Category: apostles

• Discovering God through the Book of Jonah (Part 3)

  

  God reveals himself and his mission in a huge way in the book of Jonah. What does Jonah 3 teach us about who God is? Check out this blog post.

  Ryan Stratton

  10/25/2019

  apostles, awakening, beauty, belief, believe, belonging, bible, bible stories, bible study, Christian Life, Christianity, church, confrontation, conversion, devotionals, divorce, eternal life, evangelism, example, faith, faithful, Forgiveness, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, grace, Holy Spirit, humility, hypocricy, Identity, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, judgement, leadership, learn, lost and found, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, mission, pastor, preach, preaching, proclaiming Christ, revival, trust, Truth, uncategoried, Uncategorized, Worry, worship, writing, youth ministry

  bible study on Jonah, book of Jonah, called by God, God brings salvation, God’s Grace saves, Jesus’ call for our lives, Jonah Bible study, listening to God, mission from God, Relentless pursuit of God, sent into the world, trusting God’s call

• Moving Toward Victory

  Welcome to the beginning of Holy Week. This is the week, we have been preparing our hearts for as we continue our journey to the cross which will take us through  Palm Sunday (Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem…today) Maundy Thursday (Jesus’ last supper with his disciples, betrayal and arrest…Thursday) Good Friday (Jesus’ death and burial…Friday) […]

  Ryan Stratton

  04/14/2019

  anxiety, apostles, belief, Bible, bible stories, bible study, Christian Life, Christianity, church, confrontation, disciples, Easter, facing challenges, Failure, faith, faithful, freedom in Christ, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, Gospel of Mark, grace, Holy Spirit, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Lent, Life, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, miracles, pastor, pray, Prayer, prayer life, Spirit led, trials, trust, Truth, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  facing victory, Jesus has won, keep moving forward, marching toward victory, Mark 11:1-11, Palm Sunday sermon, trusting God, trusting God’s plan, trusting in Jesus, trusting the Holy Spirit

• I Still Believe in the Power Through the Church

  

  I have to believe in the Church. It is a vessel that has been used by God to do incredible world transformation since it’s beginnings. The Church is also still around, even though it seems like it should have died a long time ago. This week, I am continuing a sermon series, for the season […]

  Ryan Stratton

  12/14/2018

  apostles, believe, Christian Life, Christianity, church, disciples, faith, good news, gospel, holy life, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, leadership, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, miracles, power, Savior, sharing our faith, transformation, uncategoried

  expect to encounter God, God is still working, Good News of Jesus Christ, Jesus changes everything, love of God, Power of God is real, power of the Holy Spirit

• Connecting Points

  

  Click here to read Acts 17. “All you need to do is to teach that person how to…” This sounds simple enough; but is it really that easy to get people to learn new things? Just teach them? When we teach, we are actually connecting the person to what they have seen, what they have […]

  Ryan Stratton

  10/31/2017

  Apostle Paul, apostles, belief, believe, bible, Christian Life, Christianity, church, conversion, Creation, Creativity, devotionals, disciples, eternal life, evangelism, faith, faithful, God, good news, gospel, grace, Holy Spirit, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, lifestyle, methodism, methodist, mission, motivations, Motives, preach, preaching, proclaiming Christ, revival, sharing our faith, Spirit led, trust, Truth, uncategoried, wisdom, worship, writing, youth ministry

  Acts 17, all things to all people, book of Acts, connecting people to Christ, Holy Spirit convicts, Holy Spirit leads and instructs, Paul preaches on Mars Hill, sharing our faith, stand firm in the gospel message, starting points, understand then be understood, unknown god

• Trouble Again?

  

  Click here to read Acts 16:16-40. “Paul and Silas in prison.” This is the heading for this passage in my Bible. With a heading like that, someone is bound to ask, “Wait, wasn’t Paul thrown in jail a couple chapters ago?” The answer would be yes! In the book of Acts, there is a pattern: […]

  Ryan Stratton

  10/27/2017

  Apostle Paul, apostles, belief, bible study, Christian Life, church, conflict, confrontation, controversy, devotionals, disciples, example, facing challenges, faith, faithful, God, God’s grace, good news, gospel, grace, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, lifestyle, memory, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, mission, praise, Prayer, priority, proclaiming Christ, travel, trials, trust, Truth, uncategoried, works, world, worship, writing, youth ministry

  Acts 16, book of Acts, Christian life, Holy Spirit convicts, joy of Christ, life of Apostle Paul, overcoming challenges, Paul and Silas in prison, Paul’s mission, Philippians 4:4-7, rejoice in Christ, yoke of Christ

• United in Grace

  

  Click here to read Acts 15:1-35. Unless you… Believe, belong, accept, perform, think, dress like, etc. We have all been part of this kind of thinking at some point in our lives. Maybe we have said this to another person to make sure they were the “right material” for the group, the club, the organization. […]

  Ryan Stratton

  10/17/2017

  apostles, attitudes, belief, belonging, bible, Christian Life, Christianity, church, controversy, devotionals, disciples, faith, God, God’s grace, good news, gospel, grace, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, leadership, learn, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, mission, proclaiming Christ, relationships, religion, renewal, revival, Savior, transformation, uncategoried, unity, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  Acts 15, book of Acts, breaking barriers, charing Christ, free gift of grace, God’s grace to all, Jerusalem Council, John 3:16, love God love people, sharing God’s love

• Strength to Stand

  

  Click here to read Acts 14:8-20. The passage today has many things going on. First of all, we see Paul and Barnabas come upon a man who was crippled in his legs and couldn’t walk. Paul heals the man who is able to walk. The people in the crowd see the miracle and call Paul […]

  Ryan Stratton

  09/05/2017

  Apostle Paul, apostles, arrogance, belief, believe, bible, calling, challenge, Christian Life, Christianity, church, comfort, compassion, conflict, confrontation, controversy, conversion, devotionals, disciples, faith, faithful, fear, giving thanks, glory to God, God, God’s grace, good news, gospel, grace, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, leadership, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, miracles, mission, passion, pastor, peace, service, serving, sharing our faith, trust, Truth, uncategoried, witness, witnessing, Work, worship, writing, youth ministry

  Acts 14:8-20, answers to prayer, Apostle Paul, book of Acts, devotionals, Holy Spirit within us, humble lifestyle, loving God, loving people, share our faith, stand up and walk, strength to stand, trusting God, trusting the Holy Spirit

• People Can Change

  

  Read Acts 9:21:31 here. We all, I’m sure, have known people who say they are going to change. And then they relapse into whatever they needed to stop. It breaks our heart and we lose trust. We begin to learn that the person “cannot” change. The reality is people change when the desire for Christ […]

  Ryan Stratton

  07/11/2017

  Apostle Paul, apostles, attitudes, awakening, belief, Christian Life, Christianity, church, devotionals, disciples, faith, forgiven, Forgiveness, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, grace, healing, Holy Spirit, influence, Jesus, Jesus Christ, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, mission, motivations, Prayer, reconciliation, redeemed, relationships, renewal, repent, revival, save, Savior, Spirit, spiritual transformation, transformation, trust, Truth, uncategoried, worship, writing, youth ministry

  Apostle Paul changed his heart, gift of God is eternal life, God is working, healing takes time, hitting rock bottom, love your neighbor as yourself, on a mision, people do change, pray for others, real encounter with Jesus Christ, transformation in Christ, wages of sin is death

• Keep Moving Forward

  

  Click here to read the passage for today: Acts 8:1-4. The cards seem to be stacked against you. It seems like everyone is against you or making your life more difficult. We have all had those days, or even those weeks, where it seems nothing we do will improve the situation. A co-worker could have […]

  Ryan Stratton

  06/27/2017

  anger, anxiety, apostles, belief, bible, body of Christ, Christian Life, Christianity, church, conflict, devotionals, disciples, fear, God, God’s grace, good news, gospel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, mercy, methodism, methodist, motivations, sharing our faith, Spirit, Spirit led, trust, Truth, uncategoried, Worry, writing, youth ministry

  Acts 1:8, acts of the Holy Spirit, book of Acts, facing anger, God’s design for our life, God’s redemptive plan, God’s word spread, Good News of Jesus Christ, gospel, gospel of Jesus Christ, keep moving forward, pray for Christians, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ

• Beyond Jealousy

  

  Click here to read the passage for today: Acts 5:17-42 CEB. Jealousy. We all get jealous at times. Sometimes we don’t even want to admit we feel this emotion. Jealousy, when left unchecked, causes us to act in irrational and hurtful ways. Oh, we want to feel excitement for the accomplishments and gifts of other […]

  Ryan Stratton

  05/26/2017

  ambition, apostles, bible, character, Christian Life, Christianity, church, community, control, devotionals, disciples, faith, faults, freedom, gifts, giving thanks, glory to God, God, God’s grace, Golden rule, good news, gospel, grace, happiness, Holy Spirit, humility, Image of God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, leadership, Life, Love, maturity, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, motivations, praise, priorities, Relationships, repent, success, thankful, trust, Truth, uncategoried, writing, youth ministry

  Acts 5:39, book of Acts, finding joy in other people success, gifts of the Holy Spirit, knowing our own flaws, letting go of jealousy, made in the image of God, praising God, praying for others, presence of God, stop fighting God, Ten Commandments