When people claim to speak for God or someone brings us a word from the Lord, how are we to respond? Is there anything we can do to evaluate whether it’s truly God speaking? Or should we just be more open and not quench the Holy Spirit? This message looks at Paul’s instructions for evaluating prophets and prophecy.
Through the internet and the ease of international travel, we’re closer to one another than we’ve ever been. And yet, at the same time, we’re experiencing more and more division. It’s ironic that one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments, the Great Wall of China, is a barrier designed to separate people. And whether in politics, religion, morality or race, we see growing tensions more than we do the reduction of them. This message looks at what God is doing to heal our divisions. And in so doing, it digs into a passage that teaches us about the role of apostles and prophets in God’s plan for the world.
Discerning God’s will can be difficult. And even when God speaks, the voice of comfort can drown Him out. Today’s message looks at a prophet who declared God’s will to the apostle Paul and how the people around him struggled to accept it. It helps us to understand the nature of New Testament prophecy and how we can discern and pursue the will of God.
The Day of Pentecost saw the birth of the church and the transformation of God’s people by the Holy Spirit. But it was a strange event. Luke records rushing wind and fire and the onlookers wondered whether the disciples were drunk. This message looks at what we can learn from what happened at Pentecost.
