In Acts 2, we see that the first local church because a- Peter preached the gospel b- people responded to the gospel c- the gospel unified the people. This shows that the gospel is the unifying principle for any new covenant church and therefore must take functional priority in the ministry of our church, rather than pragmatic or attractional church tendencies.

In this final offer of praise to God we are reminded that God is our source of strength, that He has given us the preaching of Christ to be sustained, and that the purpose of all things is the glory of God.

This passage reminds Christians to be on the watch for those who disguise worldly teaching with smooth talk and flattery and thereby deceive many.

It is common to think of ministry as something done by -professional Christians- such as vocational pastors, professional theologians, and trained missionaries. But in this passage, we see non-professional Christians who earned a good name for themselves because of their work in Christ.

In this passage we see the missionary zeal of Paul and learn how Christians can engage in God's primary agenda for the world.

As Paul reflects on his ministry in this passage, we glean five foundational characteristics of a mature and effective ministry.

In this passage, obligation is laid upon mature Christians to come alongside new and immature Christians and shoulder the failings of the weak for the purpose of corporate holiness.

In this passage we are instructed to be careful to not baptize our convictions on secondary issues or glue them onto Christianity as if the two were indistinguishable. When we do this, we are placing our own opinions as the door of God's Kingdom thus potentially causing new and weak Christians to stumble and perhaps fall.

In this passage we are instructed to not create boundaries that God himself has not created. Our unity does not rest upon uniformity in all our convictions- it rests upon Christ.

In this passage we are commanded to love our neighbor as the fulfillment of Christ's law, to walk in light of Christ's return, and to be guided by Christ's life - this is the essence of discipleship.