Sunday Morning Podcast | The Moody Church

Who truly holds the power? The risen Christ, who frees captives and transforms lives.  Acts 16:16–40   A Theological Contest • Who is the Most High God? • What is the way of salvation?   A Trial of Powers • Jesus is Lord of all.   A Triumph of the Gospel • Jesus is Savior of all.   Takeaway: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

When God shuts doors, are you left lost—or are you being led? Acts 16 shows how open hands, open doors, and open hearts point to God’s call.  Acts 16:6–15  The Instrument Principle • God uses those with open hands. • Will I trust God and put my “yes” on the table?  The Invitation Principle • God leads us through open doors. • Will I step out in faith and answer the call?  The Interest Principle • God focuses us on open hearts. • Will I lean in where the Lord is working?  The Influence Principle • God changes our world as we open up. • Will I leverage my sphere of influence for Jesus?

When should Christians fight, and when should they let go? Acts 15–16 shows how gospel clarity and gospel charity together strengthen the church and advance the mission. Acts 15:36–16:5 Paul and Barnabas• Godly people will still have real disagreements. Timothy and the Jews• Godly people choose to pick their battles wisely. Conflict and the Gospel• Gospel Perspective• Gospel Posture• Gospel Priority Takeaway: “In essentials, unity, in non-essentials, liberty, in all things, charity.” —Rupertus Meldenius

Is Jesus enough? Acts 15 reveals how grace, not law, welcomes outsiders and transforms hearts by faith alone in Christ alone.Acts 15:1–35   Jesus is the only and all-sufficient grounds of our salvation. The Controversy• Adding to the Gospel:Jesus + Circumcision + Law-keeping = Salvation  The Consensus• Drawing out the implications of the Gospel:Grace + Spirit + Word=Love  The Clarification• Transforming hearts by the Gospel:Grace + Spirit + Word=Love of God and Others  Takeaway: Jesus + Nothing = Everything

Acts 14:1–28 Following Jesus means facing conflict and cost. Acts 14 reveals how God brings lasting fruit through bold faith and shared mission. Five truths that prepare us to step out for Jesus:1: Face the Battle2: Let God Fight3: Keep Your Head4: Bear the Cross5: Share the Load Takeaway: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” —Joshua 1:9

Acts 13:13–52   Why do some people refuse Jesus’ offer of salvation? Acts 13 exposes how pride resists grace—and how humility leads to life.  Jesus: Our Hero • Jesus is the Hero of our history.  Jesus: Our Hope • Jesus is the Hope of our hearts.  Jesus: Our Humbler • Jesus is the Humbler of our hubris.  Takeaway: The Gospel Dilemma: The consolation we require comes through the confrontation we resist.

Acts 13:1–12  Why are Christians compelled to live on mission? Jesus sends us into a dark world where the truth of Christ brings salvation and freedom.  Personal Burden • We go because we love the lost.  Divine Commission • We go because we’re sent by Jesus.  Spiritual Darkness • We go because souls are in danger.  Liberating Truth • We go because Jesus is Savior for all.  Takeaway: How will I join Jesus on mission in my world?

You Become Like What Your Worship” Pastor Stephen Farish December 28, 2025 Psalm 115:4-8; 2 Corinthians 3:16   1. Two definitions a. worship: the right response of the human heart to God’s revelation of himself, which response involves loving God with all we have and all we are by, among other things, seeing, delighting in, treasuring, and obeying the Lord b. idolatry: loving any person, thing, idea, or status more than we love (worship) God   2. Psalm 115:4-8: Those who worship idols become like them (cf. Psalm 135:15-18). a. idols of the heart (Ezekiel 14:1-5) b. four questions to ask yourself to discern the idols of your heart (Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters (Dutton, 2009), pp. 167-170) i. About what do I daydream? ii. Where do I spend my money? iii. How do I respond when I am frustrated? iv. What are the emotions I find hard to control? c. “the expulsive power of a new affection” (Thomas Chalmers, 1815)   3. 2 Corinthians 3:16:

Luke 2:25–35   What sustains faith when we're waiting on God? Beholding Jesus turns uncertainty into hope and transforms even death's departure into peace.  Awaiting • Living by faith means learning to wait.   Beholding • Living by faith means trusting in the middle.   Entrusting • Living by faith means surrendering in hope.   Takeaway: Our lives are in His hands.

Like Zechariah, we wrestle with disbelief while God works in the quiet. Then Christ appears as our long-awaited Redeemer, King, and Peace.   A New Exodus • Jesus is our Redeemer.   A New Warrior • Jesus is our King.   A New Freedom • Jesus is our Deliverer.   A New Covenant • Jesus is our Savior.   A New Hope • Jesus is our Peace.   Takeaway: Jesus is our Everything!

Luke 1:46–55  When the proud prevail and hope feels thin, Mary sings of a God who sees the humble. Her Magnificat shows how His mercy and justice upends the world. God’s Delight • Our God honors the humble.  God’s Strength • Our God fights for the feeble.  God’s Justice • Our God reckons the wreckage.  God’s Faithfulness • Our God keeps His covenants.  Takeaway: God is glorified as we delight ourselves in Him.

Joshua 4:21–22

Acts 12:1–24  When darkness overwhelms and evil seems to win, Acts 12 shows us God is sovereign in the shadows. Trusting Him in the night is the very path He uses to deliver.  Trust God’s Sovereignty • In the dark, our God is still King.   Trust God’s Goodness • In the dark, our God still loves us.   Trust God’s Wisdom • In the dark, our God still knows best.   Trust God’s Justice • In the dark, our God is still working.   Trust God’s Victory • In the dark, our God is still winning.   Takeaway: In the dark, our God is still trustworthy.

Mark 4:1–20 1. The Parable 2. The Parable Explained 3. The Part Left Unsaid: How Did the Good Soil Get Good? 4. How to Farm   

Acts 11:19–30; 12:25–13:3 What happens when the Gospel reaches the least expected? Unlikely people become world changers through Christ. Unlikely DiversityThe Gospel embraces the unlikely. Unlikely UnityThe Gospel unites the unlikely. Unlikely MinistryThe Gospel pursues the unlikely. Takeaway: The Gospel is for every unlikely one of us.• “People sensed in their hearts that Jesus did not mock their respect for the sacred nor their clamor for an invincible Savior, and so they beat their sacred drums for him until the stars skipped and danced in the skies. After that dance, the stars weren’t little anymore. Christianity helped Africans to become renewed Africans, not re-made Europeans.” —Lamin Sanneh, Whose Religion is Christianity? 

Acts 10:1–11:18 Who’s in God’s family? Everyone washed clean by Jesus, welcomed by grace, and sealed by His Spirit. The SetupGod is setting up a meeting between Cornelius and Peter, proactively dismantling Old Covenant barriers The SurpriseThe Gentiles are sealed by the Spirit in the New Covenant through Jesus, without becoming Jewish The SortingIn the New Covenant, Jews and Gentiles alike come directly to the Father, through Jesus alone, by the Spirit Takeaway: “Ever welcome to this house of God are strangers and the poor”

Acts 9:32–43 We’re all works in progress living in a world under construction—yet Jesus is still working, healing, and bringing resurrection hope. Expansion∙ Jesus’ work is reaching further Extension∙ Jesus’ work is multiplying wider Expectation∙ Jesus’ work is pointing higher Takeaway: “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” – Philippians 1:6

1 Kings 18:30–39  Though fear grips tight, faith can take root. What threatens to undo us can become the ground where trust in God grows strong. Elijah’s experience with fear provides several lessons for the church today on how to endure anxieties and setbacks. Discover how our Father in heaven responds to our emotional vulnerability.  1. Fear is normal.  2. Fear interrupts faith. 3. Fear cannot revoke your calling.  Takeaway: Fear is the opportunity to experience God’s comfort, restoration, and guidance. Spiritual strength is grounded in unwavering dependence upon God.

Acts 9:1–31 In a striking reversal, the persecutor became the persecuted, displaying the Gospel’s power. Only the risen Christ could turn an enemy into an ambassador. Saul’s Conversion • The Gospel confronts and consoles. Saul’s Community • The Gospel changes and challenges. Saul’s Commission • The Gospel compels and confounds. Takeaways: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” –Romans 1:16a

Acts 8:26–40 Ever feel too broken or unworthy for God? In Jesus, the outsider is embraced, the cut-off are welcomed, and joy overflows. A Divine Appointment• God is going out of His way in pursuit of the Ethiopian Eunuch through Philip. A Spiritual Pilgrimage• This Ethiopian Eunuch's longing for hope is riddled with pain. A Gospel Breakthrough• In Jesus, this Ethiopian Eunuch is fully welcomed. Takeaways:• The Gospel is for you.• Jesus is our way in.• “What prevents me from being baptized?”