Archive for the ‘Acts’ Category

Called To Serve
Acts 6:1-6

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

One Sunday morning the pastor was trying to move his congregation from being spectators to becoming participants in the ministry of the Kingdom. He had prayed all week that the Lord would open the eyes of all of those who called the church “home.” The pastor knew that he had been given a word from the Lord and he was chomping at the bit to bring it to the congregation. His passion exuded from his voice as he told the congregation, “With God’s help we can see the day when this church will go from crawling to walking.” The people responded enthusiastically, “Let the church walk, pastor, let the church walk.” “Oh yea! The Lord has answered my prayer! They are getting it,” the pastor thought to himself as he rolled into his next sentence. “And when the church begins to walk, next the church can begin to run.” And the people shouted, “Let the church run, preacha, let the church run!” The pastor was beside himself as he continued, “And finally the church can move from running and finally begin to soar. Oh, the church can soar! But of course, that’s going to take the commitment of all of us for that to happen!” The congregation grew quiet, deathly quiet, and from the back of the small church, someone mumbled, “Let the church crawl, pastor, let the church crawl.” And so it is.

Just last week, Pastor Herman, shared such a powerful message with all of us about stirring up the gift and getting involved in God’s work. I’ve been encouraged by those of you who heard Herman’s message and responded by sending either Herman or myself a list of the ministries that you feel called to being involved with in the upcoming year. At the same time, I’ve compared the list of those who have made some kind of commitment to those who call BCC home and I have to tell you that less than 10% have made any kind of commitment.

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You Just Never Know!
Acts 8:26-40

Sunday, October 19th, 2008

Two weeks from today we are going to have “Friend Day” here at Britton Christian Church. For the past ten years or so we have always had “Friend Day” on the Sunday that we set our clocks back one hour. We do this because church growth gurus tell us that on time change Sunday there are more unchurched people in church than any other Sunday outside of Christmas and Easter. “Friend Day” is an opportunity for you and me. An opportunity to spend a few weeks in prayer asking the Lord to show us which of our friends we should invite to worship with us. For those of you who are new to BCC let me give you a little direction about “Friend Day.”

• First of all, please do not invite your friends who already have a church home. We are not trying to pack out the sanctuary or take folks away from the church where the Lord is using them. “Friend Day” is an intentional effort to draw us together for one purpose on one Sunday. That purpose is to invite our unchurched friends to share in worship with us.
• Secondly, I want to encourage you to join me in beginning to pray this very morning about who the Lord would have you invite to church on November 2.
• Third, when you decide who you are going to invite to church spend time in prayer asking the Lord to give you the right words to say and for your friend to be receptive to your invitation.
• Last of all, invite your friend to join us for breakfast at 9:30 am and for worship either at 8:30 or 10:40 am. Inviting your friend to breakfast gives our staff the opportunity to meet them and welcome them to “Friend Day.”

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A Name Like No Other
Acts 4:12

Sunday, October 28th, 2007
 
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Not A Good Time To Sail
Acts 27:9-22

Sunday, August 13th, 2006
 
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Midnight Praise
Acts 16:25-26

Sunday, August 6th, 2006
 
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God’s Plan Is Bigger Than Me
Acts 10

Sunday, June 4th, 2006

            Last Sunday we were visiting the “Tri-Cities” area of Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Korazin on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. This week we are going to travel down to the Mediterranean Sea to a city called Caesarea. Caesarea is an ancient city that really began to take shape after the Persians had given the area from the city of Dor to Joppa to the Sidonians in the 5th century B.C. They gave the area on the coast to the Sidonians because the Sidonians had helped the Persians during the Persian invasion of Greece.  The city wasn’t called Caesarea back in those days; it was called Strato’s Tower, named after the Sidonian King Abdashtart. The Sidonians used the port city as a way station for their merchant ships in their trading with Egypt until the city came under Jewish control after the conquests of the Hasmonean ruler, Alexander Jannaeus. Later, in 63 B.C., the city came under Roman rule when Pompey conquered it in 63 B.C.
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Empowered By Prayer!
Acts 4

Sunday, April 9th, 2000

The Church is gasping for air. She is losing her power as her life slowly ebbs away. The ICU unit is filled to overflowing with scores of churches whose glory days were a generation ago, but who today are surviving only on a ventilator of determination to see another Sunday. Because of her lack of oxygen she has become single-minded in getting her next breath, in merely staying alive.

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Surprised By Prayer!
Acts 12:1-19

Sunday, May 18th, 1997

The popularity of prayer has skyrocketed in recent months. Prayer, talking about prayer, writing about prayer, exploring patterns of prayers and the like have become more prevalent than Tiger Woods’ fans at a golf tournament. Prayer has truly come to the forefront of our society today as more and more people are talking about seeking God’s intervention in their lives. There are newspaper articles on the topic of prayer. We see images of people praying to God on television shows like “Touched By An Angel.” We hear folks who have gone through tragedies talking about how they prayed for God’s help. Prayer has become such a hot topic that there are now folks who are talking and writing about the personal benefits of prayer.

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It Ain’t Always So!
Acts 10

Sunday, March 16th, 1997

He walked into the room to receive the coveted award for community involvement. He had worked in neighborhoods across the city and God had blessed his efforts. He compassionately reached out to the marginalized and those that had been written off by the vast majority of the community. He quoted Scriptures like they were part of him. He preached…man did he preach — and many came from all walks of life to hear him share God’s Word. Street people, congressmen, wealthy business people, black, white, and brown — they came to hear him preach the Word of God. Jim Jones walked like a preacher, talked like a preacher, and looked like a preacher and so everyone assumed that this charismatic and driven man was a man of God, but sometimes it ain’t always so.

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Good News For Hard Times!
Acts 9:32-43

Sunday, March 2nd, 1997

Hard times are nothing new. Hard times, times of trials and tribulations, seem to be as constant as the sunrise. You can watch the news on any given day and hear of the hard times of those around our country. You can read the morning paper and learn of the trials of those in our own community. You can totally avoid the media and still become familiar with hard times simply by listening to the troubles of those around you. Hard times are not simply the possession of others, hard times are experienced by each and every person who lives on planet earth today. You’ve had your difficulties. Hard times have knocked at your door and announced their arrival.

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