Posts by Josh Moody

Genesis 25-26, Psalm 10, Matthew 5:1-12, Acts 6   Acts 6: We begin with another critically important object lesson that Luke introduces from the story of this gospel expansion in the early church. There was a dispute. The Hellenistic (or Greek speaking and influenced by Greek culture) Jews argued against the Hebraic (or Hebrew speaking and influenced by Hebrew…

Genesis 24, Psalm 9, Matthew 4:18-25, Acts 5:17-42 Acts 5:17-42: Another extraordinary story from the first chapters of Acts! Once again, the apostles and the church face persecution. Luke gives us the reason: the high priest and all the religious leaders were “filled with jealousy.” So often this is the case: when someone is attacked for preaching Christ,…

Genesis 21-23, Psalm 8, Matthew 4:12-17, Acts 5:1-16 Acts 5:1-16: The last of Luke’s three pericopes of the ideal New Testament church comes in the second part of this section we are looking at today (5:12-16). We sometimes think that the flourishing and healthy church can only exist in the midst of easy circumstances, or at least is…

Genesis 18-20, Psalm 7, Matthew 4:1-11, Acts 4:23-37 Acts 4:23-37: There is so much that is important in this passage today. Let us divide it into two main sections. First of all (verses 23-31), we have the believers’ prayer. Note, their response to persecution. First, they get back to their own people. They gather the church. Then they…

Genesis 15-17, Psalm 6, Matthew 3:13-17, Acts 4:1-22 Acts 4:1-22: Another amazing story of God’s power at work through ordinary people. Luke, the author of Acts, is asking us to consider: what could we do for God in dependence upon his Spirit in our own day and age? There are several lessons from this story for us to…

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…