Pastor Brian Jones

Read Acts 13.

When Paul described the core of the gospel, he wrote: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3-4).

“The Scriptures” Paul talked about in those verses are, of course, what we call the Old Testament. It isn’t hard to show how the scriptures prophesied that Christ would die for our sins. But where exactly does the Old Testament predict the burial and resurrection of Jesus?

Verses 32-37 answer that question. In verse 32, Paul said that “God promised our ancestors” that Christ would rise from the dead. He quoted from several Psalms in the following verses. The most relevant to the promise of Christ’s resurrection was Psalm 16:10 which Paul quoted here in Acts 13:35: “So it is also stated elsewhere: ‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’”

David wrote those words and people naturally interpreted those words as referring to him, that is, to David. But, as Paul pointed out in verse 36, David died, “was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.” So, Paul reasoned, David must not have been writing about himself (v. 36).

Instead, David was writing prophetically about Jesus. Verse 37 says, “But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.”

The death and resurrection of Jesus were not an unexpected detour or change in the plan of God. Old Testament prophesies show that the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus were the plan of God all along. They are essential to everything we have through faith in Christ and to every promise God has made to us in eternity.

So, rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus and don’t ever look at it as optional to our faith or a secondary point of doctrine. Instead, hold fast to the resurrection of Jesus; it means everything to us as his followers and children.

Read Acts 12.

Persecution by the religious leadership in Jerusalem started back in Acts 7 with the stoning of Stephen. It continued in Acts 8 through Saul, but God saved him in Acts 9.

Here in Acts 12 we were told that Herod, a Jewish political leader, joined in the persecution of the church. Herod began this persecution in a brutal way with the execution of James (vv. 1-2). There are a few guys in the New Testament named James; another one of them is actually mentioned in verse 17. The James that Herod killed in verse 2 was “the brother of John,” which identifies him as one of the Twelve apostles and the son of Zebedee (see Matt 4:21 & 10:2).

The religious leaders of Israel were happy that Herod had joined them in persecuting the church (v. 3a), so he arrested Simon Peter and intended to try him publicly (v. 4). Because it was Passover season, Herod waited for Peter’s trial and execution, and, during that time of waiting, the church came together to pray for him.

Verse 5 told us, “the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” And God answered their prayers in a miraculous way by sending an angel to rescue Simon Peter (vv. 7-11).

Yet, when Peter showed up to the prayer meeting, people had a hard time believing that he had really been freed (vv. 12-17). When I was taught this passage as a child in Sunday school, the teacher suggested that the church didn’t really believe that God would answer their prayers, that why they were so startled to see Peter.

I’m not sure that’s right; in fact, I’m pretty sure it is wrong.

The fact that the church was “earnestly praying for Peter” (v. 5) suggests that God’s people were doing the right thing–prayer–from sincere hearts. They wanted God to free Peter and believed that God would, if it was his will.

That last part, “…if it was his will…” is important. Verse 2 didn’t tell us that anyone was praying for James to be freed but it is hard to believe that they weren’t praying for that. Yet God did not will to rescue James from death as he did for Peter.

I think the church was startled when Peter was released because of how God rescued him, not that God rescued him. I think the church was expecting a more providential release, meaning that God would change Herod’s heart and Peter would be acquitted at his trial (v. 4d) or just outright released.

Instead of that, though, God performed a miracle to release Peter. It was so startling–and unexpected–that even Peter himself was unprepared for it (vv. 6-11).

The lesson here, then, is not that we should have more faith when we pray. That’s always true; as fallen people, our faith could always be stronger and purer.

The lesson instead is that we shouldn’t set our hopes on the method by which God answers prayer. Part of praying in faith is submitting our prayers to God’s will–both for the outcome and for the way in which God makes that outcome happen.

Have you ever been surprised by how God answered your prayers? Maybe he made your faith stronger through a trial in your life. Maybe he helped you get rid of a sin in your life by causing that sin to be exposed instead of making your desire for it go away suddenly.

What have you been praying for? Is it possible that God is answering–but you just don’t see it yet because you’re looking for a different answer?

Read Acts 11.

In the devotional about Acts 10, I suggested that there would be tensions in the early church as God transitioned her from a group of Jewish believers in Jesus into a trans-national, worldwide group with no ethnic distinctions. Here in Acts 11 we read about that tension.

Despite facing criticism for his fellowship with Gentiles (vv. 1-3), the Jewish believers accepted Peter’s account of how God saved the Gentiles and how they received the same sign of the Holy Spirit as the Jewish believers did in Acts 2 (Acts 11:4-17). They then praised God for his mercy on the Gentiles (v. 18) and a church that had begun gathering at Antioch began actively evangelizing Gentiles (vv. 19-21).

Barnabas emerged at the end of today’s chapter. He was sent to Antioch from Jerusalem when the Jerusalem church heard about all that God was doing at Antioch (vv. 22-24). We’ve actually met Barnabas before in Acts 4. His real name is “Joseph” (Acts 4:36) but was nicknamed “Barnabas” because he was always so encouraging. He’s the guy who sold some property and gave all the money to the church which led Ananias and Sapphira to do what they did in Acts 5.

Barnabas also showed up in Acts 9:27 and he persuaded the church to accept Saul after his conversion. Now, here in Acts 11, when he saw how much God was doing in Antioch, he went and found Saul so that Saul could contribute to the growth and strengthening of that church (Acts 11:25-26).

Although Barnabas did not have the same role that God called Saul to occupy, he knew how to connect people together for the growth of God’s work. By no means was Barnabas a man who just served in the background; verse 36 says that he… met with the church and taught great numbers of people.” So he had a strong teaching gift and used that gift publicly to strengthen and grow God’s church.

Nevertheless, Barnabas served in the shadow of Saul because Saul was such a giant in the early days of the church. Yet he never viewed Saul as his rival or was jealous of how God chose to use Saul. He was a man who was all about the work God was doing, not about who was getting the credit for doing it.

Barnabas could have stayed in Antioch and held even greater authority and respect than he had, but he knew that this church would benefit from Saul’s gifting. So, in great humility, Barnabas recruited Saul’s help because it would be best for the church.

That is the attitude that all of us followers of Christ should have. God’s work is never about you or me. It is about doing what is best for the Lord’s church. If that means serving in someone else’s shadow, then let God be glorified.

Have you ever felt jealous of another believer who has gifts or positions or attention that you don’t have? Consider the life of Barnabas. If ministry is all about the minister, God will not be glorified and there will be problems in the growth and godliness of the church. If ministry is all about how best to glorify God, we should all be willing to step out of the way and let the most gifted and godly serve where they will be most effective.

Read Acts 10.

In Acts 8, we read about how God used Saul’s persecution to move the church and the gospel out of Jerusalem and into Judea and Samaria, just as Jesus said would happen in Acts 1:8. Then, in Acts 9, we read how Jesus redeemed Saul and told Ananias how Saul was the Lord’s chosen instrument to take the gospel to the Gentiles.

Taking the gospel to the Gentiles was the final phase of Jesus’ great commission in Acts 1:8. But transitioning the Christian church from a Jewish sect to a worldwide movement was going to be difficult. Gentiles were allowed to convert to Judaism before Jesus came, but they were always second class citizen to native Jews. For Gentile Christians to have full acceptance in the church, God would have to move in a special way.

That’s what we read about today in Acts 10. Although Saul was God’s chosen instrument to take the gospel to the Gentiles, God used Peter to be the first apostle to see Gentile converts to Christianity. Notice how God did this here in Acts 10.

First, God sent a vision to Cornelius in verses 1-8. Verse 2 of Acts 10 said, “He and all his family were devout and God-fearing….” The phrase “devout and God-fearing” indicates that he was a Gentile convert to Judaism. When God spoke to him, he was told to send for Simon Peter and he was told where to find him.

Second, just before Cornelius’ messengers arrived, God sent a vision to Peter telling him to eat foods that were unclean according to the law of Moses (vv. 11-14). Peter saw this vision three times (v. 16)–probably so that he would be completely convinced of what he saw. But verse 17 told us, “Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision…” which shows us that the larger meaning–the broadest interpretation and application of this revelation–was unclear to Peter. Surely God was not concerned about Peter’s diet, but what could be the greater lesson of this vision?

According to verse 17, the men sent by Cornelius arrived “while Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision.” Peter understood that the timing was not coincidental and he went to see Cornelius despite the fact that “it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile” (v. 28b) In verses 28b-29, Peter applied his vision about the unclean food to this meeting with Cornelius. Peter realized then and there “that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right” (vv. 34-35). Therefore, Peter gave them the gospel. That brings us to the next step in God’s process of bringing Gentiles into the church:

Third, “the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message” (v. 44b). The Jewish Christians who heard this “were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles” (v. 45b). This is telling us that these new Gentile believers had the same experience that Jesus’ disciples had in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost and that the Samaritan disciples had in Acts 8. The purpose of that dramatic, miraculous demonstration of the Spirit’s power was not to show us that all Christians must have these signs; rather, it was to demonstrate that Gentile believers are equal to Jewish believers in Jesus in every way. As a result of this experience, Peter “ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (v. 48a).

The full implications of a church integrated with Jews and Gentiles alike would still have to be worked out by the early church. We’ll read about that in some of the chapters ahead.

But the point of this chapter was to show that God viewed and treated Gentile believers as equal in the church to Jewish believers. It would be wrong for the church, therefore, to discriminate against any believer.

Although we no longer have those Jewish-Gentile tensions in every Christian church, there are other ways in which the church is sometimes divided by race. Churches here in America are still divided along racial lines with “mostly white” churches, like ours is, frankly, and churches that are mostly African-Americans, or Latinos/Latinas, or Romanians, or Chinese Christians, and so on.

Language differences create some of these distinctions, but all of them are contrary to how God views true believers. In Christ there are no “white Christians” or “black Christians” or any other human category of Christians. To Jesus, there are only believers and unbelievers. All believers are accepted fully into God’s family through Him.

We cannot solve the divisions of churches in America on our own, but we can and should fully accept, welcome, and integrate anyone into our church family who has faith in Christ, is baptized in his name, and is seeking to do what the Lord commands. We should strive for this kind of unity, then, because it is pleasing to God.

Read Acts 9.

We met Saul yesterday and saw how he persecuted the church and, in God’s providence, was used to get the gospel out of Jerusalem and into the rest of Judea and also into Samaria, just as the Lord had commanded in Acts 1:8. Now, in the most unlikely way (humanly, that is), God saved Saul (vv. 1-8) and called him “my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel” (v. 15b). The man whose persecution stimulated the spread of the gospel to Judea and Samaria would now directly lead the effort to take the gospel “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The focus of Acts in the chapters ahead will begin to move off Peter and the other Apostles and on to Saul (Paul) the Apostle to the Gentiles.

As we read about Saul’s conversion here in Acts 9, we saw the clash of human values and God’s values in how Saul was treated. People value safety and were understandably wary of someone who killed other Christians but suddenly now claimed to be a Christian himself. We see the skepticism and fear in Ananias (vv. 13-14) and in the Jerusalem church where “they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple” (v. 26b). How was this skepticism resolved?

First, Ananias believed God by faith when God told him to go to Saul and pray for him (vv. 11-17a). He even called him “Brother Saul,” acknowledging Saul’s claim to faith in Christ. Second, Barnabas became Paul’s ambassador when he “took him and brought him to the apostles” (v. 27). Both of these men had to trust that God’s power had actually changed Saul. Because they did trust the life-changing power of the gospel, they were willing to “credit” Saul–trust him as a brother–before there was a long trail of evidence of Saul’s faith.

If we’re going to live for Jesus, there will be times when we have to take similar risks of faith on people. For example, trusting Christ in your life might mean trusting someone who has wounded you, based only on their claim to repentance. We become vulnerable to manipulation, embarrassment, or possible betrayal in those situations but this is what God calls us to do. If we trust him, we should trust that he is changing other people. That means giving them our acceptance and trust in advance–like a credit card transaction.

Are you facing any uncertainty in your life because you are not certain you should someone who claims to be changed by Christ? God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s grace call all of his followers to trust others based on their profession of faith and even to forgive others when they fail to be perfect but demonstrate true repentance. Ananias was afraid of Saul, but he trusted the Lord, so he called Saul his “brother.” God will help you and me learn to trust others, too–before they deserve it, if our hope and faith is in the Lord.

Read Acts 8.

Back in Acts 1:8, Jesus said that the disciples would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the rest of the earth. Here chapter 8 of Acts, persecution (vv. 1, 4-5) moved the gospel from Jerusalem to Samaria.

Phillip, one of the first deacons (see Acts 6:5) went to Samaria, preaching the Gospel, and God began saving some of the Samaritans (v. 12). In verses 14-17, two of the Apostles–Peter and John–came up to Samaria to confirm that these Samaritans were genuine Christians. Many charismatic brothers and sisters of ours, and some non-charismatics, too, think that what Peter and John did is the normal Christian experience. In other words, some Christians think that every Christian needs to receive the Holy Spirit after they believe in Jesus. This is sometimes called the “Second Work of Grace” or the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit.”

I don’t agree with the interpretation that this is the normal Christian experience. I think this passage records an important phase in the development of the early church. It showed the Samaritan believers that their salvation was the same salvation that the Jewish believers in Jesus had. God withheld the Spirit until the Apostles prayed for the new Christians to unite the church and demonstrate that the Samaritans had the same salvation, the same Spirit, the same Lord Jesus Christ as the church in Jerusalem.

What stands out to me is how Simon the Sorcerer (vv. 9-11) believed the gospel (vv. 12-13), yet wanted to buy the apostles’ power for himself (vv. 18-19). Peter rebuked him (vv. 20-23) and he repented (v. 24), so it looks like he was a genuine Christian. Had he not repented, it would have shown that his confession of faith was false (v. 20: “May your money perish with you”).

Yet, despite being a genuine Christian, he desires spiritual power for selfish reasons (v. 23). Verse 9 told us that Simon “boasted that he was someone great” so it seems, based on Peter’s rebuke (vv. 22-23) that he still had this desire in him. He wanted power to do ministry so that people would look up to him as a great man.

While they may not seek supernatural power like Simon did, many Christians do ministry for the same reason that Simon wanted the power to give the Holy Spirit. Some ministries–preaching, teaching, music. leadership–give people the opportunity to be looked up to, admired, and obeyed. When we aspire to serve God for ourselves, our hearts are “captive to sin” (v. 23). It is only a matter of time before our false motives will be revealed.

Because we’re all human, we all have mixed motives at times. Just as Peter confronted Simon and called him to repent, you and I may, at times, need the corrective rebuke of other believers when our ministry motives are mixed up and sinful.

Are you serving God for the right reasons? Do you regularly assess your heart and ask God to purify your motives? Are you willing to receive godly rebuke when your sinful motives slip out?

A healthy faith–and a healthy church–is not made up of perfection. It is made up of genuine believers who are growing. Part of that growth comes from having our movies purified, even in response to the rebuke of others.

Read Acts 7.

At the end of yesterday’s reading in Acts 6, we read about how God was using Stephen and how he was dragged before the Sanhedrin to answer for his message. Here in Acts 7, the story continued as Stephen answered the charge against him and was stoned for his faith, becoming the first Christian martyr.

Stephen responded to the charge against him by summarizing Israel’s history beginning with Abraham. Although the people of his nation prided themselves on being God’s people and receiving God’s promises and blessings, Stephen saw a pattern in Israel’s history of rejecting God’s word. He summarized that pattern in verses 51-52a, “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One.”

Of course the strongest expression of their rejection was in Jesus, “And now you have betrayed and murdered him—you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it” (v. 52b-53).

Although only Israel had the unique history that Stephen described in this passage, what he said about Israel could be said about any nation or culture on earth: “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised.” (v. 51). Sin so thoroughly marks our nature and character that we impulsively resist God’s word and persecute God’s messengers. Only the grace of Christ through the gospel can penetrate that thick crust of unbelief on us all and bring us back to life spiritually to receive God’s word and desire to obey it.

Still, even after we are believers, we sometimes resist receiving the hard truths of God’s word that convict us. Like the people of Israel, we count ourselves blessed for having God’s word and God’s promises rather than receiving those gifts of grace and using them to bring obedience into our lives. God’s word and his spirit are working on us to relax our “stiff-necks” and make our “hearts and ears” sensitive to and receptive of his word. As James told us, we must “not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (Jas 1:22).

Read Acts 6.

Every growing church experiences growing pains. It is a good problem to have because it means that the Lord is working and blessing his word. Acts 6:1 continues to describe the growth of the first church, the church in Jerusalem. Part of growing as a church, however, is dealing with growing pains. These are the problems that result when a church has more people and, therefore, more needs than the leaders of the church can handle.

The early church in Jerusalem experienced this, too. Verse 1 says that because the church was growing in numbers, some of the Gentile widows were not being cared for by the church like they once had been. This resulted in complaints and the apostles had to address the situation.

What are some ways they could have addressed the discontent?

1. Denial. They could have just refused to acknowledge the problem.
2. Excuses. The apostles could have said, “We’re just 12 men and are going the best we can with the time and resources we have!”
3. Blame-shifting. They could have said, “If you took more responsibility for the widows, the church wouldn’t have to care for them!”
4. Time management. The apostles could have chosen to spend more time serving the widows and less time in prayer and the Word. Actually, that’s what they knew would happen unless found another way to meet the needs (see verse 2).

Fortunately, the apostles didn’t fall into any of these traps. Instead, they decided to enlist godly men around them. These men were chosen to take responsibility for meeting the needs of these widows (Acts 6:2-3). This gave a place of service to these believers. It also helped the apostles say focused. According to verses 3b-4, “We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” We don’t know for sure, but many scholars think this is the beginning of the office of “deacon” in the church.

The result of the focus and diligent service of these first deacons was that the church grew even more. Verse 7 says, “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.” When people are focused on one ministry objective and work diligently toward that objective, God entrusts more people to their care. But it was essential for people in the church to be willing to help when they were asked.

Every church needs committed believers who will give what time they have to serving the Lord. Have you found a place of service at our church? Are you willing to serve where needed when you are asked? Are you willing to volunteer when you see a need instead of waiting for someone else to do it or waiting for someone to ask you?

This is one of the best ways you can help our church to grow because it allows the elders of our church to focus on prayer and God’s word (v. 2).

Read Acts 5.

The growing church we’ve been tracking since Acts 1 felt the weight of persecution here in Acts 5, but that was nothing new for them.

What is new as that the church encountered internal problems for the first time. This happened when Ananias and Sapphira wanted both to make money and get credit for generosity (vv. 1-11).

Sometimes people misunderstand the issue in this passage. The problem was not that Ananias and Sapphira wanted to keep some of the money. In verse 4 Peter said, “And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?” This question, which assumes a “yes” response, affirmed that this couple had every right to do what they wanted to do with their property and with the money they gained from selling it. The Bible affirms the right of people to own private property which is the foundation of capitalism. The problem was not that they kept some of the money or wanted to keep any of the money.

No, the issue in Acts 5 was that they “lied to the Holy Spirit” in verse 3.

By lying to the Holy Spirit they had “not lied just to human beings but to God” (v. 4d). The lie they told was regarding the price of the land. Verse 2 told us that Ananias “kept back part of the money for himself” but “with his wife’s full knowledge” (v. 2) they told the church it was sold at a lower price (v. 8) and that they were giving all the money to the church, just as Joseph had in 4:36-37. By doing this, they were taking credit for more generosity than they were truly giving. That’s why they were judged for “lying” not for being stingy.

Wealthy people have funded health care institutions, art, schools, libraries, parks, concert halls, and other civic institutions. Usually, though, the giver puts his name on the gift so that everyone will know who funded that project. And by getting credit for it, Jesus would say “they have their reward in full” (Matt 6:2).

But if you give to the Lord’s work AND act like it was more of a sacrifice than it really was in order to get people to think well of you, then you have a sinful attitude compelling your act of goodness.

Whenever we give money or do any kind of ministry to get the praise and admiration of others, we are trading financial income for praise income. Although it is not always possible to do ministry without being noticed for it, the heart of a believer is to give to God so that He is glorified and we are not. May God purify our hearts and motives so that we give to his work and his people for His glory not to enhance our own reputations. But, in God’s amazing grace, he promises to reward us eternally anyway when we give with a servant’s heart.

Read Acts 4.

This chapter continues the story we started yesterday. Remember that Peter and John were going to the temple to pray and, by the power of Christ, Peter healed a man who had been unable to walk for his entire life. Peter then used the attention from the man’s healing to call people to repentance and faith in Jesus. That was Acts 3.

Here in Acts 4, we read about the fallout from that healing. The religious leaders who engineered the Roman execution of Jesus were very unhappy to see his power on display through the disciples and to hear the message about Jesus going out through them (vv. 1-2).

So, those religious leaders jailed Peter and John (v. 3) but the gospel did its work as we read in verse 4, “But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.” Unable to deny the miracle that had happened (vv. 5-16), the religious leaders of Jerusalem commanded them to stop evangelizing (vv. 17-18).

Verses 19-20 describe how Peter and John refused to obey the command to stop teaching about Jesus. Verse 33 says, “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all” which shows that they did not stop spreading the gospel message.

But what if they had stopped spreading the gospel message?

First, the advance of the gospel would have been much different. Jesus had said that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church, so he would have chosen others to spread the gospel even if the disciples had been disobedient. We can see that somewhat in his choice of the Apostle Paul to take the gospel to the Gentiles.

Second, and more importantly, I think the unity, selflessness, and joy of the early church as described in verses 31-37 would have dissipated.

When the church focuses on itself, conflicts and strife inevitably come in. Satan wants to disrupt God’s work and get us off mission by stirring up conflict and strife.

When we’re reaching outside of ourselves, however, there is a lot less time and energy available for internal factions, arguments, and strife. Outreach and evangelism aren’t going to ward off problems because problems are inevitable in a fallen world. But spreading the gospel keeps us focused on Jesus–his work and our need for his power–which helps us keep our focus off of ourselves.

So let’s not forget that we are here to introduce Christ to the world. We should remind ourselves regularly that we are here to bring the gospel message to the world.

Read Acts 3

God’s power was at work in the world and in the disciples like never before in the days after Pentecost, which we read about yesterday.

Here in chapter 3, Peter was headed with John to the temple to pray, healed a man who had never walked by the power of Jesus (vv. 1-11), then explained the good news to the audience around him (vv. 12-26).

In the middle of Peter’s gospel message, he said these words, “You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this” (v. 15). I find the phrase, “you killed the author of life” fascinating. The word “author” describes God as a story-teller. He has a plan and it is unfolding through the lives of everyone in scripture and in your life and mine.

As the author “of life,” God is the creator of all things, including life. The Bible tells us repeatedly that Jesus, the Second Person of God, was the active agent of the Trinity who created. It was his voice that said, “Let there be light” and it was he who formed Adam out of the dust of the ground and and breathed into him the breath of life. It was he who took a rib from Adam’s side to create Eve. There is no life apart from Jesus.

Ironic, then, that men killed Jesus. Apart from the creating power of Jesus, humanity would never have existed. Apart from his sustaining grace, humanity would cease to exist. He is the author of life, not only making us alive but writing for each of us a story–a personality, a background, a cast of other characters, and all the other elements of story. Yet when he entered into the world, he was not honored by the characters in the story he wrote as the author. Instead, he was killed even though all living depends on him.

Fortunately, this was all part of his story and it did not end with his death; instead, “God raised him from the dead” (v. 15b). We celebrated that truth on Sunday. But as important as remembering the event of the resurrection is, it is even more important to understand the point of the resurrection.

And the point of the resurrection is: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus” (vv. 19-20).

I write these devotionals for Christians to strengthen us with God’s word. But it is possible that someone is reading this who is not a Christian–either you found this page on our website or you subscribed to my devotional.

Do you understand that your story, your life, is one thread in a thick fabric of interwoven stories of all people?

Do you see that all of us depend on Jesus for existence, need him to rescue us from the consequences of our rebellion against God, and are designed to bring glory and worship to Jesus when he returns to be our Lord? If so, turn to him! In the words of verse 19: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord….” The author of life invites you to experience eternal life through his resurrected Son, Jesus Christ. Ask him to save you and give you eternal life, and he will!

For those of us who are Christians, remember that your life really isn’t about you. You are a character in the life of Jesus–he’s the one on the hero’s journey. As the author of life, he devised the plot and set this story into motion. So let’s focus on him in our lives and point others to him so that he will come and conclude this story well.

Read Acts 2.

What is “fellowship?” It is a term that we Christians use frequently. But do we really understand what it means?

A lot of people think that “fellowship” is a word for “socializing but with my Christian friends.” Socializing is fine; an important part of life, really. But it is not the same as fellowship.

This chapter describes true fellowship. The chapter begins with a massive evangelistic movement in Jerusalem brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit (vv. 1-41). God kick-started the church through this Day of Pentecost movement.

Verses 42-47 describe how this early church instinctively began to function. Verse 42 says they “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship.” We certainly need to be devoted to the apostles’ teaching. But we also need fellowship, and need it badly.

So, if these believers were devoted to fellowship, as verse 42 said, what did that look like?

Communion (“the breaking of bread”) and prayer are mentioned in verse 42 and they certainly are aspects of fellowship. When we gather together around the Lord’s Table and when we pray together, we are sharing (that’s what “fellowship” means) in deeply spiritual, Christian practices.

But the rest of the paragraph in verses 44-47 also give more details about the practice of fellowship in the first church in Jerusalem. Think about our church as we look at those details:

1. “All the believers were together” in verse 44. They just liked to hang out together in their free time. Do we? Or do we come late on Sunday, leave as soon as possible after the service and never come in contact with anyone else from church until next Sunday?
2. They “had everything in common” even selling “property and possessions to give to anyone who had need” (v. 45). They fellowshipped by showing sacrificial generosity to each other. Do we do that? Do we look to share what we have with believers in our church who need stuff.
3. “Everyday they continued to meet together…” They came together daily to worship and hear God’s word. They couldn’t get enough of it and came everyday to fellowship around God’s word. Is that your feeling or is one message a week on Sunday morning almost too much to take?
4. “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God” (vv. 46-47a). They went to each others’ homes to share more food and worship together. When was the last time you had someone from church over?

For years I’ve been praying that God would give us a hunger for Him and for true fellowship with each other like we’ve never had before.

Will you join me in praying that God will build some real prayer groups and ministries in the church? Will you look for a way to connect with someone from the church for some personal fellowship–not just socializing but sharing the word and prayer together?