Acts 5:12-28 (AD 30) Already, in the early days of the early church, the patterns that led to the murder of Jesus threatened to lead to the killing of his followers. There were the miraculous healings – loads of them – and great popularity, followed inevitably by the “high priest and all his associates” being … More Day 150: The unstoppable gospel
Acts 4:32-5:11 (AD 30) Some use the opening verses here to argue for Communism. It’s a poor argument, because nobody in this situation tried to structure all of society on the basis of sharing everything and claiming ownership of nothing. Others use these verses to argue specifically that all Christians should live a communistic lifestyle. … More Day 149: Marxist Jesus?
Acts 4:23-31 (AD 30) Have you ever been around someone to whom you looked up for their devotion to God? Or their desperation to get the gospel into the ears of those who don’t know God? If you’ve ever had the privilege of listening to them pray, it probably sounded different to most prayers you’ve … More Day 148: A stirring of the guts
Acts 4:1-22 (AD 30) Kept promises are a wonderful thing. Compare these two sections – the first is Jesus warning and encouraging his disciples about what would happen under persecution. The second is from the incident recorded in today’s reading. Luke 12:11-12 – “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry … More Day 147: Promise Under Persecution
Acts 3 (AD 30) Pentecost wasn’t a one-off – Peter didn’t have some temporary moment or liquid courage on that day. Rather, filled with Holy Spirit, he had become a fundamentally different person. He was completely aware, finally, of exactly who Jesus was, and totally committed to telling everyone about him because it was a … More Day 146: Dealing with Guilt
Acts 2:42-47 (AD 30) “THEY [emphasis mine] devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (v.42). Who is the “They”? A group of very mature Christians? The apostles? Nerdy types? Do-gooders? Unusually keen Christians with plenty of time on their hands? No. The “They” refers to … More Day 145: Christian Family Life
Acts 2:14-41 (spring AD 30) I can’t off-hand think of a bolder or more potentially self-destructive way to conclude an evangelistic sermon than by telling everyone that they killed God. But that’s what Peter did. He was in front of at least 3,000 people, possibly many thousands, preaching from the Old Testament to prove that … More Day 144: Evangelising Murderers
Acts 2:1-13; spring AD 30 God spoke in a “still, small voice” to Elijah (1 Kings 19:2), helping him to be assured that he wasn’t alone, that God was with him and intervening in events. On the Day of Pentecost, a millennium later and only days after Jesus returned to heaven, God made his presence … More Day 143: The Advocate Arrives
Acts 1:12-26 (spring, AD 30) “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem…they went upstairs to the room where they were [all] staying…They all joined constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers” (1:12-14) So much was going on for the disciples (now termed ‘apostles’ as Jesus was … More Day 142: Constantly in Prayer
Matthew 28:16-20; Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:1-11 (AD 30: during the 40 days after resurrection) After his resurrection, Jesus was on earth for forty days before he returned to heaven. He made a number of appearances, including the following, more or less in chronological order (we don’t know when all of them were): Mary Magdalene Peter … More Day 141: The things that Jesus began to do
Paul T Reynolds 