Acts

Acts 9: When Lost- Pull Over and Ask for Directions! Now the Lord moves to accomplish the third part of His Great Commission- to carry the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the world. In doing so, the Lord chooses an unlikely candidate- Saul of Tarsus. Saul at this time was the most recognized enemy … Read more

Acts 8: It Ain’t Easy! Have you ever run a full marathon ( 26 miles 385 yards)?  Guess what few have. In fact only 5 out of 3,000 will have ever done this. You know why?  It ain’t easy. The Navy Seals were in the news recently for their assault on the Bin Laden compound. … Read more

  Acts 9: Part 2- The Cure for Death “No guilt in life; no fear of death- That ‘s the Power of Christ in me!”  The chorus of a popular praise song expresses the victory that our Lord Jesus provides each believer with- the victory over death- the cure for death.   Death is to many … Read more

Acts 25&26: Short Time or Long Paul would stay imprisoned under Felix for two more years until Felix was recalled to Rome. Felix’s response to the problem with Paul was to do nothing. His successor will be Festus, who proves himself to be not only a just man, but a man of action. In Acts … Read more

Acts 27:Stormy Weather: Don’t Know Why There’s No Sun Up in the Sky! In today’s lesson, Paul and his companions enter into some stormy weather. As believers, we can all identify with storms in life. And sometimes, like the old blues song, “Stormy Weather”  – we are perplexed because we don’t know why there is no … Read more

Acts 28: The Sincere Heart “Simon, son of John (Peter) do you truly love me more than these?” (John 21:15) Jesus will ask Peter this question three times; as if to say to Simon Peter- are you SINCERE when you say you love me?  Sincere means genuine, honest and real. In the last chapter of … Read more

Acts 3:11-26: Times of Refreshing After the healing of the crippled beggar at the temple, the newly healed beggar held onto Peter and John.  The language suggests the beggar was clinging to them- holding tightly to his new, two best friends. The result of this healing attracted a crowd of curious onlookers there in the … Read more

Acts 4: A Whole Lot of Shaking Going On! Today’s lesson is a continuation of what occurred in the temple on the day Peter and John healed the crippled beggar. Acts 4 continues the story as we see what happens at the conclusion of Peter’s sermon to the ‘men of Israel.’ Notice in verse one … Read more

Acts 5: 1-11 In last week’s lesson, I reminded us of a fact we often forget:  things are not what they seem. Referring back to Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth, we looked at Paul’s reminder to: ‘ look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: … Read more

Acts 6-7: Stephen’s Sermon We read last week of the attack from the outside by the Sanhedrin led by the High Priest. Now we will see the attack of the enemy from within the church.  Verse one of Acts 6 tells us with growth comes problems. Logistics must be addressed- but what we see is … Read more

Acts 8: The Aftermath of Stephen’s Death As Stephen continues his sermon of both defense and indictment against the leaders of the Sanhedrin in Acts 7 he addresses the issue of his ‘ so-called blasphemy’ of the temple. Stephen talks about the tabernacle built according to the pattern and blue print given to Moses. This … Read more

Acts 23: The Privileges and Responsibilities of Citizenship As we read in the closing verses of Acts 22, we see Paul led away by the Roman soldiers, their commander orders Paul to be flogged( scourged) and questioned. As they are preparing Paul to be flogged, Paul said to the centurion: “ Is it legal for … Read more

Acts 2:37-3:10 What Shall We Do? “Brothers what shall we do?”   Having been cut to the heart, deeply convicted, made aware of their condition- the people want  to know what can they do. This is what happens when the Spirit of God is at work.  You can hear the despair in their voices as they … Read more

Acts 14: Let’s Go Fishing! Throughout my career, I have been an observer of successful people. I look at what they do and how they do it.  In doing so, I am able to tell others of the principles and best practices they utilize. I find their genius is not so much in their intellect … Read more

Acts24: Fearful Felix Paul is in the process of entering the Roman judicial system which will take up the next 5 years of his life. He will be  under house arrest with some liberties but, not free to go and do as he wished. His circumstances will be difficult. After Paul’s appearance before the Sanhedrin … Read more

Acts 15:The Yoke In this chapter we see trouble in the early church, internal trouble of a theological nature. Antioch has become the headquarters for the Gentile-Christian movement. So it is there a group of men, probably converted Pharisees came to teach these new Gentile converts. Here is where the trouble starts  and it is … Read more

Acts 16:What Must I Do To Be Saved? As we came to the end of chapter 15- we see a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark. Barnabas wanted to take John Mark, his young relative, Paul did not.  It caused them to split up.  Who was right and who was wrong?  Well, let … Read more

Acts 17: Turning the World Upside Down When Adam and Eve sinned, the world that God had created in perfection became trapped in the dark world of sin. It   came under the power of the enemy. In fact John writes in I John 5, ‘ the whole world is under the control of the evil … Read more

Acts 18:  A Time of Transitions Transition is defined as passing from one stage or state into another. This is the story of the early church in transition as recorded faithfully by Luke. First century Judaism was a combination of divinely ordained laws that covered the daily life of the Jew and man-made laws that … Read more

Acts 19: Blood, Sweat, Toil and Tears I want to remind you of what Evan Roberts, a principal in the Wales revival of 1904, stated as pre-requisites for revival. There were four: Confess all known sin, receiving forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ. Remove anything from your life you are in doubt about or unsure … Read more

Acts 20: IT MAKES ME WANT TO SHOUT! “ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ( Jesus speaking after washing the feet of the disciples) “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” ( John 13) And the writer of … Read more

Acts 21&22: IF You have probably all heard a statement similar to this statement in various situations:  A salesman receives salesman of the year award and someone says- IF I had his territory I would have been salesman of the year also. If is often used as an excuse or to play the blame game. … Read more

Acts 2: 14-   What’s Going On Here? “How is this that each of us hear in his own native language” What does this mean?  Drawn by the sound of a mighty rushing wind the crowd is utterly amazed to hear these uneducated Galileans speak in their own native language. Notice this is not an ‘unknown … Read more

  Acts 13: How Can We Know the Way? In Acts 13 we will read of the missionary call of Barnabas and Saul; Saul will be referred to as Paul from now on; and later on we will read the first recorded sermon the Apostle Paul preaches. As we have been reading this story of … Read more

  Acts 13: Part Two-God’s Justice As we pick up the story of Barnabas and Paul on this missionary trip to Cyprus we see a pattern that will mark Paul’s ministry. “When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the Word of God in the Jewish Synagogues. John( Mark) was with them also.” Acts 13:5.  Paul … Read more