Sermon Quotes: "The Plot Thickens"

“Acts gives the reader a theology of suffering that is exemplified by the life and work of Paul. Clearly suffering is a major force in the gospel’s expansion. It is a rare thing for the Way to spread without it. Various summaries in the text point to this conclusion (8:4; 9:16; 14:22; 20:22-24; 21:13; etc.), as does the flow of the book’s last nine chapters. Certainly the gospel moves, but never without pain. Thus, the Church needs a theological understanding and practical application of how to deal with this everyday reality.” Paul House

“We are not disliked more because we do not say many things that are dislikable to the spirit of the age. Unbelievers at work or online or in our families feel free to parade their profanities and perversities before our ears and eyes without restraint, but it is ours, apparently, to keep quiet and let them perish out of politeness…If no one dislikes you on account of Christ, it is likely because you have been too quiet about Jesus, too lukewarm for him, or too much like the world for them to notice the difference.” Greg Morse

“In sum, this passage is rooted in God’s providence, which moves to protect God’s children, although the means are not always known as they are here. God works behind-the-scenes here…It is one of the mysteries of God and his providence that many times we cannot see why things are happening as they are. Yet God is surely at work in ways we could not have planned for ourselves.” Darrell Bock