September 6, 2015

Acts 22

Sunday Sermons

In the first of five trials the apostle Paul goes through, Paul addresses an angry crowd of his own people in the Temple area. They had beaten him with the intent to kill him. Paul was rescued in the nick of time by the Roman commander in charge. Why would Paul have wanted to talk with the crowd any further? What would he say and would they even hear him through their anger? Join Pastor Jim as he unpacks the timeless truths we can learn about how to share our faith with others, even if they stand in opposition to the essence of what we believe.

Speaker

Jim Thomas

Series

Acts of the Apostles

Go to Series

Scripture

Acts 22

Topics
History & Biography Spiritual Disciplines Worldview & Culture

Sermon Notes

Paul’s testimony simply told others…

  • Who he was
  • What he had done
  • How God had transformed his life

1. God wants to move us beyond mere religion (vv. 1-5)

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Isaiah 64:6

“Religion stresses holiness over grace. Irreligion stresses freedom over holiness. Christianity is freedom through grace that leads to holiness.”
Tim Keller

2. God wants to move us beyond mere religion to revelation (vv. 6-11)

“Scripture reveals God present and at work in our world and our lives. The revelation is given in the context of a multi-textured, meandering, and somewhat baggy account of ancient Israel and early church, at the core of which is the crisp, focused life of Jesus. Scripture is our primary access to this massive, all-encompassing, all-involving revelation.”
Eugene Peterson

3. God wants to move us beyond mere religion, to revelation, and then on to redemption (vv. 12-14)

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
2 Corinthians 5:17

“God is making human beings more human by making them more like Christ. For God created us in his own image in the first place, which we then spoiled and skewed by our disobedience. Now he is busy restoring it. And he is doing it by making us like Christ, since Christ is both perfect man and perfect image of God.”
John Stott
Life in Christ

4. God wants to move us beyond mere religion, to revelation, on to redemption, and then further on to reflection (vv. 15-30)

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16

“As the director of the Human Genome Project, I have led a consortium of scientists to read out the 3.1 billion letters of the human genome, our own DNA instruction book. As a believer, I see DNA, the information molecule of all living things, as God’s language, and the elegance and complexity of our own bodies and the rest of nature as a reflection of God’s plan.”
Dr. Francis Collins
Director of the National Institutes of Health