A Study in the Book of Acts

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A Study in the Book of Acts
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Fear
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• The Fear of Criticism
• (What will they think?)
• The Fear of Responsibility
• (What if I can't handle this?)
• The Fear of Failure
• (What if I blow it?)

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• Psalm 62,3 - Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am
  faint3 My soul is in deep anguish. How long,
  LORD, how long?

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• Dont be afraid!

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• The Christians life is not a constant high. I
  have my moments of deep discouragement. I have
  to go to God in prayer and say, O God, help
  me.
• Billy Graham

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Acts18

• 1 After this, Paul left Athens and went
  to Corinth.

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The Challenge of Corinth

• The Bridge of Greece

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The Challenge of Corinth

• The Bridge of Greece
• The home of unbridled sensuality
• The Temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love

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The Challenge Within

• 1 Corinthians 21-5 - When I came to you,
  brothers, I did not come with eloquence or
  superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the
  testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know
  nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ
  and him crucified.

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• 1 Corinthians 23-5 - I came to you in weakness
  and fear, and with much trembling.

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• 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise
  and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of
  the Spirit's power, 5 so that your faith might
  not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

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• distress and affliction
• (1 Thessalonians 37)

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1. Find healthy friendships

• 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of
  Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his
  wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all
  the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3
  and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he
  stayed and worked with them.

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The Value of Healthy Friendships

• "A real friend is one who walks in
• when the rest of the world walks out.

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• "A friend is someone who
• knows the song in your heart,
• and can sing it back to you
• when you have forgotten the words."

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• Every friend is a new door
• to a different world.

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• Proverbs 1717
• A friend loves at all times,        and a
  brother is born for adversity.
• Proverbs 2717
• As iron sharpens iron,        so one man
  sharpens another.

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• Romans 16 3-5 - Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my
  fellow workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked
  their lives for me. Not only I but all the
  churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. 5
  Greet also the church that meets at their house.

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2. Focus on your Mission

• 4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue,
  trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas
  and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted
  himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to
  the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

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A Personal Mission Statement addresses three
questions

• 1) What am I responsible for?
• 2) What do I stand for?
• 3) What brings me joy?

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• To accomplish great things,
• we must not only dream,
• we must also take action
• not only believe but also plan.

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3. Face lifes pressures realistically

• 6 But when the Jews opposed Paul and became
  abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and
  said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I
  am clear of my responsi-bility. From now on I
  will go to the Gentiles."

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• 7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door
  to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of
  God.

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• 8 Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire
  household believed in the Lord and many of the
  Corinthians who heard him believed and were
  baptized.

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• The road to success
• is marked with many parking spaces

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4. Feed on the Promises of God

• 9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision
  "Do not be afraid keep on speaking, do not be
  silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going
  to attack and harm you, because I have many
  people in this city." 11 So Paul stayed for a
  year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

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• 2 Corinthians 13-4 - Blessed be the God and
  Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
  mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us
  in all our affliction so that we will be able to
  comfort those who are in any affliction with the
  comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by
  God.

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• Romans 838-39 - For I am convinced that neither
  death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
  nor things present, nor things to come, nor
  powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
  created thing, will be able to separate us from
  the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
  Lord.

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5. You never know the power of your influence

• 12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews
  made a united attack on Paul and brought him into
  court. 13 "This man," they charged, "is
  persuading the people to worship God in ways
  contrary to the law."

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• 14 Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said
  to the Jews, "If you Jews were making a complaint
  about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would
  be reasonable for me to listen to you. 15 But
  since it involves questions about words and names
  and your own law settle the matter yourselves.
  I will not be a judge of such things."

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• 16 So he had them ejected from the court. 17 Then
  they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler
  and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio
  showed no concern whatever.

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• 1 Corinthians 12 - Paul, called to be an apostle
  of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our
  brother Sosthenes, to the church of God in
  Corinth...

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