Main Passage: Luke 22:14-20

Listen in as we join Lighthouse Community and learn from Senior Pastor Fritz Below as he helps us understand the context and meaning of the Lord's Supper. Fritz helps us to see how the Lord's Supper was Initiated by Jesus, is real food that points to Truth, and for those who follow Jesus!

Primary Scripture: Ephesians 4:14-16

Message Overview: When believers are maturing into the character of Christ, they’re no longer drifting aimlessly through life. Instead, they live with purpose: speaking the truth in love and helping others to grow in the truth of Christ. Healthy, living things grow. It’s true of people. It’s true of the church. This is our opportunity to pull back the current for our church to reveal next steps we see and how people can step into them. For our location, it’s helping people to grow in the gospel/truth, widening the leadership and volunteer base to support the increased ministry opportunities, inviting believers into healthy stewardship, and praying/looking for the next leaders/teams who will launch the New Testament churches in our region.

Prompting Questions: Contrast the life of a believer who is drifting versus a believer who is growing in/on purpose. What does Bluffton Community look like at its healthiest and most effective? Why would a person choose to partner with us in ministry as opposed to continue floating along in their faith?

Primary Scripture: Ephesians 4:7-13

Cross References: Acts 6:4; 12:25; Romans 12:6-8

Message Overview: Paul said that Jesus gave “gifts” to the church: leaders. Their role is to equip believers for ministry with the end goal being unity and maturity (maturity = the fullness of Christ). Elders at each location will have the opportunity to provide a current, transparent snapshot of where we currently are as local churches: both the successes and challenges. Exposing things like ministry strategies we use (i.e. small groups, kids/students, etc) as well as highlighting the scoreboard so people can gauge health and effectiveness (Yeses, baptism, volunteer %, finances, etc).

Prompting Questions: Who are those leaders in our churches who equip? How can a believer in our church engage in training for real ministry? How should we understand “the fulness of Christ?” What aspects of our ministries are many people in the dark about and it would benefit them/mission to know more?

Primary Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-6

Cross References: 1 Peter 3:15a; Romans 10:9; Revelation 19:16; Matthew 28:18-20

Message Overview: Twice in this passage, Paul uses the word “Lord” in reference to Jesus. Within that context, he wrote about humility, bearing with one another, and unity. This message will focus on the Lordship of Jesus and what that means practically for every born again believer. This is the opportunity to clearly define our vision statement: We are people who say Yes to Jesus’ leadership in our lives AND we help others do that, too. Prompting Questions: What does it mean for Jesus to be the Lord over an individual believer? The local church? Why is this an important truth? What are engaging ways to walk our families through our Outcomes (the Six He’s) and Values (the Six We’s)? How might we invite people to respond to this message?

Message Overview: From our last message in the series, The Church with Open Doors, Pastor Ben Thiel looks at Acts 18 where we meet Aquila, Priscilla, and Apollos who work along-side Paul, Silas and Timothy as the gospel continues to spread amid continued opposition. We see God remind Paul in a dream that many in the city of Corinth belonged to Him. Paul had a continual desire to re-visit where he had previously preached to continue strengthening the believers. It is clear that Paul had preached the gospel and many had believed, but his heart drove him back to old friends as he continued to teach believers. Paul spent a year and a half in Corinth, a city where full commitment to his teaching seems to have come more slowly based on what we read in his later letters to this church. While Paul always seems to have kept his passion for front line Gospel engagement with people who were far from God, we see the multiplication of leaders and sustained teaching of believers as his ministry matures. It is important to note the warm encounter between Aquila and Priscilla as they help Apollos with a better understanding of Gospel truth.

Prompting Questions: How has God brought the spiritual and physical change and growth to both Lighthouse and Bluffton Community these last few years? How do we prepare the congregations to use the wide variety of spiritual gifts given to the believers who are part of our churches? How does a rapidly growing church effectively identify and minister to people who are spiritually dead, infants, children, young adult and parents?

Primary Scripture: Acts 17:16-32

Cross References: Deuteronomy 10:17; 1 Chronicles 16:26, Psalm 115:1-7; Colossians 1:15-20

Message Overview: While waiting for the others to rejoin him, Paul has a visceral reaction to the overt idolatry he sees in the City of Athens. He feels compelled to engage the philosophers of the day on their own turf. Paul is able to make connection with the intellectuals at the Areopagus, but finds strong opposition when he speaks of the resurrection of Jesus. The account of Paul in Athens raises many questions that thoughtful people ask today in their search for truth. Paul was ready to engage anyone no matter how far from faith they might seem. In the end we see that some believed in this intellectually hostile environment.

Prompting Questions: How do our churches address the theological and cultural questions of our day such that the Gospel can be heard in clear words? How does God's supremacy and transcendence meet and then rise above the human wisdom and experience our culture espouses today?

Primary Scripture: Acts 16:11-40

Cross References: Luke 24:45; Acts 9:15-16, 26:16-18

Message Overview: Ministry will take us where we have not been before. Philippi was a Gentile place without a synagogue. Paul went down by the river thinking that he may find people praying. There he met Lydia, and God opened her heart to the gospel. Later, Paul casts a demon from a slave girl and a mob quickly forms around Paul and Silas, eventually landing them in jail. But as they are praying and singing hymns to God in the presence of other prisoners, God moves again by causing an earthquake. The Gospel prevails as the jailer and his family believe. About 10 years later, Paul wrote to the church at Philippi thanking this church for their partnership in the gospel. They had stories to tell as they remembered together how God had used them as he open hearts to the gospel. This was a church full of joy as they reflect on the movement of God (Philippians 1:3-14).

Prompting Questions: How can our people learn sensitivity to the Holy Spirit as he works in unexpected ways through us...even when conflict is present? How can we find the people praying by the river or see through the angry mob that seeks to silence the gospel where we live? How do we balance careful ministry planning with new capacity to adapt to unexpected circumstances when God moves? How can we find joy in the chaos of rapidly growing ministry opportunity?

Primary Scripture: Acts 17:1-15

Cross References: 2 Corinthians 2:14-17, 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Psalm 119:9-11

Message Overview: Paul and Silas spent just 3 weeks in Thessalonica but these were fruitful weeks. Jews, God fearing Greeks, and many prominent women joined Paul and Silas as they believed. Of course, some Jews were jealous as they saw their power challenged, and they created conflict in response. Surprisingly, Paul only spent a short time with these believers, yet we learn about the radical life transformation brought by the Gospel from Paul’s later letter to them (1 Thessalonians 1:2-10). Paul and Silas moved on to Berea where the people were open minded and eager to hear what Paul had to say. They searched the scripture daily to see what was true. There was spiritual fruit in Berea, but trouble followed from the Jewish rabble rousers who came from Thessalonica.

Prompting Questions: What is it about the Word of God that draws many different people to faith in Jesus, yet simultaneously repels others to the point of violence and legal action against those who speak the Gospel? What must we learn from the people from Thessalonica and Berea as we plan the future ministries of our churches?