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Dan Burleson is our guest speaker today.  Dan is an Associate Pastor at Cornerstone Community Church in Atascadero.  This morning he will walk us through one of David's writings, Psalm 40, talking about how God helps us in our time of need, while we are in the pit, waiting for deliverance.

As we experience a unique time in recent history with the pandemic of COVID-19, we have the opportunity to ask questions that we probably haven't consider much before.  One of the biggest questions is "Why?".  Why is all the toilet paper gone?  Why is this happening?  Why has God allowed it? The answer to these questions and more cause us to wrestle with what our lives are all about - what we live for, what gives us hope.  The answer to these questions is found in the person of Jesus.  His coming, His dying and His resurrection give us a reason to live.  We have peace, we have hope, we have life because He lives.

Lincoln, Roosevelt, Mother Theresa, Ronald Reagan, Queen Elizabeth.  When we hear names like these, we can't help but have a certain amount of awe and respect for the power that they hold.  But there is a name that is above every name.  The name of Jesus. Continuing our study in Acts, we see Paul preaching and performing miracles in the name of Jesus.  Some people tried to imitate Paul by using the name of Jesus for their own means.  The problem is that Jesus is not someone to be used to our own advantage, rather, as we put our faith in His name, He informs us of God's Kingdom, transforms our hearts and minds and conforms us into His image.

Do we know the treasure we have in Jesus?  Do we know the full story of the Gospel?  Do we understand what it truly means to be a child of God? As we continue our study in the book of Acts, we need to ask ourselves if we have a complete understanding of our faith.  Paul encounters 12 men who appear to be followers of Jesus, but they don't have the whole story of the Gospel yet.

As our world lives in fear of a virus spreading around the globe, the church is called to have a faith that is viral.  The hope we have in Jesus is not something that we should be apathetic about.  We need to live a faith that is inviting and intentional as we share the Good News we have in Christ.

Do you like to be in control or in charge?  Many of us want control, but hesitate to be "in charge" of anything.  We don't want that kind of authority not wanting to be the center of attention.  In life we want to know who IS in charge, especially when everything around us seems to be falling apart. In Acts 18, we follow the Apostle Paul in the middle of such a situation.  Knowing Paul's fear and doubt, Jesus brought him an encouraging word to not be afraid and to know that He was with him.  Those same words should be encouraging to us as well.  We learn that Jesus' authority is Chief, Constant, Comforting and Compassionate.

Have you ever fallen victim to "false advertising"?  Buying something based on a flashy add, only to find that it wasn't what you thought it would be? In Acts 18, the Apostle Paul found himself in the city of Corinth, known for its immorality and corruption.  He presented a clear Gospel to those gathered in the synagogue, only to have them reject his message and revile the name of Jesus.  Paul shook off the dust off his clothes and told them that their blood was on their own heads.  From then on he went to the Gentiles to share the Good News. We are challenged to share a clear Gospel with anyone God and to not sugar-coat it.  We must understand that some will reject our message, while others will receive it.  It is not up to us to decide who will and who won't.  We must simply be faithful to share it with all.

We hear from Brian and Bailey Pruett, Harbor missionaries to the Philippines with Ethnos360.  Brian shares with us about the team that it takes to be the Church.  We are all called to serve God's Kingdom by sharing the Good News, but for each person they play a different part.  Some will be called to teach, to evangelize, to plant, while others will fill the role of supporters.  Regardless of what your role is, each person is vital to the mission.

How knowable are you?  Would you say people generally know you or that you are a mystery to them? Many people view God as a great, unknowable mystery.  In Acts 17, Paul enters Athens and comes upon an altar to a "unknown god".  He uses this as an opportunity to introduce them to the One True God who is not only knowable, but has shown His love and grace to all mankind in a very personal way. We cover two ways that Paul shows that God is knowable:  1) God is knowable through His Creation, and 2) God is knowable through His Son.  The question is do we hunger to know God?  Do we see His truth, grace and love through His Creation, and, more importantly through His Son, Jesus?

The Bible is an incredible treasure!  We have unprecedented access to the Word of God today, yet we often don't appreciate how amazing it is that we have the very words of our Lord. In Acts 17, Paul and Silas encounter another group of Jews and God-fearing Gentiles who are eager to hear the Gospel message.  But these Bereans don't just receive the message, they test it against the Old Testament.  They daily examined the Scriptures to see if what Paul was saying was true.  When they confirmed that the Jesus Paul preached matched the description of the prophesied Messiah spoken of, many of them believed. The Bereans set an example for all Christians to follow.  We should examine the Scriptures eagerly.  we should examine the Scriptures carefully.  We should examine the Scriptures together.  We should examine the Scriptures daily.  How are you handling God Word?  It is our prayer that you would hunger and thirst for it much like the Bereans did long ago.

What does associating with Jesus mean to you?  How does our relationship with Christ and other Christians affect the way we are thought of by others? We continue our Awaken series in the book of Acts with a look at how the Gospel spread to Thessalonica.  It this ancient Greek city a group of new believers would suffer for associating with Paul and Silas, and for their faith in Jesus Christ.  We ask the question of how we will share in the identity, fellowship, suffering and kingdom of Christ.

Wrapping up Acts 16, we take a look at Paul & Silas' release from prison after an eventful 24 hours.  It is a reminder to us of how much can happen in our lives in such a short period of time.  We have a God who is not bound by time but is sovereign over all things.  Upon their release, Paul pointed out an egregious error that had been made by the Roman authorities because he and Silas were Roman citizens.  But Paul was not trying to restore honor to his own name, but rather to the name of Jesus.  We are reminded to live our lives in such a way as to bring honor to our Lord and Savior in all things we do.

In part 2 of our stories of Gospel, we look at the story of the jailer who found himself on his knees before two of his prisoners - Paul and Silas.  After having been unjustly beaten the thrown into jail, Paul and Silas spend the night praying and singing praises to God.  After a violent earthquake opens the doors to their freedom, Paul and Silas stay put in order to save the jailer's life and show him the way to eternal salvation. Like the jailer, we can find deliverance through the Gospel from Darkness to Light and from Death to Life.

We continue our Awaken Series in the book of Acts with a look at three stories of deliverance in the Good News of Jesus.  As Paul and his companions ministered in the city of Philippi, Greece, they encounter a girl who is a slave and possessed by a demon that gave her the ability to divine the future.  After repeated confrontations, Paul finally commands the demon to come out of the girl. In this slave girl's story we are reminded that the Gospel delivers us from bondage to belonging and from fear to freedom.  We are also reminded of the power and authority of Jesus in our lives to overcome sin and death through His own death and resurrection.

Picking up our Awaken Series in the book of Acts, we look at Paul moving on in his 2nd Missionary Journey.  But as he and his company head out towards their destinations, they are met with closed doors as God prevents them from going where they intended.  Instead, God guides them to new places beyond where they ever imagined going.  There they encountered surprising people who were open to the Gospel message. As we begin 2020, we likely have plans to do certain things and go certain places.  But we may run into obstacles, road blocks along the way.  We may even have God prevent us going where we plan to go.  The question is will we trust God in the doors that He closes and the detours He takes us on?

As we prepare to enter a new year, we are encouraged to reassess our priorities.  For some it will be to get healthier, others to spend more time with family and friends, and still others to accomplish some goal. The days and years that followed Jesus' birth were filled with a wondering of what would be next.  For Mary and Joseph, they raised Jesus as best as they knew how.  But quickly they realized that Jesus' purpose on earth was way beyond their understanding.  Jesus, Himself, told them that He had to be about His Father's business. What will 2020 look like for you?  What will be your priorities this year?  How can you be about the Father's business with your time, resources and energy?

Part 3 of our Prepare Him Room series focuses on two very different individuals who were part of Jesus' birth and life - John the Baptist and King Herod.  You would be hard-pressed to find two more different people, yet both of them played a crucial role in the Christmas narrative.  John was the forerunner of Christ, while Herod was threatened by the new-born King. We are challenged by what it means to prepare room for Jesus with our voices and on our thrones.  How is your voice being used to declare the Good News?  How have you made room in your kingdom for the King of kings?

Part 2 of our Prepare Him Room series takes us through the story of the Shepherds and the Magi.  Both of these groups received miraculous invitations through a host of angels and a mysterious star that guided them to Jesus. We are challenged with the idea of what it means to prepare room for Jesus with our hands, feet and gifts as we look at this part of the Christmas story.  Where are our feet taking us for Jesus?  How are our hands being used for Christ?  How are your gifts being used to build others up?

We begin a brief series for the Christmas season entitled Prepare Him Room.  In it we will look at six different individuals or groups of people with the Advent story of Jesus' birth.  We will ask the question of how are we preparing room for Jesus in our lives. This week we look at the lives of Zechariah and Mary and how they prepared their minds and hearts for the miraculous birth of both John and Jesus.  In it we are challenged to prepare our minds by not allowing our circumstances to outweigh God's sovereignty.  We are also challenged to prepare our hearts by trusting in the perfect words of God whose love never fails.

Who are the people that God has placed on the path of your spiritual journey?  Who has gone before you?  who is walking beside you?  Who is following behind you? As we continue our look at the book of Acts, we see the apostle Paul embarking on his second missionary journey, but he doesn't go alone.  He took Silas from Jerusalem and Timothy from Lystra to accompany him and minister along side him.  We learn from this partnership in the Gospel, the importance of not going it alone in our faith.  God will provide people before, beside and behind us.  The question is are we aware of who those people are?  Are we intentionally engaging with them or are we unaware of the gifts of these people that God has given us?