What are you looking for in a church?
And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles (Acts 2:42-43 ESV)
What are you looking for in a church? What is your church about? What do y’all do? These are questions I’ve asked or been asked by people that are checking out Hope. We live in a culture that values church but has a variety of flavors and definitions of what a church looks, feels, and sounds like. Driving around town I must have seen at least 3 advertisements for different churches. And if we aren’t careful, we will begin to define church not by what the scriptures display that it is, but what we want, what we are comfortable with, what we grew up with, or what seems "to work."
- Andy Wulff
Theology of the Spirit
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4 ESV)
As Luke began his retelling of the early church, he points out that this is the continued works of Jesus. In a sense, it’s Luke’s Gospel - Part 2. But there is another major actor in this book. Throughout the book, the Holy Spirit plays a major role beginning on the day of Pentecost. With dramatic fashion, He comes onto the scene in a powerful way.
- Andy Wulff
The Resurrection A Weekly Reality
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. - (Colossians 3:1-2 ESV)
- Andy Wulff
Ready, Set, . . .
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
- Andy Wulff
Pentecost - A Pivotal Moment
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. (Acts 2:22-24 ESV)
If you were to pick out 5-10 events across biblical history to capture the most important storylines of the Bible, what would they be? Creation? The Exodus? Mount Sinai? David’s coronation? The fall of Jerusalem? The incarnation? The Cross? If I were making the list, I think Pentecost would make it. It’s a pivotal moment. It was predicted. And its effects continue to be seen and felt over 2,000 years later. But what makes it so important?- Andy Wulff
Rejection, Deconstruction, & Restoration Project
One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed. (John 18:26-27 ESV)
He had been the outspoken leader. Brash, vocal, violent, even unruly could have described Peter. But in that moment, he was overwhelmed with fear. If we had declared Peter's same love and admiration for the man he had followed for three years, would we react the same way and face the same fate? But in the moment he heard the rooster, his fear turned to humiliation. His bold
- Andy Wulff
