Acts

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“After greeting them, Paul gave a detailed account of the things God had accomplished among the Gentiles through his ministry” (Acts 21:19 NLT).

July 2, 2022

PAUL GIVES A DETAILED ACCOUNT This was a wonderful day in the history of the early church. Paul returned from his third and longest missionary journey to give “a detailed account” to James and the elders in Jerusalem. After hearing the report of how the Gentiles all over Asia Minor and Greece had received the

“The next day we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to distribute food” (Acts 21:8 NLT).

July 1, 2022

TWO GREAT EVANGELISTS SPEND SOME TIME TOGETHER After Paul’s third missionary journey, he and his companions sailed homeward, arriving at Caesarea Martima. This is where Herod the Great had built an amazing harbor and named the city after his patron, Caesar Augustus. Paul’s traveling companions included Luke the physician, who kept a faithful diary, noting

“After the Passover ended, we boarded a ship at Philippi in Macedonia and five days later joined them in Troas, where we stayed a week” (Acts 20:6 NLT).

June 30, 2022

THE HISTORICAL PRECISION OF LUKE Paul’s missionary companion, Luke, rejoined Paul at Philippi. Luke was a physician, missionary and the author of the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. His presence, while not specifically named, is seen by a reappearance of the word, “we,” a second person plural unused since Acts 16.  Like

“Inside, the people were all shouting, some one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn’t even know why they were there” (Acts 19:32 NLT). 

June 29, 2022

RIOTING AND REASON RARELY GO TOGETHER A riot broke out in Ephesus over the importance of the Temple of Artemis to the city’s identity and fame. The riot began as an angry response by the silversmiths of Ephesus, who made a living making figurines of the Greek goddess Artemis (Roman: “Diana”) to sell. Their business

“Using the Scriptures, he explained to them that Jesus was the Messiah” (Acts 18:28 NLT).

June 28, 2022

PROCLAIMING CHRIST FROM THE SCRIPTURES Apollos, a Jewish believer in Jesus from Alexandria, Egypt, was an eloquent preacher of the gospel. But the power of his preaching wasn’t in his eloquence, but in his accurate use of the Scriptures to explain how they reveal Jesus as the Messiah. We don’t know very much about Apollos.

“Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla… Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was” (Acts 18:1,3 NLT).

June 27, 2022

PAUL’S TENTMAKER MINISTRY When Paul met the Jewish tent-making couple, Aquila and Priscilla, in the city of Corinth, he found true partners in ministry and work. Paul often had to find work in order to support his ministry. He was a bivocational church-planter and he needed work that provided a sufficient income with flexible hours.

“When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, ‘We want to hear more about this later.’ … but some joined him and became believers” (Acts 17:32, 34 NLT).

June 26, 2022

THREE RESPONSES TO THE GOSPEL  The apostle Paul was called before the high council of Athens, which met at the Areopagus (“Mars Hill”), where they invited him to explain what he was teaching. For the Athenians were known for their interest in new philosophies, many of them spending much of their time discussing new ideas.

“Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work” (Acts 15:37-38 NLT).

June 24, 2022

THE DISAGREEMENT OVER JOHN MARK  Paul wanted to travel to check on the new believers that had come to faith on their first missionary journey. Barnabas agreed. However, they disagreed on taking John Mark with them again. Apparently, Paul considered the young man unreliable after he had “deserted them” and went home early on their

“We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 15:11 NLT).

June 23, 2022

ONLY ONE WAY OF SALVATION After certain Judaizers came to Antioch, teaching that circumcision was required for salvation, Paul and Barnabas were sent to bring the question to the apostles at Jerusalem. After much deliberation, Peter stood and reminded everyone that he had been the first one chosen to carry the gospel to the Gentiles.

“Many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, and the two men urged them to continue to rely on the grace of God” (Acts 13:43 NLT).

June 21, 2022

RELY ON THE GRACE OF GOD, NOT MEN  In town after town, as people came to faith after hearing the gospel proclaimed by Paul and Barnabas, they would begin to follow them. But the two men always urged the people to rely on the grace of God, not men. For Paul and Barnabas wanted them