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May 13, 2018 | Rev Dave Buerstetta

Ruining Our Good Name

What was church like in the first years after Jesus? Who were the leaders and how did they address the issues and problems they encountered? What do we today still need to learn from these spiritual ancestors?

Our sermon series examining the Acts of the Apostles — the New Testament book by the author of the Gospel of Luke that tells the story of the early church — has considered each of those questions. It is surprising how issues the earliest church dealt with are still relevant today.

That phenomenon does not lessen any as we journey with our buddy Peter from his shocking revelation in Caesarea to meet with church officials in Jerusalem in this week’s text: Acts of the Apostles 11:1-26.

• Who is allowed to belong to the church?
• What is required of those who want to join the movement?
• What happens when a prominent leader makes a significant change in how they understand the church?
• What do we do when we discover our self-understanding needs to change: fight, flight, or find a new way?
• If we dare change, what will people think of us?

Pastor Dave will offer thoughts on these questions and more in his sermon, “Ruining Our Good Name”.

Series Information

In this sermon series, the story of the early church unfolds before us. Many of the challenges they faced are the same (or very similar) to the ones we face in 2018. Questions around leadership, why we should believe in the first place, who to believe and the age-old question of who is “in” and who should be kept “out”.