Atlantic Gospel Chapel Messages

As Paul opens his letter to the church in Colossae, he begins by offering praise and thanksgiving for this local body of believers.  He writes, "We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven..." (Colossians 1:3-5a, LSB).  Their faith and love for the saints flow from the hope laid up for them in heaven.
What does hope mean to the Christian?  Do we understand hope in the wishful sense, as in, "I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow"?  Or is there something deeper?
As we consider our passage today, we will discover that the hope of which the Scriptures speak is at the very core of our being as believers in Jesus Christ.
Thank you for listening to today's teaching.  We pray you will be blessed and encouraged through the teaching of God's Holy Word.

In January, 1973, a man in the Dominican Republic volunteered to be crucified as a sacrifice for world peace.  With a goal of remaining on the cross, his efforts were cut short due to an infection he developed in his right foot.  Following this event, one headline read, "Crucifixion for World Peace Falls Short."
Continuing our look at peace with God, we look again at Paul's letter to the church in Rome in Romans 5:1, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  As we do so, we will consider three questions:
How is it that the sacrifice of Jesus truly gives us peace with God?
What are the blessings associated with peace with God?
How do we live in light of this peace with have with God?
Thank you for listening to today's lesson.  We pray first, that you know peace with God.  Second, we pray you will be blessed through the teaching from God's Holy Word.

Scripture is clear that the natural state of mankind is at enmity with God.  Simply put, we are enemies.  And yet, Scripture also says that we can have peace with God.  How is this possible?
Can we have peace with God by living a good life, free from sin?  Can we have peace with God through church, either through our church affiliation, attendance or following the right ceremony?  Or can we have peace with God through obedience to all that he has commanded?
Join us as we examine Paul's answer to finding peace with God in Romans 5:1-2, and discover a peace that is not dependent upon our merits, but rather is dependent upon the merits of another, Jesus Christ.
We thank you for listening to today's lesson.  We pray you will be blessed through the teaching of God's Holy Word.

In 1 Samuel 15, the Lord instructs King Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites, "for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt." (1 Samuel 15:2 NKJV).  This included destroying all people and all livestock.  When Samuel joined Saul following the victory, the king boasted of his faithfulness to do all that the Lord had commanded.  But as Samuel approached the camp, he asked, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" (1 Samuel 15:14 NKJV).
Clearly Saul had not fully obeyed the Lord's command.  This begs the question, was Saul a believer?  Will Saul be in heaven?  This leads to an even greater question, can a person be a believer in Jesus Christ and yet disobey the Lord?
Join us for today's lesson as we examine this question.  We further examine the questions,
How does one become a Christian?
What role does obedience play in the life of a believer?
What impact does disobedience have on the believer?
What security is there for the believer?
Thank you for listening to today's lesson.  We pray that as we examine these questions together that you will also be encouraged in your walk with the Lord, imperfect though it may be, because we have a sure and certain hope in Jesus Christ.

The message of the Gospel is like the check engine light on our car.  Many ignore it, but the consequences can be catastrophic.  The Gospel message calls us out for our sin.  To ignore the message of the Gospel has eternal consequences.  Through this message, the believer is called to be a peacemaker.  But this does not mean we compromise on the truth for the sake of peace.  For this reason, the world does not always respond to the Gospel message in a peaceable manner.
As we continue in our study of Acts, we find Paul appearing before the governor, Felix, to answer the charges brought by his accusers.  Among these is the charge that Paul, and the sect of which he is the ringleader, is a pest; literally a pestilence, a cancer which threatens to contaminate the nation with heresy and blasphemy.  They charge him with desecrating the temple, supposing that Paul brought a gentile into the temple.
In today's lesson we draw four lessons from Paul's responses to the charges and his accusers.
We don't need to worry about the charges against us.  Don't compromise the truth, but trust God.
We are only messengers; the message is from God.  And the message offends.
Recognize that God is working and act accordingly.
Be prepared to speak the Truth, even in difficult circumstances.
Thank you for listening to today's lesson.  We pray you will be blessed through the teaching of God's Holy Word.

The modern world, if it considers God's existence, likes to emphasize God as love.  But it must be recognized that God's wrath and judgment are just a crucial.  And while we are in the day of grace, we must recognize that God still hates sin and that He does not, and will not, simply sweep sin under the rug.
In Lamentations, the prophet is forced to deal with God's wrath poured out on the nation of Judah, specifically as it applied to the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonian empire.  And while we often view our circumstances from an emotional vantage point, like Jeremiah we need to take the theological view, God's view, on what is happening.  Like Jeremiah, our hope is in the steadfast love of the Lord; a love which never ceases.  But at the same time, we must come to terms with the fact that God's love is connected to discipline.  He always seeks our ultimate good, which includes repentance, restoration and a changed life.
We thank you for listening to today's lesson.  We pray that as we consider today's passage, we will be encouraged that we can trust and praise God in all circumstances.

A Christian woman was frequently heard praying for her food by her atheistic neighbor.  He frequently taunted her for her foolish trust in, and devotion to, a God who didn't exist.  When she ran out of groceries, she again turned in prayer to the Lord for help and thanking Him for how He would work.  Again overhearing this, the neighbor went out and bought the groceries, determined to expose her faith as foolish.  Upon delivering the groceries to her doorstep, he knocked and hid in the bushes.  As expected, when the woman saw the groceries she praised God for His goodness to her.  Leaping out of the bushes, he exclaimed, "You foolish woman! God didn't buy these, I did!"  Hearing this, the woman praised even louder.  "I trusted God would provide groceries, but I didn't know He was going to make the devil pay for them!"
We often go about our lives completely unaware of the ways in which God is working in our lives.  What we attribute to mere coincidence, the perfect culmination of a series of circumstances which play out for our benefit.  But we are surprised when we learn that God often uses unconventional means to accomplish His divine purposes.  This includes using evil people and systems for His own glory.
In today's lesson, we see a plot on the part of forty Jews, in league with the Sanhedrin, to kill Paul, even taking an oath to eat nothing until Paul had been killed.  But upon hearing of this plot, the Roman authorities step in to protect Paul.  And while God is little mentioned directly in this passage, we see His fingerprints all over the events that transpire.
Thank you for listening to today's lesson.  We pray that as we consider God's sovereign will played out in our lives, we would be encouraged by His love and care for His children.

As Paul returned to Jerusalem, he faced charges from Jews of heresy, of teaching things contrary to Moses and the Law.  This charge led to threats of flogging.  For those who would hold to salvation by grace through faith, we may face the same kind of accusations the the culture.
As Paul addressed the crowd, he assured them that the Gospel he preached was not contrary to the law, but instead fulfilled the Law.  His response included three parts:
Paul was where the crowd was in belief
Paul was called by God
Why Paul was called.
Thank you for listening to today's lesson.  We pray you will be blessed and encouraged through the teaching of God's Word.

Throughout Jesus' ministry he frequently encountered people with questions.  In some cases, these questions were intended to trap Jesus in a logical or theological error.  In other cases, however, people came with genuine interest seeking genuine answers.  In today's passage we see both.
Regardless of the intent, God ensured these questions were recorded in Scripture for our benefit.  These questions sometimes challenge us, and in the Lord's response we find the answers to the questions we have.
We thank you for listening to today's lesson.  We pray you will be blessed and encouraged through the teaching of God's Word.