When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The … Read more
Continued from ‘Death Could Not Hold Him…’‘ Preaching Jesus – God’s Chosen Method for Sharing the Gospel This kerygma, delivered by Peter under the inspiration and power of the Holy Spirit, had its intended effect. It reached its intended audience. And while we shouldn’t be surprised at all, there is something very eye opening and … Read more
Continued from ‘Proclaiming the Gospel Message’… The Resurrection of Christ Look with me at verse 24 of Acts Chapter 2, God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, “I saw the Lord always before me, for he … Read more
The Kerygma What is the essence of preaching? Is it clever words and rhetoric? Is it a keen sense of humor and a winsome delivery? Does it involve how we look while we are doing it? Is it possible that no preaching actually occurs in some churches these days? If that is true, is it … Read more
Continued from Part 1: The Birth of a Preacher. After Peter stands up and begins to deliver this powerful sermon, we are able to kind of dissect it and see what the characteristics of the sermon are, in fact.There are a few things that are worth noticing about this sermon that Peter delivers, and honestly, … Read more
The Transforming Power of the Holy Spirit We are sort of in a calm in the middle of the storm today in this part of the passage. While there are some significant things that happen, they are not the earth shattering events that occur on either side of this part of the passage. But there … Read more
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they … Read more
Pastor Dan finishes his sermon discussing the sovereignty of God in the early church, before going on to explain the critical difference between ‘being’ the church and ‘going’ to church. Relying on the Sovereignty of God I can’t say enough good about this part of the passage. They prayed, “You Lord, know the hearts of … Read more
In the first part of my sermon, I talked about the unity of the early church and explained a lot about the church’s establishment after Christ’s death and resurrection. Today, I’d like to talk about the apostles themselves–their authority and office, and their faithfulness to shepherd the flock. In those days, Peter stood up among … Read more
The Unity of the Early Church The passage we are covering for today marks the very beginning of the Apostles’ life without Christ on the earth as their ever present guide and friend. They had spent the last three years of their lives together with him, and now he has ascended back to heaven. The … Read more
What Happened at the Ascension? The Incarnation, the Resurrection, and the Ascension are without a doubt the most astounding physical events in our world’s history and they all belong to one person. These are actual historical events. Actual flesh and blood people witnessed them with their own eyes. The words used in this part … Read more
THE QUESTION It is always refreshing to see the recorded responses of the disciples to Christ’s announcement that they would soon receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You get to see them as the real human beings that they are. If you are anything like me, you will sometimes insert yourself into these stories … Read more
Introduction Have you ever heard a story that was almost too unbelievable to be true? They say that truth is stranger than fiction sometimes. There is a true story told by a young lady name Laura Buxton of England. During a celebration for her grandparents’ gold wedding anniversary, some helium balloons were released. Laura herself released a balloon with a note inside of it for the person who found it to write back to her. She left her … Read more
Historical Context – Roman Rule and Persecution And what was going on in the world during the book of Acts? Well, this would have been about 30 to 35 years since Christ had been crucified when the events of Acts began. The crucifixion was somewhere in the region of 28 to 33 AD. The conversion … Read more
Why was the Book of Acts Written? What purpose did it serve? What was Luke’s agenda in writing these things down? Well again Luke’s words in the gospel of Luke as well as the beginning of Acts give us some hints. It says in Luke that he wanted to compile a narrative of things accomplished. … Read more