New Series Begins Sunday
When we become followers of Christ, we are regenerated by the power of God and given a new nature. The old is gone, the new has come. When this happens, it’s as if God rewrites our spiritual DNA. We once lived according to a sinful nature, but in him we are “born again” with a completely new nature, a new spiritual DNA.
In his famous Sermon on the Mount, it is as if Jesus is decoding for us the spiritual DNA of a true disciple. In other words, Jesus is making crystal clear what a true disciple looks like. In this series we will journey together through Matthew 5, 6, and 7 as we seek to grow as fully devoted disciples of Christ.
New Series: Foundations
This Sunday we kicked off a new 5-week series on our core doctrines.
It seems popular today to pit things like “doctrine and theology” against “following Jesus” as if doctrine somehow hinders our walk with God. Such a dichotomy however, is unnecessary. In fact, if we fail to say we know anything about God for certain, how can we be sure we are really following him? If I don’t know anything definite about a person, can I really know them? In the same way, the purpose of doctrine and theology is to enrich and empower our experience of following Jesus by helping us to know him as he is according to his self-revelation in Scripture.
The words of Paul to Timothy are just as piercing in our day (perhaps more) as they were in the 1st Century:
“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2 Tim. 4:4).”
So, in the spirit of avoiding the error to “not endure sound doctrine,” this series is about reaffirming the foundations of our faith and helping us stay on track in our pursuit of God. As in all things, balance is needed. Orthodox theology without a passionate, living relationship with Jesus leaves us empty just as passion for God without any grounding in truth leads to chaos and heresy. As we study our core doctrines, let’s add the flame of passion to the study of truth.
Here’s the rundown:
- Jan. 3: Scripture
- Jan 10: God, Man, & Salvation
- Jan. 17: The Holy Spirit
- Jan. 24: The Church
- Jan. 31: The End Times
On a related note, many people have recently expressed interest in becoming members of the church. This sermon series will serve as the required course. After listening to these teachings, anyone interested in membership is invited to join us on Sat. Feb. 6 from 10am-2pm for our next membership day.
Christmas Series Begins Sunday
Hard to believe it’s already December! Jingle bells are rocking. Car horns are honking. Its starting to sound a lot like Christmas. But the harmony of Christmas isn’t complete until you hear from the One who started it all. Experience the sounds of the season you’ve been missing during our 3-week Christmas series beginning this Sunday.
After God’s Heart
Really excited to start a brand new series this Sunday called “After God’s Heart: Developing a God-Centered Life“. One of the best known and most loved of all the people in the Bible is King David. While David is known for many things, perhaps the most intriguing and important fact about his life is that he is the only person in Scripture who is referred to as a “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22).
This is an amazing fact considering the dramatic ups and downs of his life. He went from warrior-king to adulterer-murderer and is still remembered as a man after the heart of God. As a man of success and a man of failure, we all have much in common with David. In this 6-week study the life of David, we will see how we as imperfect people can become people after the heart of God.
This is the first series in which I have written a complete 6-week study guide which will be available on Sunday. Some of our Community Groups are using it as their basis of study. Others may find it helpful to use for family devotions or personal study.
Experiencing Spiritual Breakthrough
On Sunday we took a break from our series through James to look into what Scripture teaches about experiencing spiritual breakthrough.
The Bible is a book filled with God’s mighty acts in history through the lives of people. However, not everyone in Scripture experienced God’s power in and through their lives. On Sunday we looked at several of the characteristics of the kind of people who experience the breakthrough power of God in their lives. The main idea was this: There is nothing God cannot do through a man or woman who is fully committed to him.
While this is certainly not an exhaustive list, these 4 characteristics mark those who experience God’s power in and through their lives.
1. Devotion- 2 Chron. 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.”
- God is looking through the whole earth for the kind of devoted, committed people that he can entrust with his power.
2. Prayer- 2 Chron. 7:14 “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
- There is an intimate connection between humble, persevering, repentant prayer and the release of God’s supernatural power.
3. Power- Acts 1:4-5 “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
- It is important to note that Jesus commanded his disciples to not go into ministry until they had an experience with God in which they were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Apart from being filled with God’s Spirit, we will only know what men can accomplish. When we are full of his Spirit, we will know what God can accomplish through us.
4. Action- 1 Cor. 3:5-6 ” What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”
- Each of these characteristics must lead to obedient action. Each of us has a unique assignment from God. Our calling is not to make miracles happen, but to be faithful to do what God has called us to do whether it is “planting” or “watering.” When we do what God calls us to do, he will “give the growth” and receive all the glory.
Weekend in Review
This weekend was incredible! First off, I had the amazing privilege of being the best man in my brother David’s wedding on Saturday. It was an amazing ceremony. He and Emily are going to change the world for God! Also great to see so many family from out of state (Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, Houston)!
On the trip back from the wedding we found out that our dog ran away (this part of our weekend was not incredible, but the incredible part is coming). She had been missing for 8 1/2 hours when we got the news. It was getting dark by the time we were nearing home and… BY A MIRACLE OF GOD Jessica spotted our puppy walking along the side of a two-lane highway about a half mile from our house! So, praise God, our puppy once was lost but now is found!
Lastly, really enjoyed preaching Sunday from James 1:2-4 on how to face trials. We can allow trials in life to either strengthen us or devastate us. If Christ is the center of our life, he will carry us through anything. While he may or may not deliver us from the pain of all trials, he will always be present with us to strengthen us and prepare us for our ultimate home with him.
New Series: Compelled
I’m excited to start a new series this Sunday. It will be a 3 week study of 2 Corinthians 5, one of the finest chapters in all the Bible on the subject of evangelism. The theme verse for the series is 2 Cor. 5:14 which simply says,
“For the love of Christ compels us…”
For many people, evangelism can be a very scary, confusing word. In this series we will look into what the Scripture has to say about why and how we can effectively lead others to Christ. The principles from this chapter will also empower us to reach out to others as we prepare for our public grand opening in April!
New Series: Feed The Fire
Have you ever wondered why some people seem to have an intense passion for God? Have you desired to have a spiritual life alive with fervor and vitality, but didn’t know where to start?
I’m excited about starting a brand new sermon series this weekend called “Feed The Fire.” In this series we will look into what Scripture has to say about developing and maintaining a vibrant, fiery passion for God.
Campaign Vision Sermon & Podcast
Click here to listen to this week’s vision casting and information message for the Momentum Campaign.
You can also subscribe to our weekly audio podcast on itunes by clicking here.
New Series: Momentum
God is always working and he has amazing plans for our lives. Following him is anything but boring. How can we enter into God’s best for our lives? How can we move forward into the plans that God has for us? How can we follow hard after God?
Join us over the next several weeks as we begin a new sermon series called Momentum in which we will be looking into questions like these and studying how to follow God and his plans for our lives.
New Series: Better Together
Modern research tells us that Americans are more socially disconnected now than ever before. Isolation and loneliness are a major problem eating away at our society.
Join us over the next few weeks as we dive into God’s word and learn how to overcome these tendencies through deepening our community with one another.
New Series
“One thing I have asked of the Lord, that will I seek after…” How would you finish this sentence? The answer has the power to affect your entire life.
Join us over the next 2 weeks as we begin a new series all about the one thing.
God Of This City Series
I’m pumped about a new series that we will be starting this Sunday called God of This City. The theme for this series comes from the song by the same title which you can listen to here. During this series we will be learning this song and declaring it over the greater Ambridge region.
This is a series in preparation for City Reach this year. During the next few weeks we will be looking into how God uses his people to bring transformation to the cities where he has called them.
As a part of the MCM-Pittsburgh network of churches we will also be showing video clips of the various churches in our network as well as testimonies of people whose lives were changed by City Reach in the past. We got to hear what God is doing at Ridgewood Church last week and this week ACC will be the featured church!
New Series: Parables
I’m pretty pumped about this new message series that we will be starting this Sunday. We’re going to take an in-depth look at some of Jesus’ most profound teachings.
Jesus said that everyone who hears his words and does them is like a wise man who builds his house on a rock. Join us as we dig into the stories of our Master and learn how to apply their truth to our lives.
Memorial Day Weekend
I’m really excited about the services this Memorial Day weekend. We have a special guest worship leader and we’re continuing our Overcomer Series with a message on Overcoming Temptation.
Temptation is something that affects every one of us as human beings. Odds are, you’ve faced it in one form or another in the last several hours. Join us as we look into how we can live in victory over the power of temptation is our lives.
Unstoppable
This is the sermon from Sunday called “Unstoppable.” In it we looked at how we can become an unstoppable church and live unstoppable lives for the glory of God.
Great Weekend
We had a great Easter weekend at ACC. Wonderful to see so many new faces!
We also kicked off our new sermon series called Defining Moments. In this series we are looking at how Scripture teaches us to experience life-changing encounters with the living God. The message this week was from the story of the Emmaus Road Encounter in Luke 24:13-35.
The story centers on the experiences of two ordinary disciples as they walked along a road. The resurrected Jesus joined them as they walked, but they did not recognize him. Jesus began to engage them in dialogue. It became evident that they were experiencing one of the darkest moments in their lives as they found themselves in a season of tension, discouragement, doubt, and uncertainty after Jesus’ death. Jesus later reveals himself to them and they are overjoyed by his presence.
The main point we hammered on from this account was that: God is always closer than we think, even in times when he seems the furthest away.
Three applications we noted to help us experiencing God’s presence in dark times were:
- Acknowledging that he is always closer than we think
- Invite God to make himself known to you in the midst of your circumstances
- Find some other people who can encourage you in your faith and just begin to walk with them and ask them how you can come to know God more intimately
No matter how dark our circumstances may become, God is always closer than we think and is desiring to show himself to us if we are simply willing to open our eyes and see his activity all around us.
Looking forward to next week!
New Message Series: Redemption
This week we will be kicking off a new sermon series called Redemption: Brokeness To Blessing. Join us as we study the book of Titus together and discover how we can go from being broken to being a blessing to others.
New Series: E3
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This Sunday we will be starting a new 3-part message series called “E3: Making Disciples In 2008.” In this series we will be diving into the heart of our mission as a church and our direction for ’08. What does E3 stand for? Come Sunday and find out! You won’t want to miss this important series.
