Messages by Al Stoltzfus
Sent by the Holy Spirit
God by His Spirit sends His worshipping community outward into mission. Mission starts in worship and moves outward to persons in places that are far from God with the message of Jesus. Text: Acts 13-14
Stand up and be counted
As followers of Jesus we are part of a vast multitude living between salvation accomplished on the cross and salvation completed when Jesus returns. In this ‘in between’ state everyone is important, everyone counts. God is faithful to us, will we be found faithful to Him? Will we stand up, step forward, and be counted? Text: Num 1:1-19; Eph 2:19-20; 1 Cor 16:13-14
Undeterred
In the power of the Holy Spirit the message of Jesus is proclaimed. Persecution scatters the church propelling her outward. Believers are baptized and disciples multiplied. The measure of the mission is people and places. Where Jesus is faithfully proclaimed lives are restored and the church grows. Who are the people God has placed in our space? Text: Acts 8:29, 9:10
Untrained and Filled
One man’s physical healing becomes a picture of the salvation offered to all in Jesus (Acts 3). Though untrained, Peter and John were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke boldly in the name of Jesus. In spite of fierce opposition, multitudes of men and women were added to the Lord as the church was on the road to the ends of the earth. Text: Acts 3-5
How to give two life-sustaining gifts to your children
Parenting is hard work. To parent well requires wisdom. Proverbs, the book of wisdom, invites us to consider two life-sustaining gifts wise parents pass on to their children. What are these two vital gifts? And how, in the daily realities of parenting, can we pass these two gifts to their children. The answer may surprise you. Text: Proverbs 1:8; 22:6; 19:18 and 14:26; Ephesians 6:4
Savior
In the wilderness, God gives His rebellious and vulnerable people a sign and a remedy. To look on the bronze serpent was to live. In the same way Jesus is the one we must believe in to live. Text: Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:10-21
Carrier
The extent of evil and violence in the human heart and the corruption which fills the earth grieves the heart of God (Gen 6:5-12). So He finds a righteous man, and by the obedience of that righteous man, God rescues and renews all of creation. Text: Genesis 6:11-22, 7:13-17, 8:15-17; Romans 5:19
Restored Faithfulness
Faithfulness is integral to the character of God. This quality of faithfulness is what God desires in the most intimate of human relationships, between and husband and wife in the home. To restore a heart of worship, we must guard our affections by grounding our actions and behavior in the character and faithfulness of God. Text: Malachi 2:10-16