This week, we have the privilege to hear from our keynote speaker and supported missionary Josh Duncan. We encourage you to pray for our missionaries and their families as they serve the Lord in their respective mission fields.
In Acts 21 Paul is warned by everyone who loves him: “Don’t go to Jerusalem.” The Spirit reveals the danger ahead as his friends plead in tears, but Paul keeps walking towards the danger because the Holy Spirit is leading him there. Sometimes obedience to the Holy Spirit doesn’t lead to safety or comfort, it leads to suffering. This passage shows us what it means to keep following the Spirit, even when obedience hurts.
When Paul said goodbye to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, he was at a turning point. He had faced riots, rejection, and relentless trials. Yet he kept going. He believed the mission of Christ was worth ever tear, every danger, and every mile. We live in a world where giving up feels easier than pressing on. This is true in ministry, marriage, parenting, and faith. Acts 20 serves as a remind that faithfulness is costly, but it’s worth it.
The city of Ephesus was one of the crown jewels of the Roman Empire; rich, religious, and restless. It was home to the temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and a center for magic, trade, and spiritual darkness. When Paul entered this city, he didn’t come with political influence or wealth, but with the power of the Gospel. Because of the Gospel the entire spiritual landscape of Ephesus began to shift. In Acts 19, we see what happens when the reign of Christ collides with the idols of culture. It’s a story of revival, repentance, and resistance. This pattern that still repeats today whenever the gospel truly takes root in the hearts of a community.
The Kingdom of God doesn’t advance through impressive strategies or personalities. It grows through humble, steady faithfulness. Acts 18 gives us a portrait of God’s servants staying faithful through weakness, transitions, and relationships. Paul has suffered greatly by the time we read Acts 18. He has been beaten, mocked, put in prison, chased out of cities, and lands in one of the most sinful cities of their day, Corinth. Paul demonstrates faithfulness in each region he travels to and remains steadfast in God’s mission in each trial. God’s Kingdom is being built through faithful followers of Jesus.
We live in a pluralistic world where truth is debated, relativized, or rejected. Acts 17 gives us an account on how Paul proclaimed Christ in different contexts: hostile Jews, receptive Bereans, and skeptical philosophers. Through it all, we learn what it looks like to hold fast to the Word and bring the gospel into every culture. In Thessalonica Luke shows us to expect opposition. In Berea he shows us to seek The Word. In Athens, he shows us to Engage culture with Christ. Today we will learn that the Gospel is the same in every context, but people respond differently.
Acts 16 presents a masterclass in gospel ministry through three distinct encounters that reveal how effective evangelism requires both wisdom and courage. Paul’s ministry in this chapter demonstrates the art of adapting methods while maintaining the message, showing us that the gospel is powerful enough to reach anyone, anywhere, but requires thoughtful application and bold proclamation. Through his encounters with Lydia, the slave girl, and the Philippian jailer, we see how God uses both strategic wisdom and supernatural courage to advance His kingdom. This chapter shows Paul use three very different evangelistic approaches: Relational, Confrontational, and Crisis. What approach do you most naturally gravitate toward, and how might God be calling you to develop the others?
We live in a world that constantly adds fine print. What seems simple a phone contract, a warranty, even a meal plan ends up buried under terms and conditions. The early church faced a similar crisis: was faith in Jesus enough, or was there fine print; circumcision, law-keeping, cultural identity? Acts 15 shows us how the church defended the purity of the gospel.
Acts 14 gives us the reality of gospel ministry. It’s messy, dangerous, and costly. Yet it’s precisely through this suffering love that God’s kingdom advances. Luke structures this chapter around Paul and Barnabas’s first missionary journey, showing us that the way of Jesus is not a path to earthly triumph but to costly faithfulness. The pattern established here proclamation, opposition, persecution, perseverance will repeat throughout Paul’s ministry. Luke wants us to understand that this isn’t an anomaly but the normal Christian experience. The book of Acts isn’t a manual for church success but a manifesto for faithful endurance.
In Acts 13, we reach a turning point: the church in Antioch sends out its first missionaries, Paul preaches his first recorded sermon, and the Word of the Lord breaks through opposition to reach new hearts. Here we see a pattern that continues to our day: the Spirit sets apart, the Savior satisfies God’s promises, and the Scriptures shine through suffering. And because of that, we can say with confidence: God still calls, Christ still completes, and the Spirit still carries His people with boldness and joy.
What does a healthy prayer life look like? Acts 12 tells the story of when Peter was imprisoned, only to be rescued by an angel. Even though the church was praying for Peter, they were surprised that he showed up at their door. Sometimes, we act the same way and spend more time asking than we do waiting and watching for the Lord's answer.
We love to ask, “What is the Spirit doing today?” and Acts 11 answers with a living picture in Antioch. Persecution scatters believers like seed, but instead of shrinking, the gospel spreads. A new, multi-ethnic church is born in a city famous for its nicknames, and there, for the first time, followers of Jesus are called “Christians.” Why? Because what they knew, how they grew, and what they showed looked unmistakably like Jesus.
We like neat boundaries. “Insider” and “outsider,” sacred and common, ours and theirs. But the story Luke tells in Acts 10:1-11:18 refuses our neatness. The Spirit changes Peter’s attitude once again shows that God moves across walls, rewrites our categories, and pours out His Spirit where we least expect it. The Holy Spirit brings the Gospel to all people, not gradually, not as a concession, but decisively and with the same power He Poured out at Pentecost. Our question today is the same as what Peter faced in Acts 10: Will we stand in God’s way, or will we move with the Spirit who welcomes everyone to Jesus?
Acts 9 tells the story of a man once known for breathing threats and murder against Christians who is then confronted by the risen Christ and transformed into the greatest missionary the world has ever seen. But this story is not just about Saul's dramatic conversion, the ministry of Ananias, or the miraculous restoration of Dorcas. It's about the relentless grace of God, which fuels the obedient courage of ordinary disciples, and the unstoppable power of the Holy Spirit.
This morning, as we look at chapter 8 of Acts, we will see that God uses faithful and flexible servants like Philip to take the gospel across cultural, social, and spiritual boundaries.
As we continue our study in the book of Acts, we'll see how Stephen endured the accusations made against him, offered rebuttals, and dismantled the Israelites' misplaced confidence, yet ultimately suffered, which God (in His sovereignty) used to push the Gospel out among the nations.
As we enter Acts 6, we see that the church needs to pause. We see the first official complaint against the church. From the beginning, the church was not perfect. But God used broken people to reconcile people to Himself. And that is still what God is doing today.
Have you ever felt pressure to stay quiet about your faith? Maybe at work, at school, or even around friends or family in moments when speaking up for Jesus felt risky? In Acts, 5, the apostles face real threats: prison, flogging, even death. But they didn’t shrink back. Instead, they lived under God’s authority, feared Him more than men, and rejoiced when suffering for Christ. This passage calls us to that same boldness in a world that often pushes back against our witness.
In Acts 5, God stops the early church in its tracks to remind us that He's not impressed by performance. He desires truth in the inner being. This story is not about perfection, it's about purity. Not about punishment but about protecting the power and presence of God among His people. The question for us this morning is this: Am I living honestly before a Holy God? God takes our hearts seriously. Not just our actions, but our motives, our honesty, and our willingness to be real before Him.
In Pastor Talley's final sermon as a pastor on staff at CBC, we'll be revisiting Paul's letter to the Ephesians while looking to our future as a church. The future of CBC will not be secured through a pastor, program, or perfect vision, but through a God who loves and empowers His Church!