by Matthew Borgstrom | Mar 4, 2018 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, God, God's Glory
One reason the Christian message must begin with the God of glory, just as Stephen does in Acts 7, is because sin is ultimately a mighty offense against this God who is glorious and listen how Paul describes sin in Rom. 1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Feb 25, 2018 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Marriage
In 1 Peter 3:7, the initial command given to husbands is to live with their wives according to knowledge. Here are some further considerations with regards to this: –Living with one’s wife according to knowledge does NOT mean that the relationship expectations...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Feb 18, 2018 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Marriage
We must consider our marriage as incredibly bigger and more significant than just the union of two people. God’s purposes transcend the personal fulfillment of two people in marriage. Do you view how you serve, talk, act and even think about your spouse with a...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Feb 11, 2018 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Church Leadership, Deacons
Now as we have been introducing this subject of deacon qualifications, some of you might be thinking: “I don’t have any plans to become a deacon, so why do I need to hear these things?” There are at least a few reasons: First, as we work through these qualifications,...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Feb 4, 2018 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Word of God
In thinking about this statement at the end of Acts 6:2, we must realize that the apostles have a very unique calling regarding the word of God, as laid out in John 14-16, so if they get sidetracked from their responsibilities, even by a good thing like tangibly...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 28, 2018 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study
How is it that the apostles leave rejoicing in 5:41, after getting beaten and ordered to be silent? That can’t be right. The scribes of our Bible translations must have gotten that wrong and there has to be a discrepancy of different words among the manuscripts,...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 21, 2018 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Holiness
Any man-centered thinking brought to the biblical text blows a fuse at Acts 5. Why did God treat the lying of Ananias and Sapphira as such a threat? What’s really at stake here? Would anyone else even know? It’s hard to say. Would anyone be hurt be this...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 14, 2018 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Giving, Grace
How did Luke know that great grace was being poured out in Acts 4:33, since grace does not visibly fall from heaven like rain? Grace was evident because all needs in the body were being met. Those less fortunate were not being ignored because any who owned land or...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 7, 2018 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Boldness
What led these Christians in Acts 4 to press on through hostility and not take a step backwards and cool it? The content of their prayer provides the answer. They had a proper biblical expectation in that if the world took a raging disposition against the Messiah,...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Dec 24, 2017 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Faith, Peace, Repentance, Salvation
So, Christ’s first coming brought peace to the soul, but his second coming will also bring peace to the earth. No matter what then, our hope must always remain fixed on the Prince of Peace, lest we try to obtain peace superficially by thinking that peace is tied to...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Dec 17, 2017 | Adversity, Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Gospel
In Acts 4, Luke makes it very clear that the gospel advances through the midst of adversity, instead of through the removal of adversity. So in the end, it doesn’t matter who rejects Jesus Christ or treats him with contempt; it doesn’t matter what the world says...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Dec 10, 2017 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Repentance
In Acts 3:18-26, Peter declares that before the blessing of the kingdom prosperity comes the blessing of repentance. God will bring this about and that’s why Christ came to show Israel and the world the heinousness of their sin and that God’s people Israel must...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Dec 3, 2017 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Repentance
In Acts 3:19-21, Peter says the times of refreshing and restoration of the kingdom will be brought about by a complete repentance of the Jewish people. This demonstrates God’s incredible patience for if Christ established his kingdom on earth in the early...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Nov 26, 2017 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Church
The same phrase, “being together” is used in Acts 2:47 as was found at the beginning of v.44. This means that the Lord wasn’t adding people to some church directory in heaven, but he was adding them to the “togetherness” of the body of Christ. Those...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Nov 19, 2017 | Baptism, Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Repentance
As we consider Acts 2:38, the question arises—Why did Peter emphasize baptism to such an extent to this particular crowd? This goes back to what we discussed last week; that repentance indicates a turning from sin unto God. Many have rightly described it as doing a...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Nov 12, 2017 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Faith, Repentance
Throughout Acts, the concepts of faith and repentance were so inseparable that the apostles had no hesitation describing the same event with both words. I’ve also heard it said that how could there be a turning to God (faith) if there is not a turning from sin...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 29, 2017 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study
In Acts 2:36, Peter makes the resounding statement that God has declared this Jesus who was crucified to be both Christ and Lord. So is what you have made Jesus in your life the same as what God has made him—Lord/Master? Here’s how we know—Luke 6:46 “Why do you call...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 22, 2017 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study
Why does Peter leave vv.19-20 of Acts 2 in his quotation of Joel 2 if those things were to happen off in the future? It’s to demonstrate that this outpouring of the Spirit points to the coming of the great and terrible Day of the Lord in which God will judge the...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 15, 2017 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Dependence, Prayer
In Acts 1:14, Luke records that this gathering of believers was devoted to prayer. In light of the consistency of the practice of and instruction for prayer in the NT, why might it be lacking in our lives? There are only a few reasons: 1) Self-reliance; 2)...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 8, 2017 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Dependence, Equipping the Saints, Spiritual Alertness
At the beginning of the book of Acts, the promise of the Spirit is highlighted again with regards to the disciples. I thought it would be helpful to think about how those texts in John 14-16, regarding the Spirit, apply to all believers. The specific wording leads...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 2, 2017 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Biblical Fruit, Child-like Dependence, Dependence, Expository Preaching, Humility, Involvement, Obedience, Pleasing Christ, Resurrection, Servant Mindset, Spiritual Readiness, True Greatness
By the end of John 20, all of the disciples have believed in the Risen Christ and were thus fully assured that he had resurrected from the dead. But were they ready to carry on Jesus’ mission? In other words, could Acts 1 have followed John 20 instead of John...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Sep 25, 2017 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Discipleship, Faith, Fear, Following Christ, Obedience, Resurrection, Trust, Unbelief
While John’s response in John 20 is better than seeing the empty tomb and disbelieving in Christ’s resurrection and even probably better than Mary’s assumption of foul play with Jesus’ body, yet it is not a true faith because if John’s faith is only able to operate...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Sep 11, 2017 | Bible Exposition, Bible Study, Expository Preaching, Faith, Fear, Obedience, Trust, Unbelief
What is the purpose of the abrupt ending of Mark 16? That is discovered by considering what the desired response would have been to the angel’s commands. The correct response would have been faith in the words taught by Christ regarding his death and resurrection and...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Aug 27, 2017 | Substitution of Christ, Suffering, Uncategorized
In the end, after this vapor has vanished from this earth, we will share in Christ’s glory as we are transformed into sinless beings with eternal bodies, fit to worship him forever. Can you faithfully endure, knowing what is to come? Is the reward of eternal glory...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Aug 20, 2017 | Atonement, Atonement of Christ, Substitution of Christ, Suffering
What is gained by having this prisoner exchange highlighted, seeing that Barabbas appears in all 3 Synoptic gospels? Jesus can fulfill all of what was predicted regarding his death and atonement for sins without this detail; without having a murderer released instead...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Aug 6, 2017 | Atonement, Atonement of Christ, Following Christ, Pleasing Christ
With this unjust persecution coupled with the untenable death sentence, how could he not say anything back to the Sanhedrin in Mark 14:63-65? How could he not defend himself, knowing the level of injustice he was experiencing? Surely, it was because he knew he must...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jul 25, 2017 | Following Christ, Pleasing Christ, Suffering, Uncategorized
Now it’s definitely a godly trait to submit to mistreatment when it catches you off guard and/or overpowers you. We are called to respond with a faithful testimony in the midst of hostility as found in 1 Pet. and James. Typically, these types of things surprise and...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jul 16, 2017 | Following Christ, Prayer, Uncategorized
In light of the necessity of prayer, why don’t we pray for ourselves or others as we ought? The answers won’t be surprising—we lack faith or we lack dependence or both. We don’t believe prayer works because we can’t see immediate results or we don’t believe God hears...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jul 10, 2017 | Following Christ, Prayer, Uncategorized
It’s this real fight of faith and summit of submission that we see in Jesus in Mark 14:32ff, which not only secures our salvation, but provides the ultimate prototype for all Christian obedience. The final critical component put forth is that the Christian life is all...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jun 30, 2017 | Obedience, Pleasing Christ, Unbelief
We can probably relate a little bit with Christ here in Mark 14 as the disciples dispute what he is telling them. Perhaps we have spoken with someone and shared our concerns about the trajectory of their life, but they haven’t taken us seriously, even if they weren’t...
