Soul Rejoice

Click Here for Audio In Acts 1, Jesus gathered His disciples on the Mount of Olives, just east of Jerusalem. There, He commissioned them: “You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth” (1:8). This was their mission, our mission. This is the Great Commission. The news about what Jesus has done and what He offers to those who believe must go out to all the world until His return. That’s a Herculean task. It’s a huge undertaking. In fact, it is an impossible task. For that reason, Jesus promised the disciples, “You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit…and you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” So, He ordered them to remain in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came. Then, He ascended into Heaven.

Click Here for Audio How do we know what is true? Error and lies, fake news and fabrication are all around us. How do we sort out the truth? This is a worthwhile question.  Paul captured the very core of the Christian faith when he wrote, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and He was buried, and He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3-4). These events are at the very heart of Christian preaching. Paul says he delivered this message as of first importance. These events are the priority of Christian preaching.

Click Here for Audio See Him on the road to Jerusalem! A small crowd surrounds Him, listening to His every word. As He approaches the city of Jericho, still eighteen miles away from Jerusalem, He heals a blind man named Bartimaus. Who is this Man? Jesus, Son of David, whose mercy never faileth.  The crowd around Him swells with astonished people giving glory to God. He enters Jericho and goes to eat at the tax-collector, Zaccheus’ home. Who is this Man? The Son of Man, who has come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).

Click Here for Audio When we left off in Acts 1, the apostles had a… Recognition of Mission Expectation of Christ Habit of Prayer Obedience of Scripture But they weren’t plugged in yet. It was as if they had all the electric wires ran through the house, but the power hadn’t been turned on yet. Jesus had commanded them to go and wait for the power to be turned on. He promised to send the Holy Spirit, who would clothe them with power from on high. Only then were they to go about the mission to take the good news to the whole world.

  Click here for audio ILLUSTRATION : Pinning posters of people you admire and want to be like. Becoming like them is the goal. Ephesians 5:1 – We must imitate God and Christ.   The Bible likens growth in Christlikeness to growing up. When we are first saved, we are little spiritual babies who need to drink of the milk of the Word to grow and thrive. Spiritual babies have trusted in Christ, and they have had their sins forgiven. More than that, there is the beginning of a relationship there. They know the Father (1 John 2:13). They are only just at the beginning. They have a lot of growing up to do. They need to be taught and encouraged and disciplined and fed.

Click here for audio Two old men are standing on top of the wall of the city. They are squinting their failing eyes against the glare of the sun, desperately scanning the fields surrounding the city. Suddenly, they hear a cry, “There! Over there!” Sure enough, they can just make out movement: someone coming over the farthest hill, running toward the city. As the runner draws closer, one of the men says, “That looks like the gait of a good man who brings good news.” The other man responds, “No. That is the running of one who has witnessed a horrible defeat. We must prepare ourselves for the worst.” As the two bicker back and forth, the runner draws ever nearer. After awhile, they see that the runner has his hands up to his mouth to amplify his shouts. The two men ask the woman next to them what he is shouting. The woman, with relief on her face, announces, “He is saying, ‘Gospel. Gospel. Good news. Good news.” Friends, we have the privilege of making this same announcement. “Gospel. Gos...

Click Here for Audio It has been well said that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple enough that a child can understand and believe it; and deep enough that no person can ever fully search it out. In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul sets forth a long explanation of the gospel.  We turn to spend some time studying Romans, because it is a systematic treatment of the Gospel. If our mission is to preach the gospel wherever we go, then we need to have a mastery of the gospel message: its origin, its content, its commandments, its results, its power, its life implications. We need to be convinced that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17). And we must ask with all distress, “How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” (Rom 10:14).  The gospel is so on Paul’s heart that from the very first verse of Romans, Paul sets out to give us a fuller, deeper, richer understanding of the gospel. In verse 1, P...