John Piper preached a sermon, “He Saw the Grace of God and Was Glad,” from Acts 11:23. Here is an excerpt; please read or listen to the entire sermon at DesiringGod.org The Grace of God Uses Suffering In other words, the good news about Jesus Christ came to Antioch because of persecution. Barnabas saw this … More John Piper: The Grace of God Uses Suffering
Acts 11:17-18 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance … More Who am I to stand in God’s way?
John Piper, in a sermon, “Exalting Jesus so the Spirit Falls” So my answer to the question: Is there any correlation between the way Peter preached and the coming of the Holy Spirit in power? is YES. The correlation is that Peter painted such a picture of Jesus that the Spirit saw a very attractive … More John Piper: Exalting Jesus so the Spirit Falls
John Piper, in a sermon “Overflowing Grace for All Who Believe” comments on the conversion of Saul in Acts 9 This is the kind of person that no one expects to be converted. His opposition is too deep and too articulate. So much of his life would be threatened if Christianity were true! And he … More Saul: the most unlikely people CAN be converted and ARE converted
John Piper shares this story of Clarence Duncan’s Ministry to the Yao in a sermon, The Leading of the Lord in Personal Evangelism” In 1985 Clarence Duncan arrived in Africa as missionary to the solidly Muslim people called the Yao who live mainly in Tanzania, Mozambique, and Malawi. When he settled in his village, he called … More Modern Day Philip: Clarence Duncan’s Ministry to the Yao
John Piper in a sermon, “The Leading of the Lord in Personal Evangelism” from Acts 8:26-40 Now what is the point of this story? Why does Luke include it in the book of Acts? What does he want us to get out of this inspired story—since (as Paul says), “all Scripture is inspired by God … More Extraordinary Direction
Acts 8:1-4 And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off … More “I think I’m still surviving today because our God is great”
Steven Cole draws out some interesting points in our reading in Acts 7:39-60 Note the repetition in his sermon of the word “hands.” In 7:41, he mentions how in the incident of the golden calf, Israel re- joiced in the work of their hands. In 7:48, Stephen declares, “However, the Most High does not dwell … More “Hands” in Acts 7
In a sermon, “The Story of a Stiff-Necked People” John Piper unpacks Acts 7, our reading for today: Two Ways Stephen’s Message Ministers to Us What we need to do today is let Stephen’s message minister to us in at least two ways. He says that Israel “Always resists the Holy Spirit.” This means, first, … More John Piper: Stephen’s message is both encouragement and warning
God is sovereign and His Spirit leads us to the right opportunities for ministry. We see this in Acts 16:6-10…. Pastor Steven J. Cole comments: Opportunities come to those who are already serving, not to those who are doing nothing…..Sometimes people don’t serve the Lord because they’ve never experienced a dramatic “call” to ministry. But this … More Wait for a dramatic “call”? or just start serving God?
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