The Church’s Money

Text: 1 Corinthians 16:2 Historically, this has been a controversial topic. But was all of this controversy based on a flawed assumption. What if there are no special rules concerning the collection? Let us consider five questions. How Does the Church Raise Money? Through the collection on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:2) […]

Is the Church a Cult?

Text: Acts 24:14 When Paul stood before Felix, he was accused of being “a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5). He acknowledged that he served God “according to the Way which they call a sect” (Acts 24:14). Calling the church a “sect” was meant to disparage/discredit Paul and His message. The term “cult” is […]

The Sect That Is Spoken Against Everywhere

Text: Acts 28:22 When Paul came to Rome as a prisoner, he was permitted to meet with the Jewish leaders. He explained why he was there (Acts 28:17-20). They had not heard about Paul, but they had heard about the church (Acts 28:21-22). The church was the “sect…spoken against everywhere.” Why? There are several reasons for this. As […]

Why Do Christians Meet on Sunday?

Text: Acts 20:7 The world is filled with a multitude of churches engaged in various practices. With all of the diversity of practices, there is one thing that professing Christians generally agree on – the church assembles on Sunday. Some meet other days (ex: Seventh Day Adventists), but these are the exceptions. Why is this the […]

Kingdom of ___

Text: Matthew 16:19 Throughout the New Testament, references are made to the kingdom. In our text, Jesus referred to this as the “kingdom of heaven.” Yet there are other ways the kingdom is described – “kingdom of ___.” In this lesson, we are going to look at some of these designations to see what is implied […]

The Importance of Numbers

Text: Acts 26:28-29 This is a follow-up to the previous lesson on things that are more important than numbers. There are certainly things we must not sacrifice for the sake of larger numbers; however, we should not overreact and think that smaller numbers are inherently good. We need to remember that numbers represent people – made in the image […]

More Important Than Numbers

Text: Matthew 7:13-14 Some churches are so focused on numbers they will do almost anything to boost their attendance, membership, conversions, etc. We would certainly all prefer to see an increase in these numbers, but not at all costs. The New Testament shows that there are things that are more important than numbers. Favor of God […]