At it’s best, a model is a pattern of something to be made, a design to be followed. You use a model when you want to sew a dress, construct a freeway, or build a new car. So, before you can put on that first tire, or move any earth, or cut that first length […]

This text is about how the gospel penetrates a new people – the Gentiles. It shows us the conversion of Cornelius, a Roman Centurion and his household. But it also shows us the conversion of Peter, the Apostle, and the Church. First, God converts Peter through a vision that His grace is enough for everyone. […]

Most commentators say that Peter and Paul are the two most pivotal people in the book. This passage, Acts 9:1-31, is the story of Saul’s (soon to be known as Paul) conversion. His lust for stamping out Christianity has him pursuing the Christians outside of Jerusalem. But on his way to Damascus, he’s confronted by […]

God is working in your life, in the foreground and background, to bring about His will for you. Scripture: Acts 8:26-40

At this point in Acts, the church has experienced significant growth. Thousands of people have come to faith. At the same time, the Apostles have faced significant trouble: arrests, imprisonment, questioned before the authorities, threatened, and beaten. Chapters 6-8 begin a transition of people and places. The ministry of the gospel begins to spread through […]

Jesus promised His disciples that we would be hated as He was hated. We would be mocked, misrepresented, shamed, even killed for following Him. The persecution of Christians began within days of the birth of the church, and it will continue until Jesus comes. In this text, we read about the first Christian martyr, Stephen. […]

Acts is an amazing history of how God unleashed the gospel into the world through the church. Yale historian, Kenneth Scott Latourette notes, “Never in so short a time has any other religious faith, or for that matter, any other set of ideas, religious, political, or economic, ever achieved so commanding a position in such […]

In Acts 4-7, the Christians face a lot of opposition. This passage shows us how they handled that opposition, the threat of death, and a beating with heroic courage. At the same time, God proves that He is not going to let anything or anyone get in the way of the Gospel going out. He […]

Have you ever heard someone say, “I wish the Church would just get back to the way it was in the book of Acts!” If you have, you may be speaking with someone who’s never read the text for this sermon. There are two stories in this text. One is a picture of radical, gospel […]

If you have shared the gospel or your story of faith with many people, then you’ve run into “trouble.” Some people are antagonistic, others can be apathetic, and a few might be accepting. It seems, however, that the negative response far outweighs the positive. This is not new. Jesus faced trouble, He taught His followers […]