Have you ever been so annoyed with something you decided to do something about it? You see something in your life or the world around you and you decide to act because you just can’t live with how it is any longer. Even if it won’t accomplish much, you simply have to do something or you can’t go on.

And yet, those small moments of annoyances have the potential to bring change. The potential of Christ’s love to be seen.

That’s kinda what happens with Paul in this pasage. And it is though this an uproar is caused, systemic power plays are exposed, and the possibility of change is revealed.

We're all familiar with dramatic stories of God intervening in people's lives and calling them on a great adventure with him. But for many (or most!) of us, those dramatic stories are unrelatable. We want to live in what God is calling us to, but how do we discern God's call? Listen in as we unpack important lessons from this story of Paul's radical call to change his plans and head to Philippi. Perhaps you'll discover unexpected paths God may be calling you towards.

Few of us enjoy conflict but all of us have to deal with it. Whether its called a disagreement, argument or debate all relationships must either engage it or end. What we sometimes forget is that these differences and disputes give us opportunities to either grow in wisdom or flounder in immaturity depending on how we respond. Listen in as we explore one such situation in the book of Acts and look for opportunities to grow through conflict in our own lives. 

For many of us, the Bible was taught as a book with all the answers to life. We like the idea of being able to turn to specific chapter and verses to get answers to succor us. But what do you do when the Bible doesn't answer the questions you're asking? And what if the Scriptures weren't meant to always give us strait-up answers, but instead a model -- a  container -- into which we put our questions and wrestling things out?

That's what we find in Acts 15: people living in tension with the questions long enough to discern something new and beautiful God was about in the world. And in an age of identity politics, outrage culture and shallow religiosity, people are looking for better spaces to take their questions and discern better solutions with people not like them, even if it means living in the tension with the questions longer than you want.

Scientists tell us that the universe is continuously expanding. That there are potentially billions of galaxies and forever counting. What if this tells us something about who God is? That his kingdom is expanding? Like a mustard seed growing into a tree, or a little bit of yeast that permeates a whole piece of dough, or the microscopic, multiplying cells in our bodies or a risen savior. How do we recognize the expansion of God’s kingdom when we see it? What does it mean to live a life that blesses? 

One of the most glaring critiques of modern Christianity is its incessant need to idealize and follow particular voices, to the point of crippling the message Jesus set out to proclaim. 

Yet, this isn't left to Christians alone. 

The world has always gravitated towards men and women, sun and moon, rain and harvest, psychology and religion to gives us answers to the questions asked at different points in history...and to make these things worthless gods. 

To this point, Paul and Barnabas have something to say as they interact with the people of Lystra.

This week we continue to follow Paul and Barnabas as they arrive at Iconium, and this story is full of twists and turns. How do we deal with bitter divisions in the church and world? How do we deal with lack of character in leaders? Paul and Barnabas's time in this ancient city is surprisingly relevant in our day! Join us as we explore these things and more! 

The story of Jesus is big...like REALLY big. And if it's that big and important and life-changing, why do we attempt to boil it down to a few antidotes, or worse -- a TRACT?! (shudders)

Listen in as we unpack this story in Acts and explore what it means to talk about this good news of Jesus (the gospel!) in a way this world can relate to and receive. 

As we start our new series in Acts, GodSpeak, we find Paul and Barnabas are journeying into an unknown world where people don't have reference points to Paul and Barabas' God. This means they have to start finding creative ways to talk about God and the saving reality of Jesus.

Listen in as we unpack their journey to Cyprus and ask what it means to provide straight paths for others to see God, even if we're a crooked stick.