This chapter outlines the first actions these followers of Jesus were taking, from speaking to each other across various languages, able to understand each other because of a miracle God was doing right there in front of them, to a wonderful sermon by Peter that was laying the foundation of what the church would stand for, and then a picture of what community looked like for these early believers.

Just a small thing that I noticed this morning - I noticed how the people that were there in Jerusalem saw these people speaking in tongues,  and instantly they began to reason that these people must be drunk.  It reminds me that sometimes, when we are seeking explanations for things that happen, we tend to give ourselves options that don’t include God.  In fact, I think this is probably one of the reasons I don’t experience God as fully as I could...I typically just ascribe explainable, mundane things as coming from chance and or natural causes, without putting God in the equation.  Yeah, it is possible that I made all of the lights on the way to work yesterday out of luck.  But, it is equally possible that God was intervening in some way.  My logical and natural inclination is to think to myself, “God wouldn’t bother himself with that, there are far more important things going on that the lights headed to work.  But there is where the logical fallacy takes place...is my God limited in His resources to where if he interacts with me on a small detail in my life like that, that he can’t be saving a kid from drowning in a pool somewhere in France at the exact same time?  Well, no...he isn’t.  ...that’s just a tangent though.

Certainly the bulk of this chapter is dedicated to Peter’s sermon.  And, though this isn’t a ‘deep’ thought, I am always reminded of it as I read through this chapter of acts, and this sermon of Peter’s.  It wasn’t but a few chapters back, flipping back through the first chapter of Acts and back into Luke 18 that Peter was denying Jesus, questioned by a little teenage girl - and then the disciples (including Peter) disappeared, presumably hiding out and waiting to figure out what to do since their leader had died, before Jesus showed back up and helped them to connect the dots, now getting to a place where they could begin to understand that everything Jesus had been predicting and describing was actually taking place all along the way...they were blind to what was happening right in front of them.  That same Peter now steps into the role of spokesman for the church; that same Peter who was scarred with confusion and spiritual blindness, is now awakened.  Peter gives me hope.  Peter, and later Paul, reminds me that God always redeems the heart and the mind and the life of the person who stays in there, trying to understand, leaning in for God’s word...and, sometimes God even redeems those people who weren’t doing any of that, just because they are part of His plan.  In contrast, thinking of Paul - God really just snatched him up and inserted him into Christian history, almost out of the blue.  But, Peter’s story encourages me to continue to grow, to continue to pray, to continue to read...it reminds me of the recent study of Daniel, that our faith is grown progressively, over time, through time...and often by way of a path that is far from straight!