May 24th, 2026

“Confusion & Communication”

Acts 15:22-35

Rev. Tyler Dirks

Sermon Audio

Sermon Outline:

1. Clarification
2. Communication
3. Constructive Confusion

Reflection Questions:

1. When was a time you endured punctilious and pedantic confusion and distress?
2. Are you genuinely willing to own the fact that you, and/or your tribe, have messed up in specific and substantial ways? What’s a recent example?
3. When was a time you chose to talk to someone in person, because you (or your tribe) had troubled them?
4. When was a time you found yourself dealing with worthless confusion?
5. When was a time you were confused, but being confused was way better than the delusion that you had “it figured out”?
6. Do you agree that God is redemptively confounding you with the stories He offers you in The Bible? Why or why not?

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May 17th, 2026

“What’s Necessary”

Acts 15:1-21

Rev. Tyler Dirks

Sermon Audio

Sermon Outline:

1. Joy
2. Freedom

Reflection Questions:

1. Do you agree that JOY is a necessity? What are some of the particular and primary hallmarks of the Joy of Jesus of Nazareth? How can you practically and personally enter, and participate in, the joy of Jesus of Nazareth everyday?
2. When have you entered into a complicated and messy situation (replete with weakness and wrongness) as the joy set before you?
3. How do you personally hold the tension presented in Scripture where James, Peter, and Barnabas seem to be mature, strong, and wise inActs 15; but immature, weak, and wrong in Galatians 2?
4. How do you personally hold the tension presented in Scripture where Paul says what he says in Galatians 4:9 and 5:12 versus what Paul says in Romans 14:1-2 and 15:1?
5. How do you personally experience the freedom of being a follower of Jesus of Nazareth?

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May 17th, 2026

“Dedication”

Acts 14: 19-28

Rev. Tyler Dirks

Sermon Audio

Sermon Outline:

1. Delight
2. Danger
3. Development

Reflection Questions:

1. What are you dedicated to? What are the chief characteristics/hallmarks of your dedication?
2. What do you find so delightful about the thing you are most dedicated to?
3. What dangers are involved in your particular dedication?
4. What do you tell people who might be interested in the thing you are dedicated to? How do you “sell” people on it?

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May 3rd, 2026

“What’s REALLY Impressive…”

Acts 14:8-18

Rev. Tyler Dirks

Sermon Audio

Sermon Outline:

1. Power & Popularity???
2. The Maker Of Heaven, Earth, Sea, and Rain!!!

Reflection Questions:

1. 1. If someone followed you around for 1 week, what would they say REALLY MATTERS to you?
2. What kind of compliments do you love to get?Are you besotted by compliments?
3. What’s your favorite story of someone squandering their fame and fortune in favor of what’s really impressive?
4. When was a time you embraced and enjoyed the experience of being small and curious? [see Matthew 11:25-26].

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April 26th, 2026

“Gospel Smugglers”

Acts 14:1-7

Rev. Tyler Dirks

Sermon Audio

Sermon Outline:

1. Perilous Places
2. Poisonous Promise
3. Persistant Planting

Reflection Questions:

1. Think of a place of drudgery and oppression. Has it always been that way? Is the original design and story of that place jubilant and happy? …How might you smuggle goodness, truth, and/or beauty into that place?
2. How have you experienced the poisonous “promise” of safety and control (e.g. legalism)? How might Jesus offer you detox and deliverance from this poison?
3. What are 2 examples of how you are governed by fear?
4. Where (and how) do you currently want to persist in planting goodness amidst danger and opposition?

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April 19th, 2026

“We Have A Problem”

Acts 13:26-52

Rev. Tyler Dirks

Sermon Audio

Sermon Outline:

1. We Have A Problem
2. A Good Problem To Have

Reflection Questions:

1. Do youACTUALLY want people to be honest with you?
2. Do you HONESTLY embrace feedback, or do you get defensive?
3. What is something that involves TENSION, PAIN, and FAILURE …and you LOVE IT?
4. Do you agree with the following statement Why or Why Not? “Jesus is the problem to all of your “answers”?
5. Do you agree with the following statement Why or Why Not? “Jesus is a good problem to have” (AGPTH)?
6. Based on Paul’s comment inActs 13:46… what does it mean to be “worthy of eternal life?” For example, in the story of Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) what would Martha have to do to ‘judge herself worthy of eternal life’?

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April 12th, 2026

“A Word of Encouragement”

Acts 13:13-25

Rev. Tyler Dirks

Sermon Audio

Sermon Outline:

1. During Real Life
2. Diving Into Relationship Stuff
3. Riveting Redemption

Reflection Questions:

1. What specific and substantial way has God’s Word recently resonated with you amidst REALLIFE? What REALLIFE stuff are you navigating these days?
2. Do you dive-in to real/deep relationship stuff with your parents, spouse, children, and close friends; or are you hyper selective about what you say; and/or do you strategically avoid and dodge certain ‘sensitive topics’?
3. How do you feel about all the sundry sensitive information God shares about people in the Bible?
4. When was a time that you were truly shocked, startled, surprised, and overjoyed by God’s riveting agenda for redemption in Scripture (and in your personal life)?

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April 5th, 2026

“What Does It Mean?”

Acts 13:1-12

Rev. Tyler Dirks

Sermon Audio

Sermon Outline:

1. Eclectic Cast Of Characters
2. Era Of The Holy Spirit
3. Experiential

Reflection Questions:

1. How has the power and paradox of the resurrected King personally and practically impacted your life?
2. How have you experienced the resurrected King’s determination to put you together with people who are very different than you?
3. How do you feel about the fact that the resurrected King decides to leave earth, and – instead of physically being with us – He sends an invisible Helper to be with us?
4. How have you personally and practically experienced the help of the invisible Helper (specifically as He helps you to know the power of the resurrection, and share in the sufferings of Jesus of Nazareth)?

The post What Does It Mean? appeared first on East Charlotte Pres.

March 29th, 2026

“Hearing The Truth”

Acts 12:12-25

Rev. Tyler Dirks

Sermon Audio

Sermon Outline:

1. Truth Based On Status?
2. Truth Based on Sight?
3. Truth Based On What People Say?

Reflection Questions:

1. When was a time you gave your attention to someone (and received what they said) simply because they had terrestrial and temporal popularity/status?
2. What are your Top 3 favorite stories, prophecies, poems, parables, and/or passages of Scripture that emphatically talk about God thwarting and sabotaging terrestrial and temporal status?
3. What are your Top 3 favorite scenes in Scripture where God reveals the truth through someone, or something, that is visually unremarkable?

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March 22nd, 2026

“The Builder and His Stones”

1 Peter 2:1-12

Rev. Juan Rodriguez

Sermon Audio

Sermon Outline:

Reflection Questions:

1. The sermon’s main idea was: “Because Jesus Christ changes you, live like you’ve been changed.” Where do you most clearly see evidence of Christ changing someone’s life (either in your own life or someone else’s)? Where do you still struggle to live like that change is real?
2. Peter compares Christians to newborn babies who crave spiritual milk. What does it look like in a practical way to “long for” or “feast on” God’s Word in everyday life? What tends to keep us from doing that?
3. The passage describes believers as “living stones” being built into a spiritual house. How does this challenge the idea that Christianity is just “me and Jesus”? What role do you think community and the church play in spiritual growth?
4. Peter urges believers to live honorable lives so that others may see their good deeds and glorify God. What might this look like in your everyday contexts (work, school, neighborhood, friendships)?

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