Ac18

What words would others use to describe you? How would those words differ from the words you would want people to use to describe you?

Apollos was  an "eloquent man who was powerful in the use of the scriptures". He was given the gift of communicating and he used his gift to communicate scripture. Yet, he hadn't fully understood the gospel and was familiar only with John's baptism. Thank God for faithful tentmakers like Priscilla and Aquila who "explained the way of God to him more accurately."

Are we sure that we get it? Like Apollos, do we have much to say about Jesus, but don't actually "know" Him? The scriptures have been given not simply to be studied and known, but in order to lead us to "know" Jesus and have a relationship with Him. 

My prayer today is that reading the scriptures will lead us to Jesus. And that knowing Jesus would determine the words that others would use to describe us.

Ac17

As Christians, we are to be "world changers"! This was said of both the disciples and of Paul's missionary team. They had a reputation of making a difference in the culture they live in. I pray we are making a difference in ours.

The unbelieving Thessalonians said, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too!" And with that, they sought to run them out of town! Even though they were successful in making Paul and his team leave, a healthy church was planted! Through the Thessalonian church the gospel "rang out" loud and clear.

To the Thessalonians Paul would later write, "For the Lord's message rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place that your faith in God has gone out." I pray this testimony is true of all of us. We have embraced the message. It is a message that is changing the world. I pray it is "ringing out" through us.

Ac16

What sacrifice have we made for the gospel lately? The gospel demands our service and sacrifice. Discipleship calls us to follow Jesus' example.

Imagine young Timothy. He was doing well in his faith and he was being recognized by the believers as a potential pastor in his community. Even Paul saw his giftedness. Step one: get circumcised! What??? Wasn't the letter that they had received focused on "NOT" doing such things! If I were Timothy, I would have been begging Paul to apply the letter to me!

Paul clearly understood the content of the letter AND he knew that Timothy did not need to be circumcised but, because of the gospel, he had Timothy circumcised. It was Paul's way of making Timothy as broadly accepted as possible. Timothy learned quickly what Paul would later write to the Corinthians, "I do all things for the sake of the gospel".

Live for the gospel today. God wants to make His message clear through our life.

Ac15

Jesus plus everything is not greater than Jesus plus nothing! This is a hard truth to grasp. We all want to somehow take credit for our salvation!

Imagine if circumcision was still an issue in our churches! What if we still believed that one could not go to heaven unless they were circumcised and obeyed the OT law of Moses. That would be nuts! That is what these early believers thought. They were so connected to their "traditions and laws" that they could not see it any other way.

We laugh now, but what are the "things" that we are adding to the gospel message today? Are we keeping salvation clearly in God's hands or are we adding to the message legalistic measures? I pray we are keeping the gospel pure.

Ac13

Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves. There is no salvation apart from believing in Jesus. There is no believing in Jesus apart from God's sovereign grace.

I thank God today that I was not only given the gift of salvation, but also the gift of faith. I believe. God has blessed me with His choice. Without God's loving grace, I could have never been saved. Paul said that believing in Jesus did (brought salvation) what keeping the law could never do. Only through faith in Jesus in anyone saved.

When the Jews heard that "salvation by works" would never accomplish salvation, they totally rejected Paul's message. It's crazy! They really thought they were justifying themselves. Unbelievable. Yet today, many who have not placed faith in Jesus feel as though they are justified before God.

I am so grateful for grace today.

Ac12

When crazy dreams are actually not dreams, God might just be involved!

Peter was going along with his "crazy dream", something we all have experienced, when suddenly he woke up and discovered that he wasn't actually sleeping! God had sent an angel to rescue him in answer to the prayers of believers who had apparently had been praying all night!

The believers were praying but actually not believing that God would answer their prayers! When Peter showed up, no one even believed it was him! 

The cool thing about God is that He is not hindered by our belief or lack thereof. He was accomplishing His purposes through Peter. (And everyone else for that matter) I don't know about you, but I want to actually believe God will do the things I am asking Him for. I also pray my prayers are in line with what He is going to do.

Ac11

"No, Lord!" These are two words that should never be together! It is an oxymoronic thing to say. Yet, like Peter, too many of us choose to speak these words to Jesus.

We should either say "Yes, Lord!" or we should say, "No. You can't tell me what to do." If Jesus is our Lord, then we certainly do not have the authority to say "no" to Him. Saying "no" to Jesus is both a misunderstanding of His authority in our lives and a misunderstanding of His desires for us. Whenever we say "no" to Jesus, we are fools.

I want to be among those who say "Yes, Lord". Not because it is easy, but because Jesus is actually "Lord" and He can be trusted both in this life and in the life that is to come. I want to be a "yes man" when it comes to following Jesus. Don't you?

Ac10

Eliminating racism and prejudice from our hearts is a top priority of the Holy Spirit! Doing the same in culture should be a goal for all who follow Jesus.

Judging others based on race, ethnicity, social or economic status is repulsive to our Creator God! We all are equal before Him. We all are in total need of His grace. When we value things God does not value, we ruin the community that God is calling us to have.

Racism and prejudice were big issues in the first church. They were big issues to the apostle Peter! He actually thought of people other than Jews as inferior. They were "unclean" and "unworthy" of God's grace. Peter was gripped with this sin. This was the beginning of God's work to remove it from his life.

Peter said, "Now I understand that God doesn't show favoritism, but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him." Unfortunately this was a lesson he would need to learn again and again.

Live for Jesus today. Seek to break down man made barriers!

Ac9

Paul's job as a leader among the Jews was to arrest, imprison and even kill christians! And now, as a christian, the Jews wanted to kill him! You would think they would have thought to ask his story first!!!

The intense hatred toward Jesus was overwhelming. Think about this. Paul was the leader of those seeking to eliminate christianity in its early stages. He was a leader among the pharisaic Jews. After his conversion, not one of them sat down and even had a conversation with him! At least not a conversation that was recorded.

When people get set in their ways, not even a superstar convert redirects their opinions. Without the help of the Holy Spirit, no one would believe. I am so grateful for the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. With Him, I would be lost. We all would.

Ac8

Baptism is the biblical way to proclaim our faith in Christ. Baptism by immersion after belief is biblical baptism. The pattern in Acts is clear. Why baptize any other way?

Without exception in Acts, those who were baptized had believed in Jesus. The method in which they were baptized was immersion. This pattern is clearly seen in this example of Philip with the Ethiopian. Philip shared the gospel with the Eunuch. He believed. They went "down into the water" and he was baptized.

Today many believers have not been baptized in this way. Is it necessary for salvation? Absolutely not! Are these believers missing out on a critical opportunity to encounter God and testify to their salvation? Absolutely. If you have not been baptized (immersed) since you have believed, I would encourage you to make this a priority. You won't regret it.

Ac7

Do not resist the Holy Spirit! Believe the Gospel. This was the message that cost Stephen his life. His final words were, "Lord, forgive them their sin."

Even today people are being murdered for their faith. Many believe that more christians are being martyred today than any time in history. Literally thousands are being killed because of their faith in Jesus. Stephen was the first to lose his life because of Jesus. His life was cut short, but lived to the full!

Dying for Jesus is a noble and honorable thing. Living for Him today is the difficult challenge. Let's let Stephen's short life motivate us to live for Christ. We were introduced to him in chapter 6. Now he has been killed for his faith in Chapter 7, yet over 2000 years later, he is a hero and example to us all.

Live for Christ today.

Ac6

God is still looking for men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom to lead His church. How many men do you know that these qualities would describe them?

Our reputation is who we have proven to be over time. People really do know us, and generally, what they say about us when we are not around is pretty accurate. What do people say about us behind our back? Do we have a good reputation?

Being full of the Holy Spirit means to be continually looking to be obedient to Him. Are we living to meet God's desires or are we living for our own agendas? Is God's word and ways a priority in our lives?

Wisdom is life experience in doing things God's way. Wisdom is gained over time by actively pursuing a life pleasing to Jesus. Wisdom is not a "fruit" of the Spirit, but rather, a result of walking in the Spirit over an extended period of time.

Being a person who qualifies to lead in Christ's church is a noble pursuit. Our world needs these kinds of people.

Ac5

If God killed every person who lied about their generosity toward the church, how many of us would be dead?! I would be afraid to know. Honestly, I wonder if I would be dead.

One of the greatest areas of deceit in the church is "how much one gives". My experience has been that people will say that they are givers. Most even say that they tithe! (giving 1/10 of their income) What I have discovered is that rarely do I find a generous christian…and almost always those who claim to "tithe" actually don't!

Lying about giving didn't work out so good for the couple in this chapter. They purposed together to boast about their giving and to actually lie about the amount! Talk about famous last words!

We know we should be generous. We also know we struggle with giving. We should never fake generosity or lie about what we are actually giving. Honesty and generosity matter to God.

Ac4

God is still doing extraordinary things! Are you seeing and experiencing His presence in the midst of your church? If not, I pray you will begin to soon. The work Jesus did in the first church is still going on today in churches across our country and the world. Don't live life missing out on what matters when life is over.

I love this chapter. New life in Christ was rampant and things were happening so fast no one could receive credit except God. People were being healed physically, greedy people became generous, people in need had their needs met and, most of all, EVERYONE was worshiping Jesus.

Nothing is more exciting than being caught in the middle of a work that God is doing! His work should be clearly seen in every church. I am praying for this reality today.

Ac3

There is no salvation apart from repentance. Yesterday Peter called people to repentance and faith, and again today, people are called to repent and believe.

Before we can value our salvation, we need to understand our need for salvation. Too many of us feel like we are owed salvation or that we deserve this amazing gift. Not true! Christ died for our sinfulness. He gave His life because we could not save ourselves. His love drove Him to the cross. His life made our righteousness possible.

Only when we "repent" of all we have done, can we accept the awesome gift of salvation. Until a person realizes they are "lost", they have no desire to be "saved". We need salvation.

Ac2

In a day, the group of disciples went from scared and hiding to evangelizing the world in at least 15 different languages! The fulfillment of the great commission was well on its way with the arrival of the Holy Spirit's! What could be more compelling than that?

Wow! I wonder what it would have been like to hear dozens of disciples speaking in dozens of languages at the same time! And no matter what language I spoke, I would have heard the gospel being shared in MY OWN language. But what about Peter's message? He spoke in his native tongue we assume. But what did people hear? Did they hear their own language? Was his message being interpreted by the Holy Spirit into their ears? Who knows?

We do know that around 3,000 were baptized that day! One great way (actually the biblical way) to declare our faith is in believer's baptism. Notice how often in the book of Acts that people would believe and, almost immediately, get baptized. Have we believed? Have we been baptized since we believed? If not, why not?

Within a week 60 people were baptized in Cornerstone! The Holy Spirit is still doing His work! In the past year we have seen over 300 new believers take this step of faith. It is so much fun to be a part of a church like Cornerstone.

Ac1

What unites us with other believers in Christ? Is it prayer? Prayer characterized the relationships of the 1st believers. "They were continually united in prayer."

I would like to witness a prayer time with the early disciples! Unfortunately, I don't think believers pray like they did at all. In fact, I can remember few times in my 40 years of being a christian that I really felt connected to God and other believers in prayer. Generally, for groups I'm involved in, prayer is something we do at the beginning and ending of meetings.

Prayer is rarely the content of what we do! As we journey through the book of Acts, let's pay attention to the frequency and duration of prayer in the lives of the early believers. I know it will be convicting to me. I assume it will be convicting to all of us.

Jn21

It is so easy to stop following Jesus. Without daily resolve and attention, we naturally will begin to pursue our own interests and not the things of God.

After the resurrection and before Christ ascension, the disciples thought, "What now?" Peter, being the leader, decided to go "back to business as usual". He said, "I'm going fishing." Had he forgotten what Jesus had said? Was he just needing a vacation from ministry and a couple of weeks to "clear his mind"? Was he listening to himself rather than hearing the words of Christ?

Graciously Jesus appeared again! And Jesus does the same thing for us if we will let Him. The role of the Holy Spirit is to guide us to follow Jesus. Our daily lives might involve a fishing trip. Our lives should be about obeying Jesus. Today, if we find ourselves distracted from this mission, it's time to refocus on following Jesus.

Who knows who Jesus wants to touch through our lives today?

Jn20

When John saw the empty tomb, he "believed"! Finally the author share his story. Jesus has been changing lives for over 2000 years now, and still there are many who refuse to believe.

I have discovered that most refuse to believe because they have never had anyone engage them in a gospel conversation. Most don't believe the first time they hear the "good news", but often people will believe once they have heard and understood. 

John wrote this entire gospel so that unbelievers would believe! He shares his personal story in this chapter. He was someone who took time. He was someone who needed to see the empty tomb. Let's not be impatient with unbelievers. Let's keep sharing Jesus with them. Who knows when they will believe?

__________________________________________

Troy Nesbitt, Lead Pastor

515.232.5488 | troynesbitt@gmail.com

Cornerstone Church of Ames | www.cornerstonelife.com

helping people know and obey Jesus

56829 U.S. Highway 30 | Ames, IA 50010

Jn19

Christ died for our sins. He lived for our righteousness. All of our relationship with God is rooted in the work of Jesus.

There is a song, "Thank you for the cross." It is an expression of gratitude for the reality of Jesus' sacrifice for our sins. I love that song. I love the sentiment it carries for all of us who have believed. We should be overflowing with gratitude today. Our sins have been paid in full by Jesus.

Yet even on day one Jesus had "secret disciples". Joseph of Arimathea is mentioned in this chapter. It says of him, "he was a disciple of Jesus - but secretly because of his fear of the Jews." Unfortunately "secret disciples" still exist today.

Jesus lived for our righteousness, died for our sins and was resurrected to conquer death and solidify our eternity! This should not be a secret. We should work to tell the world!