Acts 15 describes a critically important chapter in the 1st century church as conflict threatened to divide believers and cripple their evangelistic witness. The turmoil revolved around whether Gentiles could be saved and if so, what must they do to obtain eternal life. One of the ways God gave clarity and restored unity came through the telling of personal testimonies. As Peter, Paul and Barnabas shared real life experiences of God's work upon Gentile hearts, church leaders saw more clearly the broader scope of God's mercy. In a sense, personal testimonies saved the day!

   What God did through testimonies in the 1st Century, He does today in the 21st. For that reason, we have set aside every Lord's Supper Sunday to hear the testimonies of three of our members who have encountered God's grace in very real and personal ways. Following our testimonies, Pastor Jeff leads us in observing the Lord's Supper.

You will probably never meet a Christian who openly boasts in being greedy, but we have all been guilty of getting our life from our possessions. Until Jesus comes back, Christians will wrestle with the temptation to get their security from their physical resources. The grip of greed is a temptation we all face, no matter how long we have been a Christian. And that is why Paul places emphasis on the dangers associated with money as he concludes his letter to Timothy. He reminds Timothy that the most important riches are the ones we send ahead.

1 Timothy 6:17-21

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I recently heard from a young mother whose Christian husband works for a construction company. She was lamenting the fact that he works in a very godless environment, constantly exposed to profanity and off-colored jokes. God is definitely not the center of his work environment and the young man comes home exhausted- physically, emotionally and spiritually. What do you do when you get weary in well doing? How does one overcome feelings of fatigue and discouragement? Fighting the fight of faith is hard work and requires perseverance. How then does one persevere when the going gets tough? Paul reminded Timothy of 4 realities that helped him overcome battle fatigue.

1 Timothy 6:12-16

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Preachers have often been criticized for preaching about money. Sometimes we hear people say “all the church ever talks about is money or the church just wants my money.” What many fail to recognize is that the only reason the church talks about money is because God's Word talks about money. But the reason the Bible speaks so much about money has nothing to do with money. It has to do with our heart. The temptation for believers is never between worshiping God or worshiping Satan; its usually about worshiping God or worshiping stuff. In the closing verses of 1 Timothy 6, Paul addressed universal struggles related to materialism. Materialism or greed has a gravitational pull that requires great energy and struggle. Paul calls it a fight.

1 Timothy 6:9-12

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