June 14, 2021
BE LIKE BARNABAS After Saul became a follower of Jesus at Damascus, he returned to Jerusalem. There he sought to meet with the apostles, but they didn’t trust that the former persecutor had really changed and were afraid to see him. But a believer named Barnabas, whose name means “Son of Encouragement,” vouched for Saul
June 13, 2021
OBEYING CHRIST’S CALL While heading to the city of Damascus to persecute Christians, Saul encountered the living Lord Jesus on the way. When Saul understood that it was Jesus speaking to him, he asked one of the most important questions a believer can ask. He asked what Jesus wanted him to do. He knew that
June 11, 2021
WHEN PERSECUTION SERVES TO GROW THE CHURCH After Stephen was stoned to death in Jerusalem for preaching the risen Christ, a “severe persecution broke out against the church.” As a result, all but the apostles fled Jerusalem and were “scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria.” Surely, the enemies of the church meant this
June 10, 2021
WHERE GOD DWELLS Stephen reminded the Jewish rulers that even though God allowed Solomon to build Him a Temple, He had no need for a man-made dwelling. Sinful man always prefers his man-made religion with his man-made gods and man-made temples. Didn’t the Israelites reject Moses and ask his brother, Aaron, to make them “some
June 7, 2021
CHRIST’S FELLOWSHIP OF SUFFERING Peter and some of the apostles were put in the common prison by the high priest for continuing to preach in the name of Jesus. That night, an angel set them free from the prison and instructed them to go and preach in the Temple courts. When the high priest brought
June 6, 2021
CAN PEOPLE TELL YOU’VE BEEN WITH JESUS? Something extraordinary happens to ordinary people when they spend time with Jesus. When the former fisherman Peter stood to speak to the illustrious gathering of Jewish priests and rabbis they were shocked at his bold eloquence. So much so, that they asked Peter and John to leave the
June 5, 2021
GIVE THEM JESUS Peter and John encountered a cripple asking for money on their way to afternoon prayers at the Temple. While many worshipers passed by the invalid without looking at him, probably even avoiding eye contact, Peter and John looked at him intently, “fixing” their eyes on him. They weren’t afraid of his need.
June 3, 2021
WRITTEN TO THOSE LOVED BY GOD The book called the Acts of the Apostles was the second New Testament work written by Luke. It picks up where Luke’s gospel left off. Luke was a physician and a traveling companion of the apostle Paul. In his “first narrative,” he wrote an “orderly account” (Luke 1:3) of
July 11, 2020
PAUL’S MINISTRY UNDER ROMAN STAY-AT-HOME ORDERS What Satan meant for evil, God used for good. The Jewish leaders that brought charges against Paul in Jerusalem actually ended up elevating his status, so that he preached before soldiers, centurions, governors, kings and even Caesar. His appeal to Caesar resulted in an all-expense-paid trip to Rome (albeit
July 8, 2020
PAUL’S EYE-OPENING ASSIGNMENT Paul gave his faith testimony before the Roman governor Festus and the last of the House of Herod, King Agrippa II and his sister Bernice. In his testimony, he quoted the calling that Christ had given him. First, he was one “sent” (“I now send you”). The Greek word for this