March 9, 2020
by David Ellis
Does knowing Jesus make any difference in your daily life right now? Romans 5:1-5 describes five ways that faith in Christ affects your life today.
1) You have peace with God v. 1. Through faith in Christ, believers have been justified. This means, Christian, that, because of Jesus, God has declared you to be righteous and acceptable in his eyes. This divine pronouncem...
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March 5, 2020
by David Ellis
NowtheLordsaidto Abram, "Go from your countryand your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, andin you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
So ...
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February 25, 2020
by David Ellis
Every year at Easter, the members of ACC give a special offering to help reach our congregational financial goals for missions and outreach. This year our goal is to raise $25,000 through our Easter Outreach Offering.
The Easter Outreach Offering will be given at ACC on Easter Sunday, April 12. Everyone is invited to participate in this offering. ACC members are encoura...
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February 25, 2020
by Linnea Kickasola
Celebrating the season of Lent (cuaresma) is one of the oldest practices of the Christian church. It was originally a time for new believers to prepare themselves for their baptisms, which were done on Easter Sunday. But it soon grew to be a time for all believers to prepare themselves for Easter by examining their hearts and lives and repenting of their sin. The English...
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February 13, 2020
by David Ellis
On Sunday mornings at ACC, we are working through the epistle of 1 Corinthians, a book that speaks frequently about the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians, we are told that the Spirit demonstrates power when the message of the cross is proclaimed (2:4); that he "reveals the deep things of God" to believers (2:10); that he dwells in the midst of Christian communities (3:16); t...
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January 20, 2020
by David Ellis
On February 23, we will begin a 12-week Christian education course called "Christian History Made Easy." The class, led by instructors Joe Kickasola and David Ellis, will meet on Sundays at 5:00pm in the ACC office, and will provide a general survey of the history of the Christian Church. The class will feature video-taped lectures by historian Timothy Paul Jones, as well ...
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January 17, 2020
by David Ellis
Dear ACC,
I want to share some news about plans for worship leadership at our 11:15 worship service.
As you certainly know, last summer Brad Wade, our long-time worship director for that service, moved with his family to Portland, OR. Since then, we have tried several individuals in the role of worship leadership at the 11:15 service with the goal of finding a person who...
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January 7, 2020
by David Ellis
On January 12, we plan to begin a sermon series through Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians. Though this letter was written almost two millennia ago to Christians living over 4,800 miles from here, it speaks with amazing clarity to our present cultural moment. Perhaps this is due to the similarities between ancient Corinth and New York City in 2020. Corinth, at the tim...
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December 30, 2019
by David Ellis
The story of the Magi travelling to see baby Jesus has gripped the hearts and imaginations of believers for centuries. (See Matt. 2:1-12.) Who were these visitors from the east? What does it mean that they saw the star of the king of the Jews? What moved these adults to travel such a long distance to worship a child? And, what in the world is a "Magi"? Though scholars have...
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December 20, 2019
by David Ellis
It's usually left to parents to decide what to call their kids, but when God sent an angel to announce the birth of the Messiah, his parents were denied the right to name their son. Both Joseph and Mary were specifically instructed to name their child "Jesus" (Matt. 1:21, Luke 1:31).Why the name Jesus? Jesus (Yeshuain Hebrew, the same as the name "Joshua") was a common nam...
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