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Reading: Acts 8:26-40  Acts 8: 29-31 -   The Spirit told   Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”   Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Image from pixabay In the book of Acts, God is working in mighty ways through the believers to spread the message of Jesus' resurrection and many people are being converted. In this story of the Ethiopian eunuch, it is clear that God is not restricting salvation to the Jews but is wanting everyone to be saved. What a wonderful thing. I don't know about you, but I do not have Jewish lineage and am so thankful that salvation is open to everyone. The person being reached today is someone of importance, he is the minister in charge of all the finances of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. Someone people would listen to, you wo...
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 ACTS 6:1-3   During this time, as the disciples were increasing in numbers by leaps and bounds, hard feelings developed among the Greek-speaking believers - "Hellinist" - toward the Hebrew-speaking believers because their widows were discriminated against in the daily food lines. So the twelve called a meeting of the disciples. They said, "It wouldn't be right for us to abandon our responsibilities for preaching and teaching the Word of God to help with the care of the poor. So, friends, choose seven men among you whom everyone trusts, men full of the Holy Spirit and good sense, and we'll assign them this task. Meanwhile, we'll stick to our assigned tasks of prayer and speaking God's word.  (The Message) Image by Gert Altmann @ pixabay I love the book of Acts, I find the establishment of the early church exciting as thousands come to believe in Jesus. But because it was a real event, it was not without its tense moments. There were inevitable conflicts l...
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  The Acts church Acts 2:42-47 - They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.   Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.     All the believers were together and had everything in common.   They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.   Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,   praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (NIV).  I have always loved this description of the early church. They are so excited by what has happened with Jesus rising from the dead and ascending to heaven, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the miracles and sermons of the disciples - seeing God's power. People want in.  Thousands are...
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  His final words.                                                                                                                                                                                                           Image by Gizelle Kei at Pixabay Acts 1: 8 - "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth." Acts is one...
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Who is He?  Image from Gordan Johnson found on Pixabay Matthew 16:15-16 - He [Jesus] said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replies, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." This is a powerful moment in the Bible. A telling point. The disciples are walking through an area known for its pagan worship and immorality. This is the place where Jesus chose to ask this question to his disciples, surrounded by debauchery and idol worship. He is providing a huge contrast - on one side is Jesus the son of the living God, and on the other side are pagan idols. He is essential saying which of these do you choose? Do you believe that I am the son of God, that as opposed to what you see around you, I am God? Or are you chasing after something else, maybe something easier, something culturally acceptable or seemingly safer?  Simon Peter responds by saying " You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And with that statement he commits fully...
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  To whom shall we go?  Image from Foundry @ pixabay John 6:68-69 - Simon Peter answered him, "Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God."   This response from Peter comes after Jesus calls himself the bread of life and told his listeners that they must feed off this bread to have eternal life. As a result, many turned back and no longer walked with him (verse 66).   Jesus asks his disciples if they too want to leave and Simon Peter answers in the above way.  The question is one we all must ponder in our lives, do we stay with Jesus or do we walk away         when his teachings gets tough and are not what we expected? Many have searched for other places and investigated other religions, but they don't find a living God who has sacrificed his life for us by giving up his body on the cross for our sins in those places. Jesus is the bread of ...
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Whose Kingdom?   Image from Klikin @ Pixabay John 6:15 - Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm they were about to grab him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself.   This verse comes right after Jesus fed the 5000 from what was initially five barley loaves and 2 fish. He performed this great miracle which showed people who he was and what he could do, and their response was to try to fashion him into a king after their design. Remember the Jews were expecting a messiah that would be a military leader who would overthrow the Romans, their oppressors at the time. They were blinded to the fact that the true messiah had a much larger battle to fight, a battle not of flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12). In seeing his miracle, they enthusiastically come up with their own plan and in doing so missed what Jesus is doing and going to do.  This verse makes me think of 2 things:  1. We can often rush into things for God that are more a...
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