Restoration Church

When the Bible tells us to pursue wisdom, it’s not asking us to embark on an isolated journey towards enlightenment. Instead, the wisdom we seek is found in the the relationships around us – among those who we walk with on the journey towards becoming whole. In this message, we unpack the centrality of community in our pursuit of wisdom – and share some ways we might find it at Restoration. (Colossians 3:12-16)

We’re told to open our Bibles when we are looking for wisdom – and rightfully so. But once they’re open, it isn’t always easy to know where to start. In this message, we’re exploring the Bible’s role in our journey towards wisdom, and how we can guide and guard our steps as it points us to Jesus. 

Where is God when we are searching for answers? Some imagine a distant God who is waiting for us to believe (or behave) well enough to figure out the right thing to do. But Proverbs gives us a different vision – a God who doesn’t simply show us the way. He becomes the way for us. So will we trust Him to lead us where we need to be? (Proverbs 3:1-6)

Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson famously wrote that “We are drowning in information while starving for wisdom.” In a time where the amount of information available to us continues to expand, our souls need something more. We need wisdom. And as we begin our pursuit, we’re giving our attention to where all wisdom and understanding begins. And it might not be where you think. (Proverbs 2:1-5)

The more we follow the Holy Spirit into the world around us, the more we will encounter people of different faiths and backgrounds. So how do we know what it means to faithfully witness to the Gospel without antagonizing or belittling those who are different from us? This week, we’re looking to Paul’s time in Athens in Acts 17 – a story that helps us see how we can bear witness to our hope with neither condemnation or compromise. (Acts 17:16-34)

The most persistent problem that the Church in Acts faced wasn’t persecution or competing beliefs. It was division. As the Church expanded into new countries and cultures, the differences between the Jews and Gentiles came to a head. In the end, they found a unity that did not erase their differences. It empowered them for mission. The same can be true for us. (Acts 15:1-19)

https://restorationlex.com/reflectionguide/

All kinds of things can hold us captive: our emotions, our addictions, our circumstances, our past… but when we encounter the good news of Jesus, we find a liberation that upends our story and changes the trajectory of our lives. This week, we’re looking at two very different people who both experience freedom – and we’ll explore how that we can find liberation, too. (Acts 16:16-40)

What is a disciple of Jesus to make of our life as an American citizen?
Acts gives us the backdrop to answer that question – through the witness of a Church that disrupted the power of empire not through the Senate or the sword, but through a radical, shared way of life that centered on our primary allegiance: Jesus. (Acts 22:25-29)

What do you do when God calls you outside of the comfort and culture you’ve always known? In Acts 10, Peter is led by the Holy Spirit to cross what had previously been uncrossable boundaries – a call that challenged both his identity and his sense of belonging. But on the other side of his certainty, he watched God move in a way he’d never imagine. It begs the question: what stands on the other side of our comfort? (Acts 10)

In Acts 9, we witness the dramatic conversion and commission of one of the most important men in the history of our faith: the apostle Paul. But Paul’s journey begins through the ordinary obedience of an otherwise unknown man named Ananias – a man who simply had the courage to see what God was doing… and join him. (Acts 9:1-18)