Union Church

Acts 9:1-31 - How Grace Works

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 9:1-31 - Larry/Jorgen

Grace is something you can never get but can only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth. A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There's nothing you have to do. The grace of God means something like: "Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are, because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you.” There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too. - Frederick Buechner 

Gradually, and without violence, Jesus pricked Saul's mind and conscience with his goads. Then he revealed Himself to him by the light and the voice, not in order to overwhelm him, but in such a way as to enable him to make a free response. Divine grace does not trample on human personality. Rather the reverse, for it enables human beings to be truly human. It is sin which imprisons; it is grace which liberates. The grace of God so frees us from the bondage of our pride, prejudice and self-centeredness, as to enable us to repent and believe. One can but magnify the grace of God that he should have had mercy on such a rabid bigot as Saul of Tarsus, and indeed on such proud, rebellious and wayward creatures as ourselves. - John Stott

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
‘All things betray thee, who betrayest Me 
Francis Thompson, The Hound of Heaven

Romans 10:14

“Put all this together, and what do we have, as the central, shaping marker of the new worldview, taking the place and bearing the weight that the Jewish symbols had borne within the worldview of Saul of Tarsus? We have precisely the gospel, the euangelion, the ‘good news’, rooted in the ‘good news’ spoken of in the Great Prophet, confronting the ‘good news’ carved in stone around Caesar’s empire. We have the symbol by which Paul declared that he was himself defined, the anchor of his own vocational mindset: Paul, an apostle, set apart for the good news of God; I am not ashamed of the good news, because it is God’s power for salvation to all who believe; the Messiah did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel; woe to me if I do not announce the good news; I do it all for the sake of the good news; let me remind you of the gospel which I announced to you, which you received, in which you stand firm, through which you are saved; the gospel of the glory of the Messiah, who is the image of God. The gospel, the gospel, the gospel. It defined Paul. It defined his work. It defined his communities. It was the shorthand summary of the theology which, in turn, was the foundation for the central pillar for the new worldview. It carried God’s power. That was just as well: the worldview, and those who lived by it, were going to need it.” NT Wright

“Grace is God acting in our life to bring about, and to enable us to do, what we cannot do on our own. Grace is for all of life and not just for forgiveness. Grace is not opposed to effort (action)-though it is opposed to earning (attitude). Grace is inextricably bound up with discipline in the life of the disciple or apprentice of Jesus. “Grace,” of course, as an active agency in the psychological and biological reality of the disciple.” - Dallas Willard

Eph 1:7-10

What you need to drive out an old passion, is a new passion, a greater passion. What you need is an over-mastering positive passion. To the degree, that you see Jesus on the cross, loosing absolutely everything for you, He will become a beauty to you, He will become so beautiful in your eyes that you'll be able to change these things that control you now, they'll loose their power. Do you know how to work on your heart like that? It's only by rejoicing in and resting in what Jesus Christ has done for you. Then you can replace your idols. And if you really want to change and want to pound the Gospel more deeply into your heart - Jesus Christ must become your over-mastering positive passion. Tim Keller

All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.
All which thy child's mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:
Rise, clasp My hand, and come!'
Francis Thompson, Hound of Heaven

Acts 8:26-40 - God of the Desert

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Notes//Quotes:

Acts 8:26-40 

1 Thess 4:1-8 - 1 Peter 2:13-17— 1 Thess 5:16-18

Deut 23:1

”He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Luke 24:25-27

Romans 10:10-17

We do not go into the desert to escape people but to learn how to find them; we do not leave them in order to have nothing more to do with them, but to find out the way to do them the most good. But this is only a secondary end. The one that includes all others is the love of God. - Thomas Merton

"Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.” Augustine

Acts 8:1-25 - Surprised By Grace

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Notes//Quotes:

Acts 8:1-25 - Chris 
Title: Surprised By Grace

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

“24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” (Jn. 12:24-26)

51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village.  (Lk. 9:51-55)

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt. 5:43-48)

“Satan is not opposed to religion. He is in the religion business up to his ears. The first temptation was a religious one - to be like God. "Let me tell you how to be godly." It was a temptation to fall up, not down. Satan's chief weapon against the Gospel is false religion.”
- Adrian Rodgers

“Preaching to gain recognition or status is simony. Serving with an eye to advance within the church’s power structure is simony. Seeking spiritual gifts for the promotion of oneself is simony. Even seeking to be godly so others will think we are godly is a type of simony.” - R.Kent Hughes

Acts 7:1-60 - The First Martyr

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Notes//Quotes:

Acts 7:1-60

1 Pet 3:8-17

“God is everywhere present. The holy place is there wherever God may be.” - Chrysostom

“No harm can be done to the temple and the law, when Christ is openly established as the end and truth of both.” - John Calvin

“Stephen has been confessing Christ before men, and now he sees Christ confessing his servant before God.” FF Bruce 

“The Jesus who was right then interceding for Stephen had taught him that intercession, rather than cursing, was the way of the new, fulfilled, law and Temple.” - NT Wright

Acts 6:1-15 - Growing Pains

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Notes//Quotes:

Acts 6:1-15 - Sawyer

Title: Growing Pains

 

“Success, while desirable, can paradoxically create new challenges. This can manifest as increased pressure, difficulty managing growth, and strained relationships with those who haven't achieved the same level of success. Understanding these potential downsides is crucial for navigating the complexities of success and maintaining long-term well-being.” 

- Google AI

 

“The devil’s next attack was the cleverest of the three. Having failed to overcome the church by either persecution or corruption, he now tried distraction. If he could preoccupy the apostles with social administration, which though essential was not their calling, they would neglect their God-given responsibilities to pray and to preach, and so leave the church without any defense against false doctrine.” 

- John Stott

 

“Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than they love the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community.”

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

“One of the apologetics against the church is that the rhetoric often doesn’t live up to the reality.”

- Leo Schuester

 

1-4 If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

 

5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

(Philippians 2:1-8 The Message)

 

Questions:

1. Do I love the community or my dream of the community?

 

2. Have I experienced hurt in the community?

 

3. Who actually is the architect of my dream community? 

 

Acts 5:17-42 - The Name

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Notes//Quotes:

Acts 5:17-42 

Proverbs 14:30

“Envy is one of the most miserable vices. Most other vices tend to produce some kind of pleasure, however momentary. But envy is nothing but unpleasant, through and through. It is the constant thief of joy. - Gavin Ortlund

We can glimpse it in the book of Acts: the method of the kingdom will match the message of the kingdom. The kingdom…goes out into the world vulnerable, suffering, praising, praying, misunderstood, misjudged, vindicated, celebrating: always – as Paul puts it in one of his letters – bearing in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed. - NT Wright

Ex 34:4-7

“When God describes himself, He doesn’t start with how powerful He is or how He knows everything there is to know or how He’s been around since before time and space and there’s no one else like Him in the universe. That’s all true, but apparently, to God, it’s not the most important thing. When God describes himself, He starts with His name. Then He talks about what we call character. He’s compassionate and gracious; he’s slow to anger; he’s abounding in love and faithfulness” - John Mark Comer

Acts 5:1-16 - Smelling Salts

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Notes//Quotes:

Acts 5:1-16 - Jack Reading
Title: Smelling Salts

“Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all.” 
- Oliver Wendell Holmes

20 My son, pay attention to what I say;
  turn your ear to my words.
21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them
 and health to one’s whole body.
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
 for everything you do flows from it.
(Proverbs 4:20-23)

“Half of the misery in the world comes from trying to look, instead of trying to be, what one is not.”
- George MacDonald

 8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 
(1Peter 5:8 NASB95)

 7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 
(James 4:7 NASB95)

“do not give the devil a foothold.”
(Ephesians 4:27 ESV)

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” 
(Eph. 6:12 ESV)

“if God acted in the same way today that he did in the fifth chapter of Acts, you’d have to have a morgue in the basement of every church and a mortician on the pastoral staff.”
- Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse

“…you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
 (Matt. 16:18 ESV)

“Our takeaways from the text should probably be no more and no less than that of the people who witnessed the event: fear and awe. God is a holy God who vanquishes evil and zealously defends his holiness. His judgments are his, and he only makes some of them known. Why did God strike down Ananias and Sapphira rather than give them a chance to repent? How is it that Satan filled Ananias’ heart to lie (v. 3) but that Ananias also contrived the sin himself (v. 4)? Why didn’t Peter show the same grace toward Ananias and Sapphira that he was shown for his deceit and denial of the Lord (Matt 26:69-75)? We do not know. The text does not speak to these questions, though other passages may help us find answers. Ultimately, though, it’s the text that demands an answer from you: Do you fear God?”
- F.F. Bruce

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.”
(2 Cor. 5:10&11 ESV)

Acts 4:23-37 - How to Church

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Notes//Quotes:

Acts 4:23-37 

“If we allow the Bible to become fragmented, it is in danger of being absorbed into whatever other story is shaping our culture, and it will thus cease to shape our lives as it should. Idolatry has twisted the dominant cultural story of the secular Western world. If as believers we allow this story (rather than the Bible) to become the foundation of our thought and action, then our lives will manifest not the truths of Scripture, but the lies of an idolatrous culture. Hence, the unity of Scripture is no minor matter: a fragmented Bible may actually produce theologically orthodox, morally upright, warmly pious idol worshippers! - Mike Goheen

John 17:20-23

”We must have hearts that are harder than iron if we are not moved by the reading of this narrative. In those days the believers gave abundantly of what was their own; we in our day are content not just jealously to retain what we possess, but callously to rob others.... They sold their own possessions in those days; in our day it is the lust to purchase that reigns supreme. At that time love made each man's own possessions common property for those in need; in our day such is the inhumanity of many, that they begrudge to the poor a common dwelling upon earth, the common use of water, air and sky.” John Calvin

1 Cor 6:19-20

Acts 4:1-22 - The Stone

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Notes//Quotes:

Acts 4:1-22 - Scott

 

They rejected the oral traditions of the Pharisees and considered only the written Torah of the Pentateuch as valid. They considered the concepts of demons and angels, immortality and resurrection as innovations, believing in no life beyond this life.

More important than their theology, however, was their political orientation. Coming largely from the landed aristocracy, they were accommodationists with regard to the Roman occupation of Israel. Possessing considerable economic interests, their concern was to make peace with the Romans, preserve the status quo, and thus protect their own holdings. In return the Romans accorded the Sadducees considerable power, invariably appointing the high priest from their ranks, who was the most powerful political figure among the Jews in that day. The prime concern of the Sadducean aristocracy, of whom the high priest was the chief spokesman, was the preservation of order, the avoidance at all costs of any confrontation with the Roman authorities. 

- New American Commentary

 

The church's one foundation 

is Jesus Christ her Lord;

she is his new creation 

by water and the Word.

From heaven he came and sought her 

to be his holy bride;

with his own blood he bought her, 

and for her life he died.

- Samuel J. Stone (1839-1900)

 

”Grace is the free favor of God, the undeserved bounty of the ever-gracious Creator against whom we have offended, the generous pardon, the infinite, spontaneous lovingkindness of the God who has been provoked and angered by our sin."God's grace proceeds exclusively through Jesus Christ, the Mediator. "All things come to us through Christ Jesus: he is the golden pipe of the conduit of eternal love, the window through which grace shines, the door by which it enters." — Charles Spurgeon (The Cross and Salvation, Bruce Demarest) 

 

…It does not say, ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted because they are objectionable.’ It does not say, ‘Blessed are those who are having a hard time in their Christian life because they are being difficult.’ It does not say, ‘Blessed are those who are being persecuted as Christians because they are seriously lacking in wisdom and are really foolish and unwise in what they regard as being their testimony.’ It is not that. There is no need for one to elaborate this, but so often one has known Christian people who are suffering mild persecution entirely because of their own folly, because of something either in themselves or in what they are doing. But the promise does not apply to such people. It is for righteousness’ sake. Let us be very clear about that. We can bring endless suffering upon ourselves, and we can create difficulties for ourselves that are quite unnecessary because we have some rather foolish notion of witnessing and testifying or because, in a spirit of self-righteousness, we really do call it down on our own heads. We are often so foolish in these matters. We are slow to realize the difference between prejudice and principle and we are so slow to understand the difference between being offensive, in a natural sense, because of our particular makeup and temperament, and causing offense because we are righteous.

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones

 

8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 

10 For “Whoever desires to love life
    and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
    and his lips from speaking deceit;

11 let him turn away from evil and do good;
    let him seek peace and pursue it.

12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
    and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.” (1 Peter 3:8-17)

 

Acts 3:1-26 - Repentance, Removal, Refreshment, and Restoration

Listen along as Mike Gaston continues our series through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Slide 1

Title of the Message:

Repentance, Removal, Refreshment, and Restoration

 

Slide 2

Big idea 

 

As we wait for Jesus to restore all things, refreshment is now available in 

His presence.

 

Slide 3

“The healing story itself is similar to those related in the gospels, but it is related with a fair amount of detail. Peter is able to do the kind of things that Jesus did by acting in the name of Jesus: thus, the continuity between the ministry of Jesus and the witness of the church is expressed…the main point of the story is the continuing power of the name of Jesus to perform the same gracious and healing acts which were signs in the gospels of the coming of the kingdom or rule of God.”

I.Howard Marshall

 

Slide 4

“The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.  But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.”

Acts 3:13-15

 

Slide 5

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.”

Acts 3:19-21

 

Slide 6

True Christian repentance involves a heartfelt conviction of sin, a contrition over the offense to God, a turning away from the sinful way of life, and a turning towards a God-honoring way of life.

Sam Storms

Slide 7

“The word wipe away is a really precious and beautiful word in the New Testament. It’s used, for example, in Revelation 21:4, where it says, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” God is in the business of wiping away sin to prepare people for the wiping away of tears in the age to come.

John Piper

 

Slide 8 – Selah logo (sending by email)

 

Slide 9 – Verse on wall (sending by email)

 

Slide 10

“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

2 Peter 3:11-13

 

Slide 11

Big idea 

 

As we wait for Jesus to restore all things, refreshment is now available in 

His presence.