November 8th
The new community of Spirit-empowered Jesus followers—which, like the temple, is where Heaven and Earth unite—is welcoming more and more people each day. Still, trouble breaks out from both inside and out. First, the inside threat. Ananias and Sapphira sell land for the community’s benefit, but then lie about it to increase profits for themselves. Their deception opposes the truth-telling way of Jesus, so God steps in with severe judgment and handles the corrupting threat. Then, outside pressure mounts. Jerusalem’s temple leaders arrest the apostles. When they are miraculously set free to preach once again, the leaders condemn them to a brutal flogging. But this only emboldens the apostles, and they proclaim Jesus with even more enthusiasm. Watch today’s video to explore how threats from the outside often encourage the spread of Jesus’ good news. Then, another challenge from within emerges as community growth introduces new conflict. The Jewish widows are receiving preferential treatment, while the Greek-speaking widows suffer. The apostles, needing to focus their time on proclaiming the message of Jesus’ Kingdom, equip and entrust the community to solve this injustice. The Greek-speakers choose seven trusted representatives, all with Greek names, to ensure that these vulnerable women receive mutual, loving care rather than being treated as less-than. Despite the trouble brewing, the new temple continues to grow. Nothing can quench the fire of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ Kingdom is proclaimed in Jerusalem just as he foretold!
November 9th
When Jesus told his disciples that following him would include bearing their own crosses and suffering with him in death, Stephen really took those words to heart. The end of Acts 6 left us with a scene eerily familiar to Jesus’ own painful experience. Stephen is teaching God’s truth and performing Jesus-style sign acts before the people. But the religious experts get mad and weave lies into false charges that support a dark murder plot. Accused and facing death as Acts 7 opens, Stephen speaks—not to defend himself or his actions, but to teach everyone the truth about Jesus. His speech retells crucial moments from the Hebrew Bible story, highlighting the way Israel often mistakenly worked against the very God who was trying to save them. He wants them to see that the same thing is happening here. They are mistaking God’s good work as bad. When Stephen finishes, the enraged leaders drag him outside the city and stone him to death. Stephen’s death recalls the murder of the prophet Zechariah. Before Zechariah’s brutal death, he cried out for vengeance: “Yahweh, see and avenge!” (2 Chron. 24:20-22). Instead of calling for divine vengeance, Stephen pleads with God to show mercy toward his murderers (Acts 7:60). His prayer echoes Jesus’ compassionate forgiveness for his own murderers, whom he prays for while they’re killing him (Luke 23:34). Stephen, often called the first Christian martyr, follows in Jesus’ footsteps. A young man named Saul witnesses and approves of Stephen’s killing. Emboldened, he begins traveling door to door throughout Jerusalem, leading a campaign to imprison Jesus’ followers. Watch today’s video to see more about Saul, who starts rough but experiences a unique kind of transformation. Because of the persecution Saul leads, many Jesus followers scatter from Jerusalem through Judea and Samaria—following the same progression Jesus talked about in Acts 1:8. Philip travels to Samaria, the land of outsiders, proclaiming Jesus and performing miracles.
November 10th
Did you see how, in the opening lines of Acts 9, Luke writes that Saul wanted to stop people “who belonged to the way” (Acts 9:2)? He doesn’t say “Jesus followers” or “Christians.” Saul despises people who belong to a specific way of life. Why? Because Saul is a well-trained religious authority. According to everything the religious leaders taught, to truly love God, he must stop these lawbreaking Jesus people. Notice that Saul is not a malicious malcontent bent on violence. He’s a zealous, God-fearing Jewish leader who had received misguided training. On the way to harass Jesus followers, the risen Jesus blindsides Saul, literally. Even so, Saul stumbles along to Damascus, stunned and sightless all the way there. Once he arrives, the once-powerful persecutor finds himself hoping for mercy from the very community he had tried to tear down. Now, Saul wants to join the way. Meanwhile, Peter’s entire paradigm explodes because of an offensive—yet eye-opening—vision that God gives him. Peter shares the God-fearing zeal we see in Saul (who becomes Paul after he joins the crew). But that zeal is not enough. Peter still thinks that God loves some kinds of people more than others. But then, the vision. A sheet floats in carrying all kinds of animals that no decent Jewish person would ever think to eat. But a voice says to eat whatever and stop tagging “unclean” on things that God has made clean. Really complex ideas form in this vision, not to mention Peter’s subsequent encounter with the Roman Cornelius. So the entire scene warrants deeper study. But through it all, Peter walks away proclaiming one huge takeaway: “I truly know now that God does not show favoritism toward people” (Acts 10:34). Imagine how stunned you might feel upon learning that God loves everyone you were taught to reject or even hate? Peter’s eyes were wider than ever after that dream. The door has swung open, and it turns out that God has always loved every human being he created with an impartial love that shows no favoritism.
November 11th
As a people group, Israel traces its identity back to Abraham and his first instructions from God to ultimately bless every family, or “nation,” on Earth (Gen. 12:2-3). To be Israel was to live this way with God. Along the way, as all people do, they lose sight of God’s instructions. They start thinking God chose them not to bless others, but to dominate others like superiors. It’s not for cruel or disruptive behavior that Peter gets yelled at by the religious elite. It’s for loving and welcoming people he’s supposed to stay away from. Our previous reading, in Acts 10, showed Peter’s dream about God’s impartial love messing him up in the best way. Peter is now seeing that life in God’s way is about blessing others always, without favoritism. Or, like Jesus said, loving neighbors as ourselves. Meanwhile, people are proclaiming Jesus in the bustling city of Antioch. Jesus’ good news takes root. People, Jew and Gentile alike, start becoming those who belong to Jesus’ way of life. But trouble is brewing. For the first time, the leaders strike down one of the chosen 12 disciples who walked with Jesus. Herod Agrippa, trying to thwart the Jesus movement with a show of force, executes James. We miss Luke’s story if we focus only on the inspiring moments about spiritual growth and gospel expansion. Jesus’ words “you must bear your own cross” are echoing louder as the story unfolds. Yes, good things are happening. But “good” is being redefined as “love for all” rather than “pleasure for me.” The blood and suffering of Jesus’ disciples mark pain that only love produces. Therefore, they become symbols no less beautiful than Jesus’ own blood. Near the end of our reading, Herod Agrippa mistakes his power for godlike privilege and claims glory reserved only for God. He displays this selfish pride, then falls dead. Meanwhile, Jesus’ selfless love marches on as his partners continue establishing his Kingdom everywhere they go.
November 12th
The Gospel is on the move—to the ends of the earth! Recall Acts 1:8, where the early witnesses received a challenging commission to take Jesus’ message to Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, and then the whole world. Today’s video shows how the witnesses carried the Gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. Along with today’s reading, it pivots toward the next section and final frontier, the ends of the earth. Paul and Barnabas partner up on a wild adventure, sailing and hiking into the far reaches of Rome’s dominating empire. They tell everyone that a new, superior king has taken his throne. In every city, they follow a pattern. They first preach at the synagogue with a Jewish audience. Then, when they face (predictable) opposition, they meet to talk with gentile communities. The story shows a powerful Gospel moving without force, steering around opposition and entirely invincible, able to take root in the most unexpected places. For example, take Cyprus, Paul and Barnabas’ first stop in today’s reading. A Jewish magician brings dark opposition. With love, Paul carries out a Spirit-empowered sign act, rendering the magician temporarily blind. Jesus blinded Paul the same way, not to harm but to teach. This sign piques the curiosity of the Roman provincial governor. After hearing the teaching about the Lord, he believes! Then in Pisidian-Antioch, we get the same song, different verse. The Jewish leaders grow jealous of Paul’s missionary success and hurl insults and contradictions his way. So Paul pivots to the Gentiles, who receive the message with great joy. This pattern repeats again and again. In every city, new churches spring up. Attempts to stamp out the Jesus movement backfire. The word is out—and it’s unstoppable.
November 13th
How can Jews and Gentiles, historically divided groups, find unity? We see Jesus’ church trying to figure this out in today’s reading. It’s not easy. Some Jesus followers from Jewish backgrounds believe Gentiles must honor the Torah’s circumcision laws in order to belong to God. They believe in Jesus, but to them, people avoiding circumcision is like being an ungodly Christian. Gentile believers, on the other hand, saw those laws as unnecessary chains. Paul, like a chainbreaker, says unnecessary things should never become obstacles to unity. While circumcision might be good in certain contexts, it’s not necessary. You’re Jewish and committed to loving others by honoring your religious tradition in love? That’s good. You’re gentile and committed to Jesus’ way but uninterested in Jewish circumcision law? That’s also good. Both Jew and Gentile can freely honor God in different ways. To find peace, Paul and his companions ask the apostles to settle the matter. Peter’s big dream about God’s impartial love (Acts 10:9-16) opened a new way for Gentiles. Now Peter reminds everyone that God’s Spirit fell upon Jew and Gentile alike. Relaxing circumcision regulations is not compromising God’s will—it is God’s will. So what about sinfulness? To be “unified,” are we supposed to minimize evil and just be nice? That’s not it, Paul would say. A Jesus community does not base unity on religious traditions. We base our unity on each member’s choice to flee from evil by following Jesus. A Jerusalem council forms to work out a few Jesus-based ethics intended for the whole community. Those belonging to the way reject idolatry, sexual immorality, and the consumption of blood. Then Timothy gets circumcised, which seems odd. Notice how Timothy agrees, not because he feels obligated or thinks it will make him righteous, but because he loves the Jewish community. He intends to go on proclaiming Jesus in Jewish synagogues. Paul and Timothy want to remove any obstacles to the salvation of others. With these matters settled, Paul and Timothy head to Philippi. There, they continue spreading the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles alike. God is gathering a united people, binding them together to serve King Jesus.
November 14th
Paul and his companions have a polarizing effect on people. While some receive their teaching as good news for all, others accuse them of ripping apart the fabric of society that holds the Roman Empire together. You’re turning the world upside down! The Jesus movement rejected popular ideas from Greco-Roman religion and politics, such as the notion that many gods rule the world. In today’s reading, Paul waltzes into Athens and notices tons of religious observance—idols everywhere. You folks clearly honor the gods, he says. I even found an altar “to an unknown god” in town; you’re acknowledging that there might be a deity out there you’re still unaware of. I want to say there is. He’s the true God, creator of everything, and not contained in any temple or statue. Some are intrigued, and others assume Paul is mocking their beloved gods. See? Polarizing. Paul isn’t mocking them, though. He’s loving them. He knows their worship of Roman gods stems more from fear than anything else. You’ll see in today’s video that prayer in polytheistic contexts, where people worship many gods, often involves anxiety for the one praying and vague indifference from the deity. Paul wants to show them a better way. He invites them to worship the God who made them, whose image they bear, and who loves them as family. Paul invites them to be free from deities that require so much, give so little, and care even less. Paul finishes his speech predictably. All people everywhere must turn around, or “repent,” turning not toward Roman gods but toward the true God. See? Polarizing. Paul intends to turn the world upside down, but not with military might or political strength. Roman officials are used to revolutionaries carrying a big stick, not preaching a message of love. Perhaps Paul was as interesting as he was polarizing? Motivated by love, sustained by the Spirit, and providing good news of a better, truer, more loving God to worship. That’s Paul’s goal.