The Churches of Galatia

May 14, 2023

Acts 12:25-14:28 & Galatians 1-6 — God called us into relationship with Him and into service for Him, into partnership with Him to build Christ’s church for His kingdom mission. From the churches of Galatia, we learn that discipleship, missions, and ministry come with a cost that includes hardships and challenges. Disappointments may discourage us but we are called to persevere like Paul. God’s calling upon our lives and being filled with the Holy Spirit enables us to persevere in our mission. God’s calling and the Spirit’s power assure us that the Lord is building His church through us.

This is part of our series — Jesus Builds His Church. In this series, we look at the early church in Acts and the corresponding letters of Paul to see how Jesus builds His church, then, through the ages, and now. From the early church in the New Testament, we learn what the church is and how to be the church in these challenging times. This series is based especially on the book of John Stumbo, A Stained Beauty: The Church Ancient and Present. Full credit is given to him. His ideas have been adopted and adapted into this sermon series. The book of Scott McKnight & Laura Barringer, A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture That Resists Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing, has also been used.

Read More
ChurchPieter TheronTag 01, Tag 02
The Church of Antioch

May 7, 2023

Acts 9:26-30; 10:9-11:30; 13:1-3 — The innovative, barrier-breaking, way-making, risk-taking leadership of the Antioch church presents us with important lessons and challenging questions about our identity, our mission, and how we handle conflict. “For the Gospel to go to the next people and for the church to advance to its next phase of ministry, often an entrepreneurial spirit must arise to take us beyond our current limitation.” (Stumbo, 31).

This is part of our series — Jesus Builds His Church. In this series, we look at the early church in Acts and the corresponding letters of Paul to see how Jesus builds His church, then, through the ages, and now. From the early church in the New Testament, we learn what the church is and how to be the church in these challenging times. This series is based especially on the book of John Stumbo, A Stained Beauty: The Church Ancient and Present. Full credit is given to him. His ideas have been adopted and adapted into this sermon series. The book of Scott McKnight & Laura Barringer, A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture That Resists Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing, has also been used.

Read More
ChurchPieter TheronTag 01, Tag 02
The Church of Jerusalem

April 30, 2023

Acts 1-8 — Jesus builds his multi-cultural church from all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations. He sends us into the world to be his witnesses here and there to everyone everywhere. We are to be his witnesses in our own communities, in our region, in our Samarias, and to the ends of the world.

This is part of our series — Jesus Builds His Church. In this series, we look at the early church in Acts and the corresponding letters of Paul to see how Jesus builds His church, then, through the ages, and now. From the early church in the New Testament, we learn what the church is and how to be the church in these challenging times. This series is based especially on the book of John Stumbo, A Stained Beauty: The Church Ancient and Present. Full credit is given to him. His ideas have been adopted and adapted into this sermon series. The book of Scott McKnight & Laura Barringer, A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture That Resists Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing, has also been used.

Read More
ChurchPieter TheronTag 01, Tag 02
Jesus Builds His Church

April 23, 2023

Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:11-16; 5:25-27 — Jesus loves his church, and so should we. Because He loves His church, Jesus builds His church to present her to Himself as His radiant bride. He gifted every one of us to build up His body, the church. We are called to participate in the work God is doing in and through His church. No church is perfect. It has many flaws and failures. We make many mistakes, but the church remains God’s sanctified, holy, and blameless people. The church is stained but beautiful. Let us be the church and love the church as Jesus loves her.

This begins our new series — Jesus Builds His Church. In this series, we look at the early church in Acts and the corresponding letters of Paul to see how Jesus builds His church, then, through the ages, and now. From the early church in the New Testament, we learn what the church is and how to be the church in these challenging times. This series is based especially on the book of John Stumbo, A Stained Beauty: The Church Ancient and Present. Full credit is given to him. His ideas have been adopted and adapted into this sermon series. The book of Scott McKnight & Laura Barringer, A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture That Resists Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing, has also been used.

Read More
ChurchPieter TheronTag 01, Tag 02
Becoming Like the Father

April 16, 2023

Luke 6:27-36 (& 15:11-32) — Coming home is not the end of our spiritual journey nor the goal of our spiritual life. Now that we have come home, we are called and challenged to become like the Father. We are to love as the Father loves us and to show compassion as He shows compassion to us. The hands of the Father that forgive, console, restore, heal, and give a feast must become our own hands so that we can make the Father’s love known and call home His lost children.

This concludes our Lent series for 2023 — Come Home! This series is based on and informed by the book of Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, as well as Rembrandt’s painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son.

Read More
LentPieter TheronTag 01, Tag 02
The Father Calls for a Celebration

April 9, 2023

Luke Luke 15:22-24, 32 — God the Father gives us the new kingdom life in abundance because Jesus is raised from the dead and alive. God’s kingdom has come and is coming. The Father invites us into the kingdom of joy and to celebrate with Him when his lost children come home. When and because we have come home, we choose joy, life, and truth in the midst of the sadness and sorrow of this world. God’s joy can be ours in this life.

This is part of our Lent series for 2023 — Come Home! This series is based on and informed by the book of Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, as well as Rembrandt’s painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son.

Read More
LentPieter TheronTag 01, Tag 02
The Father Welcomes Us Home

April 2, 2023

Luke Luke 15:20,28 — The Father’s love is seeking us and waiting for us to come home. His arms are outstretched, and his hands are waiting to grasp and hold us, to comfort and protect us. We must allow God to love us, find us, and bring us home. Trust his love. Come home, and give thanks with joy and celebration at his table.

This is part of our Lent series for 2023 — Come Home! This series is based on and informed by the book of Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, as well as Rembrandt’s painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son.

Read More
LentPieter TheronTag 01, Tag 02
The Older Son’s Return

March 26, 2023

Luke Luke 15:28, 31-32 — Our Heavenly Father loves all of us, his younger and older children, equally and totally. He goes out to search for us and calls us home. We should let go of rivalry and resentment and surrender to his love. Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father, is the Shepherd that can bring home. And when we, as older sons, surrender and listen to his voice, we come home by practicing daily the disciplines of trust and gratitude.

This is part of our Lent series for 2023 — Come Home! This series is based on and informed by the book of Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, as well as Rembrandt’s painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son.

Read More
LentPieter TheronTag 01, Tag 02