Archive for January 2023

Genesis 12-14, Psalm 5, Matthew 3:1-12, Acts 3 Acts 3: We come now to one of the most famous stories about the early disciples and the miracles of the apostles. Peter and John go up to pray. Note how they are regular in their activities of prayer and worship in God’s house. Biblical Christianity is always a faith…

Genesis 9-11, Psalm 4, Matthew 2:13-23, Acts 2:22-47 Acts 2:22-47: We are in the middle of the day of Pentecost. And Peter is giving his famous Pentecost sermon. He is continuing to argue that this (the experience of the Spirit) is that (what Joel and the prophets had predicted). Now he transitions to argue that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah promised…

Genesis 5-8, Psalm 3, Matthew 2:1-12, Acts 2:1-21 Acts 2:1-21: We will consider today only the first part of Peter’s famous sermon on this famous day of Pentecost. Tomorrow we will look at the main body of the argument of that sermon, and then also the astonishing response and then Luke’s paradigmatic description of the New Testament church.…

Genesis 3-4, Psalm 2, Matthew 1:18-25, Acts 1:12-26 Acts 1:12-26: The next scene is something of a brief interlude before the drama of the coming of the Spirit in the next chapter. Many have wondered over the years: why is this here? What is the point and the purpose of it in Luke’s recording of events? And why…

Genesis 1-2, Psalm 1, Matthew 1:1-17, Acts 1:1-11 Acts 1:1-11: When we start to read any book—especially a book of the Bible—it is important to have a basic sense of direction and the purpose and style or genre of the book. Acts is the second volume in Luke’s two volume work of Christian origins. His first volume, known…