Grace Chapel Church Podcast | Franklin, TN

In Story 15 of ACTS, Pastor Dave returns to the pulpit to speak to us about the visions of Cornelius and Peter out of Acts 10. Following these two visions, Peter begins to speak to a God-fearing audience and the brothers from Joppa were stunned watching the Holy Spirit transform Gentiles. With this backdrop, Pastor Dave provides some practical application for us: the leading of the Holy Spirit in prayer, responding to the Holy Spirit in obedience, and the positioning of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Dave ends with talking about the difference between grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Rob and Pastor Jimmy discuss Saul's Stories in Acts 9:20-43.

Today we cover one of the most famous conversion stories in the Bible - Saul's conversion as recorded in Acts 9. Pastor Rob breaks down his sermon into three sections: A Radical Confrontation, A Radical Courage, and A Radical Conversion. What is interesting about Saul’s story is that Saul thought he knew what God was like and how God should operate. This is what many people in our culture today are looking for, and this is in large part a reason for the rise of progressive Christianity. It’s the idea that God needs to fit into our view, our perspective, our outlook, our politics, and our agenda rather than us fitting into His. So the question for us is the same question that Saul had to face...are we going to change God to fit what we want (in which case, He is no longer God) or are we going to submit to who God has revealed Himself to be through His Holy Scriptures?

Pastor Rob and Pastor Jimmy discuss Philip & the Ethiopian in Acts 8:26-40.

In story 11 of ACTS, Pastor Rob walks us through the first half of chapter 8 which is about Simon the Sorcerer. The crux of this passage speaks to the deceptive nature of power, the revealing nature of power, and the Spirit's subversion of power. It's fascinating when you compare the character of Simon with the Spirit: Simon affirms himself, the Spirit affirms others; Simon is self-exalting, the Spirit is Christ-exalting; Simon is self-serving, the Spirit serves others; Simon draws to himself, the Spirit points to Christ; Simon wants the spotlight, the Spirit redirects the spotlight; Simon takes power, the Spirit gives power. Pastor Rob leaves us with a few questions – where are we trying to use God? Where are we trying to add the Holy Spirit as a tool in our toolbox that we can utilize whenever we want? Are we demanding that God be in submission to us, or are we actually in submission to God?

Pastor Rob and Pastor Jimmy discuss the tenth story in Acts (Acts 7:54-60).

In story 9, Pastor Rob speaks on Stephen's speech before the Sanhedrin that occurs prior to his martyrdom in the latter part of Acts 7. There are many practical applications for the Church today, not the least of which would be for God to grant us the same boldness and courage if or when the moment demands it – that even at great personal cost, we would not shy away from the truth of the Gospel. With this backdrop, Pastor Rob shares a number of things that we will summarize here that he is willing to lay down his life for as the pastor of Grace Chapel: 1) Without apology, regardless of consequence, he will not preach the ideas and ideologies of man, but privately and publicly proclaim the full counsel of the Word of God, 2) he will be faithful to do the work of a pastor, as it is his deep conviction that pastors are called by God to be servants, 3) in the midst of a world full of churches giving in to the demands of a pagan culture, adopting all kinds of beliefs that are antithetical to the teachings of scripture, Grace Chapel will hold firm to biblical orthodox Christianity and the doctrine that has been held to and taught by the Church, 4) he will continue to fulfill the calling of God on his life to make disciples that make disciples.

Pastor Rob and Pastor Jimmy discuss the eighth story in Acts (Acts 6:1-15).

In ACTS // Story 7, Pastor Dave Buehring teaches on the fear of the Lord out of Acts 5:12-42. The fear of the Lord is reverencing and referencing God in all that we do. To reverence Him is to take Him seriously and to hate evil. To reference Him means to seek God in everything. The opposite of the fear of the Lord is the fear of man, which leads to people-pleasing and will hinder our obedience to Jesus.

Pastor Rob and Pastor Jimmy discuss the sixth story in Acts (Acts 5:1-11).

Story five in the book of Acts has us in Acts 4:23-31 and Pastor Rob speaks on the prayer Peter, John, and others offer up to God amidst incredible threats made to them by the Sanhedrin. What's interesting is that in light of these threats, the early church doesn't pray for anything except boldness! They didn’t ask God to stop the threats, to stop the shaking, or to solve the problems. The lesson for us is to not get caught up in all the cares, fears, worries, and concerns in our circumstances and only ever pray for our bad circumstances to go away (not that this is wrong to ask for). But in our praying for better circumstances, we need to remember that the circumstances we face are not the main problem. The problem is actually how shaken we are by our circumstances. Jesus Christ was shaken so that you could be made unshakable. And because of what Jesus has done, the circumstances that used to shake you don't have to take you into utter despair, but instead, can bring you closer to the ruler of the eternal unshakeable kingdom that is from everlasting to everlasting.

Pastor Rob and Pastor Jimmy discuss the fourth story in Acts (Acts 4:1-22).

We're in story three of ACTS and Pastor Rob speaks on Peter's address in Solomon's Portico in Acts 3:11-26. Throughout the entirety of Scripture, we're continually pointed to three specific offices, or functions, that Jesus fulfills and holds: Prophet, Priest, and King. It is the first (Prophet) that Peter hones in on in his message in Acts 3. A prophet is someone who brings the very words of God to the world. They reveal the will and nature of God, not as an interpreter but as a revealer, a proclaimer of something absolute and non-negotiable. We don’t like this in modern western culture because we live in a time where your truth is your truth, and someone else's truth is theirs, and you’ve got to live your truth. But what scripture, and Peter, is teaching us is that if your "truth” differs from God’s truth, it’s not Truth.

Pastor Rob and Pastor Jimmy discuss the second story in Acts (Acts 3:1-10).

In the first story of our ACTS series, Pastor Rob speaks on the early church and the practices that marked the early believers. We often make the mistake of thinking we can claim to be followers of Jesus without actually following in the ways of Jesus. Those who claim to follow Jesus in Acts 2 were devoted to the scriptures (doctrine), the gathering of themselves with other believers, breaking of bread together (communion, fellowship), and prayer. The outflow of us being committed to the same practices of the early church is a church that is marked by sacrificial generosity and compassion, not only to those in need but even those we would seek to silence us or take our lives.