I’ve never been to prison like Peter, but I have been in a few tough situations in which I couldn’t see a way out. I think most people have been. It can be suffocating and overwhelming, not knowing what to do or where to turn. You are quite literally helpless. And this is exactly the situation that Peter found himself in, a helpless situation, locked securely in a jail cell. As I’ve read, and reread the story, one thing stands out each time — Peter was sleeping peacefully between two guards. He didn’t know the outcome of the situation, but he knew who did, and because of that he had peace. He fully trusted in God, and knew that God had everything worked out according to His plan. All Peter needed to do was trust God, and then act when God’s angel said get up! I don’t know the situation that you find yourself in today, but I do know that God does, and He is still active and still calls us to put our complete trust in Him, especially when we don’t know what the outcome will be.

If you’re not going away for the long weekend, or if you’re visiting the Lindsay area on Sunday, we’d love for you to come and spend some time with us learning about God.  Our gathering starts at 6pm.

Pastor Mike

In this way we’re very similar to the Jewish people around the time of the early church. They had made rules upon rules upon rules in order to keep themselves safe and ceremonially clean. These rules were based on God’s law (sort of), but were taken to such an extent that they limited the Jews ability to live amongst others. For example, the Jews would not eat with a Gentile, not because it was prohibited by God in Scripture, but because it could lead to them breaking a law that was in Scripture. A modern example of this way of thinking took place just yesterday wit the solar eclipse. People were warned continually not to look up at the eclipse as doing so could cause permanent eye damage. Most people on any normal day don’t look directly at the sun, and so just going through their day as they normally did would be fine! But some wanted to make sure that they, and their whole household were safe, and so they stayed inside all day with their curtains drawn. At the end of the eclipse, both those who went about their day normally, and those who were locked inside, were still able to see just fine!

As followers of Christ our role is to make Jesus more accessible to those who don’t know Him. We do this by going to where those who need Him are, by using language that they’ll understand, and by letting them know that they can come as they are to Him. We do a great disservice to the Gospel message when we add rules, regulations, and expectations to it. As Paul said in his letter to the Galatians, “If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” (Gal 1:9). Strong words, but necessary. If we add to the Gospel it stops being the Gospel.

This coming Sunday we’ll be continuing our summer series in Acts and will be looking at chapter 11. Be sure to read it before Sunday so that you’re familiar with it. Also, there’s still time to read the book of Acts in one or two sittings before the end of the summer!

Blessings,

Pastor Mike

Acts 8 gives us a great picture of what it means for people to be led by the Spirit in their discipling relationships. The first half of the chapter tells the story of Simon the Sorcerer who wanted to buy the power of the Holy Spirit so that he could give the power to other people, likely for a fee. He wanted to control the Spirit rather than being controlled by God. The very next story is about Philip and the Ethiopian. Here is a man who was being led by the Spirit into truth and saving knowledge of Jesus. He wanted to live in obedience, and without delay.

This is a good reminder that in each of our discipling relationships there needs to be three parties involved: the disciple, the one being discipled, and the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is not guiding and directing this relationship then what will likely happen is the person may become more morally upright, but they will not be any closer to God.

At The Centre we do not want to pursue behaviour modification, we must pursue heart transformation, and this is only done through the power of God’s Spirit.

To help you prepare for this Sunday’s message, read through all of Acts 8, and compare the different responses of Simon the Sorcerer and the Ethiopian Eunuch. See you Sunday at 6pm!

Pastor Mike

We don’t know exactly how long Stephen had been serving in the early church, but it was long enough to draw the attention of the Sanhedrin, the temple rulers. Once again, they didn’t like their power and authority being undermined by others (see Acts 4 and 5), and so they brought Stephen in for questioning based on false charges. Basically they accused him of not being a good Jewish citizen, and speaking against the customs and cultural practices of the day.

How would you respond? How do you respond when people question your faith, your motives, your way of life? What would you base your response upon? You may think that something like this will never happen to you, but it will. Eventually, if we are living out our faith in a public way (and I don’t mean preaching on street corners, or going door to door!), if people know that you are a Christian, they will ask questions and challenge your beliefs. Are you prepared for this? How will you respond?

This Sunday we will look at Stephen’s response, his faith and courage, and my prayer is that we will recognize the source of his strength, and the wisdom of his response. Our gathering begins at 6pm – hope to see you there.

Pastor Mike

I’m so thankful that God doesn’t approach us that way. He looks at us, and sees us as valuable even though we’re broken and damaged goods. He sees us worthy of saving and redeeming, and important enough to invest in for eternity. And He doesn’t look at us, wondering how He might use us, but how He might bless us instead. His blessing may not be what we’re anticipating or looking for, but it’s what we need. This is what we see in Acts 3 as Peter heals a lame beggar. The beggar is hoping for money, but gets something much better than that! And through it, God receives the glory due His name.

A challenge for you this week: try to see people as Jesus sees them, and approach them the same way He would. One other thing to do to prepare for our Sunday gathering is read through Acts 3. See you this Sunday at 6pm.

Pastor Mike

Jesus’ ascension into heaven is important because it solidifies our place there with Him for eternity. In John 14:2-4 Jesus tells His disciples that He’s going to prepare a place for them (and us), and that He will return. When Jesus returned to heaven He did so victoriously, having completed all that He needed to do to make a way for us to be saved. If He had not ascended, but rather died a natural death, then He would not have defeated the death and the grave and we’d still be subject to it as well. But since He ascended we can be assured that His victory was complete. For that reason alone we should remember and celebrate His ascension.

This Sunday we’re going to begin a new series in the book of Acts. We’ll be here for most of the summer, and this week we’ll begin with Acts 1. To help you prepare for this Sunday read through the first chapter, but sometime this summer I’d encourage you to sit down and read the whole book in one sitting (or in one weekend). Reading it all together will give a better understanding of how everything fits together. Our gathering begins at 6pm (pre-service prayer is from 4:30-5:30pm). Hope to see you there.

Hope you have a wonderful week, and that your eyes are opened up more to see God’s hand at work in your life and all around you.

Blessings,
Pastor Mike