This Sunday’s sermon was called “Unintimidated”. In Acts 4:32-37, we see the fruit of the collective praying of the early church disciples. The number of the disciples had been growing rapidly. There were now at least 5000 of them (Acts 4:4). With that growth, there came an increased opposition from the temple leaders. The chief priests, the Sadducees, and the temple guard arrested Peter and John and threatened them. Their goal was to stomp out this fast-spreading fire quickly. They hoped to do what they had done earlier. Fill the disciples with fear and watch them scatter. Instead, the opposite happened.

The church immediately went to prayer (Acts 4:23-31). As a response to prayer, the Holy Spirit filled them and the place where they were gathered was shaken. Interestingly, the Holy Spirit didn’t change the religious leaders' threats. The Holy Spirit changed the church. What the Lord intended was to create a community that had fear-resistant characteristics. The community was now characterized by something that the fear of man could not threaten. We studied how the Holy Spirit uses the gospel to produce in us the opposite of what fear intends to produce and that creates a community that cannot be intimidated. Pray for God to build these characteristics into our lives at Waterbrooke Church and to build a movement of grace that reaches far beyond the walls of our church building.

Thank you for listening today, friends. If you want to connect with me or our church, go to waterbrooke.church and click contact Us.

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This Sunday, we examined the subject of praying for courage as we seek to share the hope of Jesus with others.

In Acts 4, Peter and John are remarkably bold in speaking about Christ to the religious leaders who are threatening them. These are the very same religious leaders who had recently arranged and successfully carried out the crucifixion of Jesus.

The boldness of the disciples was not natural.

It was supernatural. The timid Galilean disciples had recently fled in fear. Now, they faced the threats of the religious leaders with amazing courage (Acts 4:13). So much so, that even their enemies were blown away. What we see after this, however, is that Peter and John immediately went back to the others and they joined together in prayer. No bravado. No “We showed them!” No post-touchdown taunting in the end zone. Courage required the help of the community, and specifically, the help of a community on its knees. Courage in evangelism is a gift from God. Let’s learn how "Praying Together for Courage" (our sermon title) is one of the core privileges God has given us as His people with one another. Let's worship our King Jesus. Remember, He reigns!

Pastor Kevin Dibbley

To find out more about Waterbrooke Church, please go to www.waterbrooke.church.

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled "Uncommon Courage." If there is any chapter that indicates a radical shift in the lives of Jesus’ disciples, it's Acts 4. Luke writes in Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” The religious leaders were astonished at the change in Peter and John! They had gone from fearful cowards to openly courageous evangelists. This Sunday, we will looked at how the Holy Spirit transforms God’s people so that we can’t help but share the greatest part of our lives – Jesus, crucified, risen, and reigning! Let’s pray for Holy Spirit birthed boldness for each of us as we seek to be God’s witnesses to a world in need of Jesus!

Pastor Kevin Dibbley

We would love to invite you to join us on Sundays at 9 & 11. Go to Waterbrooke.church and click "Plan a Visit"

The gospel is not just the announcement of sin being forgiven. It is the glorious news of God’s cosmic restoration project. For our world where sin and war and trauma and brokenness dominate the horizons of our lives, the gospel is really gloriously good news.

Come as we listen to the apostle Peter preach his second sermon in the book of Acts and as he announces how great the good news is and how we can be a part of it as His people. Our sermon is called Repentance and Restoration. Join us on Sundays at 9 and 11. Pray and bring a friend.

Plan a visit by going to waterbrooke.church

When Christ takes hold of our hearts, the Holy Spirit doesn’t produce a reluctantly obedient group of people who are dutifully carrying out a list of religious behaviors. The Holy Spirit creates a new community with a shared passion for Christ and the kingdom of God. Life in the Spirit flows out into life in community with God’s people. It is supernaturally “natural” for Christ followers to want to do life together.

This explains why genuine Christians often struggle. The busyness and noise of life often work in counter purposes to what our new covenant hearts desire and what the Spirit is calling us to – a deeper relationship with God through deeper relationships with one another.

Come as we witness in Acts 2 how the Holy Spirit produces a deep devotion to growing and going together as God’s new temple community. We are His temple indwelled by His Spirit and His Spirit builds His church by bringing us to share life in Christ together.

If you are in Christ and the Spirit of Christ resides in you this is what you were made for – Life Together. Pray for a real work of grace in all of us as we meet and worship our Lord and King together.

This Sunday we studied one of the most exciting passages and important passages in the New Testament. Acts 2 records the crucial event of Pentecost. God Himself shows up big time and the trajectory of human history is now and forever changed. God is here. God is on the move. God will extend his reign to the ends of the earth. Pentecost is the biggest game-changer for the church and its mission after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. God’s blatant determination to usher in an age of global advancement of His kingdom has now been placed directly upon His own shoulders. Aslan is on the move! Come and be encouraged this Sunday as we consider the historical and missional implications of Pentecost. Our sermon is called – "Pentecost: When God Came to Stay". Pray that God would grip our hearts with His unfailing commitment to claim the nations and to claim our lives for His glory. We are celebrating the Lord’s Supper this week. Pray for hearts that are receptive to His Holy Spirit as we worship the King together.

This Sunday’s message is called “Waiting on God Together.” Jesus gave his disciples clear directions when He ascended to the throne of heaven. His charge to them was that they were to go to Jerusalem and wait for God to send the promised Holy Spirit. So, 120 disciples gathered together in an upper room and waited together. We often are placed by God in seasons of waiting. Some of those seasons are longer than others. For those of us who aren’t good at waiting patiently (which is most of us), it can feel like we have been put in “time-out” by our heavenly Father. We cry out with the Psalmist, “How long, O Lord?” (Psalm 13:1). What the Book of Acts teaches is that waiting on the Lord is meant to be a regular discipline of the Christian life and the local church. In Acts, a pattern begins to form where we find God’s people gathering together and waiting for God to work in them and through them by the power of the Holy Spirit especially when they are facing hostility and opposition to their mission. Whether you find yourself in a season of waiting on God because of health, work, or relational challenges or whether you are finding it hard to slow down and wait on the Lord, this Sunday’s passage in Acts 1:12-26 will be helpful for all of us. We need to learn to wait on God and we need to learn to do it together as God’s people.

Join us on Sundays at 9 & 11 as we worship together! We would love to see you there.

This Sunday, we BEGAN a new series in the book of Acts. The book of Acts is a careful recording of the advancement of the kingdom of God into the Gentile world despite hostility and hardship. We constantly need to be encouraged and reminded that the mission of God happens through the unlikeliest of people (ie., Saul of Tarsus) in some of the most hostile environments. This happens precisely because our God reigns. Where are some of the hardest places that we least expect the gospel to advance? Who are you least hopeful would respond to the message of Christ? Waterbrooke Church’s mission statement is this: Waterbrooke seeks to be a gospel-centered multi-ethnic family that is captivated by Jesus, compelled to love others, and called to make disciples to the glory of God. What brings more glory to God than the salvation of the least likely people and peoples? Would you pray for yourself and our church community that we would grow in our confidence in God and His gospel? Take a little time and think about hard and seemingly impossible people or people groups and begin to ask the question, “Is anything too hard for our God?” Acts is a book intended to fuel the mission of the gospel to the ends of the earth. It’s designed to show us that nothing is too difficult for our God and King. The series is called “No Other Name.” The message this week is entitled “The Ascended King”. Luke begins his gospel with Jesus ascended and seated upon the throne. That’s the truth that drives global and local missions. Let’s start praying for a fresh movement of God for the salvation of our neighbors and the nations.

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