Ada Presbyterian Church Pulpit Podcast

It's easy to think that the early church always had things figured out, but a loose collection of stories here in Acts 15-16 show us otherwise.  It turns out that even the early Christians had to navigate life in the fog.  Join us this morning to see how we navigate times of tension and uncertainty in our lives.

When a seemingly minor theological debate has outsized implications, it's worthy of your attention.  Join us today as we look at the Jerusalem Council's debate in Acts 15 and how the outcome preserved both the gospel and the church itself.

If you escape a mugging, you usually don't return to the scene of the crime. It might seem odd then that the Apostle Paul returns to a town that nearly killed him on his first missionary journey. But Paul is concerned to fortify these fledgling churches, and as we see his strategy for strengthening them, we can find ways to shore up our own faith today.

If you heard a lousy commencement speech this week during graduation season, then join us today for Joshua's speech to the Israelites.  Like graduates, they're in a time of transition; the future lies before them now that they are settled in the land.  Joshua says to them: "Choose this day whom you serve," and then he delivers his famous line: "but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."  Our text is Joshua 24. 

It's not everyday you're mistaken for a god, but it happens to Paul and Barnabas in the village of Lystra.  While we may think of this as leftover from a more superstitious time, the truth is we're pretty good at misidentifying God in our own ways today.  Join us today to find out more.

Sometimes we "see without seeing," we overlook the obvious truths staring us in the face.  In Paul's sermon today, he reasons with the synagogue that the Messiah they're looking for is actually here. He brings Jesus front and center and helps us all see that he is the answer to our deepest longings.

We return to our series on Acts today.  We are in the final 1/3 of the book starting in chapter 13.  We now see the church going out "to the ends of the earth" with the gospel.  First stop:  Cyrprus.  Join us this week!

As we wrap up our series on virtue today, we come to the final virtue--love.  Love is the last, but certainly not the least.  It is the greatest of all the virtues.  Join us today as we sketch out a solid definition of love, namely a love that starts to see people around us, whether friends or enemies, as persons rather than objects.  

For Easter Sunday, we examined the virtue of hope.  For Christians, hope is more than wishful thinking.  It's more than a "cross your fingers" kind of hope.  It's grounded in the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  We are born into a "living hope," a hope that yearns for the day when the work of God, begun on Easter, will be completed in us.  Join us for this week's message.

In our virtue series, we shift into some new territory today by exploring the "theological virtues:" faith, hope, and love.  Today's message is on the topic of faith.  Many people talk about having faith, but it stays at a very vague level:  "I have faith that everything will be OK."  But Christian faith is more concrete and specific.  Join us for today's message as we explore the virtue of faith.

Justice is a word that has fallen on hard times and is difficult to pin down.  Historically, the church has understood this virtue to mean living a life that embraces the obligations we have towards others.  We are not in it just for ourselves; but we are in this thing for others.  We show respect, honesty, decency, fidelity, and fairness to people around us.  Join us as we learn more in this week's ongoing virtue series.

One of the paradoxes of life is that the more we focus on a particular pleasure, the less pleasure we derive from it.  Temperance is a virtue that helps us moderate our pleasures and desires; it brings balance to our lives and leads us to a place of greater contentment and happiness.  Join us for today's message as we continue to explore the lost art of virtue.

We tend to think of courage as one of those virtues for especially brave people--soldiers marching into battle or firefighters rushing into a burning home.  But courage is needed for living life each day.  Fear often holds us back from the actions we know we should do, and fortitude is the virtue that leads us into action and helps us stay the course. Join us as we continue our series on virtue for Lent.

Prudence might sound like the name of a quiet girl drinking tea in a parlor in Victorian England, but prudence is just an older word for something we all desperately need: wisdom.  We need wisdom to see the best course of action to take in life.  Wisdom doesn't just drop from the sky, but it's something we work towards over the course of a lifetime.  Join us today as we continue our series on virtue.

Join us for a series on the virtues of the Christian life during the season of Lent.  Our passage today is 2 Peter 1:3-11, where Peter tells us to "make every effort to supplement our faith with virtue" (ESV) Virtue may not be a word you hear every day, but one way to think of virtue is that virtues are good moral habits that directs us to a life that is well-pleasing to God, to others, and to ourselves.  Join us each of the Sundays of Lent as we explore the classic virtues:  prudence, fortitude, temperance, justice, faith, hope, and love.

Churches occasionally get some bad press, but the early church received good press in the city of Antioch, the place where they were first given the name "Christians."  Join us today as we look at the reasons why this church got noticed for all the right reasons.

It's easy to make the mistake of thinking that only "rough" people need a savior, only people like Saul when he goes on the attack in Acts 9.  But turning into chapter 10, we learn that Cornelius, an all around "good guy," also needs a savior.  Join us today as we look at how God graciously hears Cornelius' prayer and sends a savior to him by way of Peter's preaching the gospel.  Along the way, Peter too undergoes a conversion to a new point of view, understanding now that the gospel isn't limited to one people group, but includes people from all nations.

The Road to Damascus is one of those foundational stories in the Bible, showing us God's grace and his power to change people.  It also points us to the fact that there is nobody so far gone as to be out of reach of God's mercy and forgiveness.  Join us as for today's message as we walk with Paul on the Road to Damascus.

Acts Chapter 8 introduces us to one of the more interesting characters in the New Testament - Simon the Magician.  Legends and myths have grown around the man, and in today's message we'll see how his wrong-headed desire to purchase the Holy Spirit still pops up today.  We'll also examine one of the more over-looked aspects of this passage--the Holy Spirit's delay in coming to Samaria.

We return to our series on Acts today after the Advent and Christmas break, and we find ourselves in a transitional chapter (8) in the book.  A great persecution breaks out against the church, scattering them to the surrounding regions.  It's a great shock to the early believers, but at the same time, they are scattered to the very places Jesus said they would be his witnesses: to Judea and Samaria (1:8).  Join us this week as we see the resilience of the early church in a trying time.

Stephen is the first Christian martyr, and he's killed for what he says in his wide-ranging speech in Acts 7.  His speech tells the story of God's saving work throughout different chapters of human history:  Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, and Solomon. The story culminates in the coming of Jesus Christ.  Join us for today's message to see how this story informs on our experiences as Christians living in this present age.

The early church practiced radical generosity-- people gave not just out of their weekly income, but they even sold hard assets like homes and land in order to support the needy.  But with all this giving comes new problems:  how is the money to be managed?  Who should be on the receiving end of all this giving?  What kind of people ought to be put in charge of it?  How do we handle complaints about giving when they arise?  All of these questions and more are before us in today's message.

It's not always easy to either become a Christian or to remain a Christian.  That's true today, and it was especially true in the days of Acts, when the faith was brand new--you'd want to know if it has credibility; you'd want assurances it has staying power; you'd want to know God was really behind it.  In Acts 5, we are reminded that this new Christian movement isn't just the product of man's imagination; it is truly the work of God.  Join us for today's message.

The Book of Acts is notable for many things, not the least of which is its account of the miraculous.  Many signs and wonders are done at the hands of the apostles.  In today's message we'll answer some questions that we have about the miraculous--can miracles really take place?  Why do they take place?  And should we expect them today, and if so, how--through a faith healer or some other means?  Join us for today's message. 

In Acts chapter 5, the church experiences a wake up call.  "Great fear" takes hold of everyone.  Why?  Because a married couple is struck dead for deceiving the church, the apostles, and God himself.  Join us today for a wake up call:  God wants us to take our integrity seriously, God himself seriously, and the church seriously.

When life throws us hard times, it's normal to pray.  In our sermon today, we learn how to enhance our praying in such times, as we take a look at the apostles' prayer upon their release from a brief imprisonment.  They not only ask God for help, but they reflect on his character and use scripture to guide them.  Join us today as we learn how to go deeper in prayer.

The early chapters of Acts show the church advancing with very little in the way of opposition--until now.  In chapter 4, the apostles are arrested by the same crowd that had Jesus arrested and crucified.  How will they respond to this new challenge?  How do we respond in hard times?  Join us for today's message.

There are some instances where generics are a good alternative to the brand name, but that doesn't work when it comes to questions of religious faith.  As Christians we don't believe in a generic "god;" we believe that our God reveals himself in the name of Jesus.  Join us today for our on-going series from Acts where we see Peter arguing this very point to his countrymen in Acts 3.

One of the lessons we have to learn in life is that we can't control how others think of us; we can only control ourselves.  In our passage today, we see the things under our control, the basic set of practices that Christians do in good times and bad.

Reliable information is hard to come by these days, and that is also true in the realm of religion.  If we were trying to find the best information that got me closest to the truth about the person of Jesus, we would be hard pressed to find a source better than the Apostle Peter, and the sermon he preaches on Pentecost.  Join us today as we give Peter a fair hearing, listening in on the first Christian sermon ever preached.

On Pentecost, the crowd poses a good question: "What does this mean?" What does it mean that the Apostles are speaking in tongues? Is their experience a model for the church today, or is something else going on? What are some signs in our own lives that we are filled with the Spirit? Join us as we delve into this important passage from Acts 2:1-13.

We find ourselves waiting more often than not, and in today's passage, the apostles are waiting for the promised Holy Spirit. But they're not idle or bored--they're active in their waiting.  Join us today as we see the early church doing so much more than just passing the time.

The opening of the Book of Acts shows us the church in a time of transition.  Jesus had just been raised from the dead, and with that milestone behind him, the disciples are wondering, "what's next" for them and for their nation.  As we might expect, Jesus gives them an expanded vision of "what's next" for them, and for all of us who name him as Lord.  Join us as we begin a new series on Acts in today's message.

As we wrap up our study of Titus, we read a few instructions in the final verses that draw us back into some of the larger themes of the letter.  God will grow the church, and along the way he calls us to a ministry of good deeds, namely the ancient practice of hospitality.

The early Christians had a unique opportunity, one we might envy today:  they were able to make a first impression on the world.  But what was that impression to look like?  Join us for today's message as we discover the Christian vibe that characterized the early church and that we can live into today.

Grace is a word that has changed the world, and grace is a concept that comes straight from the heart of Christianity.  Grace has appeared on the scene, especially in the coming of Jesus Christ, and nothing can ever be the same.  Join us this week as we talk about grace and its importance in the Christian life and larger world.

When the church was first getting off the ground in the 1st century, it had a unique opportunity to give a first impression.  Paul instructs Titus to take advantage of that--to instruct the church on how to live in such a way that the gospel is praised for its positive impact on people's lives.  Join us today to see how God wants us to live so our character speaks well of the gospel.

Healthy leadership is critical to healthy churches.  Unfortunately, there are many war stories today about Christians who have been hurt by leaders who weren't well-suited to their role.  Join us today as we look at the features of good, elder-based leadership in the church.

In the introduction to Titus, Paul describes the factors that make it more likely a church will spring to life and grow, even in a tough place like Crete.  Join us today for our first sermon on this lesser known Pastoral Epistle. 

Worry often feels out of our control; it just comes over us.  And that is true--sometimes.  Other times, we dig ourselves into a place of worry because we're focused on the wrong things:  the "anxieties of life," Jesus calls them.  Join us today for our concluding sermon in our anxiety series.

The Bible recognizes that anxiety feels like a weight, a burden that presses in upon us.  But God gives us a very human tool to help lighten that load--namely, good friendships.  Join us today as we explore the power of friendship to either fuel anxiety or calm it. 

You know you're a VIP when you have your own security detail, and so it's interesting that God himself promises to guard our hearts and our minds with his peace when we come to him in prayer and gratitude.  Join us as we examine the second half of Philippians 4 in our sermon series on anxiety.

Philippians 4 is one of the most well known and well loved treatments on worry in the Bible.  Today we are doing a deep dive into the first few phrases of this passage.  Join us as we discuss what it means to reframe our thinking around joy, and how gentleness is the definitive mark of the non anxious person.

We know worry won't fix things, but we're junkies - it's hard to stop.  Sometimes our thoughts take on a life of their own.  When Jesus tells us "do not worry" he is inviting us to put our concerns in the hands of another, the God who provides for the needs of his whole creation.  Join us for today's message as we continue in our series on anxiety.

Join us as we start a short 5-week sermon series examining what the Bible has to say about anxiety.  This morning's message focuses on getting through "the big picture" anxiety that we can't help but feel as we live in a chaotic world.

We're so used to the Easter story ending on a happy note, that it's hard for us to make sense of the ending of Mark's gospel--he ends by telling us the women who discovered the empty tomb were afraid.  Why end on a note of fear?  What is Mark trying to communicate?  Join us for today's Easter Sunday message.

On Good Friday, we sometimes ask:  why did Jesus have to die?  The short answer is that he died for our sins.  Author and priest Fleming Rutledge poses a follow-up question:  why did Jesus have to die by crucifixion?  Jesus didn't just die any old death; he died one of the cruelest ways possible.  Join us today as we explore this question in our Lenten series on Holy Week.

One of the practices held in common by all Christians is communion.  Call it the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, or Holy Communion - we all believe something deeply significant happened when Jesus broke bread with his disciples on Thursday of Holy Week.  Join us for today's message to witness history being made and to learn about the significances of this meal.

In the middle of Holy Week, Jesus holds up two models of discipleship: one is rooted in showmanship and status updates.  Jesus is not impressed with this group.  The other is embodied in the widow, who brought her two small coins.  She comes and lays down her life; she is the model disciple.  Join us for our Lenten series as we explore this important contrast.

As Jesus enters the dog days of Holy Week, he is met with resistance.  In response, he tells the parable of the vineyard to show how shocking and offensive it is to resist the son of God.  We often speak of the benefits of receiving Jesus, and to be sure, there are many.  But we also need to realize that when we reject him, we are not taking a neutral stance, we are opposing the thrust of God's activity in the world.