Another King | Acts 17:1-9

Another King. A world upside down. A cross and an empty tomb for you.

Anton Brown • Senior Pastor
November 8, 2026

4 Minute Read

This is the line we carried out of the room today: Another King. A world upside down. A cross and an empty tomb for you.

Now that you have heard it, sit with it this week. Some of us found our peace rising and falling with the news; take the crown off whatever you have been trusting and give it back to the King who died for you. Pray by name for the people elected on Tuesday, whoever they are. Sit down with a brother or sister who voted differently than you, and talk about Jesus first. And if you have been persuaded but have never joined a church, talk with me this week. The five readings below do not repeat Sunday's passage. They walk you through the risen Lord opening the Scriptures, the King God set on Zion, the church Paul left behind in Thessalonica, Jesus before Pilate, and the King who came to give His life as a ransom.

Grace to you as you carry Sunday's text through the week.

Pastor Anton

Five-Day Devotional

Monday

Luke 24:44–49

On the evening of the first Easter, the risen Jesus "opened their minds to understand the Scriptures," and showed His disciples that "the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead." That is exactly what Paul did in the synagogue at Thessalonica. Read slowly today and ask the Lord to open the Bible to you the same way.

Pray: Lord Jesus, open my mind to understand the Scriptures, and show me Yourself in every page.

Tuesday

Psalm 2

The kings of the earth plot and rage against the Lord and His Anointed, and God is not anxious. He says, "As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill." Whatever the news did to your heart last week, the throne that matters most was settled long ago.

Pray: Father, thank You that You have already set Your King on His throne; quiet my fear and my anger under His rule.

Wednesday

1 Thessalonians 1:2–10

Paul had to leave Thessalonica after only a few weeks, and he wrote this letter to the young church he left behind. They had "received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit," and they had "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." The King who gathered them kept them, and He keeps His people still.

Pray: Lord Jesus, keep me turned away from my idols and toward You, and make me glad to belong to Your people.

Thursday

John 18:33–38

Pilate asks Jesus whether He is the King of the Jews, and Jesus answers, "My kingdom is not of this world." He is not a rival for Pilate's chair. He is the King over it, and He was about to win His kingdom by dying for His enemies.

Pray: King Jesus, help me honor those in authority without trusting them as I trust You.

Friday

Mark 10:42–45

The rulers of this world "lord it over" their people, Jesus says, but He came "not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." In Thessalonica, Jason paid a bond so the King's messengers would go away; Jesus paid a ransom so that we could come near. Carry that into next Sunday's gathering, and come glad to serve the King who served you first.

Pray: Lord Jesus, You gave Your life as my ransom; make me a servant like You this week.

Another King. A world upside down. A cross and an empty tomb for you.

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November 8, 2026 • 4 Minute Read

Another King | Acts 17:1-9

This is the line we carried out of the room today: Another King. A world upside down. A cross and an empty tomb for you. Now that you have heard it, sit with it this week. Some of us found our peace rising and falling with the news; take the crown off whatever you have been trusting and give it back to the King who died for you. Pray by name for the people elected on Tuesday, whoever they are. Sit down with a brother or sister who voted differently than you, and talk about Jesus first. And if you have been persuaded but have never joined a church, talk with me this week. The five readings below do not repeat Sunday's passage. They walk you through the risen Lord opening the Scriptures, the King God set on Zion, the church Paul left behind in Thessalonica, Jesus before Pilate, and the King who came to give His life as a ransom. Grace to you as you carry Sunday's text through the week. Pastor Anton Five-Day Devotional Monday Luke 24:44–49 On the evening of the first Easter, the risen Jesus "opened their minds to understand the Scriptures," and showed His disciples that "the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead." That is exactly what Paul did in the synagogue at Thessalonica. Read slowly today and ask the Lord to open the Bible to you the same way. Pray: Lord Jesus, open my mind to understand the Scriptures, and show me Yourself in every page. Tuesday Psalm 2 The kings of the earth plot and rage against the Lord and His Anointed, and God is not anxious. He says, "As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill." Whatever the news did to your heart last week, the throne that matters most was settled long ago. Pray: Father, thank You that You have already set Your King on His throne; quiet my fear and my anger under His rule. Wednesday 1 Thessalonians 1:2–10 Paul had to leave Thessalonica after only a few weeks, and he wrote this letter to the young church he left behind. They had "received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit," and they had "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." The King who gathered them kept them, and He keeps His people still. Pray: Lord Jesus, keep me turned away from my idols and toward You, and make me glad to belong to Your people. Thursday John 18:33–38 Pilate asks Jesus whether He is the King of the Jews, and Jesus answers, "My kingdom is not of this world." He is not a rival for Pilate's chair. He is the King over it, and He was about to win His kingdom by dying for His enemies. Pray: King Jesus, help me honor those in authority without trusting them as I trust You. Friday Mark 10:42–45 The rulers of this world "lord it over" their people, Jesus says, but He came "not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." In Thessalonica, Jason paid a bond so the King's messengers would go away; Jesus paid a ransom so that we could come near. Carry that into next Sunday's gathering, and come glad to serve the King who served you first. Pray: Lord Jesus, You gave Your life as my ransom; make me a servant like You this week. Another King. A world upside down. A cross and an empty tomb for you.

Anton Brown

Senior Pastor

November 1, 2026 • 4 Minute Read

Never Too Late | Acts 16:25-40

This is the line we carried out of the room today: no hour too late, no guilt too deep. Now that you have heard it, sit with it this week. Some of us have quietly decided it is too late for us, or that what we have done goes too deep to be forgiven. Some of us carry wounds we caused and have never gone back. Some of us are parents praying for children who do not yet believe for themselves. Live into what was preached by asking the jailer's question honestly and resting your whole weight on the answer. If Sunday's words at verse 28 touched something painful in you or in someone you love, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, and please come and talk with me or one of the elders. The five readings below do not repeat Sunday's passage. They walk you through prisoners in darkness whom the Lord brought out, the day Jesus read Isaiah's promise of liberty to the captives, a dying thief who heard "today," a crowd that heard Peter's sermon and was baptized, and the night Jesus sang a hymn on His way to the cross. Grace to you as you carry Sunday's text through the week. Pastor Anton Five-Day Devotional Monday Psalm 107:10–16 The psalm sings about people who "sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons," some of them there because they had rebelled against God. They cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He brought them out, because He "shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron." Paul and Silas sang in a dark cell and the Lord opened the doors, and whatever your midnight is this week, it is not too dark for Him to hear you. Pray: Lord, when it is dark, teach me to cry out to You and to sing, because You are never absent. Tuesday Luke 4:16–21 In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus read Isaiah's promise that the Lord's Anointed would "proclaim liberty to the captives," and then He said, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." On Sunday we saw what that looks like in Philippi: He opened a prison, and the captive He set free that night was the jailer. The freedom Jesus brings is freedom from sin and guilt, and He still proclaims it. Pray: Lord Jesus, You came to proclaim liberty to the captives; set me free from what still holds me. Wednesday Luke 23:39–43 A criminal hanging beside Jesus said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom," and Jesus answered, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise." He had no time to fix his life and nothing to bring, and it was not too late. The same Lord who promised that thief paradise saved a jailer at midnight, and He receives anyone who comes to Him today. Pray: Jesus, remember me; I bring You nothing but my need, and I rest my whole weight on You. Thursday Acts 2:36–42 When Peter preached the crucified and risen Jesus, the crowd was "cut to the heart" and asked, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter told them that "the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself," and "those who received his word were baptized." It is the same order we saw in the jailer's house: each one hears the word, each one believes, each one is baptized, and the church shares its life and its table together. Pray: Father, call to Yourself every person under our roof, so that each one hears Your word and believes it for themselves. Friday Matthew 26:26–30 On the night He was betrayed, Jesus gave His disciples the bread and the cup, His blood "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins," and then, "when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." On Sunday we came to that Table, and we remembered that Jesus sang on His way to the cross, which is why His people can sing in the dark. Carry that into next Sunday's gathering, and come ready to sing. Pray: Lord Jesus, You sang on Your way to the cross for me; give me a song this week, even in the dark. No hour too late, no guilt too deep.

Anton Brown

Senior Pastor

October 25, 2026 • 4 Minute Read

One Little Word | Acts 16:16-24

This is the line we carried out of the room today: whatever owns you, Jesus can set you free. Now that you have heard it, sit with it this week. Some of us know all the right words about Jesus and have never asked whether we belong to Him. Some of us have tried for years to break free of something on our own; name it to Him plainly and bring it to Him. Some of us have done the right thing and paid for it, and need to remember that Christ has been there first. If Christ has set you free and you have never told anyone, come and talk with me this week. The five readings below do not repeat Sunday's passage. They walk you through Jesus silencing the demons who named Him, the Prophet God told His people to listen to, the Son who sets slaves free, Paul remembering what Philippi cost him, and the Lord who bore our sins on the tree. Grace to you as you carry Sunday's text through the week. Pastor Anton Five-Day Devotional Monday Luke 4:38–41 At sunset the crowds brought their sick to Jesus, and demons came out of many, crying, "You are the Son of God!" Luke says He "rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ." The demons told the truth about Jesus, and He would not take their word for it, which is exactly what Paul did in Philippi. Pray: Lord Jesus, let me know You by Your own Word, and keep me from taking guidance from any voice that does not belong to You. Tuesday Deuteronomy 18:9–15 Before Israel entered the land, God told them never to go to fortune-tellers, diviners, or mediums, the very practice the spirit in Philippi was used for. Instead He promised to raise up a Prophet like Moses, and said of Him, "it is to him you shall listen." That Prophet is Jesus, and when He has spoken, you do not need any other voice about your life or your future. Pray: Father, thank You for giving us Your Son as the Prophet we must hear; give me ears for Him and for no one else about my life. Wednesday John 8:31–36 Jesus told people who had believed Him that the truth would set them free, and they answered that they had never been enslaved to anyone. Jesus said that everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin, and then He made a promise: "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." Like the girl in Philippi, they had the right words, and Jesus pressed them past the words to Himself. Pray: Lord Jesus, show me what I am still a slave to, and set me free indeed. Thursday 1 Thessalonians 2:1–4 We heard this passage read in the service on Sunday. Writing to another church, Paul remembered that he and his companions "had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi," and yet they had boldness in God to keep declaring the gospel. One girl set free from the spirit cost Paul and Silas a beating, and they kept going, because they spoke "not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts." Pray: Father, give me boldness in You to speak of Your Son, and free me from needing to please people more than I please You. Friday 1 Peter 2:21–25 Peter writes that Christ "himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness." Paul and Silas suffered for obeying Christ, but behind them stands the Lord who was fastened to the wood for us, and that is what freedom really cost. Carry that into next Sunday's gathering, and come glad to belong to the One who paid for you. Pray: Lord Jesus, You bore my sins on the tree to set me free; make me glad to belong to You, whatever it costs. Whatever owns you, Jesus can set you free.

Anton Brown

Senior Pastor

October 18, 2026 • 4 Minute Read

October 18th | Come and Stay

Now that you have heard it, sit with it this week. Some of us serve in a small place and wonder whether it counts. Some of us have sat near the Word for years and need to ask the Lord, plainly, to open our hearts and show us, Jesus. Some of us believe and have never been baptized. Next Sunday, October 25, we will baptize believers here. See me if you need to be baptized. And some of us have homes that have stayed shut a long time. Live into what was preached by opening your table to someone from this church in the next month. Not a performance, just a meal and a conversation. The five readings below do not repeat Sunday's passage. They walk you through the day of small things, the Word and the breath in a valley of bones, the light God shines in our hearts, two men who asked Jesus where He was staying, and the Father's house with many rooms. Five-Day Devotional Monday Zechariah 4:6–10 God's people were rebuilding the temple with very little, and the Lord told them through Zechariah that the work would be finished not by might or power but by His Spirit, and that whoever despised the day of small things would rejoice. The church in Philippi began with a few women by a river, and it became the church Paul loved most. If you are serving in a small place right now, the Lord does not despise it, and neither should you. Pray: Lord, You began the church in Philippi with a prayer meeting by a river; make me faithful in the small place where You have put me. Tuesday Ezekiel 37:1–10 Sunday morning we heard this passage read: a valley of dry bones, and a prophet told to speak the word of the Lord over them. Only after the Word was spoken did the breath come, and the bones stood up alive. That is how the Lord opened Lydia's heart, by His Spirit through the word Paul spoke, and it is how He still brings dead hearts to life. Pray: Holy Spirit, breathe on me through Your Word this week, and do not let me hear it with a closed heart. Wednesday 2 Corinthians 4:1–6 Paul says the god of this world blinds minds so they cannot see the light of the gospel, and then that the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts. When the Lord opens a heart, it is the first day of creation all over again, light where there was darkness, and what the light shows you is the face of Jesus Christ. Lydia had prayed for years before she saw Him. Pray: Father, You said let light shine out of darkness; shine in my heart and show me the face of Your Son. Thursday John 1:35–42 Two men followed Jesus and asked Him where He was staying, and He said, "Come and you will see," and they stayed with Him that day. Before Lydia ever said come and stay, Jesus said it. And the first thing one of those two men did was go and find his brother Simon and bring him to Jesus. Pray: Lord Jesus, You said come and see; keep me close to You, and make me quick to bring someone else along. Friday John 14:1–3 Jesus told His troubled disciples, "In my Father's house are many rooms," and that He was going to prepare a place for them. He opened that house to sinners, and it cost Him His life, so our homes open because His opened first. Carry that into next Sunday's gathering, and think about one person from the church you could welcome to your table before the month is out. Pray: Lord Jesus, You opened Your Father's house to me at the cost of Your life; open my heart and my home to the people You have given me. Opened hearts open homes.

Anton Brown

Senior Pastor

October 11, 2026 • 4 Minute Read

October 11th | Help Us

The help the world is begging for is the gospel. This morning Pastor Anton preached Acts 16:6–10. The sermon was Help Us. Paul and his team tried two roads to preach the word, and Jesus closed them both. At the edge of the sea, in the night, a man of Macedonia appeared to Paul and said, come over and help us. He did not say, come and preach to us. He said help, and he did not know what help he needed. By morning the team had concluded that God had called them to preach the gospel, and they went immediately. The help that man was begging for was the good news of Jesus Christ. They asked for help. God sent the gospel. Now that you have heard it, sit with it this week. Some of us walked in Sunday standing in front of a road God closed, and most of us know someone who is saying help without using the word. Live into what was preached in two plain ways: hand the map back to the Lord who sees the whole road, and when someone near you cries for help, bring the meal and bring Jesus with you, in words. The five readings below do not repeat Sunday's passage. They walk you through the Lord who went where He was sent, the God our help comes from, a woman who knelt and said Lord, help me, the Savior who is able to help because He suffered, and the beautiful feet of those who are sent. Grace to you as you carry Sunday's text through the week. Pastor Anton Five-Day Devotional Monday Luke 4:42–44 When the crowds at Capernaum tried to keep Jesus from leaving, He told them He must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well, because that is why He was sent. He went where the Father sent Him, not where the crowd wanted, and the same Lord closed two roads in Acts 16 because He knew where His gospel was going next. If He has closed a road on you, He has not stopped steering. Pray: Lord Jesus, You went where the Father sent You; teach me to trust You with the road You have closed in front of me. Tuesday Psalm 121:1–2 The psalmist lifts his eyes to the hills and asks the question everyone asks sooner or later: from where does my help come? His answer is not a plan or a thing but a Person, the Lord who made heaven and earth. The man of Macedonia knew he needed help without knowing what it was, and this psalm tells you where it comes from. Pray: Father, when I do not even know what help I need, turn my eyes from the hills to You, the Maker of heaven and earth. Wednesday Matthew 15:21–28 A Gentile woman with a suffering daughter came to Jesus, knelt in front of Him, and said three words: Lord, help me. She had no claim on Him and she knew it, and He helped her. Those three words are still a prayer He has never turned away. Pray: Lord, help me, not because I have earned it but because You are the One who helps. Thursday Hebrews 2:14–18 Jesus took on our flesh and blood and suffered when tempted, so that He is able to help those who are being tempted. He does not help from a distance; He went to the cross so that when we cry help, there is someone who can actually answer. Whatever you are carrying this week, you are bringing it to One who has been there. Pray: Lord Jesus, You suffered so that You could help me; make me quick to come to You first and not last. Friday Romans 10:13–17 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, Paul writes, but how will people call on One they have never heard of, and how will they hear without someone preaching? That is why God sent Paul across the sea to Macedonia, and it is why He sends you across the street. Carry that into next Sunday's gathering, and think about the one person near you who is saying help, and what it would look like this week to bring Jesus with you in words. Pray: Father, You sent someone to tell me about Your Son; give me courage to speak His name to the one You have put near me. They asked for help. God sent the gospel.

Anton Brown

Senior Pastor

October 4, 2026 • 4 Minute Read

October 4th | Character Over Comfort

Everything but the Gospel As you sit with Sunday's passage this week, ask yourself two plain questions. What freedom am I holding so tightly that I will not spend it for someone else's good? And where have I been tempted to soften the gospel, or add something to it, to make it easier to carry? The five readings below do not repeat Sunday's passage. They walk you through the home that raised Timothy, the man Paul came to trust most, the freedom Paul spent, the line Paul would not cross, and the Christ who finished what no one can add to. Grace to you as you carry Sunday's text through the week. Pastor Anton Five-Day Devotional Monday 2 Timothy 1:3–7 Paul remembers the sincere faith that dwelt first in Timothy's grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice, and now in Timothy. Luke tells us only that his mother was a believer and his father was a Greek, which means much of that faith was handed down in an ordinary home, by people who were not famous and may often have felt alone in it. The faith taught at your table is never wasted, even when it seems small. Pray: Father, thank You for the people who taught me Your Word, and make me faithful to hand it on to the ones You have placed in my home. Tuesday Philippians 2:19–24 Years after Lystra, Paul writes, "I have no one like him," and says that others seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. The young man two towns once spoke well of had spent years proving it, serving with Paul in the gospel as a son with a father. A good name among God's people is not built by guarding your image; it grows out of a life that keeps looking to the interests of Christ. Pray: Lord Jesus, turn my attention from my own interests to Yours, and make my life one that speaks well of You. Wednesday 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 Paul says he is free from all, and then he spends that freedom by making himself a servant to all, that he might win more of them. That is what Acts 16:3 looks like on the ground: a real cost, freely paid, so that others would listen. Ask where your freedom has turned into something you guard, and who might be helped to hear the gospel if you let it go. Pray: Father, show me one freedom I can spend this week for someone else's good, and give me joy in spending it. Thursday Galatians 2:1–5 The same Paul who circumcised Timothy refused to let Titus be circumcised, and he says he did not give in for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would be preserved. With Titus, people were demanding circumcision as a condition of being saved, and giving in would have said that Christ was not enough. Paul was flexible about everything that belonged to him and immovable about the one thing that belonged to Christ. Pray: Lord, give me a soft heart toward people and a firm grip on Your gospel, and never let me trade the one for the other. Friday Colossians 2:9–14 Paul tells believers that in Christ they were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, and that God canceled the record of debt that stood against us and nailed it to the cross. Timothy's circumcision opened a synagogue door; only Christ opens heaven's door, and He does it with nothing added. Carry that into next Sunday's gathering, and come with empty hands to the One who finished the work. Pray: Lord Jesus, I stop trying to add to what You have done, and I rest in Your finished work with nothing in my hands. Everything but the gospel.

Anton Brown

Senior Pastor

September 27, 2026 • 5 Minute Read

September 27th | Not By Agreement

The work of the Lord goes forward on the grace of the Lord, not on the strength of the men who carry it. This morning Pastor Anton preached Acts 15:36–41. The sermon was Not By Agreement. For two Sundays we watched a church answer the hardest question it would ever have to face, and then Luke ends the chapter with two of the best men in the New Testament in a quarrel they could not settle. He does not hide it, he does not soften it, and he does not tell us which one was right. He tells us the work went on, and doubled. The church at Antioch did not fix the two men. It prayed, and handed Paul over to the grace of the Lord, and that grace carried what they dropped. Two ships left Antioch. One gospel was on both of them. Now that you have heard it, sit with it. Most of us walked in Sunday with a name we have not said out loud in a while, someone we used to work beside, and one day the working together stopped. This text will not sort you into a column and it will not hand you a verdict, and that is mercy rather than neglect. Live into what was preached in two plain ways this week: go and see how somebody is instead of only knowing how they are, and hand over the thing you cannot fix, which is not the same as giving up on it. The five readings below do not repeat Sunday's passage. They walk you through the man who took a risk on Paul, the Son who was handed over for us all, the gospel that advances even where people are not getting along, the quitter who became very useful, and the Lord who came back for His friends by name. Grace to you as you carry the text through the week. Pastor Anton Five-Day Devotional Monday Acts 9:26–28 When Saul came to Jerusalem, every disciple in the city was afraid of him, and one man took him by the arm and brought him to the apostles. That man was Barnabas, and years later he was fighting for young Mark exactly the way he had once fought for Paul. Before you decide somebody is finished, remember that you are standing where you are because someone took a risk on you. Pray: Father, thank You for the person who took a risk on me when I had no record to show; make me willing to be that person for someone else. Tuesday Romans 8:31–34 Paul writes that God did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, and the words gave Him up are the same words Luke used when the church handed Paul over to the grace of the Lord. Before anyone was ever handed to that grace, the Lord of that grace had been handed over first, betrayed by one He chose and deserted by all of them, and He did not withdraw. Nothing you are carrying this week is held by weaker hands than those. Pray: Lord Jesus, You were handed over for me and did not withdraw; teach me to trust the hands I have been put into. Wednesday Philippians 1:12–18 Paul says that what has happened to him has really served to advance the gospel, and then he admits plainly that some are proclaiming Christ out of rivalry and not sincerely. He rejoices anyway, because Christ is proclaimed. God's work does not wait for the people doing it to get along, and He does not lose a thing in the mess we make of it. Pray: Father, when the people around me will not get along, keep my eyes on the Christ who is still being proclaimed. Thursday 2 Timothy 4:9–13 At the end of his life Paul is cold and mostly alone, asking for his cloak and his books, and he asks for one more thing: get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. This is the same Mark he would not have in the boat. The grace that would not let Paul go did not let Mark go either, and it is not finished with you. Pray: Lord, I have been the one who turned back; thank You that Your grace kept its hold on me and is not done with me yet. Friday John 21:15–19 Peter denied Him three times and then went back to fishing, and Jesus came to the beach, made breakfast, and asked him one question three times before sending him back to the work. That is the Lord to whose grace the church at Antioch handed Paul over, and He has not changed since. Carry that into next Sunday's gathering, and think about the person you have written off, and what it would look like to go find them the way He found Peter. Pray: Lord Jesus, You came back for the one who denied You; give me the courage to go and find the one I have been avoiding. Two ships left Antioch. One gospel was on both of them.

Anton Brown

Senior Pastor

September 20, 2026 • 4 Minute Read

September 20th | The Spirit Decided

The Spirit settled it and the church says it. Now that you have heard it, sit with it. Some of you walked in Sunday braced for a further requirement, a list you had not been shown. The letter's answer is that the weight was already carried by the Lord Jesus, and there is none left to hand out. Live into what was preached this week by naming the burden a confident voice laid on you, and by being someone who can be trusted with a sentence: say what you mean, put your name on it, and stay in the room for the questions. The five readings below do not repeat Sunday's passage. They walk you through the burden Christ carried, the brothers He is not ashamed of, the liberty He asks us to spend, the men who stay, and the Spirit who still bears witness. Grace to you as you carry Sunday's text through the week. Pastor Anton Five-Day Devotional Monday Galatians 3:10–14 Paul says everyone who relies on works of the law is under a curse, and then he tells you where the curse went: Christ became a curse for us. That is why the letter from Jerusalem could say no greater burden. The apostles had no weight left to hand out because Christ had already gone under all of it. Pray: Lord Jesus, You carried the whole weight in my place; keep me from picking any of it back up. Tuesday Hebrews 2:10–13 The letter opened with brothers writing to brothers, the pillars of Jerusalem addressing uncircumcised Gentiles as family. They could only write that salutation because the Son wrote it first; He is not ashamed to call them brothers. Your standing in the family rests on what He did and what He said, and neither one moves. Pray: Father, thank You that Your Son is not ashamed to call me brother; settle my heart on His word and not on my own certainty. Wednesday 1 Corinthians 8:9–13 The four things in the letter were not the price of getting in; three of them were freedoms Gentile believers gave up so a Jewish brother could sit at the same table, and the fourth, sexual immorality, was never a freedom for anyone. Paul presses the same principle in Corinth: take care that your liberty does not become a stumbling block to the weak. Liberty that will not spend itself for a neighbor has stopped being Christian liberty. Pray: Lord, show me one freedom I can lay down this week for somebody weaker than me, and give me the grace to lay it down gladly. Thursday Colossians 4:7–9 Paul did not send only a letter to Colossae; he sent Tychicus and Onesimus, who would tell them everything and encourage their hearts. Jerusalem did the same with Judas and Silas, men who said the same words with their own mouths and stayed to be asked. When you have to correct something this week, do not do it in writing and then go quiet; stay in the room. Pray: Father, make me someone who says a hard thing to a person's face and stays long enough to answer for it. Friday John 15:26–27 Jesus promised that the Spirit would bear witness about Him, and then He added, and you also will bear witness. That is Acts 15 in one sentence, read from the other side of the sermon: the Spirit settled it, and the church says it. Carry it into next Sunday's gathering, and think about the person in your life who was handed a gospel with a condition bolted on, and what you will say to their face. Pray: Holy Spirit, You have borne witness to Christ; open my mouth to say plainly what You have settled. The Spirit settled it. Grace put it in writing.

Anton Brown

Senior Pastor

September 13, 2026 • 3 Minute Read

September 13th | Saved Like Them

One grace saves everyone, and it saves the apostle no differently than it saves the Gentile. Now that you have heard this week’s sermon, sit with it. The men in verse 1 were not oddballs. They were believers; they were in the room, and they had a Bible verse. They simply read it in the wrong order, and a sign meant to mark God's people became a door somebody stood in front of. Live into what was preached this week by finding the word you have been adding, and by naming the weight you have been carrying in the name of Jesus that Jesus never laid on you. The five readings below do not repeat Sunday's chapter. They walk you through the same order, the same Spirit, the same yoke, and the same wall taken down. Five-Day Devotional Monday Genesis 15:1–6 God brought Abraham outside, showed him the stars, and Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. That happened two chapters before the sign of the covenant was ever given. Sunday's whole crisis began with men who kept the sign and lost the order. Pray: Father, teach me to believe You first, and to stop treating the marks of Your covenant as the price of admission. Tuesday Acts 10:44–48 The Holy Spirit fell on a Roman officer's household while Peter was still speaking, before any ceremony and before a single credential. God gave His own testimony about who belonged, and He gave it without asking anyone to qualify first. That is the room Peter reached back for when the council in Jerusalem could not agree. Pray: Lord, You know the heart; give me eyes to see Your Spirit at work in people who do not look like me. Wednesday Galatians 2:11–16 Paul had to say to Peter's face in Antioch what Peter had said out loud in Jerusalem: a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. Even an apostle can drift back toward the table he came from. The word Sunday exposed, the little word "and," does not stay buried, and it needs killing more than once. Pray: Lord Jesus, keep me from adding anything to Your finished work, even quietly, even in front of people I want to impress. Thursday Matthew 11:28–30 Peter called the added requirement a yoke that neither their fathers nor they had ever been able to bear. Jesus offers a yoke too, and He calls it easy, because He has already gone under the load that crushed everyone else. He is not handing you a lighter version of the same burden. Pray: Lord Jesus, I am taking it off; carry what I was never able to carry. Friday Ephesians 2:11–22 Paul writes to Gentiles who were once separated, strangers to the covenants, and tells them that Christ Himself is our peace and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility. That is Sunday's council stated as doctrine, and it is worth reading from this side of the sermon. Carry it into next Sunday's gathering, and look for the person still standing on the far side of a wall Christ has already taken down. Pray: Father, You have made us one in Christ; show me the wall I am still guarding, and give me grace to leave it down. Same grace. Same way. We are saved like them.

Anton Brown

Senior Pastor

September 6, 2026 • 2 Minute Read

September 6th | God Did It!

Five-Day Devotional Monday 1 Corinthians 3:5-7 Paul planted. Apollos watered. God gave the growth. Sunday's missionaries came home as companions, not authors. Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. That is Acts 14:26 in another room. Pray: Father, take the subject line back; teach me to call You the One who gives the growth. Tuesday Philippians 2:12-13 Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Companions work. The Agent is still God. Sunday handed you over to the grace that completes what it starts. Pray: Lord, work in me what I cannot finish in my own strength, and keep me from claiming the work as mine. Wednesday Ephesians 2:8-10 By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. The door of faith in Acts 14:27 is the same gift. You did not pick the lock. God opened it, and the good works were prepared beforehand that you should walk in them. Pray: Jesus, You are the gift and the Door; keep me from treating faith as a key I cut myself. Thursday Isaiah 26:12 O LORD, You will ordain peace for us, for You have indeed done for us all our works. Sunday's refrain in another century. The finished work you are tempted to author was already His. Report Him. Pray: O Lord, You have done for us all our works; humble my mouth, then open it to name You. Friday 2 Corinthians 4:5 What we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. Return to Sunday's report from this side of the sermon. They declared God. Carry that grammar into the next gathering. Pray: Father, we proclaim not ourselves; make God the subject of every sentence we can. God Did It!

Anton Brown

Senior Pastor

August 30, 2026 • 3 Minute Read

August 30th | Darkness Blinded Him

This morning Pastor Anton preached 1 John 2:9-11. The sermon was Darkness Blinded Him. John is not giving the church a lesson about being nicer. He is testing a claim against a walk, and the argument lands on a past tense. The one who hates his brother is already blinded by the darkness, whatever he says about the light. Hatred is not a mood. It is a blinding. Now that you have heard it, sit with it. The man who talks about the light and still hates his brother is not a man in the light with one bad relationship. He is a man in the dark who has learned the vocabulary of the light. The Light has come. Love is the light's evidence, not the light's replacement. Live into what was preached. The five-day readings below will not repeat Sunday's three verses. They walk you through the same Light, the same badge, and the same call to be reconciled. Grace to you as you carry Sunday's text through the week. Pastor Anton Five-Day Devotional Monday John 8:12 Jesus does not offer a better vocabulary about the light. He says He is the light of the world. The one who follows Him will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Sunday's claimant had the words. He did not have the Light. Pray: Lord Jesus, You are the Light of the world; draw me to follow You, not merely to talk about You. Tuesday John 13:34-35 Christ made brother-love the badge. By this all people will know that you are His disciples, if you have love for one another. The badge is not the light-talk. The badge is the brother. Sunday opened that from 1 John 2:10. Sit with the same command from the Lord's own mouth. Pray: Father, give me a remaining love for the brothers and sisters Christ has given me, not a sentence I can say about them. Wednesday John 12:35-36 Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. That is the nearest twin of Sunday's 2:11. The not-knowing is not a mood. It is what darkness does to a walk. Pray: Spirit of God, keep me walking while I have the Light, and do not let me treat contempt as harmless. Thursday Matthew 5:23-24 Leave the gift. Go be reconciled. Sunday sent you to the brothers the Light creates, not to a private hallway with a polished claim. Love is evidence. It does the missing deed. Pray: Lord, show me the brother I have walked past, and give me the courage to go to him. Friday 1 John 1:5-7 God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie. Return to Sunday's passage from this side of the sermon. The claim and the walk still have to tell the same story as you head into the next gathering. Pray: Father, You are light; expose every claim in me that has not interrupted the dark. Hatred is not a mood. It is a blinding.

Anton Brown

Senior Pastor

August 23, 2026 • 5 Minute Read

August 23, 2026 | The Kingdom Road

Dear Mayflower family, This morning we sat down together in Acts 14:19-23 and watched Paul get stoned at Lystra, dragged out of the city for dead, and then rise and walk back through the same gate. He went on to strengthen the young churches with one sentence the whole passage turns on. Through many tribulations. Not around them. Through them. He was pulling up by the roots the quiet lie that if following Jesus is costing us, something has gone wrong. Now that you have heard the sermon, this week is a chance to live inside that one truth from every side. The readings below do not re-walk Sunday's passage. They walk around it, one thread each day. Monday we stand at the foot of the King's own road, the suffering He passed through into glory. Tuesday and Wednesday we sit with what it means to suffer with Christ and to be kept by Him. Thursday we learn to run the race with endurance, eyes on Jesus. And Friday we come back from the far side of the sermon to the promise that the One who began a good work in you will finish it. Take five minutes a day, or sit with the whole week at once. There is no wrong way to use them. One more thing before you begin. Somewhere in this church, a believer is walking a hard road right now, tired and half-afraid they will not make it to the end. Carry them before God this week, and if the Lord brings a name to mind, go and help them carry it. No one was ever meant to walk the kingdom road alone. In Christ, Pastor Anton Five-Day Devotional Monday: The road the King walked Read: Luke 24:25-27 On the Emmaus road the risen Jesus asks two heartbroken disciples, "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" The same small word "necessary" that Paul laid over your road in Acts 14, Jesus laid first over His own. Cross, then crown; He did not send you down a road He refused to walk Himself. Pray: Lord Jesus, thank You that You walked the road of suffering into glory ahead of me, and that I only ever follow where You have already gone. Tuesday: Suffering with Him Read: Romans 8:16-18 Paul calls believers heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, "provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him." Suffering is not the fine you pay to sneak into the kingdom; it is the fellowship of walking your King's own road, step for step, behind Him. And the glory ahead is not worth comparing to it. Pray: Father, when the cost of following You feels heavy, remind me it is fellowship with Christ, and that the glory coming is greater than all of it. Wednesday: Kept by the Lord Read: John 10:27-30 Jesus says of His sheep, "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." Paul and Barnabas committed the young churches to that same Lord for safekeeping. Your standing at the end of the hard road will never rest on the strength of your grip on Him; it rests on the strength of His grip on you. Pray: Lord Jesus, thank You that I am held in Your hand, and that nothing, not even my own weakness, can snatch me out of it. Thursday: Run with endurance Read: Hebrews 12:1-3 The writer tells a tired church to run the race set before them with endurance, "looking to Jesus," who endured the cross for the joy set before Him. You continue not by staring at your own strength but by fixing your eyes on the One who already finished the course. Consider Him, so that you will not grow weary or fainthearted. Father, when I am tempted to quit, lift my eyes off myself and fix them on Jesus, who ran the whole road ahead of me and finished it. Friday: He will finish it Read: Philippians 1:3-6 Coming home from the far side of Sunday's sermon, hear Paul's confidence: "he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Verse 22 charged you to continue, and this is why you will. The work was His to start, and it is His to finish. Carry that settled rest into next Sunday's gathering. Pray: Father, thank You that the good work You began in me is Yours to complete, and that You have never once dropped what was placed in Your hands. Through many tribulations. Not around them. Through them. The King went first, and He will keep you all the way home.

Anton Brown

Senior Pastor