It's not an easy task to understand or teach this passage because Paul's actions are simply reported here. Luke offers no commentary on them. What I can say for certain is that Paul is clearly intelligent, savvy, bold, and passionate in front of the commander and the religious council. I see Romans 8:28 being played out in the ending chapters of Acts: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

Every Christian has a Jesus story that is unique to them. Even the Apostle Paul who we have been studying has a Jesus story. It’s this story he tells in Acts 21:37-22:23 that we are studying together this week. Remember, Paul has arrived in Jerusalem knowing full well that he will be arrested and imprisoned. Sure enough, the Jewish Christians (and the traditional Jews) have heard that Paul is preaching against Jewish traditions and it makes them “just a little upset”. Enough to insight a mob riot to kill Paul. But a Roman regiment sees the mob and swoops in to rescue Paul. They take him up the stairs to a military fortress with the crowed chanting “Kill Him! Kill Him!”. It is here, at the top of the stairs before going inside that we pick back up the story.

Before we dive into today's study, it's important to understand the background of these events. In the early church, as recorded in the book of Acts, tensions were already high. The spread of the gospel among both Jewish and Gentile believers brought challenges—especially regarding the role of Jewish customs and the Law of Moses. The Jerusalem Council had recently made decisions about what was required of Gentile believers, but many in the early church still held tightly to their traditional practices. Paul, a bold and dedicated servant of Christ, found himself at the center of these controversies. Accusations flew that he was turning his back on his Jewish traditions. In response, Paul took actions to show that while salvation IS by faith alone, cultural traditions could still be honored when they served a greater purpose. Today, we’ll see how Paul navigated this complex situation and what it teaches us about unity, humility, and the true meaning of Christian liberty.

Acts 21 starts a new direction for the life of Paul. Up to this point he has been traveling from town to town sharing the gospel with anyone and everyone who would listen. Yes, he has seen jail and persecution here and there but nothing like what he will experience when he gets to Jerusalem. His missionary journeys (at least how he has known them) will come to an end and he know it. He also knows what God is calling him to and he is willing to go where Jesus tells him to go and do what Jesus tells him to do regardless of the personal cost. He has an eternal perspective, not only for himself, but for every tribe tongue and nation. I only hope that Paul’s example spurs on our love for Jesus and people and compels us to live on mission regardless of the personal cost. What really stands out is how both Jesus and Paul walked straight into suffering—fully aware of what was ahead—yet they didn’t hesitate. They weren’t making decisions based on their own comfort or what was best for themselves. They were making decisions based on calling.

Last week we were in the first half of Acts 20. And specifically we saw how God intends for the Bible to be taught, discussed, and obeyed in the church. This week, I want to ask this question: why is it so important for the Bible to be the supreme focus in the church? As we mentioned last week, all sorts of churches relegate the Bible to a minor role in the church. All sorts of pastors relegate the Bible to a minor role in their preaching. This week in the end of Acts 20 Paul gives us the “why” we need to keep the bible as the central part of Montage. It’s in the context of an emotional, powerful speech to the Ephesian pastors that Paul pleads with them to keep the Word primary in the church. There are at least seven different times in this sermon when he talks about the importance of declaring, teaching, proclaiming and admonishing with the Word of God.

Montage must be based on God’s word. We don’t follow trends, fads, or anything else other than the Word of God. I pray that it can never be said that I “preach my opinions and the people love to have it so.” I know many of us are walking or have walked through some really hard things. The last thing I want to give you are some of my thoughts and opinions. I want to give you the only thing that is able to help you, the Word of God! As soon as Montage ceases to trust and preach and follow this Book plainly, it ceases to be a church. Proclamation of, belief in, obedience to this Book is what makes the church a church. Let me show this to you. That’s why I have you in Acts 2. I want you to see what leads up to our text in Acts 20. This book tells us the story of how the church started and grew. So we’ll take a quick tour in which we’ll see the centrality of the Word of God in the story of the church.

We find ourselves in Acts 19:21-20:1 reading about a mob riot in Ephesus. The riot at Ephesus is all about Paul messing with people’s Idolatry. And actually this has been a theme all along in the book of Acts. We will see idolatry in the man-made carved images here at Ephesus as well as the man-made created money we have today. I would say that money is the #1 idol in our culture and often if someone messes with our money, we riot (in our own way). The silversmiths at Ephesus had been organized into a trade union. And they found that they were being hit hard in the most sensitive part of the human anatomy -- the pocketbook. These silversmiths, who made little silver souvenirs of the goddess Artemis, found their business dropping off because so many people were becoming Christians that nobody wanted their shrines anymore. And if we are honest with ourselves as Christians, isn’t this what we want? We want to see Jesus capture so many hearts that bars loose revenue, that pornography websites can’t stay open, that abortion clinics have no customers, that the 49ers football team lose all their fans. Not because Christians are picketing with angry signs and yelling at the “sinners” that use those services, but because so many people love and follow Jesus that there just isn’t the demand anymore. Disciples, making disciples, making disciples, making disciples.

We have been reading about these amazing missionary journeys Paul and company have embarked one. From one place to the next, sharing about Jesus, some people accepting, some rejecting then on to the next stop along the way and repeat. God’s mission through God’s people with God’s power has been on display. Yet, I don’t know about you but I’m in a life place where I don’t feel like I’m supposed to go be a traveling evangelist like Paul. Don’t hear me wrong, I hope that if God lead me in that direction I would happily obey, but that is not what God has called me to right now. What does it look to be more planted than Paul so far? How do we spread the gospel to every nation tribe and language while living in the Flathead Valley? We get a picture of that today in Acts 19:1-22. Paul is going to settle in Ephesus for 2+ years and see “the people throughout the province of Asia” hear the word of the Lord. See, there is not one way that everyone is supposed to share about Jesus…but everyone IS supposed to share about Jesus.

Even the great Paul the Apostle got scared sharing the gospel. Acts 18 shows us Paul in Corinth. He later writes to the church in 1 Corinthians that when he came to them, he came in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. In our passage today, Jesus comes to Paul at one point and says, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent!” This at least implies that Paul was tempted to be silent and not to speak the gospel. I’ll bet you can relate to that like me. What I want to do is read our passage, Acts 18:1 –17, and then I want to encourage us—your heart and my own heart—with four truths in this text. My hope is that a few minutes from now, every follower of Jesus in our gatherings will be encouraged and emboldened in a fresh way to share the gospel with somebody this week. Just one person. So that’s where all of this is headed.

I was talking to a friend from another part of the country last night. He and his family are looking for a new church but are having a hard time. One church says that out of the five gifts of the spirit (which we talked about in one of our recent Network gatherings), only the gifts of teacher and shepherd are active today. Another talked about good things but was just “dead” as he described it. I sat with another friend who uses an Assembly of God resource to help disciple new believers. Somebody took issue with it because of some of the theology in the book. I was a part of a church for a while that got hyper focused on the Holy Spirit and asking for things like gold dust and gems to appear. Another denomination holds human reason and church tradition with the same authority as scripture. I asked which of those three things trumps the others when there is conflict, and their answer was human reason. So many different takes on things. How do we know what is right? How do we know what is true?

I need to harness my inner Paul! This guy was so flexible, not in his message but in his approach. He just has this passion to tell people about Jesus and does whatever he needs to make it happen. Most of the time we see him enter a city, head to the synagogue, share how Jesus is the fulfillment of the Jewish faith, see people start to follow Jesus and get run out of town by people who don’t like him or his message…then he goes to the next town. Don’t get me wrong, there is so much we can learn from each of the cities he visits and the messages he shares…however, in Athens I feel like we are encountering more of an “America in 2025” culture. America in 1960 may have connected more with Paul’s preaching in the synagogues, where people had an understanding of God and the bible and the job was more of building off a common biblical foundation. Now in 2025 American culture is more of what we see in Athens in 49AD.

There is a line that we as Christians must hold to. We don’t want to compromise the truth. We don’t want to add or subtract from the gospel. But what do we do when theological conflict arises? How should we handle it? We get to read about how the early church handled it because this is not solely a current day issue. Acts 15:1-35 is a long debate on theology. Sometimes a theological debate is boring. “Who cares.” Right? “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin,” that’s our attitude sometimes but I want you to see, that this particular theological debate teaches us four incredibly important things about the gospel itself, about the essential message of Christianity. It teaches us about the importance of gospel accuracy, gospel freedom, gospel community, and gospel purity.

What is Montage all about? We are about making disciple makers…that encompasses the person farthest away from Jesus all the way to a mature believer. We want to make disciple makers. That starts with us growing in the image of Christ as disciples and then leading others to grow in the image of Christ as disciples. Every disciple in this room, a disciple-maker: teaching the Word, serving the world, making disciples in all nations. Everything we do at Montage we do ultimately for the sake of God’s glory in all nations. We have been commanded not just to make disciples generally. We have been commanded to make disciples specifically of every nation, every ethnicity, every people group. This is not a suggestion from Christ—this is a summons, a calling for us. Make disciples of all the nations until every people group on the planet is reached with the gospel of Christ and He returns to fully and finally redeem His people.

This Sunday we get to study the first recorded message of the Apostle Paul together. This man has changed the course of world history but the power of his ministry. He did so by sharing the true gospel and we have many good examples of what he said, including this first one in Acts 13:13-52. He shared this message in a synagogue on a Sabbath morning and it shook the whole city so much that “The following week almost the entire city turned out to hear them preach the word of the Lord.”

Today we get to study one church that literally changed the world. In acts 13:1-12 we’re about to see a local movement start with one moment in one local church. As a result of this moment that we’re about to read about in Antioch, over the next two-hundred years, the entire Roman world would be reached with the gospel. Over the next two-thousand years, that gospel would go to most every single country in the world and this movement on missions started with one local church. And I hope it inspires us to see what God can do through a group of diverse people united around the Word of God, worshipping the person of God, following the Spirit of God, surrendered to the mission of God and enabled by the power of God. May we be motivated and moved to action as we look at this church in Antioch.

Up to this chapter we have been seeing the body of Christ at work. Now we will examine three events which Dr. Luke, the writer of Acts, puts together, yet which seem somewhat unrelated at first. But no choice of events in the Word of God is ever without significance, and these are very significant for us. The three events are the murder of James the Apostle, the deliverance of Peter from prison by the intervention of an angel, and the death of Herod the king.

The early church was at a turning point. Up until now, the gospel had been primarily preached to the Jews. But Acts 11 tells us that because of persecution, some believers went to Antioch and started preaching to the Gentiles. This was huge! These believers—ordinary men and women—did something that had never been done before. They broke through cultural and religious barriers to bring the good news of Jesus to people who were completely different from them. That’s what we’re called to do, too. The gospel isn’t just for people who look like us, think like us, or live near us. It’s for everyone, and we have to be willing to go beyond our comfort zones to share it.

This is an amazing story and is a huge transition where the good news about Jesus spreads from just the Jewish people to the gentiles (AKA non-Jews). Up to this point in Acts 10 the gospel has been mainly exclusive for the Jewish people. Yes, there have been non-Jewish people who start following Jesus but they are the exception…till now. And thank God that His desire is for ALL people, every tribe, tongue, and nation…because English was one of those “other tongues” and the USA was one of those “Other nations” and you and I (if you’re not Jewish) are one of those “other people groups”. This is the continuation of God’s heart to make disciples of ALL people in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Or go back farther to Abraham and this is the continuation of God’s promise to him that his offspring would be a blessing to all people. We are reading this fulfillment right now! Jesus is a blessing to ALL people…regardless of race, age, gender, socioeconomic status. Jesus offers forgiveness to ALL!

We’ll pick it up in Acts 9:32 today, with a case study of how, because Jesus is still alive in heaven, Jesus hears prayer, Jesus heals people, Jesus still empathizes and sympathizes, and he is still involved in our lives, which is really good news for us— that Jesus is just as accessible to you and to me as he was to the people who surrounded him when he walked on the earth a few thousand years ago, that he’s still that available to us. So what we’re going to read today is a case study of Jesus still doing ministry from his heavenly kingdom in Acts 9:32-43.

Don’t you wish you could prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is the Messiah? I mean irrefutable proof that you could just drop and everyone would be convinced about the Bible, Sin, Jesus, Salvation, Forgiveness, Resurrection, Heaven and Hell. But even the most convincing proof won’t convince everyone. Just look at the life of Jesus: undeniable miracles, prophecies fulfilled, I mean resurrection from the dead is kinda a big indicator that there is something special about Jesus. No matter how many “convincing proofs” we offer, it just may not be enough to convince people. And that is what we see with this new Christian named Paul we read about in Acts 9:19-31. His life is radically changed from one that is actively hunting down Christians to imprison and kill them, to one who is doing everything he can to convince people that Jesus is the Messiah. This 180 degree life change came through a personal experience with Jesus earlier in Acts 9. It takes Jesus working in peoples lives, softening their heart and drawing them into faith. Even the most convincing proofs won’t change people if God is not already working in them.

Hi fam! Today, we’re diving deep into one of the most powerful and transformational stories in Scripture: Saul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Found in Acts 9:1-19, this passage not only tells the story of one man’s conversion but also gives us a powerful picture of God’s ability to transform lives, including our own.

We can’t make something ripe. It’s going to take time. We can’t make someone ripe for Jesus. It’s going to take time. And so we have to lovingly, patiently wait until someone is ripe, and then we pick them. We tell them about Jesus, we love them, serve them, inform them, instruct them, and then their heart’s open to Jesus as he’s been preparing them. You’re going to see a guy today who is in the process of becoming ripe for the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is a man who is in process, and then God is going to send another man for the harvest, to pick the ripe fruit of this man’s life and to introduce him to Jesus. It’s an awesome text. Let’s read it. It’s Acts 8:26-40 And today, we get to see the God—yes, he loves crowds, and we’ve seen thousands saved through the book of Acts. But today the camera hones in on one guy. You know why? God doesn’t just love numbers, he loves faces and he loves you and he knows your name.

Last week our branch of Montage talked about how the greatest challenge to people becoming Christians are Christians themselves. People look at church-goers, see that the way they live their life doesn’t line up with what they say they believe, and don’t want anything to do with the church or with Christianity. Today we will read of a man named Simon who “believed” in Jesus but whose life wasn’t transformed by Jesus. He had a belief, but not a saving, life changing belief…which is just a false belief. It’s the kind of belief that drives others away from Jesus rather than drawing them to Jesus.

We also get to see the genuine faith of Philip who let’s the Holy Spirit lead him, heal through him and speak through him. Philips’s faith sent him to Samaria (who were a hated people group) to tell them about Jesus. He cast out demons and healed people while telling them about Jesus and it brought great joy to the city. One man had faith that pointed people to Jesus, the other had a “faith” that wanted to glorify himself. These two are contrasted intentionally by our author Luke.

Let me be very clear. You can know the Bible, but if you don’t know Jesus, you don’t know the Bible. Jesus himself said that he came to fulfill all Scripture. He said that the Scripture was about him in John 5:39. “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!” Jesus himself taught a Bible study after he rose from death—two, in fact—at the end of the Gospel of Luke, showing how the whole Old Testament was about him.

The whole Bible is about Jesus. It’s all about Jesus. And they knew the text of the Bible, but they didn’t know the Bible because they didn’t know Jesus, and the whole Bible is about Jesus. And so what Stephen is doing is taking the Bible that they know and leading them to the Jesus that they do not know.

As we look at generosity in Acts 4 and 5, I’ve got six things for you that I want to look at today from this section of God’s word. I know you don’t want me to talk about money but that’s what we’re going to do because that’s what the Bible talks about in our section. It is for us, I think, perhaps along with sex, the most pervasive idol in our entire culture. “Don’t tell me what to do with my sexuality. Don’t tell me what to do with my finances. Those are mine.” Whatever the Bible has to say, those are the two areas where there’s the greatest resistance. We’re just going to drive right over that today. We’re going to look at what God’s word has to say about issues of stewardship, and greed versus generosity.

We fail, right? You fail. When’s the last time you failed? If you don’t know it, ask the person sitting next to you. If they’re married to you, they will have a lot of illustrations. We fail, right? How many of you don’t start with that? “Hi, my name’s so-and-so. Here’s my biggest failure.” How many of us don’t put that on our social media? “Oh, I failed again. Here’s a photo.” Not only do we fail but churches fail. Even well intentioned churches fail. The question is, what are you going to do? What are we going to do with the failure? That brings me to the big idea for the sermon today. It’s really on failure and calling.

And I want to start today with this story we’ve just heard read from Acts 4 because this passage clearly shows us the most fundamental truth about the Church; that it is founded on the power of relationships in a two-fold direction, if you like; a vertical relationship between the believers and God and a horizontal relationship – the believers with one another. This passage shows us really clearly that if we get our relationships right, then we will be able to be Church in a way that transforms ourselves and transforms the community in which we are located. Being effective and purposeful as a Church begins with getting our relationships right.

Today we are continuing in the narrative of a man born lame who Jesus’ Holy Spirit healed through Peter and John. This was such an undeniable miracle that a large crowed gathered. Peter “saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd”. The beginning of Acts 4 has some amazing insight, boldness, and encouragement that we can hold on to.

Here’s the story line and where we find ourselves. Jesus is God, come into history, lived without sin, he died on the cross, rose from the dead, ascended back into heaven, sent the Spirit to indwell and empower his people to continue his mission.

This includes, a little earlier in chapter 3, the healing of a man who was lame from birth. The question then is, What next? What happens after Jesus, who’s alive and well in heaven, ruling and reigning, shows up to do a healing here on the earth? We’re going to look at what happens in the wake of what Jesus does.

We read of what Jesus’ followers started doing by the power of the Holy Spirit to continue the ministry of Jesus. And one of the things that they did was healing. According to my reading this week, there are fourteen occurrences of healing in the book of Acts. So, in Acts 3:1–10, What you’re going to see here is the first healing that is recorded by Jesus’ people about the power of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. There are twenty-eight chapters in the book of Acts. Twelve of the twenty-eight chapters speak of somebody being physically healed supernaturally by Jesus’ power through the presence of the Holy Spirit. So, what I want to do today is I want to look at this particular healing, and then I want to look at the broad category of healing.

Jesus' Church is born when 3000 people start following him and it doesn't stop there. Every day more and more people start following Jesus. What did the early believers do? What did they devote themselves to? Well Acts 2:42 gives us 4 things that they devoted themselves to and we too should devote ourselves to them.

What does it mean that God "will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike—and they will prophesy." What does prophecy look like today and how should it be used? Let's dig in!

Acts 1-2 is exactly what we are praying for at Montage. Jesus is alive, the Holy Spirit fills all believers with power to be Jesus’ witnesses, the church is on the move with the good news of Jesus. Acts 1-2 teaches that the church is a movement made up of ordinary people, empowered by Jesus' Holy Spirit to tell the world about Jesus.

In Acts 2, Jesus’ promise is fulfilled: the Holy Spirit descends on his disciples, readying them to go and proclaim the gospel to all nations. He does this by giving them the gift of tongues, a symbol of the fact that barriers of location and language have now been removed. What is this gift? Can every Christian get it? Is it for today? I hope to teach a simple biblical perspective toady in such a way that, when tongues comes up again, we can come back here to reference this teaching. While we all have lenses we see life and read the bible through, I have been asking the Holy Spirit to help me simply read, understand and teach the bible, not anybody nor any denominations take on it. So let’s jump into the deep end!

This week we see the early church work through a leadership crisis. How will they select Judas' replacement? And what is the difference between 2 men. Peter and Judas, who both failed Jesus? One ended up taking their own life while the other ended up leading the early church. How did they end up in such different places? Listen to find out.

The first eleven verses of Acts that we’ll examine together today—every single one of them mentions Jesus. There is no Christianity without Christ. Jesus’ life and his power are not just to be admired; they’re also to be experienced. A non-Christian can look at Jesus’ life and Jesus’ power and admire it. Only a Christian can look at Jesus’ life and Jesus’ power and experience it. So how should we use this power the Holy Spirit that Jesus will give us? We should start by looking at Jesus to see how he used the power of the Holy Spirit.

Buckle up! Acts is such an amazing book to see God’s mission, through God’s people, filled with God’s power! I mean what a book to see God’s Kingdom spreading from Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the world. And that’s really the whole outline of Acts that comes directly from Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

At the end of the book of Mark you’ll find the account of Jesus appearing to his disciples after his death and resurrection. He leaves them with a motivating speech to preach the gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15). At first glance, quite satisfying. Jesus is alive and the way forward is clear.

But there’s a problem. Most scholars agree that this happy ending was a later addition, since it was not present in the earliest manuscripts. It seems that later scribes were uncomfortable with Mark’s inconclusive ending, so they provided an appropriate conclusion with what they knew had happened. (additions like this are extremely rare, and can easily be discerned from comparison with earlier manuscripts). So what’s the real conclusion to Mark’s Gospel—and does that change how we respond to it?

The highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Ultimate sacrifice. Ultimate love. I have spent countless hours studying and learning about the physical torture and humiliation that Jesus went through. Roman crucifixion was specifically designed to not just cause excruciating pain but soul crushing shame and humiliation. This time through Mark 15 the Lord is laying on me the weight of not the suffering, but the ONE who was suffering. Many other people suffered on a Roman cross. Others have been skinned alive, burned, tortured for their faith. An estimated 70 million Christians have been martyred for their faith. But this one…This lamb of God…This one is different.

One of the primary themes in the book of Mark is his focus on Jesus as a suffering servant. Maybe the most famous verse in this Bible book is Mark 10:45 where Jesus says, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus makes it very clear that he came to suffer, serve us, and give his life as a ransom for all who will turn from their sin and believe in him.

Peter thought that the Messiah would come and immediately rescue Israel from the oppression of the Romans. And he thought that a Messiah would do this through force. And then all of a sudden, he sees Jesus who he thought was a Messiah, he sees him get arrested, and then he sees Jesus not even fight back. And by the time that Peter sees Jesus on trial Peter begins to lose confidence in Jesus to be the Messiah he thought he was.

This week in Mark 14:12-26 we will look at the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, the beginning of communion, and the Passover meal. It will help if you have read Mark 14:12-26. In Mark’s traditional style, he cuts all the fluff out and just goes straight to the point he is trying to make…but for bonus content read John’s expanded account in his gospel chapter 13-16…AND for those who want to dig deeper and nerd out with me add in Exodus 12:1-30 where you can read about what Jesus and his disciples are celebrating at the Lord’s supper.

In Mark 14, as Jesus is just a couple of days away from His death on the cross, we get a vivid picture of what it looks like to be broken and poured out in our love and devotion and worship of Jesus. Mark deliberately places the stark contrast of the hate of the leading priests and the teachers of religious law with the love of Mary of Bethany followed again by the hate of Judas. He sandwiches them so that we might see their contrast. Like an artist, he draws together two lines of truth, taking that line of thought which centers around hate, and that which centers around love, and braiding them together.

Man, I’ll bet that when you read our verses you have some questions. Like: How can Jesus be God and not know when his 2nd coming will happen? Was Jesus wrong when he said in V30 that “this generation will not pass from the scene before all these things take place” because Jesus disciples are dead…and Jesus hasn’t come back yet. What is going on? We’ll get into some of that and hopefully come in for a landing focusing on verses 34-37 of Mark 13 and Verse 45-51 from Matthew 24 were we look at the instructions about the work we are to do while we wait for Jesus’ return.

Chapter 13 is a difficult text to interpret with faithful Bible believing teachers differing on the details. Some are convinced Jesus is only addressing the destruction of Jerusalem which took place in ad 70. Others are equally certain that he has in view the end of the age. I personally think there is a third and better understanding. Jesus does indeed address the imminent destruction of the temple and Jerusalem in AD70. And in doing so, he provides a preview of distant attractions: his second coming and the end of age.

The mission of God is for Him to be known. God’s desire to be known is an overarching theme through all of the bible. From creating Adam and Eve to have a unique relationship with him, to Abraham’s promise that his decedents (Jesus) will be a blessing to all people, to the tabernacle (God dwelling among his people), to Jesus being the visible expression of the invisible God, to Jesus restoring the broken relationship between humanity and the Father at the cross by becoming our sin, to heaven where every tribe nation and tongue get to spend eternity with God. All that evangelism is, is working with God to accomplish his goal to be known and to be with his people. It’s helping others know this amazing God that you know. This Sunday we will work through a few ways to have gospel conversations with the people God has put around us.

We’re about to look at a passage where Jesus watches people giving. He watches what they give and how they give. If nothing else, this passage is going to show us that Jesus is watching what we give and how we give. He’s watching us, not like a heavenly policeman who’s making sure we do things right. He’s watching us because he loves us and wants the best for us.

Let’s set up this story. This is Tuesday of the week when Jesus is going to be betrayed on Thursday and crucified on Friday by groups of people who were working against him. These groups have coordinated efforts to pepper him with questions, all with the intent of trapping Jesus and trying to bring him down. At the end of our last study, we read that after Jesus’ responses, no one dared to ask him any more questions, at which point Jesus decided that he was going to ask a question of his own.

We believe that every word of the Bible is important like 1 Timothy 3:16-17 says. That is part of the reason why we go through books of the Bible and read every word. We also know that there are some scriptures that carry more weight. So, today we want to dig into some of the most important verses in our Bible. Granted there are many more verses that could make this list (I'm sorry if your favorite didn't make it) but we want to study these weighty verses and apply these to our lives.

What a text we’re about to dive into. We’re going to read one of the most important, central and foundational texts in the entire Bible. I can’t wait to dive into it because, as foundational as this is, I’m convinced that many people who call themselves Christians are missing it, either completely or missing the wonder of what it means and how it totally transforms our lives, our families and our purpose in the world.

One day, for all who trust in Jesus, we will come home at last to our real country, the country where we belong, the land we’ve been looking for all our lives. We realize the things you and I love most about this world, the earthly pleasures we experience for a time here, will indeed have been just a shadow, a foretaste, of heavenly pleasures we will enjoy forever.

Don't miss this week. We have some cool things too talk about and pray over. Leading into our gathering time we wanted to share our mission vision and values.

Here we go into another political season. Everyone seems to have an opinion about the government, but too often we disconnect our view of the government from the teaching of God’s Word. Often it seems as though Christians put their hope in elections to make everything better instead of putting their hope in Jesus. Don’t hear me wrong, we need to vote and be involved in government but we fail to ask some important questions like, What obligations and responsibilities do Christians have toward the government? How do we relate to government and those who govern us? Should we submit to government or challenge it? Do we obey it or change it? Or both? Or neither? What if we don’t agree with our government? What if we are persecuted by our government? Is it ever right to disobey or defy government? If so, when?

This week in Mark 11:27-12:12 Jesus and his disciples “again entered Jerusalem.” Jesus had just entered Jerusalem on “Palm Sunday”, looked around the temple and left, went back the next morning and turned over the tables and talked about what was wrong with Israel’s worship, then left. That was Monday. Now it’s Tuesday and by Friday he will be on the cross. Today he’s back in the city and is confronted by the ruling Jewish religious authority (the leading priests, teachers of religious law and elders). Their question? Who in the heck do you think you are?

Israel had all the trappings of religion: crowds of people, the Word of God, the worship of God, offerings, all kinds of religious activity. They had all these things, but they were missing God, like a fig tree missing figs. Is it possible for crowds of people to assemble, hear his Word, do what they call worship and other religious activity, but actually miss God? Is that possible today? I think the glaring answer is YES! We can be just like these religious people busy with religious activity but miss the whole point- GOD!

What a beautiful and stunning picture of Jesus our humble king. Glory, fanfare, worship…riding on a donkey towards his death on the cross ahead. Jesus is different than any other religious leader, yes mostly because of his resurrection but also his life.

Last week we talked about extraordinary prayer. Taking what is ordinary prayer to you and adding something extra. This week we get to see that “extra” prayer does not necessitate time. We encountered blind Bartimaeus in our bibles today. As so many others we have already read about, his prayer is not one of length or many words, but of desperation and faith. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” was his cry. He approached with humility and confidence.

Everything begins with prayer. Jesus tells us to make disciples…but who? Where? How? There are so many people in our neighborhood, valley, city, and WORLD! It can all seem overwhelming. How do I pick who? And once I have, how do I actually disciple them? Welp, it starts with extraordinary prayer…which really means you take how you currently pray…and add a little extra…then it is “extra ordinary.” Don’t get overwhelmed by this like all of a sudden you have to pray 4+ hours every day…think just one small step forward in prayer.

We are at the defining verse of the book of Mark and the verse that turns Christianity into the gospel; “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Before the crown there is a cup of wrath. Before the blessings there is a baptism of suffering. Jesus explains in detail what lies ahead of him; betrayal, mocking, spitting, flogging, and death. But through the cup and the baptism, after three days, he will rise again!

Today we dive into a sensitive topic that causes grief, sorrow, soul searching, and hurt. Divorce and remarriage have affected almost everyone. In fact, about 40-50% of first marriages end in divorce. Both my wife and I come from families whose parents got divorced so this is not a topic I enter lightly. I hope to talk about divorce with the heart of Jesus that always pairs love, compassion and truth together. I pray that this study lands on humble hearts with truth and compassion. We won’t have time to dig into all the bible has to say but I am including a study sheet of all the places in the bible that discuss marriage and divorce. I would encourage you to dig and study and pray AND to do it with someone else in your spiritual family. Sometimes our emotions, trauma, and past experiences can skew how we interpret the bible and having another person there who loves you and loves Jesus can help balance your study. Prayerfully that is what we can do some of together today.

Here is the study: https://DivorceAndRemarriage

Jesus, on the road to his death, about to leave these guys in charge of God’s eternal plan of salvation, now has his disciples arguing about who is the greatest among them. Notice something very significant about that. He did not on this or on any other occasion rebuke them for wanting to be greatest. God has somehow built into every human heart the desire to succeed at whatever we do, in whatever terms we may conceive success to lie. He did not rebuke them, for this is part of our humanity -- to want to succeed, to be the greatest. What he did do was to tell them the true way to greatness. "Whoever wants to be first,” he says, “must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”

We have been working our way through UP, IN and OUT; Worship, community and mission. We believe that those three elements are the minimum of what makes a church a church. If you have those three things centered around Jesus, you are a church. If you miss any one of them you aren’t a biblical church. We worked our way through UP and OUT and this month we are going to dig into IN: Community.

HERE is the worksheet for IN

I can only imagine what Peter, James, and John felt as the had their own moment of holy encounter when Jesus transformed before their very eyes and was joined by Moses and Elijah. It is almost like a glimpse behind the curtain of flesh and blood to see Jesus in all his glory. Things are not always as they seem. Looks can be deceiving. Never was this more true than when the Son of God left heaven and came to earth, when “the Word became human and made his home among us.” (John 1:14), When all the fullness of God came to live in a human body (Col 2:9). When the essence of God “did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. He appeared in human form (Phil 2:6-7). The transfiguration of Jesus confirms that, despite having the outward appearance or a mere mortal man, Jesus is in His nature and essence God. God in a bod.

Mark 8:1-30 parallels Mark 6:30-7:37. Feeding a great multitude; boat trip; confrontation with the Pharisees; conversation about bread; miraculous healing; significant confession (that we will get into in 2 weeks). I think Mark presents things in this order for 2 reasons. One is obvious: because that’s how it happened. Second is for discipleship. Remembering what God has done in the past should help us trust him with our present and future. Unfortunately we are sometimes hard hearted, blind, and deaf just like the disciples.

Jesus explains what the normal Christian life looks like and what it means to follow a King who came to die and serve, who calls his followers to die and serve as well. This section answers 3 main questions: Who is Jesus? Why did he come? What is my response?

God is calling us to be a part of a discipleship making movement, taking the gospel to the people around us, and seeing the next microchurch emerge from within those people. Here at Montage we talk a lot about what the heck we are supposed to be doing as a church. What is our mission? For that matter, what makes a church a church? We say that the three essential elements we MUST have are Up, In, and Out. Worship, Community and Mission. We dug into “worship” last month, this month we are digging into “Mission” and “Community” is on deck.

Jesus is launching a global movement for every nation and language of people. He goes out of his way to move toward people who need to hear and experience the gospel. It’s worth pausing and asking: If you could look at a relational map of all the people you encountered this past week, what would the map look like? Whom did you help move towards the gospel? Whom did you take the gospel to? Did you only connect with people who believe what you believe?

You just read a weird and potentially upsetting chunk of scripture. Here is a hurting mom coming to Jesus for help. Sure she is from a different people group…but calling her a dog? That seems a bit harsh if not outright racist.

In these videos I’m trying to give you background and context but not all the answers. I believe that the Holy Spirit will illuminate the bible for us as we discuss it in our microchurch. So let me do that here for you.

This is such an amazing chunk of scripture that has deep connections to the Exodus in the Old Testament as well as looking forward to things to come. It highlights Jesus as the provider, the fulfillment of Messianic expectations, and the embodiment of the Good Shepherd. It also points forward to Communion and underscores the significance of spiritual nourishment through Jesus, all in 14 verses!

We see two main personalities in our bible today. One, Herod a politician, who tried to please everybody and in doing so stood for nothing. The other, John the Baptizer, who stood for what he believed even if it cost him his freedom and his life. Yes, John lost his life. Yes, Herod was a successful political ruler who got ahead in this world. But when we put on an eternal perspective, John gained everything and Herod lost everything. The struggles, persecution, and injustice in this world are temporary. God promises that true and full justice WILL come.

Today we are jumping into what makes a church a church. Here at Montage we believe the bible teaches that the three fundamental elements that make up a church are “up, in and out” “Worship, Community and Mission”. The church exists in the overlap and balance of those three elements. Worship is moving from unbelief to belief in Jesus in every area of life. (Romans 12:1-2). Community is living out the “one another” commands on a daily basis and living into our connection to the larger body. Mission is making new disciples (Matthew 28:18-20) and making the Kingdom tangible (Matthew 6:10) in our network of relationships. For each of the next three months we are going to tackle one of these three topics and do a little bit more of a deep dive. This month we will focus on what the bible (and we) means when it talks about WORSHIP.

Ministry changes this week in Mark 6:7-13. Up to this point Jesus was the one doing all the ministry. Now, Jesus sends his disciples out two by two to do ministry. He called them to himself, has spent about a year training them, and now it's time to send them out for a test run. He will follow up with how it goes for them in a few verses to see how it goes and refine their ministry. We as disciples can sometimes get stuck in one phase of this discipleship process without progressing. We can just come to Jesus for salvation and not learn and grow in training from him. We can learn and get trained but never step out and actually put it into practice. And we can try to do ministry but not bring it back before Jesus to evaluate. So where are you in this process and how can you move forward to the next phase?

Homefield advantage is a real thing. However, this week Jesus experiences just the opposite. He returns home to Nazareth only to find unbelief in the people he grew up around. Perhaps it's that familiarity breeds contempt, but despite an abundance of evidence, these people don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah. We are told that Jesus couldn't do many miracles because of their unbelief. That is super challenging to me personally because I have only seen a few miracles in my life. How do you think our unbelief limits God's desire to do the miraculous today? How can we grow our belief to see God move unhindered among us?

Desperate Faith. This week we see two very different people come to Jesus for help. They could not be more different: One is important, central in community, young. The other is an outcast, old, isolated. But both are desperate for Jesus to heal. Jesus responds to their desperate faith just as Jesus responds to our desperate faith. I pray that you get desperate and hungry for Jesus. So desperate that you don't care what others think about you, desperate enough to pray with a new fervency, to worship with a new depth, to serve with a new love. That's right where Jesus meets you in your faith.

There are not-so-subtle political undertones in Mark 5:1-20. Today we will view how Jesus casting a legion of demons out of a man connects to politics, our mission and our message.

This is one of the most misapplied sections of our Bible. When we see Jesus asleep in a boat, a huge storm sweep in, and then he calms the waves and the wind, the point is not that Jesus can calm the storms of you life. Rather the main point is that Jesus is fully human (asleep) and fully God (calming the storm). Mark writes the story intentionally to mirror the story of Jonah. See if you can find the parallels as you read Mark 4:35-41.

Jesus tells three more parables today. The Kingdom of God will grow in our world AND we have a responsibility to share the light of Jesus and prepare our hearts for God to move.

4 guidelines to help you discern Jesus' calling for you. Make sure to download the printable worksheet to accompany the video here.

As we gather our microchurches together this month we will be diving into Spiritual Disciplines. I know that doesn't sound sexy but spiritual disciplines are some of the best ways to grow our relationship with Jesus. While there is no formula to force that to happen, there are principles we can incorporate into our lives.

Get the Spiritual Disciplines Worksheet here.

Most Christians don't share the good news about Jesus. There are many reasons ranging from fear, to apathy, to lack of training and understanding. Today we are going help with those things. What would you actually say if you were going to share the good news about Jesus with one of the unsaved people you have been praying for? The Gospel can seem overly complicated and it’s hard to know what to say and what not to say. Today we are going to boil the gospel down to its most essential elements.

You can download the Gospel worksheet that goes with this video from our website at www.MontageMico.Church.

Welcome back! This week we are getting into what a "normal" Montage gathering can look like. We will be starting our journey through the book of Mark. You will want a pen, paper and your bible.

Week 3 video for Montage Microchurches

Week 4 for Montage Microchurches

How do you keep Jesus as the center of your whole life?

Kids Lesson:

• Play a game of "Simon Says".

• Wouldn't it be cool if we could play "Simon Says" with trees and the flu? "Simon says tree fall over...flu go away."

• We can't do that but Jesus can!

• Write or draw a picture of what you would like Jesus do to help someone.

Even though a full on revival is happening in Capernaum, Jesus knows there are other people who need to meet him. He chooses to move forward so that a social outcast can experience the power of God and meet Jesus face to face.

This week we see four friends carry their paralyzed friend onto a roof and lower him on a mat right in front of Jesus. Jesus' response is to prove that he can forgive sins buy healing the paralyzed man. Do you have friends who you desperately need to get in front of Jesus so they can be forgiven? How can you do that in practical ways?

The Fosbury Flop was a whole new way to approach the high jump in the 1968 Olympics. In a similar way, Jesus ushered in a whole new way of approaching God the father. The Old Covenant was replaced with the New Covenant and the New Covenant is so much better!

Are you in the crowd or the called? How can you take an honest look at your life to discern where you land? I pray Jesus uses this video to convict and/or encourage you to join the called.

This week I want to give you a tool to help you live out being in the called group and sharing Jesus: Ledged, Liar, Lunatic or Lord. Those are the only options. Is Jesus a legend, just some made up fairytale? Or perhaps he knew he was just a man, but was history’s best con man getting people to believe he was God. Or if neither of those are right, maybe he really believed he was God’s son but wasn’t – making him just like any other mentally disturbed person who has made such claims. However, if none of those three makes sense, then it leaves just one option left: That Jesus truly is God’s son and Lord of all.

Jesus talks about the 4 different soils we are as people. He gives some fairly clear indicators to help identify which soil you are. Join us today as we try to place ourselves and grow to be good soil for the gospel.