9-5-2021 - Almost Christian - Acts 24-25 - Pastor Jason Fritz

It all comes down to this. Paul has had three separate trials with not one guilty verdict because he is innocent. Yet the powers that be don’t want to offend the Jews. So another trial is offered in the hostile city of Jerusalem. Paul avoids this by appealing to Caesar. In case you’re wondering, that would be the infamous Emperor Nero. One of the all-time preeminent killers of Christians. So why would Paul make this deal? From a human perspective Paul made a mistake. If only he wouldn’t have appealed to Caesar he would have been set free. Paul knew exactly what he was doing. A couple years earlier, Jesus told him this: “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.” Acts 23:11  In the Roman court of Caesar, Paul will have the opportunity to preach to the most powerful man in the world at this time. Indeed, as Jesus told him earlier, “You will be my witness to Kings.” In Acts chapters 24 and 25 there are no converts in Paul’s preaching. Paul was told to be a witness, he was not told to make Christians. Christians are born through the power of the Holy Spirit. I was thinking about how each church has its own personality. Each church has something they are known for. I think one thing people would say about Illuminate is that we teach the Bible and we love others. In all of our ministries throughout the church I know this is true. So we will attract people who want to know what the Bible says and that’s a really good thing. But there is a warning for a church like ours.  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22 Paul’s trials remind us of our calling. You see, every one of us is called to be a witness. We do that through our lifestyle and our words. It’s our testimony accompanied with the fact of the resurrection.  We are about to embark on an amazing journey together as a church family. Beginning Sunday, September 12th, I’ll be rolling out what this looks like as I share the future vision of the church. We refer to it as "Illuminate 2.0." Our first five years gave us the opportunity to grow and discover our personality and now is the time to mature by having the entire church family put our collective personality into practice. We’re not just hearers of the Word, we are doers!