Barnabus and Saul, having taken food to the famine-affected church people in Jerusalem, have returned to Antioch. Verses one through five: Back together again, the disciples, prophets and apostles set out to find the will of the Lord relative to His ministry. They sought His will by “ministering” unto Him through fasting and prayer. This prompted Him to speak to […]

The Apostle Peter has received a shock to his system–a group of Gentiles have received the Holy Spirit, making them eligible for eternal life. Peter, like so many Israelites, had failed to believe what God had written several times in the Old Testament: “Gentiles will come to your light.” Then, as now, people take from the Scriptures what they […]

Saul’s transformation has brought a semblance of peace to Jerusalem. Saul himself is being accepted by the Lord’s disciples. Now Peter takes center stage in the life of the church. Verses thirty-two through forty-three: In Lydda Peter found a man named Aeneas who had been paralyzed for 8 years and pronounced healing upon him. This caused […]

Ananias the Law-keeper has ushered his new spiritual brother–Saul of Tarsus–into the Christian community in Damascus. From this point on the ministry of the church will change dramatically for the better as God unleashes him on the Jewish nation. Verses twenty through thirty-one: “And immediately Saul preached Christ in the synagogues, proclaiming that He is the […]

Saul of Tarsus, the scourge of all things Christian, has emptied the Israelite capital of all but a few members of the cult that has thrown the Holy Land into turmoil. Determined not to allow anyone to escape his wrath, the popular Pharisee is hunting down the heretics, capturing them and bringing them back to Jerusalem for trial. The […]

After lighting a spiritual fire in Samaria, Deacon Philip has been miraculously transported to Azotus from where he leaves on a preaching trip which ends in the city of Caesarea. But trouble is looming back in Jerusalem where the Lord has instructed the apostles to stay until they receive further orders. Chapter nine Verses one through nine: Saul of Tarsus, the probable instigater of the […]

Philip, Peter and John have ministered in Samaria. Believers have been baptized for the remission of sins and have received the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. Verses eighteen through twenty-four: Simon the Sorcerer has seen the light, believed and been water baptized. Fast forward to the modern church: A miracle worker who had been hailed […]

With Saul of Tarsus in hot pursuit, the disciples have been forced to leave Jerusalem following the death of Stephen. Only the apostles remain in the city. Verses five through eight: Philip, a deacon, not the apostle, having escaped Saul’s wrath, went down into Samaria where Jesus had spent two days teaching those who came to […]

The number of disciples is growing in Jerusalem, so much so that the apostles are forced to take time to deal with a distribution situation. After giving directions to the disciples on how to handle the problem, they return to their assigned duties–praying and ministering the Word of God. Upon their command, the people put forth several men to […]

The Book Of Acts (Ch. 5), the religious authorities are angry and afraid. The upstart sect is growing daily and filling Jerusalem with this new religion and its dead god. There was only one solution–kill all of the leaders. Crush the head and the body would die. But out of the midst of the heated rhetoric came […]