Month: September 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:28 — 10.0MB)

Sermon Audio: God’s Dream Team
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Acts 6:1-7
Duration: 20:28
Size: 9.98 MB

Acts: Life In The Spirit
God’s Dream Team
Acts 6:1-7

God wants His people to work as a team as they go about His unstoppable work.

I. Team Players Must Be Willing to Step up and Help Meet the Need
Peter and the other apostles were doing their best to meet the needs, but the church by this time could easily have been 10,000 people strong.

I want to point out that we are all wired differently. God has gifted us all uniquely so that we can do certain things better than other things.

II. Team Players Must Recognize When It Is Time to Get Out of the Way
So, the apostles presented the idea to the church that they should select seven faithful men who would be able to serve the Lord by taking care of the food distribution.

III. Team Players Should Seek Qualities That Will Enable Them to Help Others
If you have asked God to forgive you of your sins and to be the leader of your life, you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you.

VI. Anointed Team Efforts Result in the Growth of God’s Kingdom (Acts 6:7)
Someone said that a lot can be accomplished if nobody cares who gets the credit.

Only the Spirit gives life to spirit, and we need Him more than ever.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:19 — 11.4MB)

Sermon Audio: The Unstoppable Work of God
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Acts 5:33-42
Duration: 23:19
Size: 11.4 MB

Acts: Life In The Spirit
The Unstoppable Work of God
Acts 5:33-42

Because God’s purpose is unstoppable, we would do well to cooperate with Him, pursuing His will for our lives.

I. Those Who Pursue God’s Purpose Should Expect Opposition (Acts 5:33,40)
You will face problems and opposition, but trust Me to help you accomplish My purpose in the midst of those trials.

II. Those Who Pursue God’s Purpose Can Weather any Opposition (Acts 5:34-39)
Difficulties may actually be a sign that we are in God’s will, rather than out.

Yet, instead of getting mad at God for allowing this to happen, they rejoiced that they were worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus.

God’s purpose cannot be stopped, because God loves the people He created and His purpose is to bring them back to Himself.

III. Those Who Pursue God’s Purpose Will not Be Sidetracked from It (Acts 5:40-42)
Sometimes life is really hard. However, I have found God to be totally and completely faithful and loving.

There is something He wants you to do that nobody else can do the way you can.

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Sermon Audio: The Necessity of Obedience
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Acts 5:25-32
Duration: 21:31
Size: 10.5 MB

Acts: Life In The Spirit
The Necessity of Obedience
Acts 5:25-32

If you know the story of the first man and woman in the Bible, you know that God gave them only one restriction: Don’t eat from one certain tree or you will certainly die.

I. Obedience Is a Moral Obligation
God’s commands were never designed to be kept outside of a right relationship with Him.

II. Obedience Produces Authority
In our lives, there is also a sense in which obedience fosters boldness or authority.

Nevertheless, there are times when we need to use the authority God has given us, and it may come out loud and strong.

III. Obedience Demonstrates Our Faith
The apostles and the early believers had faith in Jesus, and they demonstrated that faith by obeying what He had told them to do.

IV. Obedience Welcomes the Holy Spirit into Our Lives
So, when Peter said that the Holy Spirit was a witness of these things, whom God gives to those who obey Him, he was emphasizing that the Messiah had indeed come in the person of Jesus, whom the Sanhedrin had put to death.

If we will obey Him in repentance and walk close to Him, the HOLY SPIRIT will live within us and give us the power we need to do what God has called us to do- that is to reach those who do not yet know Jesus as their forgiver and leader.

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Sermon Audio: Free To Follow
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Acts 5:17-25
Duration: 22:18
Size: 10.6 MB

Acts: Life In The Spirit
Free To Follow
Acts 5:17-25

Now, people have many different ideas about what freedom is all about.

Let’s look at a few areas in our lives where freedom can be more than a song.

I. We Can Find Freedom from the Past (No more guilt!)
God does not think about our sins anymore after we confess and repent of them.

II. We Can Find Freedom in the Present (No more bondage!)
God wants to set us free from a sinful lifestyle, and He will free us if we ask Him to.

So, what I’d say to you first of all is PRAY!!! And if it doesn’t happen in a moment, don’t give up, but keep on praying!

Let’s show hurting people what Jesus is really like. Then they will come to Him and be healed and set free!

III. We Can Find Total Freedom in the Future (No more sorrow or pain)
We can find total freedom when our life is over, but only if we are trusting in Jesus for our salvation and aiming to do what God wants us to do.