TODAY’S VERSE:

Acts 5:42 “Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.”

Last month we began our study of the New Testament and learned about the first section, The Gospels. This month, we are on to the next section, The Acts of the Apostles.

This book was written by Luke (he also wrote the Gospel of Luke). It begins with Jesus’ ascension (return to Heaven after His resurrection) and covers the next 30 years, sharing how the Apostles spread the Good News about Jesus Christ.

Jesus had told them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the gift that God would give to help them. This gift was the Baptism of The Holy Spirit. God, Himself, would give them the right words to share the Gospel, as well as the power to perform miracles in order to prove they were from God. On the day of Pentecost (10 days after Jesus ascended and 50 days after the Passover), the Holy Spirit was given to them and they were all able to speak in different languages! This would become quite helpful when they shared the Gospel with people from different countries. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit would now be a permanent gift given to all believers. In OT times, it was temporary and only given to some.

Sharing the Good News was dangerous work, as some were arrested and even killed. That did not stop God’s people, though. They were empowered by the Holy Spirit and motivated by God’s love. They took care of each other, shared their food, money, and homes. When others heard the message and then saw the love they showed one another, more and more people were drawn to God!

At first, the Apostles were told only to share the Good News with the Jewish people. Later, God commanded the Apostle Peter, who was considered their leader, to begin sharing it with the Gentiles (non-Jews) also. The Lord then chose a man named Saul to preach the Gospel specifically to the Gentiles. Believe it or not, Saul was a Pharisee who persecuted Jesus’ followers and participated in mistreating them! He was on his way to Damascus to arrest believers when the Lord spoke to him and caused him to be blind. Saul repented and the Lord saved him, healed his blindness, and changed his name to Paul.

The Apostle Paul went on 3 missionary journeys, covering over 6,000 miles, and started many churches. When he returned to Jerusalem, he was persecuted by the Jews and ended up being arrested by the Romans. Paul endured many hardships and spent years in prison, but he never stopped working to spread the Good News. He even wrote letters to the churches while in prison to teach and encourage God’s people.

This book is incredible! We get to see how God used His people to save others and gave them the power to do so. The stories in this book should motivate us in our own lives to serve God and share His Gospel. The Apostles were imperfect human beings just like us (remember Paul’s past?). We are filled with the same Holy Spirit that filled them. This means that we too can be used by the Lord to spread His Good News, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is so exciting!