Having just given his readers a glimpse of life in the early church, Luke turns his attention to one particular miracle that the apostles did involving the healing of a lame beggar. In this story, Luke reveals that our greatest need is not physical but spiritual, and that we can be confident in the salvation of our God and in the promised restoration that Jesus is bringing.
Luke records that those who received Peter’s words were added to the church, but he also records that this new community of believers in Jesus joyfully devoted themselves to doctrine and fellowship.
In Exodus 32, three thousand people died when they made a golden calf and worshipped it. In Acts 2, three thousand people were saved when they trusted in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. What shall we do?
After the miraculous event at Pentecost, Peter preached a sermon explaining the significance of the event as it pertains to the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
Pentecost was one of three pilgrimage festivals for the Jews. But for Christians it is the day when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church. This miraculous event is recorded for us in the book of Acts, and in it we see why we need the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 1:12-26, Luke introduces us to the eyewitnesses of all that Jesus said and did. Luke also tells us what they did while they waited for the arrival of the promised Holy Spirit that will help us in our seasons of waiting.
The risen Lord Jesus has commissioned His followers to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. Will we tell others about what Jesus has done, or will we abandon this responsibility to others?
The book of Acts is about the acts of the risen Lord Jesus, through the witness of His people, in the power of the Holy Spirit, for the accomplishment of God’s saving purposes for the world.
The most devastating thing about 2020 is that so many of us will let this year leave without letting it teach us something. We must make the best use of the time we have been given, facing the year to come with assurance and confidence that Christ is King.
If there is no God, then nothing matters and all of life ends in meaningless despair. But if there is a God, then everything matters and everything has meaning. The Preacher of Ecclesiastes closes his book by pointing us to duty of mankind to fear God and keep His commandments.