Message Us!

Is there a difference between hearing God's Word and truly listening to it? This powerful message explores Acts 13:13-52, revealing how our engagement with Scripture determines its impact on our lives.

Pastor Chris begins by challenging us to examine our tendency to passively hear rather than actively listen, using Abraham Lincoln's wisdom that listening carefully trumps speaking eloquently. Through Paul's sermon at Antioch in Pisidia, we discover three crucial elements required for transformative listening: remembrance, recognition, and response.

When we remember that history has divine purpose—that God actively worked through Israel's story from the patriarchs through King David—we understand that events aren't random but divinely directed. Every moment in history points toward Jesus, giving our own stories profound meaning within God's redemptive narrative.

True listening also requires recognizing Jesus as the promised Messiah. Paul demonstrates how Christ fulfilled hundreds of detailed prophecies—an astronomical mathematical impossibility unless Jesus truly is who He claimed to be. The resurrection stands as the cornerstone of this truth, with eyewitness testimony that changed the course of history.

Most critically, genuine listening demands response. The gospel offers forgiveness that the law could never provide, but it also brings warning—you can love Christ and follow Him joyfully, or reject Him and face judgment, but neutrality is impossible. The contrasting reactions of Jews and Gentiles in Antioch demonstrate these stark alternatives.

This message strikes at the heart of superficial Christianity. Do we walk away from sermons nodding in agreement but unchanged? Or does our encounter with God's Word lead to transformation that lasts beyond Sunday morning? The gospel welcomes everyone—regardless of background, ethnicity, or past—but it requires more than passive acknowledgment.

Whether you're questioning faith or have heard sermons for decades, today is the day to truly listen. The eternal King invites your response. What will yours be?

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