Pastor Marshall Ochs | May 1, 2022
In this message, Pastor Marshall teaches from Acts 22-23. These chapters cover Paul’s trial in Jerusalem and the Jewish plot to execute him. Paul is sharing the transforming power of Jesus, but Rome only values Roman culture and the Jews only value their exaltation of religious tradition. For Paul, following Jesus requires valuing God’s revealed truth over institutional wisdom or cultural thought. This reality is also at work in our lives. Will we trust God’s word or human institutions? Will we trust God’s word or religious tradition? Will we trust God’s word or our personal experience and feelings?
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Our Christian walk today is much like the path that Paul and Christ took to Jerusalem. It is a path of putting sin to death, living by faith and affirming God’s authority. It is the process of moving closer and closer to Jesus. In what ways is the Lord asking you to put sin to death, live by faith and affirm His authority?
Scripture teaches us that we must choose God’s truth over cultural ideology. Are you willing to stand for Christ when you might suffer persecution?
In what ways have you compromised God’s truth in order to live comfortably with the world’s views?
The walk of faith in Christ is about treasuring Jesus above ourselves and the world. Have you exalted your personal desires above God?
You can’t follow Christ if you follow and trust the world’s wisdom. You cannot trust what you see and hear around you. You must ask God how you should think and act in every circumstance or conflict. To whom or what have you turned to for the answers to life’s questions? God or man?
The best way to know what God thinks is to be in His word and in community with other believers. You cannot trust what you desire or solely what you were taught. Where have you been looking for the answers to life’s questions? How much time are you spending in God’s word?