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November 13, 2023
Good News | Acts 22:1-22
Tell Your Story
The book of Acts tells us Paul’s testimony three times, which seems a little overcooked! As you read each one, you’ll see that while Paul doesn’t change facts, he does choose to emphasize certain parts of his story depending on who is in the audience. All Christians have a testimony; hearing Paul tell his helps us find words to explain what our LORD has done in our lives.
Songs for this week: Spotify
- Share a meaningful story from your life, perhaps from childhood or adolescence, telling how it shaped your life, such as when you moved, when the barn burned down, or when your family hosted a family from another culture.
- Can you confidently say that God has been at work in your life? Could you offer evidence for that?
- As Paul looked back over his life, he detailed what he now saw as God at work. Take a few minutes to note the various points in Paul’s life where he sensed God at work.
- Paul thought he was living his best life, and then Jesus knocked him to the ground. What is it about Jesus that makes EVERY life, even a religious one, do an about-face?
- After meeting Jesus (though not immediately after), Paul had a clear mission for his life. Do you have a clear mission for your life? If so, could you share that with the group?
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Recent Sermons
John 12:9-19 -When Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the shouts and cheers of the crowd, there was no mistaking what was happening: the King was back in his rightful place. There were several responses to this long-awaited event: some celebrated, some grumbled, and then… everyone went home. It may have looked anticlimactic, but Jesus wasn’t going anywhere. He had come to do what only the true King of Israel could do.
John 14:1-14 -John’s biography of Jesus slows as he chronicles the week leading up to Jesus’ death. Jesus has a long, careful conversation with the disciples, and today, we listen to the beginning of that conversation. He begins with a strong command: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He then reinforces it with three unshakable assurances: He is going ahead of them, He has cleared the way to the Father, and He will send supernatural power so they can continue His work.
John 8:48-59 -Jesus’ friend John was very careful to record the things that Jesus said about Himself. As an observant Jew, John knew that there is only one God. From time to time, God sent prophets, ordained priests, and crowned kings so that the people of God had someone to lead them to Him. Everyone knew that these leaders only ever pointed to God; they never claimed any status beyond being messengers. But when Jesus came, He was different. He claimed to be “the Light of the World,” “the Truth that sets you free,” and “the Resurrection and the Life”—all of them ridiculous claims for anyone but God to make. That was exactly His point.
Luke 15:11-32 - Jesus tells a story about a father with two lost sons. The rule-breaking younger son was lost in self-indulgence, and the rule-keeping older son was lost in self-righteousness. The father loved both generously and even recklessly. Both needed to be found. Were they?
John 4:4-26 - Jesus announced that the Kingdom of God had arrived and everyone wondered what that would look like. Would it mean swords and fighting or a political takeover? John records a couple of one-on-one conversations that Jesus had. What an interesting Kingdom! It turns out that each person matters in the Kingdom of God, each woman and each man matter eternally.
John 1:1-14A - The story of the Bible is the Story of Jesus, God’s plan all along was to come as one of us to rescue us from sin and death and to reset us to live radically different lives. Today’s passage offers a different (still true!) beginning to the story of Jesus' life on earth.
