Acts - The Story of the Church

DATE: March 26, 2023

THEME: Everyone a Minister

SCRIPTURE: Acts 6:1-15

Stephen is arrested in fulfillment of Jesus' words that they would be brought before counsels and synagogues, but not to worry. Stephen was also walking in the fulfilled promises of Jesus that the Church, not just the Apostles, would be receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon them. The Church themselves would be the main source of encouragement and power for God to build itself up by the empowering and manifestations of the Holy Spirit, so that they would be able to withstand the moments of trial and oppression ahead.

DATE: March 19, 2023

THEME: Love Serves and Shows God's Love

SCRIPTURE: Acts 6:1-7

The Church quickly realized that being the new temple, the new people of God was to fully envelope their identity and expression as they served the original intentional of God's law in taking care of the more vulnerable of society; the widow, the orphan, and the resident foreigner. Through the empowering of the Holy Spirit, they were filled with the fullness of God's love to serve and take care of everyone who called upon the name of Christ. The purpose of the Church has always been to love and serve one another and to put the LORD and His love on display.

DATE: March 12, 2023

THEME: Love Leads Us

SCRIPTURE: Acts 5:17-42

Many have had negative experiences with religious people who think they are faithfully protecting the purity of the faith, but in reality, they are fighting against God and His people. Love leads us to boldly stand and obey God; whether it's in the face of friendly fire from those who claim the name of Christ or oppressions from an unbelieving world. Our answer to ANY oppression or persecution ought to be the same, "We must obey God rather than man."

DATE: March 5, 2023

THEME: Same Spirit Same Power

SCRIPTURE: Acts 5:12-16

The LORD was using the Apostles to continue the work of the Kingdom of God through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That same Holy Spirit is the same Spirit that is at work in us, the Church, today! We still have the same calling and the same power to do that SAME Kingdom work today!

DATE: February 26, 2023

THEME: What you value reveals your identity & character

SCRIPTURE: Acts 4:36-5:11

The narrative about Barnabas and Ananias & Sapphira reveals a deep truth about the nature of the early Church. They were replacing the temple as a place for Yahweh's presence and for being God's representatives on earth. Through these people, God was displaying His power, might, goodness, mercy, justice, and jealousy for His holy name. When we walk in our identity as the chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation, a people of Yahweh's possession...we manifest His presence in authentic ways, filled with the power of His Holy Spirit. We don't use the power of the tongue to deceive or boast in ourselves. What you value, reveals your identity & character.

DATE: February 19, 2023

THEME: Radical Love Radical Kingdom

SCRIPTURE: Acts 4:32-37

After all of the incredible things that happened in Acts 2-4, with the Holy Spirit being poured out, Peter preaching a powerful sermon, Peter and John healing a man lame for 40 years, the Apostles speaking boldly, and the Church praying for even MORE boldness...this all results in a powerful EXPRESSION of God's Kingdom people through radical love and service to one another. The core of the Church is love for one another, because radical love is manifested when we encounter the Kingdom of Heaven.

DATE: February 12, 2023

THEME: Live Bold

SCRIPTURE: Acts 4:23-31

How do we respond to persecution? Did Jesus know we'd face backlash and oppression for following him? How do we stand in our faith in Christ? How did God design our faith so that we could stand and endure hardships, suffering, and trials? Acts 4 describes how the Apostles understand their calling, role, and identity in the early Church.

DATE: February 5, 2023

THEME: It's always a Good Day to Stand Firm

SCRIPTURE: Acts 4:1-22

After Peter & John healed the man who was lame for 40 years by the Beautiful Gate and preached a powerful sermon in the temple courts that brought 5000 more people to faith in Jesus, they were arrested by the temple guards and chief priests and brought before the Sanhedrin, the highest authorities in all of ancient Israel. They instructed the Apostles to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, to which the Apostles responded that "there is no other name under heaven by which people can be saved [than that of Jesus Christ]!" This set a precedent for Israel's rulers to blaspheme the Spirit of God and the stand firm in their unbelief, and also set a precedent for the Church to stand firm in the gospel of Jesus Christ in the midst of persecution. *Also, learn where the phrase "His goose is cooked" came from.

DATE: January 29, 2023

THEME: It's always a good day to talk about Jesus

SCRIPTURE: Acts 2:1-11, 4:1-4

During this shorter family style/friendly devotional, we take a short break from going onto the next section of scripture (Acts 4) and take a closer look at the expansion of the gospel through the works of the ENTIRE church, including women and children. During our quarterly potluck with our kids in our gathering, we observe how Jesus can even use children today to impact this world through the plain and simple sharing and showing of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

DATE: January 22, 2023

THEME: It's always a good day to Speak Truth

SCRIPTURE: Acts 3:11-26

After Peter and John heal the man who was lame from birth at the beautiful gate, he enters the temple with them jumping, leaping, and praising God, and this causes quite the commotion and uproar, so after the time of prayer, while they're out in Solomon's Portico, the crowds rush to them to hear how such a thing come came to happen. This provides an incredible opportunity for Peter to preach a powerful sermon of repentance, refreshing, and restoration in the temple courts. As Peter and John took the opportunity to do good by stepping out in faith to heal the man, they take this opportunity to speak truth of God's refreshment and the restoration of all things.