Lake Region Bible Church | Sermons
TRUSTING IN GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY, EXPERIENCING GOD'S POWER, AND LIVING BOLDLY FOR GOD'S GOSPEL (Acts 4:23-31 ● Message #5/6) 06-13-10
INTRODUCTION. 1. Acts 1:8 “Theme Verse” for Acts (also serves as an outline of Acts): “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you [Ac 1-2], and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem [Ac 2-7] and in all Judea and Samaria [Ac 8-12], and to the end of the earth [Ac 13-28].” 2. Six Summary Statements in Acts: with this theme “and the word of God spread…” (or something similar). See Acts 6:7; 9:31; 12:24; 16:5; 19:20; 28:31. 3. An Outline of the Bible: (from lecture notes on Acts by Robert Yarbrough). ● The Old Testament is the Preparation for the Gospel; ● The Gospels are the Manifestation of the Gospel; ● Acts is the Expansion of the Gospel; ● The Epistles [Romans thru Jude] are the Explanation of the Gospel; ● Revelation is the Consummation (completion) of the Gospel. PRAYING FOR GOSPEL BOLDNESS. 1. Thru the Fellowship of the Church (v23). 2. In light of God’s Sovereignty: and with devotion to His Word (vs24-29). 3. To Proclaim God’s Word: in the power of the Spirit and in spite of the world’s rejection (vs29-31) . GOD'S POWER AND THE GOSPEL. 1. Believe in Miracles “Biblically”. 2. Embrace the Message of “Acts”. “The way Luke tells the story, Acts provides not a paradigm [or model] for individual Christian experience, but the account of the gospel’s outward movement, geographically, racially, and above all theologically.” (Showing the Spirit, by NT Scholar D.A. Carson).