Seeking to Turn Opponents to Allies
While many will vehemently resist the biblical gospel, we must see through their biases and double down on the authenticated message God has commissioned us to share persuasively.
Acts
Remembering Your Purpose
We must be faithful to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives by obeying the clear vocational and ministry calling for our lives.
The Role of Your Testimony
We must strategically employ the powerful evangelistic tool of our personal testimony as a supplement to our sharing of the gospel facts.
The Power of Integrity
Just as Paul was brought before earthly tribunals to be examined, we need to be sure by faith we avoid God’s tribunal and prepare to stand to give an account before Christ’s tribunal.
Fear, Faith & Reason
While we will always have opposition as Christians in this world, we must never fear but only trust God and proceed with wisdom, as we continue to live our lives for him.
Grace, Patience & Persistence
We should give thanks for all of God’s kind provisions as we patiently and uncompromisingly stand up for Christ in our increasingly hostile culture.
The Elements of a Good Defense
We must respond to anti-Christian accusations against us with a respectful, positive, and well-reasoned defense, doing all we can to represent Christ in a dignified manner.
The Kinds of Opposition to Expect
We can expect in our day all sorts of opposition for being faithful to Christ and biblical truth, but we must remember our calling and courageously endure whatever comes our way.
The Divine Use of Secular Means
Even in our fallen messed-up world we must recognize and respond to God’s sovereign use of governments to accomplish his will for his people.
The Callings & Purposes of God
Though God’s plans for our lives will involve some fearful circumstances, we must be unafraid and resolute about fulfilling God’s calling on our lives as we hold on to his promises.
The Hope of the Christian Life
The Christian hope is to be firmly fixed on our participation in Christ’s coming kingdom, which provides us the strength and courage to face all the current challenges in the here and now.
The Path of Sanctification
God is at work on us, using a variety of means to bring us into increasing holiness in the Christian life.
The Endurance of the Saints
God has planned and is always at work in and for his children to move them across the finish line of the Christian life and into the promised kingdom.
The Sovereignty of God
We must consider how God has been at work from long before we can imagine, leading us into the path he would have us obediently walk.
The Role of Water Baptism
Given the various and conflicting views of water baptism, we must seek to digest and rightly understand all the related biblical data on this important ordinance.
The Gift of Repentance
God graciously works through a variety of means to bring us to repentance, both at the outset of the Christian life and throughout it, so that we might walk in fellowship with him.
The Grace of God
We need to understand God’s amazing grace and sincerely respond to it with our whole hearts in light of the sinfulness of our sin.
Repentance & Faith
When we recognize our sin before a holy, just and loving God, we will feel the pang of sorrow for our offense. But the happiness of knowing we are forgiven through repentance and trust in Jesus, our savior, should bring joy.
Seizing God’s Opportunities
We should look for every opportunity to be strategic and faithful to serve the needs of those around us, even when we are in difficult seasons of life.
Facing God’s Plans with Courage
Being a Christian will require unique courage and boldness because of the unavoidable clash of our theology, values, and identity with so much of the rest of the world.
Misunderstandings & Accommodations
Strategic accommodations and biblically allowable personal adjustments will be necessary as we face the painful misunderstandings sure to continue among God’s people, this side of heaven.
Well-Meaning but Misguided Friends
We will have well-meaning friends who, out of love for us, will inadvertently tempt us to abandon the course of Christian obedience God has laid out for us.
More than a Task
Our work for God’s people is more than our duty, or an expression of our love for Christ, it is also our loving service for the people we have every reason to affectionately cherish as our spiritual family.
Policing Your Motives
Being useful in the spiritual lives of God’s people is aided by hard work and generosity, and is thwarted by cravings for wealth and the trappings of worldly success.
Always on Guard
Our service in the church must always prioritize biblical truth, guarding against the selfish ambitions that fracture the church and derail the sanctification of its congregants.
Motivated by the Finish Line
Knowing time is always running out, we must discern and fulfill our God-given stewardship to faithfully invest in the lives of others.
Caring Less about Your Own Comfort
We must evaluate our competing desires to serve God and our own comfort, resolutely deciding to persist in fulfilling the particular calling he has laid on our lives as Christians.
Caring About What Matters Most
Our desire to be useful to the Lord for the spiritual benefit of others must begin with a sincere devotion to the Lord and a commitment to his eternal priorities.
Taking Comfort in God’s Expressions of Grace
We must work to be aware, reflective, and profoundly grateful for God’s grace in forgiving us, kindly upholding us, and providing us with a secured eternal hope.
Rightly Depending on Our Comrades
Active, strategic, and frequent encouragement among Christians is biblically essential and should be the priority for all of us.