregations into new and exciting vistas of faith. Though young and relatively inexperienced, the believers who comprised the first-century church showed evident marks of maturity…the children were now growing into adolescence!

Before Paul put the final period on his first letter to the Thessalonians he issued a double-edged command: “encourage…and build up one another” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). In a world more sinful than saintly, such a command is necessary because the spirit of discouragement is dangerous.

Pastor Chuck Swindoll will guide us through the great story in Acts 4, when the apostles Peter and John boldly stood up against all the religious authorities of their day. With uncompromising integrity mixed with fearless courage, Peter and John refused to stop proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, no matter the cost.

In Micah 6:8, the bold prophet answered the question many people wonder about today: What does the Lord expect of us? Micah's answer is comprehensive: to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God. The first of these three expectations means to do what is right, regardless of the consequences. This kind of courageous obedience is illustrated for us in the lives of the first-century apostles.

There is a big difference between prophets and politicians. Politicians act in a way to please their constituents. Prophets act in a way to please God. In the Bible prophets often stood alone. They spoke God’s truth and risked losing their lives for it.

How would you define hope? In what way would your definition apply to a local church? What if hope were missing from a congregation? Would anybody notice? We’ll think about these and other things as we allow Peter’s words to guide us into the truth about hope. These passages of Scripture suggest several ingredients that must be present if hope is to remain a vital part of a church’s life.