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Week 15 Acts 5 Day 1 READ Acts 5:9-10 9 And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.” 10 Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Ananias was already dead for lying to God, now Peter talks to his

Week 16 Acts 5 Day 1 READ Acts 5:21 21 So at daybreak the apostles entered the Temple, as they were told, and immediately began teaching. When the high priest and his officials arrived, they convened the high council—the full assembly of the elders of Israel. Then they sent for the apostles to be brought from the jail for trial. Peter and John were doing as the angel instructed them. They began teaching in the temple. As apostles they had spent three years with the r

Week 17 Acts 5 Day 1 READ Acts 5:29-30 29 But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. 30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on a cross. Believers are told to obey the government (see Romans 13:1-5). This passage in Acts 5, however, makes the case for civil disobedience when the government wants you to do something God does not. The apostles were told never to speak again i

Week 18 Acts 5, 6 Day 1 READ Acts 5:40 40 The others accepted his advice. They called in the apostles and had them flogged. Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go. Gamaliel had presented the possibility that this movement might come to nothing or if it was of God the religious leaders might be found fighting against God. He suggested they let the apostles go. Even though letting them go, they beat them first. Again they

Week 19 Acts 6 Day 1 READ Acts 6:7 7 So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too. This verse is worth dwelling on more. Notice the three items: 1) the message continued to spread; 2) the number of believers in Jerusalem greatly increased; and 3) many Jewish priests were converted. All of this resulted from the apostles being emboldened by the Holy Spirit to announce t

Week 20 Acts 7 Day 1 READ Acts 7:1 7 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these accusations true?” Stephen was accused by liars of being against the temple and the law of Moses. Could this be true? The high priest wanted to know. This gave Stephen the opportunity to review Old Testament history. He did this by using the only Bible the Hebrews knew at the time. Stephen summarized the key events leading to the appearance of the Messiah and then pointedly made an a

Week 21 Acts 7 Day 1 READ Acts 7:11-13 11 “But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food. 12 Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons—our ancestors—to buy some. 13 The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were introduced to Pharaoh.” Stephen continues telling about Joseph serving in the highest office under the Pharaoh of Egypt. The famine brought

Week 22 Acts 7 Day 1 READ Acts 7:26-29 26 “The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?’ 27 “But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked. 28 ‘Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian

Week 23 Acts 7 Day 1 READ Acts 7:39-40 39 “But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’” Stephen continues telling the highest court about their Jewish ancestors. God had sent them human saviors in both Joseph and Moses and they had rejected them. In fact, while Moses was on the mounta

Week 24 Acts 7 Day 1 READ Acts 7:51-52 51 “You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! 52 Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered.” In his message, Stephen now turns from reviewing Israel’s history and the prophets they had rejected.

Week 25 Acts 8 Day 1 READ Acts 8:1 1 Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. As Stephen was stoned to death, Saul was one of the witnesses who agreed with his killing. Then a wave of persecution broke out over the believers in Jerusalem. This s

Week 26 Acts 8 Day 1 READ Acts 8:12-13 12 But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized. 13 Then Simon himself believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed. Even though Simon the sorcerer had been imitating supernatural phenomena, the people now believed Phili

Week 27 Acts 8 Day 1 READ Acts 8:24-25 24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon exclaimed, “that these terrible things you’ve said won’t happen to me!” 25 After testifying and preaching the word of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. And they stopped in many Samaritan villages along the way to preach the Good News. After Peter told Simon his heart was not right with God and that he should pray for forgiveness. Simon asked Peter to pray for him. The

Week 28 Acts 8, 9 Day 1 READ Acts 8:35 35 So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus. This verse reveals a principle for witnessing. The eunuch was reading a portion of Isaiah and asked Philip if the writer was talking about himself or someone else. Notice what Philip did. He began at the point the eunuch asked about. This allowed Philip to tell how this passage in Isaiah would be fulfilled in the Messiah. Even though the eunuch

Week 29 Acts 9 Day 1 READ Acts 9:5-6 5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! 6 Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” When a voice from heaven asked Saul, “Why are you persecuting me,” this was Saul’s answer. His use of the term “lord” was not recognizing it was God but was a customary address of respect in Saul’s day. He soon learned who was speaking when the answer came,

Week 30 Acts 9 Day 1 READ Acts 9:17 17 So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” After God told him the message He wanted given to Saul, Ananias obeyed and found Saul. Ananias addressed him as “Brother Saul.” Even though he was not an apostle Ananias laid his hands on Saul so he might regain his

Week 31 Acts 9 Day 1 READ Acts 9:26-27 26 When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had truly become a believer! 27 Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. He also told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus. Saul returned to Jerusalem but believers there

Week 32 Acts 9, 10 Day 1 READ Acts 9:39 39 So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them. Peter comes to the home, is immediately taken upstairs where the body of Dorcas is placed, and is surrounded by mourners. These were the poor who had received gifts from Dorcas. She was a seamstress and had made cloth

Week 33 Acts 10 Day 1 READ Acts 10:5-6 5 Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.” An angel had appeared to Cornelius and told him his prayers and gifts had been received by God. Then the angel told Cornelius to send some men to Joppa and ask for Peter. His location was even specified. This reveals that God knows every detail about everyone. In the meantime, God needed to prepare

Week 34 Acts 10 Day 1 READ Acts 10:19-20 19 Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you. 20 Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them.” Peter was still confused about the meaning of all the animals sent down on a sheet and he was told to kill and eat them. The Holy Spirit directly spoke to him about visitors downstairs. Even though he would not

Week 35 Acts 10 Day 1 READ Acts 10:30-33 30 Cornelius replied, “Four days ago I was praying in my house about this same time, three o’clock in the afternoon. Suddenly, a man in dazzling clothes was standing in front of me. 31 He told me, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God! 32 Now send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.’

Week 36 Acts 10, 11 Day 1 READ Acts 10:44-46 44 Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. 45 The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too. 46 For they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God. Peter was not through speaking when suddenly the Holy Spirit fell on the listeners. Peter’s Jewish friends, who had exper

Week 37 Acts 11 Day 1 READ Acts 11:11-12 11 “Just then three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying. 12 The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles. These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man who had sent for us. Peter continues to defend himself before the accusing believing Jews in Jerusalem. They didn’t understand how he could go into the home of a Gen

Week 38 Acts 11, 12 Day 1 READ Acts 11:22-24 22 When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord. 24 Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord. The Jewish believers in Jerusalem were always concerned about spiritual activitie