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New Testament

Acts

Notes on 23 of 28 chapters·15 sermons·6 essays
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Chapters with notes
Acts 1Acts 1:1 "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach..." Many of us are wrapping up our holiday gatherings. Maybe you went to your parents' house and enjoyed the hospitality of those that raised…9 notes · 2 sermonsActs 2"That is some earth-shattering news!" "We have a groundbreaking new product!" "It's raining cats and dogs!" "What a beautiful sunrise." Because I was super cool, I used the "Prophecy Study Bible" for most of my middle and school years. It…3 notes · 2 sermonsActs 3Lectio Divina is a way of reading Scripture that has its roots in the meditative practices of ancient Judaism. Rather than reading to finish, we read Scripture to change. Rather than reading as an outside observer, we instead place…1 noteActs 4When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished, and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. At some point you may have been told you were disqualified from…1 noteActs 5Importantly, the text does not say God killed them. They dropped dead. That's all the author of the book of Acts is willing to say. … I wonder if this is not so much a statement about what God did or didn't do, but rather that there is…2 notesActs 6Shared everything together because they perceived themselves as a single family. But how do you share when they family is twice the size you thought it was going to be (not just Palestine Israel, but diaspora Israel too) Example: having…1 note · 1 sermonActs 7lol this feels like stalling But more seriously, the Gospel is always rooted in the story of Israel2 notesActs 8Philip Preaches in Samaria1 note · 3 sermonsActs 12James dies, Peter is arrested and escapes. Divine intervention sucks sometimes.1 note · 1 sermonActs 14For me, the key thing that sticks out are verses 16-17. In Paul’s view, God let every nation “go their own way.” Not every nation was asked to obey the Mosaic Law like Israel was (we see this theme crop up a couple of times in Romans.…1 noteActs 15The number one issue of the early church was knowing how to handle the earth-shaking idea that Jesus’ salvation and welcome into The Kingdom of God was not just for Jews, but Gentiles too. Much of the story of Acts is the unfolding of the…2 notes · 2 sermonsActs 16Verses 6-10 have often guided me as I consider what it is to follow God’s will. I believe that God’s will is more like a compass than a GPS. God intends for us to go in a general direction (towards love, kindness, revealing God’s beautiful…1 note · 1 sermonActs 17Acts 17:1-15 Verse 1—Thessalonica was huge by ancient standards, around 200,000 citizens. Verse 2-3—As a Jew preaching to Jews, Paul’s had many hurdles in proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah. The ideas that a Messiah needed to suffer…1 noteActs 18Verse 6—Paul, a Jew, had gone from city to city, synagogue to synagogue, in order to convince his fellow Jews about Jesus the Messiah. However, in nearly every case, his arguments were met with violent abuse and opposition. Paul’s response…2 notes · 1 sermonActs 19I think there’s something to the idea that there are “disciples” who are not even aware of the wider, broader, more beautiful world of entering into God’s Spirit. Following Jesus is not just a gospel of sin management; it ought to call us…2 notes · 1 sermonActs 20Verse 20—The goal of good preaching ought to be, Helpfulness. Will this actually help people in their lives. Helpful is always better than Interesting. We also see the two modes of ministry—Publicly and House-to-House. The Sunday gathering…1 noteActs 21What are we to make of the fact that Luke clearly wants to communicate that the church and Holy Spirit are warning Paul away from going to Jerusalem; but he does it anyway? It's not said that Paul is in rebellion. Is it just foolish? Is it…7 notes · 1 sermonActs 22So in chapter 22, Paul tells his own story. And this offers a flavor of authenticity to the book of Acts—Luke, or the author of the book of Acts, has no interest in cleaning up Paul's profile. He lays it all out there. Paul was the one who…3 notes · 1 sermonActs 23I don’t have much to say about this passage; it’s mostly some intrigue about a plot to kill Paul and how Paul is put under a ridiculous amount of protection to get him out of Jerusalem. If you don’t know the end of this story, I’ll ruin it…1 noteActs 24Acts 24:1-23 It’s here where Acts now shifts to a John Grisham novel—courtroom drama, exciting speeches attempting to persuade a judge. Paul makes his case before Governor Felix in a huge outdoor amphitheater, where they would have been a…1 noteActs 26This chapter gives us a summary of Paul’s life so far and of the Gospel he declares. We see three emphases: 1) The resurrection, the idea that Jesus was dead and is alive again. This, of course, gets Festus to claim that Paul is insane…1 noteActs 27Acts 27 We’ve now switched genres once again; from John Grisham to Robinson Crusoe. The geographical, weather, and nautical details all match up with other travelogues of the era. Also notice the “we” language, meaning that Luke (the…1 noteActs 28There’s a lot of historical debate about what happened to Paul after the book of Acts concludes. Early church tradition (and my personal view) is that Paul was eventually released from his Roman confines and went on to travel to and start…1 note
Sermons on Acts
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