Anthem Hayden

This week’s passage continues to tell of Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. Stopping at the island of Cyprus, they traveled around preaching the Word. Soon they were invited to share the Gospel with a very influential
man, Sergius Paulus. However, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus attempted to prevent them from converting the Roman official. Unsurprisingly, the Lord prevailed over darkness. The false prophet/magician was humbled, and Sergius was saved.

This week’s passage is short and sweet. Covering just the first three verses in Acts 13, we took a closer look at some of the spiritually gifted leaders of the early church in Antioch. These verses also portray a compelling picture of the passionate way these men sought the Lord’s guidance and direction. The Lord spoke clearly to these believers to go and preach the Good News across the known world. What lessons can we learn from such passionate Jesus worshipers?

This week’s message reexamined the martyrdom of James and the miraculous release of Peter (Acts 12) through the lens of Hebrews 11:32–12:3. This passage teaches us that genuine, God-honoring faith sometimes results in victory, liberation, and prosperity—but not always. At other times, God’s faithful servants endure significant hardship and injustice because of their faith. Regardless of our life circumstances, Scripture encourages us to run with endurance the race that is set before each one of us.

This week’s passage details another wave of persecution which swept through the early church. This time the persecution stemmed from King Herod Agrippa, who killed the apostle James and hoped to do the same to Peter. In reaction to this, the
local church gathered and prayed fervently for him. Contrary to the king’s plans, the Lord sent an angel who miraculously freed Peter from impending death. In a drastic turn of events, the chapter ends with a liberated Peter and a dead king. Herod initially appeared to have power, authority, and control...until the Lord demonstrated His divine sovereignty over the situation.

Last week’s passage ended with the apostles’ amazement at the conversion of Cornelius and his entire household - salvation had now come to the Gentiles! This week’s passage zooms out to include a much larger gospel movement among
non-Jewish people. In the city of Antioch, God used unknown, average believers to share the Gospel with all sorts of people. Barnabas was then sent to provide leadership and encouragement to the new and growing church who, for the first time, were called “Christians”. Barnabas then sought out Saul of Tarsus to help him in this endeavor.

This week’s passage is the third and final retelling of how the Lord brought Peter and Cornelius together. This time the events are recounted by Peter,
who is called upon to give an explanation to the other apostles and to give a defense for his actions to the members of the circumcision party. Sadly, this last group was so focused on their man-made traditions and expectations that they completely overlooked the incredible things God was doing. Instead of celebrating, they were nitpicking Peter on why he ate with Gentiles
(never mind the fact that God had just saved them and gifted them His Holy Spirit). Therefore, Peter quickly recounted the events, and challenged them with this question: “Who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” As modern-day believers, do we ever inadvertently allow our prejudices and our man-made traditions to stand in the way of what God wants?

This week’s text continues the account of Peter and Cornelius. As we covered last week, Peter was given a vision which directly confronted his views on what (and who) was common and unclean. He was then commanded to accompany a
group of Gentiles back to Cornelius’ home. This week we examined what took place once he arrived, and it was monumental! In a surprise twist, the Lord granted salvation to the Gentiles! God gifted them the Holy Spirit, and confirmed all of this by manifesting His presence among them in the same ways He did at Pentecost. This small meeting in Cornelius’ home changed the course of human history.

This week’s passage centers around two incredibly different people: Peter, a proud Jew, and an apostle of Jesus Christ; and Cornelious, an Italian Gentile, and an officer in the Roman army. Despite their vast differences, they each love the
Lord, and each of them receives a vision from Him which will unite them in previously unthinkable ways. As the Lord directs Cornelius to Peter, He shows Peter that Jesus and His Gospel transcend all human differences and barriers. The Gentiles will soon receive salvation and the Holy Spirit, but first Peter’s preconceived notions as for whom the Gospel is (and is not) intended must be eradicated.

To better understand this week’s Advent theme, which is receiving, we looked at John 1. In this poetic introduction to his gospel, John declares that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14a). Sadly, His own people did not receive Him... “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). After exploring what it means to receive Jesus, we celebrated communion together by receiving, once more, the body and blood of Jesus.

This week’s Advent theme is Preparation. God used John the Baptist to prepare God’s people for the arrival of their Messiah. John’s message was clear and simple - he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins as the key element for preparing oneself for the Lord. John’s curt and unpolished message, referred to in Luke 3 as “good news,” still has much application in our lives today.