We are traveling along with the Apostle Paul on his second missionary journey. We move now from the conquest of Philippi to the challenge of Thessalonica. In chapter 17 of the Book of Acts, we have the remarkable ministry of Paul as it continues in three cities. These cities are Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens. As we study Paul’s ministry in these three cities, we discover different responses to the Gospel. We will see first rejection of the Gospel. Next, there were those who received the Gospel. However, when we arrive to Athens, we find those who ridiculed the Gospel. The same responses back then are the same responses today when…

Everywhere Paul went, there was either a riot or a revival. He either made friends for Christ or foes for Christ. Upon coming to town, Paul did not stay in a penthouse, but often a jailhouse. In Acts chapter 16, there are many conquests. Paul is now beginning his ministry in Europe; that would eventually spread to America. These conquests commenced with vagueness; not knowing which way to go (16:6-8), continued with vision (16:9-11) and climaxed with victory (16:12-40). Second, chapter 16 is filled with conversions. Lydia found the Lord (16:14-15). A slave found the Savior (16:16-18). A jailer found Jesus (16:30-31). Luke shows us how the Holy Spirit dealt…

Have you ever been to a building where there’s a bunch of doors, and you didn’t know exactly how to get in? You wondered which door to use to get in? That’s what Acts 15 is all about, when you boil it down. Which door gets you in? If someone were to ask you the question—how can I be saved? What would your answer be? If you had to, in a succinct, very brief statement, tell someone who was desperately interested, how they could come to know Christ as their Savior, and go to heaven when they die, what would you say to them? Let’s just suppose that someone has…

Excitement fills the air at the Great Commission Church of Antioch. Paul and Barnabas, the first missionaries, have just returned from their evangelism journey. The Antioch church has been called together to hear about their ministry. This powerful church had a world mission’s heart. In Acts 14:27 it says that they gathered the church together and they heard the report by Paul and Barnabas. What kind of report would it have been? What would they have said? Imagine yourself being a part of this mission’s service. What a service it must have been. The word got out and the place was packed with people. The singing was electric. The choir…

We find in Acts chapter 13, the first recorded full-length sermon of the Apostle Paul. Luke tells us the next Sabbath day came and almost the whole city came together to hear the Word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and spoke against those things which were spoken by Paul contradicting and blaspheming. Look at this statement: “Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, it was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you (talking to Jewish people), but seeing you put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, thus, we turn to…

When we entered Acts chapter 12, we saw that James was dead, Peter was in prison, and the church hiding in prayer. When we leave Acts chapter 12, we witness Peter’s angelic freedom from jail, the church amazed, King Herod dead, and the Gospel multiplying. This is a phenomenal chapter. Doctor Luke tells the story of persecution, prayer, and power: from tragedy, transition and triumph. When King Herold learned that Peter had escaped, his indignation was felt through all of his guards. He had to respect life. If you were of no use to him, he simply took your life. In Acts 12:18-19, we read about the excitement of the…

As we preach and teach through the Book of Acts, there is a shout of triumph on every page. The early Church learned how to pray, and they saturated their lives with prayer. God gave them the victory. Now, compare the New Testament Christians with the average Christian today. Compare the early Church with the average church today. We are failing in our battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil; and, the reason that we fail, ladies and gentlemen, is that, primarily and fundamentally, we do not know how to pray. There’s not a failure in your life or in my life that is not a prayer failure….

I am going to give you from God’s Word, three marvelously, wonderful witnesses that will attest that Jesus Christ is the saving Son of God. God does not want us to have to be a question mark with our head bent over an exclamation mark, standing up straight and tall, saying, “Yes, praise God, I am a child of God.” Our text tells us about Cornelius. He was a Gentile. Up until this time, the Gentiles had not been added to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. All those early believers were Jews. Cornelius was a Roman army officer. He’s from Italy—garrisoned there in Palestine. He was hungry to…

We are going to learn about Christ and the Old Testament. In Acts 10:43, Peter testifies in the household of Cornelius about the Lord Jesus. He says, “to him,” that is to Jesus, “give all the prophets witness.” When he said all the prophets, he’s talking primarily about the Old Testament. The New Testament had not yet been written. Would you like to be able to understand the Old Testament? Would you like to get into some of the mystery rooms of the Old Testament? There is a master key that unlocks the key to the mystery rooms of the Old Testament and that master key is the Lord Jesus…

The blueprint and the pattern for the Normal 21st Century Church are found in that first-century Church. For the Bible says: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Nature forms us. Sin deforms us. Schools inform us. Prisons reform us. But, only Christ transforms us. In Christ, we become a new person. A Christian is not just somebody who has become nice—he or she has become new. He doesn’t just turn over a new leaf—he or she receives a new life. Now, a Christian is not like a tadpole that has…