Sermon Cloud

Building on the foundation provided in our exploration of the first eight chapters of the NT Book of Acts, today's reading and sermon focus our attention on three aspects of the "Good News" (the "Gospel") that God has graciously given us in Christ. These three are conversion, healing and resurrection. The account of Paul's conversion, his turning to Christ in faith, the healing of a paralyzed man named Aeneas and the raising of Tabitha, a woman deeply loved by many people on the margins of life whom she had helped, give us not just information, but beautiful pictures of the grace of God and an appreciation of the fact that the Whole Gospel is larger than we usually think it to be. We tend to be more familiar with the role of the Gospel in conversion, but the Gospel never stops with conversion. As we will see today, the Gospel can also bring us into an experience of God's gracious provision of healing and resurrection. We know about the importance of faith in the process of conversion, but even in the account of Paul's conversion, we see that God's grace is not merely "spiritual," but a whole-body experience. This is especially evident in the healing of Aeneas and the raising of Tabitha.  But what does all of this mean for us today? Have we in the church lost something precious that the Scripture and the Spirit would have us find again?