Acts (2010)

The study of Saul’s conversion is more than academic. It becomes a study of our own times and how the Holy Spirit works today to totally redirect lives we have considered a lost cause. This revelation to Saul is repeated in scripture as an objective account of a historical event which was witnessed, and not just an imagined happening within Saul’s head. Saul uses his background as the catalyst in a severe acting out of passion directed against the gospel which may also mask an over-zealous but positive inclination toward God. Learn the significance of the bright light, Jesus’ introduction in terms of His humanity, Paul’s blindness, why Paul and Jesus spoke Hebrew instead of Aramaic, Paul’s conversation with Agrippa and Paul’s commission from God as apostle to the Gentiles.

The conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus is the historical account of an event that had enormous consequences for the Church. Paul’s entourage witnessed this event on their way to round up and persecute believing Jews. Saul was blinded, emotionally stunned, and intellectually challenged. Intense prayer and fasting were the result of Saul’s narrowed focus on the ramifications of this event. After strengthening with food, Saul immediately preached Christ in the synagogues. What does it mean to “preach Christ?” What is the difference between preaching and teaching? What was the response? What are the parallels in Paul’s message and the first message of Jesus when He taught in Nazareth? What is the importance of our physical and spiritual strengthening to the message the Church carries to the world?

Follow the geographical route taken to fulfill God’s promise to Abraham that through him all nations will be blessed. In these cities Peter makes it clear he is healing in the power of Jesus Christ. Peter is establishing his credentials with the same sorts of commands Jesus used to heal. The result was, “Many believed in the Lord.” Must you also ask Jesus into your heart? Does the fact that Peter is staying with Simon the Tanner reveal anything about Peter that shows he is accepting changes that are moving away from Jewish ritual? Meet Cornelius: his occupation, his home, his spiritual status, and his response to the angel he encounters.

Our passage backtracks in time to the scattering of believers after the persecution of Stephen. It is God who expands His Church. Compare God’s progress report on the expansion of His early Church to today’s Church Growth Movement and the compromises necessary to post growing numbers as an indication of success. Is it human methodology or transforming Truth that grows God’s Church? Learn the history of Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch where the Jewish believers fled and evangelized to the Jews. Follow Barnabas, the encourager, sent from Jerusalem to Antioch where he summons Paul for help and where the followers of Christ were first called Christians. See how the Church supports its own when Jerusalem suffers famine. Understand the focus of real growth in God’s plan for His Church.

Hear an answer to claims of those who have “been to heaven and back” and write a book about it.

A commentary on the election presents the sad state of our republic and its worldview shift away from the purposes of our founding fathers. The realization is we have come full circle into the final cycle of civilization. The solution is not a shift of circumstantial issues but a crisis-driven hope in the truth of God’s Word to shine as a light in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation.

The apostles lived in a degenerate, hostile environment, and except for John, lost it all, were tortured, and died as martyrs. Peter was a commercial fisherman, living on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. He met Jesus through his brother Andrew. Peter’s home was the base of operation for Jesus in the area and many miracles took place there. Peter is representative of many men, impulsive, assertive, loyal and prone to get his eyes on circumstance. But Peter spoke profound truths and Jesus set him apart as a leader. Learn about Peter as the small rock and Jesus as the chief cornerstone, and about Peter’s travels to Babylon and possibly to Britain. Witness his eventual torture and death in a barbaric dungeon in Rome.