Pastor Percipia

For full message, see link at bottom: There is a pattern to the life of the early Church, preserved by Luke, the author of the book of Acts. Centuries, millennia after those events, when I look at the book of Acts, I see that pattern, powerful and important—one for us to see today, to get embedded in our hearts, grooved into our minds so that we know to watch for it.   This pattern means something for us as a church.   I'm going to describe for you 3 scenes in the early life of the Church:  Scene 1 is Pentecost, the arrival of the Holy Spirit.   Scene 2 is the arrest of Peter and John.  Scene 3 is their release.   ___  Scene 1 – Arrival. The birth of the Church, the arrival of the Holy Spirit.   In Matthew 28:19, Jesus gives us what is called the Great Commission, telling us what our job is, what we are going to be doing:   Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,...

For full message, see link at bottom: In 1813, American Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry had just finished fighting a naval battle on Lake Erie, defeating the British. In his report to his commander, he wrote these words:   We have met the enemy, and he is ours.   Saul would have got that. Saul was a warrior king.   For decades he'd been at war with the nation of Philistia—with the Philistine army. There had been wins and losses on both sides, but this battle today... Saul did not know it would be different.   This battle happened on the slopes of Gilboa, a mountain ridge that runs 12 kilometres, north to south. It slopes down over 6 kilometres toward the Jordan River, providing a watershed from the mountain to the river. The land is green and fertile, a place where barley grows and wheat is harvested. Where fig trees bloom and grow fruit, and where olives can be picked from the trees. On that beautiful, green, luscious plain the armies clashed,...