Posts with the category “book-of-acts”

Ephesians 4:1-6 — The Basis of Christian UnityOver the past several decades, we have seen an incredible shift in the Church here in America and Christianity as a whole. During this time, the number of...  Read More

Acts 27 — Paul's Journey to RomeWith Paul's appeal to Caesar, the Roman governor Festus had no choice but to send Paul to Rome. So in Acts 27 and 28, Luke records this epic journey for us under the in...  Read More

Acts 26 — Paul Appears Before AgrippaSince his return to Jerusalem after his Third Missionary Journey, the resurrection theme begins to develop in Paul's speeches before the Sanhedrin, before the Roma...  Read More

Acts 25 — Paul Appeals to CaesarThe Apostle Paul's ministry has been marked by hardship from the start. Nevertheless, his time of arrest, imprisonment, assassination attempts on his life, and trials a...  Read More

Acts 22:30-23:9 — Paul's Failure to Reach His CountrymenThe Apostle Paul has been called by the Lord to be the apostle to the Gentiles. And for almost eight years, he planted and strengthened churches...  Read More

Acts 22:21 — Paul's Commission to the GentilesEnding his Third Missionary Journey on the shore of Miletus, the Apostle Paul exhorted the Ephesian elders to watch over the flock giving his example of f...  Read More

Acts 21 — A Demonstration of Paul's EnduranceIn Acts 20, the Apostle Paul gave the Ephesians elders a sermon that demonstrated essential aspects of what it means to be a minister of the Gospel: the mi...  Read More

Acts 20:17-38 — Paul's Exhortation to the Ephesian EldersIn the second half of Acts 20, Luke records the Apostle Paul’s only speech made exclusively to believers. This scene in Luke's narrative turns ...  Read More

One of the false teachings that the Church had to deal with from the beginning is that we must obey the Law. It is as if some believers never read Galatians, Hebrews, or Romans. The Apostle Paul calle...  Read More

Acts 19:21-41 — The Gospel's Victory Over IdolatrySeveral themes run through the Book of Acts. Acts shows why and how the Church which started with Jewish believers broke away from the fold of Judaism...  Read More

Acts 18:24–28 — The Ministry of Apollos A church visitor argued with me after a Sunday service because I had said something that disagreed with one of her favorite online preachers. When I explained t...  Read More

Acts 18:1–23 — No Fear!During the Apostle Paul's first missionary journey, he had to escape Iconium for fear of being stoned, was stoned in Lystra and had to escape to Derbe, faced hostility even from...  Read More

Acts 17:16-34 — The Unknown GodAfter running away from Berea because the unbelieving Jews from Thessalonica had chased him there, Paul went to Athens, the Greek city that 500 years earlier was the pol...  Read More

Acts 16:35-17:15 — The Noble BereanAs the Apostle Paul and his missionary team (Silas, Timothy, and then Luke) were prevented from preaching the Gospel in Minor Asia, they were directed by the Holy Sp...  Read More

Acts 15:1-35 — The Second Missionary JourneyA major theme in the Book of Acts is how the Holy Spirit directed the spread of the Gospel. So far, He came down on the Apostles at Pentecost when three tho...  Read More

Acts 15:1-35 — The Jerusalem CouncilAfter completing the study of Acts 14, over the past couple of months, we went through the book of Galatians before coming back to Acts 15 this week. The reason we ...  Read More

After having to leave Iconium due to persecution, (Acts 14:1-7), the Apostle Paul and Barnabas went to Lystra, where "a man was sitting who was ... lame from his mother's womb and had never walked" (A...  Read More

After leaving Cyprus (Acts 13:13), the Apostle Paul and his missionary team landed on the coast of modern-day Turkey and stopped in Perga, 12 miles from the coast.  But in the following verse (Acts 13...  Read More

Have you ever had a failure in your Christian walk or ministry that left you second-guessing yourself?In Acts 12, we were introduced to "John, also called Mark" (Acts 12:12). His mother, Mary, had a h...  Read More

One of the major themes of the Book of Acts is to show how the inherently Jewish church had become Gentile. Luke does this by showing that Israel repeatedly confirmed their rejection of the Messiah. T...  Read More

No event is as pivotal to our understanding of the early church in the Book of Acts as those surrounding Cornelius and his household. Although the Lord Jesus had told the apostles to "make disciples o...  Read More

A major theme in the Book of Acts is how the church that started as inherently Jewish not only became Gentile but also essentially outside the fold of Judaism. After Pentecost, the apostles along with...  Read More

Chuck Swindoll begins his book on the life of the Apostle Paul by describing him as a man who, before his conversion, “looks more like a terrorist than a devout follower of Judaism”.  Swindoll is not ...  Read More

The Book of Acts emphasizes the variety of ways by which the gospel is spread. In Acts 8:1-25, we see persecution drive the gospel to a new people group (i.e., Samaria) through corporate witness accom...  Read More

The stoning of Stephen did not pacify the anger of the leadership and the people in Jerusalem. On the contrary, the persecution intensified particularly at the hand of a young man named Saul. Those wh...  Read More

In Chapter six, we see Stephen's arrest and trial. Stephen—full of the Spirit, full of faith, full of wisdom, full of power— debated with the Synagogue of the Hellenist, but they were no match for him...  Read More

To solve the problem of caring for widows in the church, the Apostles asked the congregation to select from among them "seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put ...  Read More

Just as with the healing of the lame man (Acts 3:1–10) led to the first arrest (Acts 4:1–22), the Sadducees continued to be concerned about the message the apostles are preaching and the attention the...  Read More

Following her birth and initial growth, persecution did not threaten the church in her infancy. On the contrary, opposition helped her to be in "one heart and one soul" (Acts 4:32). Consequently, the ...  Read More

Should Christians obey civil authorities?Over the past couple of years, many Christian leaders have been emphatic in their strict interpretation of Romans 13: you must obey government edicts or you ar...  Read More

To the amazement of the people of Jerusalem for the healing of the lame man, the Apostle Peter gave another sermon that emphasized that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. While during the sermon at Pen...  Read More

After the Apostles, Peter and John miraculously healed the lame man, the men in Jerusalem were astonished at the supernatural act. So once again as at Pentecost, a miraculous sign is given that create...  Read More

Acts 3 narrates the story of the Apostles Peter and John miraculously healing a man who was lame from this mother's womb. The lame man was not paralyzed but had extensive deformity in his legs and fee...  Read More

The church, as (1) the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:23), (2) the family of God (Ephesians 2:19), and (3) the Temple of God (growing build, dwelling place for God) (Ephesians 2:20-22), is marked by wors...  Read More

The sermon that the Apostle Peter preached on Pentecost brought 3000 souls to the Lord. The 120 who were gathered in the upper room immediately had a 2500% increase in number and the church was born. ...  Read More

After the Apostle Peter proved to the men of Jerusalem that Jesus is the Messiah, the resurrected-glorified Messiah, the audience came under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and inquired as to what t...  Read More

As the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles, some of the people in Jerusalem mocked them and said they were drunk. However, the Apostle Peter, through the Holy Spirit, preached a sermon that demonstr...  Read More

Just as the Lord Jesus had promised, the Holy Spirit came on the Apostles and the believers with them in the upper room (Acts 2). As believers in the modern age, we may take the presence of the Holy S...  Read More

"But . . .you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).The words of th...  Read More