We will focus mostly on the last half of Acts 5, where the persecution of Christians for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ continues. But first I’ll briefly give a summary of the first half of chapter 5 where a Christian couple is punished for lying, and the church continues to grow. Read the rest of this entry »
Acts chapter 4 picks up the story right where chapter 3 left off, with Peter and John preaching the resurrection of Jesus to the people gathered in amazement at the healing of a crippled man. The Sadducees, a group of Jewish religious leaders who did not believe in a resurrection of the dead, arrested Peter and John for their preaching and put them in prison for the night. Nevertheless, a good number of men believed in the message that Peter and John preached and the number of believing men in Jerusalem grew to about five thousand Read the rest of this entry »
God told Abraham, “Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.” Let’s look at just a few statistics that show how God is still fulfilling this promise in the world today.
Jews occupy only about one quarter of one percent of the world’s population, yet out of that tiny part of humanity comes an enormous global contributions. Read the rest of this entry »
In Acts 3 we’ll spend most of our time looking at another mini sermon given by the Apostle Peter which proclaims faith in Jesus is God’s only plan for man to be saved. The chapter begins by telling us of a man who was crippled from birth who was healed by Peter as he and the Apostle John were going to the temple for prayer. Read the rest of this entry »
In the second half of Acts 2, Peter continues his explanation to the crowds of people who had just witnessed the miracle of tongues that took place. Peter presents the Gospel of Jesus Christ by giving a brief, yet complete history of Jesus as God’s only plan of salvation for mankind. Read the rest of this entry »
In Acts 2 we are told that on the day of Pentecost, the believers in Jesus who were gathered together in Jerusalem were filled with the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus before he ascended into heaven. Read the rest of this entry »
The book of Acts contains the early history of the Church, immediately after Jesus ascended to heaven. Acts Chapter 1 starts with telling us that Jesus appear to the apostles and other disciples over a period of 40 days after his resurrection. During this time, the disciples ask of Jesus will now restore the kingdom to Israel. Read the rest of this entry »
The final chapter of Matthew covers Jesus’ resurrection, a cover-up by the Pharisees, and Jesus’ last command, known as the great commission. The resurrection of Jesus is one of the most obvious and important events that prove Jesus’ claim that he is the Son of God. Read the rest of this entry »
The second half of Matthew 27 briefly describes the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. Below is a list of all the things that Matthew mentions Jesus going through. As you read the list, consider the fact that at any moment, Jesus had the power to stop what was happening, but for our sake did nothing. Read the rest of this entry »
In Matthew chapter 27 we read about the staged “trial”, torture, humiliation, and crucifixion of Jesus. Salvation is made possible through the events covered in this chapter. There would be no hope for us if it were not for the willingness of Jesus to do his Father’s will, and die in our place as the perfect and final sacrifice. From Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane, we know that this is the only way that the justice of God can be satisfied, while at the same time showing mercy to the people who deserve the punishment. Read the rest of this entry »