Message: “The 2nd Relational Habit of the Early Church” from Justin Wilke

We love grace, especially when we are on the receiving side of it. But have you ever considered why have you been given grace? And why is your experience of life and ability different from that of the people around you? Every church is a collection of different people with wildly different gifts and abilities. Ephesians 4 says that these different spiritual gifts and abilities are intentionally given by God to “equip the saints for ministry.” That means our gifts were given on purpose for a purpose. This fall, we want to open your eyes to the grace you’ve received and equip you for a life of ministry with God. So, we are going to link together five teaching series into a mega-series called Equip The Saints. We will start with an invitation to Fear Less because of confidence anchored in Christ. Then, we’ll move to a study of The 4 Relational Habits of the Early Church, learning how to apply them in our communities. In October, as our culture prepares for national elections, we will invite you and your neighbors to find Hope In An Anxious World. And in November we will celebrate finding God’s generosity in Defining Moments. And the season of Advent will study The First Messengers of the Gospel. This week’s teaching is the third relational habit of the early church. This week, we will study the many hardships the early church faced. The first months and years of the Christian movement involved ridicule, imprisonment, persecution and eventually displacement – yet God used all of that hardship to accomplish his master plan. What could God accomplish through you if you were willing to be courageous?

Scripture References: Acts 1:1-11

More Messages from Chad De Jager

From Series: "Equip the Saints"