Peter now stands with the others after being filled with the Holy Spirit to give an answer for what just happened. He presents the gospel message in a powerful use of God's Word and personal witness. Not by Peter's words, but rather from his willingness to be used, and by an incredible move of the Holy Spirit thousands brought to faith in Jesus Christ!

The promised Helper that Jesus told His disciples about shows up in a powerful way! The Holy Spirit descends to baptize and fill the disciples. Yet something we all need to understand is that God does not display His power and presence without purpose. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, are to continue to be filled by the Holy Spirit. God's Word helps us to know how to do just that.

Life for the disciples, post-Jesus, was a significant change in their lives. They were now to be completely dependent upon the Helper, the Holy Spirit in what Jesus called them to do. After Christ's ascension into Heaven, the disciples needed to take care of some business. They needed to appoint another disciple to take the place of Judas. It is from this first order of business that we can learn so much.

The book of Acts provides us a look at the beginning of the fulfillment of God's plan. After His ascension from the grave, Jesus appears to His disciples to commission them to go in to all the world to bring the good news of the gospel and establish His church. Yet no great act happens without the one key component needed to fulfill God's plan, the Holy Spirit.

We just celebrated Christmas. Many received new presents. What have you done with them? This is a great picture to the fact that God has gifted us with so many new things, but we don't use them. We don't try them on. Why would we continue to live in the old ways, when He has granted us all things new?! As we approach another new year, let's pursue the new in all we do and say, so as to be a witness to the glory of God to those around us.

We celebrate Christmas for a very special reason... the gospel has arrived! This is why Jesus came. This is why He was born.

The greatest gift we could ever receive is salvation in Jesus Christ. This is the story of Christmas. The incarnation of God in the flesh is His humble commitment to fulfill God's plan of salvation and redemption for all humanity. When the angel declared to the shepherds that he has good news of great joy, it goes way beyond the manger scene. It's the good news of salvation. It's the great joy of knowing the love of God in a very personal, real way.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, sang one of the most beautiful songs in scripture. After the angel visited her and informed her that she would give birth to the son of God, she accepted her assignment in humility and praise. Her words need to be ours, "Let it be to me according to your word."

When we understand who our God is, we are to praise. Simply for being in His presence, we praise. When He blesses us, we praise. In times of difficulty, we praise. No matter what, we just need to praise our Heavenly Father. We look at Psalm 100 and multiple other examples in Scripture why our God is praiseworthy. When the rubber meets the road, we just praise!

There are not too many followers of Jesus that would deny the need to praise God at all times. However, there are times when it gets difficult to praise. In moments of tragedy, turmoil, and temptation its very easy to forget to praise the Lord. Even in times of tranquility when everything seems good to go, we can be blinded by our contentment and forget to praise. So we look at 3 individual circumstances from Scripture that we can learn from and remember to praise at all times.