Beginnings of the Church

As we have discussed before, when Jesus was about to leave the earth, He was with His apostles in the city of Jerusalem.  He instructed them to wait in Jerusalem for power to come upon them from on high.  These are the words that He spoke, as recorded in Acts1:8:

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."  Just looking at this quote gives the reader the progression of the Gospel, i.e., it will start in Jerusalem, then move out to close areas, then go out further into all the earth. 

We then can see the fulfillment, or at least the partial fulfillment, as we read in Acts chapter 8.  All of the events that occurred up through chapter 7 happened in Jerusalem.  But as we begin chapter 8, we read:

"..At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles."  This is exactly what Jesus had said in Acts 1 that should happen.  As we read further in the book of Acts, we see that the Gospel is carried everywhere, near and far. 

In today's world, with all of the high-tech communications that are available, we still face that same old stated challenge that Jesus gave.  He said in Mark 16:15,16:  "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  he who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."  The message is clear; it is up to us now to see that the Gospel is carried to those who need to hear it....and seen by those who need to see it in our lives.

Have a great week!  May God bless you.

First Sermon....First Church

We've talked here a bit about the speech, or sermon, that Peter preached in Acts 2.  It was an important time in that Jesus has just left the earth and the apostles are on their own....except that the Holy Spirit has come back to give them some special powers.  Peter explains all of this in his speech.  Let's examine this a little closer:

The first thing that Peter does is to quote the prophet Joel from the OT.  This is a good example for us; we should go back to scripture when we want to provide an answer.  Joel said, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh..."  This is exactly what is happening here in this context; the Spirit has been poured out on these guys, where now they can heal, speak in tongues, etc. 

Peter concludes his quoting of Joel by saying, "And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."  Being "saved," salvation, is precisely what these people needed. 

The primary focus of this speech is JESUS.  Note Acts 2:22,23: "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know--Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God has raised up..."  And he concludes in verse 36, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, who you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

The result of this speech is shown in Acts 2:37:  "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?'  Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' "  And in verse 40, "Be saved from this perverse generation."

Following this, they stuck together, they "were together and had all things in common;" they took care of each other.  This is what we need to do.  Let's do it!

Have a great week!

Jesus and the Kingdom

Jesus came to save sinners; plain and simple.  That was His purpose.  It had been talked about, predicted, prophesied all through time, all through the Old Testament, that a Messiah would be coming one day.  Jesus did just that; and His purpose was to save sinners....said many times in the NT, but one place is 1 Timothy 1:15.

What Jesus talked about the most during His time on earth was the Kingdom, the Kingdom of heaven.  It is by being a part of His kingdom, where He is the king, that we receive the salvation that Jesus came and died for.  Here are a few things that He said about the kingdom:

Matt. 10:7    "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."
         13:11  To His disciples, He said, "..it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom.."
         13:24  In the parable of the wheat and tares(weeds), Jesus taught that good seed planted will bring    
                    forth crops and weeds.  At the harvest, the weeds will be gathered and burned, the crop will
                    then be gathered and stored.
         13:31  "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed...the least of all the seeds...but when it is grown
                    it.....becomes a tree.."
         13:33  "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven.."  A small amount has great effect.
         13:44  "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for
                    joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

And this is just a sampling of all that Jesus had to say about the kingdom.  But here is a key passage that Jesus said about the kingdom:  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' and then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' "

Much more can be said about the kingdom of heaven.  The main point is that we, as His people, need to be sure that we are a part of it.  Have a good week; may God bless you!