The Ragtown Pulpit

The first church council begins.

By a close reading of the Scripture, great comfort may be enjoyed by the Lord's people, when the Enemy seeks to trouble them with doubts about the "unforgivable sin".

We compare the suffering of the apostles with Christ's instruction in Matthew 10, and, hopefully, get some guidance for ourselves, if the Lord should allow things to keep going the way the are.

The parallel (not competing or opposite) issues of God's sovereignty in the salvation of sinners, and the true moral agency of humanity.

Paul's message in Antioch reaches the stage of application/invitation and produces remarkable results.

Part 2 of Paul's sermon at Antioch.

Paul's sermon at Antioch begins with a joyful, gracious announcement of God's track-record of faithfulness. New Covenant believers should find their hearts "strangely warmed" by this retelling.

Very informal message due to the tiny, holiday crowd. At times more a discussion than a sermon. May it bless you.

In Psalm 2 we learn that God answered rebellious rulers by setting His king on His holy hill. We apply that truth to Herod's malicious malfeasance in Acts 12.

Genuine faith displayed in a familiar narrative

Part 2 of brother Train's excursion into 2 John!

Sink into the overwhelming richness of God's grace

John Train dives into the little (neglected?) book of 2 John for his first ever forray into the pulpit. We may be biased but we think his initial bit of preaching went really well. We are proud of his obvious desire to be a Man of the Book.

Peter's sermon to Cornelius's household spells the end of the old world: It cannot survive any longer in the face of the kingdom gospel

Peter's vision of food in a sheet and its place in redemptive history. The second half is an examination of the food laws of the Bible and an argument against requiring their observance in Christians.

When we see the Lord remembering people, this is referring back to his own previous promises. It is a literary cue that God is about to act for the salvation of his own.

Help against hopeless situations

It's so hard to trust someone who claims to have changed. What can be done?

Enmity with Christ healed by Christ himself. The living, breathing Man is the only remedy.

We keep a bunch of plates spinning in an effort to approach our text in its context. The gospel hits the Gentiles, starting right here.

Magic and modern Simony

Abandon pagan models of "leadership" in favor of the way of Christ, and we just might make some real progress around here.

In the punishment phase of Stephen's trial, we see a contest between two claimants to the job of representing God on earth. Who has sanctioning authority?

As the show-trial ends, Stephen issues the real verdict, the real condemnation, on the Council of little tyrants.

Stephen begins to put a point on his argument. Christ is not opposed to Moses. Israel was. Toward the end of the sermon, the pastor's voice begins to obviously start failing. He asks God for help in a very quick prayer, and you can hear his voice get stronger from that moment. Just a little, tangible token of the grace of Christ.

Stephen's defense shifts to the charge that he's been blasphemous toward Moses. As he retells the old story, he's inviting the listener to start connecting some dots. Dots which he will pointedly connect himself in a short time.

Stephen's defense begins to develop an edge that is sneaky-sharp, as he tells a familiar story about the patriarchs. Toward the end of the message we received a text from an addict that looks like Jesus may have converted him while we prayed for him moments ago. Please say a little prayer for this young man.

Stephen uses the life of Abraham to seek to break his judges from their excessive devotion to geography.

God's witness/martyr gets noticed, opposed, and vindicated. What did it mean to be "full of grace"? More enemy tactics are exposed.

The Lord grants the church the grace to overcome an internal squabble. He calls us to an uncomfortable maturity.

The apostles are kidnapped again; intimidated; humiliated; subjected to a sham trial; nearly murdered, and finally beaten. And God's kingdom kept right on rolling. Learn the perennial tactics tyrants consistently use in the protection of their own power

Gospel transformation of the human heart as the solution to scarcity and lack.

Every threat you receive has a unique power to reveal the truth about your secret faith. We mark the characteristics of the early church's response.

The missing note in much of our preaching: Defiance of powers

The Sanhedrin assembles to address the Gospel problem at the temple.

Peter says that the ignorance of his hearers is a mitigating factor in God's willingness to forgive their sin. We take a moment to chase that down in the Scripture a bit.

Sometimes you just gotta preach good news

Let's devote ourselves to the right things

More time than I wanted to spend on the misuse of Acts 2:38, but many found it convicting.

Peter's explanation of the phenomenon of Acts 2 covers some interesting ground and ends with a stinging indictment. Miracles, sovereignty, and Scripture as the bedrock of truth.

Peter brings forth older prophecy to explain present events, in ways that might surprise us, but ought to inform our own attempts at the same thing.

Seeking to move beyond the common Pentecostal emphasis on personal experience, and think in terms of larger Biblical themes.

The 4: 2nd Coming Spirit presence Dominion Security

On the Dumb Question that Wasn't

It's a minor detail, but why wait in Jerusalem? Because God doesn't leave loose ends, and this whole thing is headed somewhere.