​Sunday is our Annual Business Meeting. Meetings are seldom our first choice as a way to spend a Sunday afternoon, but it is important that you are there to help guide the future of the church.  It's also a great time to check in our goals and see where we are headed as a church. Our text this Sunday is one that allows us to do just that. As Paul continues to take the gospel to those in his path, we'll see four things that Christians when faced with four common circumstances.

It's been said that when God closes a door, he'll open a window. Is this true or is this another folk story? And if it is true, does Heaven have a really big utility bill? I don't know about that last question, but I think our text this week begins to answer the first one. 

This is a joke I've told before, but it is a good one:
A young woman brings home her fiance to meet her parents. After dinner, her mother tells her father to find out about the young man. The father invites the fiance to his study to talk.
"So what are your plans?" the father asks the young man.
"I am a Bible scholar." he replies.
"ABible scholar? Hmmm," the father says. "Admirable, but what will you do to provide a nice house for my daughter to live in, as she's accustomed to?"
"I will study," the young man replies, "and God will provide for us." "And how will you buy her a beautiful engagement ring, such as she deserves?" asks the father.
"I will concentrate on my studies," the young man replies, "God will provide for us."
"And children?" asks the father. "How will you support children?" "Don't worry, sir, God will provide," replies the fiance. The conversation proceeds like this, and each time the father questions him, the young idealist insists that God will provide.
Later, the mother asks, "How did it go, honey?"
The father answers, "The bad news is, he has no job and no prospects, but the good news is he thinks I'm God."
Does the Lord provide to do the work he's called us to? Listen this week to find out!

​A few years ago, I stumbled across a list of 25 real reasons churches had conflict. This one is a favorite. "Two different churches reported fights over the type of coffee. In one of the churches, they moved from Folgers to a stronger Starbucks brand. In the other church, they simply moved to a stronger blend. Members left the church in the latter example (Perhaps they started a new church: The Right Blend Fellowship.)."

How we deal with conflict is of supreme importance. Our text this week in Acts teaches us how Christians within the church plan for and deal with conflict. Join us this week to find out how. 

​While we were on vacation, I noticed something about the way the boys drove their go-karts. If I came up along side of them, attempting to pass them, they would turn their heads and their karts would follow. I had to make sure that they would not get distracted and put me in the wall. Distractions can really cause problems on the go-kart track!

Likewise, distractions can prove to be dangerous in the life of a church as well. It's easy to get off of our mission and forget why we are here. Paul and Barnabas faced many distractions in their missionary trip. We'll find out how they handled them this week and how we can follow their example.