The Risen Savior Sends the Helper
Notes
Transcript
ME: Intro -
ME: Intro -
I have always thought it was ironic that Easter is in the month of April.
The month that begins by trying to convince people of something unbelievable,
Just so we could dash their hopes by shouting,
April Fools!
The classic is like the can of peanuts you hand someone,
And they open it and the colorful springs shoot out.
Or I remember in high school,
I had the pack of gum that actually shocked you when you tried to pull a piece of gum out of it.
We as a society have pretty much been conditioned not to believe what anyone says on April 1st.
Of course, there can be some April fools pranks that can hurt badly because no one likes to be disappointed.
No one likes having someone overpromise something only to have them underdeliver.
It sometimes feels like life enjoys playing April fools pranks on us.
We make plans to go somewhere or do something,
Only to show up and not be allowed in or to have it get canceled.
Perhaps you had a parent who promised something to you only to have them underdeliver.
Maybe you had a relationship in your past and you thought you were going to marry that person,
But it didn’t work out.
Maybe you have a child who you love and want a relationship with,
As they get older, they push you further and further away.
Life has a way of raising hope,
Only to see it get dashed away.
And it almost feels like Life should just shout, “April Fools!” in those moments.
But the reason I find it ironic that we celebrate Easter in April,
Is because unlike life, God does not play April Fools pranks on us.
He always keeps His promises.
He has never overpromised nor underdelivered.
His Word always proves true!
This morning, we see an example of this as the Risen Savior Sends the Helper in Acts 2:1-41,
This is a massive promised being fulfilled,
Then an equally massive promise that had already been fulfilled is explained.
We must not look at the events in Acts as something that just came and went.
Our passage this morning reminds us that we are living in the same age as the people in Acts.
The things that happened on that day in Acts 2 are significant.
God’s Holy Spirit came on His people and stayed with His people.
That day was the installation of God’s new source of blessing and power for His people.
Now, still today, every person who trusts in Christ has access to this great source of power.
The installation was a one-time event,
But the significance continues to this day.
Slide
The outline for our passage comes in three-parts related to Christ’s resurrection:
After the Resurrection (vs. 1-13)
Explaining the Resurrection (vs. 14-36)
Trusting the Resurrection (vs. 37-41)
Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Our passage continues the historical narrative from ch. 1,
Turning the page from the old covenant into the new.
At this time, Jesus has now returned to heaven and is seated on His throne.
From there He sends the Holy Spirit just as He promised.
This unfolds in dramatic fashion as the disciples receive the Holy Spirit,
Empowering them to speak the gospel of the risen Christ for the first time.
The coming of the Holy Spirit unifies God’s people.
This unity transcends separation caused by language.
It is a dramatic event that is both amazing and confusing.
So, the narrative gets interrupted with an evangelistic speech from Peter,
Who uses the OT to explain what is going on.
Peter’s speech here is the first ever Christian sermon,
And it is a doozy!
He proclaims the message of the death, burial, resurrection, and enthronement of Jesus.
The power of his message cuts to the hearts of many hearers,
Three thousand people come to repentance and faith.
It is remarkable, dramatic growth of the church in a single day.
It is really the starting point of the apostolic ministry in the NT.
Everything contained in the rest of the NT begins here.
It is a new age, the age of the Spirit, the last days,
Which is the same era we live in today.
WE: After the Resurrection (vs. 1-13)
WE: After the Resurrection (vs. 1-13)
Slide
It all began on a day called Pentecost,
Vs. 1-13 records this event that took place After the Resurrection.
The day of Pentecost is literally the fiftieth day after the Sabbath day of Passover week.
Pentecost was the second of three annual feasts of Israel,
Seven weeks after Passover,
Giving it the name the Feast of Weeks in Deut. 16:10,
But four months before the Feast of Booths.
It is also called the Feast of Harvest in Exodus 23:16 because it was when the first fruits of the harvest would be gathered.
But the purpose of Pentecost was to commemorate the giving of the law on Mount Sinai,
Which occured 50 days after the first Passover in Exodus,
When God redeemed His people from slavery in Egypt.
Jews from all over would make the trek to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost,
Or many would just remain in Jerusalem for the fifty days after Passover.
This is what Jesus told His disciples to do back in ch. 1,
Demonstrating an important connection between the cross,
Where the Passover Lamb was sacrificed, and the Holy Spirit.
Slide
So, in Acts 2, Jews are in Jerusalem celebrating Pentecost.
But things turned out different on this particular Pentecost,
God gives some miraculous signs during the celebration:
Wind, fire, and inspired speech.
Luke describes these miraculous signs as best he can.
A sound like a mighty rushing wind in vs. 2 communicates the Holy Spirit’s presence.
Luke says the sound was violent and it filled the entire house where they were staying.
He is trying to capture a real supernatural event in writing.
But this is beyond what words can describe.
God’s presence is being announced through the sound of rushing wind.
Slide
Not only is His presence announced with sound,
But with a magnificent sight as well.
Vs. 3 says His presence is seen in divided tongues as of fire.
The fire should not surprise us.
God’s presence is often associated with fire.
The burning bush, the pillar of fire that led God’s people in the wilderness, the fire in the tabernacle and temple,
Are all OT examples of God’s presence being represented by fire.
Hebrews 12:29 describes God as a consuming fire.
So, here God’s presence is seen as tongues as of fire,
Resting on each believer.
This symbolizes each believer is the new temple.
The presence of God now rests on every believer.
The fact that they see tongues as of fire is significant.
Slide
Vs. 4 demonstrates inspired speech as an act of God.
It says all of the disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit,
Why?
To carry out Jesus’ commission in Acts 1:8 to be His witnesses.
The Spirit is not an optional bonus in this mission.
He is necessary.
All the works of the disciples throughout Acts,
The witness, the signs and wonders, all of it,
Is the doing of the Spirit through the disciples.
This is what Jesus promised would happen.
It is impossible to quantify what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
He is not like some godly gasoline that fills our spiritual tank.
As if, we can only have a quarter tank of the Spirit,
And at some point we will be full.
Luke is saying that being filled with the Spirit empowers us for service.
This does not imply that we are lacking outside these moments.
Rather, it communicates a special experience of the Spirit to carry out the mission of being Christ’s witnesses.
So, at Pentecost, the disciples are filled with power for the great work God has for them that day.
The work of speaking various languages.
This, Acts says, is the gift of tongues,
Speaking a language that has not been learned by natural means.
In this case, the disciples were empowered by the Spirit to speak the divine message of the gospel in a variety languages.
They were under the special influence of the Holy Spirit.
They did not know these languages,
Yet it says, they spoke them when the Holy Spirit filled them.
This means the Christian life cannot be lived apart from the Holy Spirit.
Slide
Phil. 2:13 explains,
for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
So, being filled with the Spirit is not limited to speaking unknown languages.
That is what is happening in Acts 2.
But there are a variety of things the Spirit empowers believers to do,
All of them will magnify Jesus Christ.
Slide
Vs. 5 confirms that Pentecost has drawn devout Jews from all over.
The population of Jerusalem would sometimes double or even triple during Pentecost.
So, we can picture the excitement and hustle and bustle of the celebration.
Yet, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was so astonishing it captured everyone’s attention.
Picture it, this group of 120 or so people begin speaking all these foreign languages.
People from all over are hearing their native tongue in an unexpected place.
It left them captivated.
Picture for example, you are in a busy marketplace in some other country,
And everyone is speaking a foreign language you understand bits and pieces of,
Then piercing through all the white noise,
You hear someone speaking in English.
You would be drawn to that English speaker,
And you would be able to pick out and comprehend what they are saying through all the other languages.
That is what happened at Pentecost.
These travelers correctly heard the disciples speaking in their own language.
And it stopped them in their tracks.
At first they were confused.
Slide
But vs. 7 shows that their confusion quickly gave way to amazement.
Here are all these rural Galileans,
Somehow speaking all these foreign languages.
They had not been trained,
And they weren’t known as sophisticated people.
Imagine the guys from Duck Dynasty standing up in front of a group of Chinese ambassadors speaking perfect Mandarin.
You could picture how astonishing that would be!
And that is what happened at Pentecost.
The crowd was puzzled at the diversity of languages from these simple and unexpected people.
Slide
Fifteen nations are listed in vs. 9-11 as being represented in Jerusalem for Pentecost.
It is hard to see but all these places are highlighted in green on the map.
Starting out east with the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and Mesopotamia,
Which is where Jews had been taken captive during the exile in the OT.
From there, the list continues a little west to Judea,
Then north to Asia Minor,
Which is where Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia were located in that red box.
From there, the list continues to northern Africa, which was south of Jerusalem.
Mentioning Egypt and parts of Libya near Cyrene,
Then all the way up to Rome.
The list concludes in vs. 11 with two very separated places,
Crete and Arabia.
Slide
It says, the people who speak all these different languages are hearing the mighty works of God being declared in their own language.
This shows how the gospel, empowered by the Spirit,
Creates a united multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-cultural people of God.
Slide
In vs. 12, some of the people are still amazed and perplexed,
So they ask what this means.
Others, however, we see in vs. 13,
Prove that some people can experience the most profound of miracles and still not believe.
Unable to come up with any other natural explanations,
They accuse the believers of being drunk.
But do not let this accusation distract from the fact that God is clearly passionate for the nations.
The Israelites just seem to be struggling to grasp this.
Pentecost is a mighty demonstration of God’s pursuit of people from every tongue.
Jesus died to offer salvation to people from every nation.
And Pentecost is just a little taste of the global multitude that will one day unite together to praise Jesus.
Until that day comes,
Like an embassy reflects the country it represents while existing in a foreign land,
The church gives the world a picture of what the kingdom of God is like.
GOD: Explaining the Resurrection (vs. 14-36)
GOD: Explaining the Resurrection (vs. 14-36)
Slide
But responding to the accusations of drunkenness in vs. 13,
Peter uses this as his cue to address the crowd in vs. 14-36,
Where he is explaining the resurrection.
This is the first of many sermons in Acts.
Peter begins by addressing his fellow Jews and the residents of Jerusalem,
It is the third hour, which is 9:00AM.
Now, during Pentecost, the Jews would fast and pray until the fourth hour, 10AM.
So, it is unlikely that these men would be drunk.
Not just because it is early in the morning,
But because if they were devout enough to travel to Jerusalem for Pentecost,
They would be devout enough to observe the morning fast,
And certainly would not be drunk.
Slide
Instead, Peter is saying that what is happening is a fulfillment of the OT prophecy, Joel 2:28-32,
This is the first of three OT passages Peter cites to explain the resurrection and Pentecost.
Joel 2:28 begins by saying, “afterward,”
But when Peter quotes it in vs. 17,
Instead he says “the last days” as a reference to the end times promised by God.
Peter is explaining Joel’s prophecy is a reference to the new covenant,
In other words, he is saying the era of the last days has begun.
The time of restoration by God,
The days where God pours out His Spirit on all people,
Is happening here in Acts 2.
Some tend to associate the last days only with the return of Jesus.
But Peter shows that the last days are already here but not yet fully come,
Still to come is the ultimate fulfillment of the last days when Jesus returns to fully restore the world.
Slide
But these last days that are already here, Peter says in vs. 17-18,
Cut across linguistic, cultural, and social boundaries.
The Spirit is being poured out on all God’s people, just as God promised.
As a result, people are able to know God intimately,
And are empowered to speak God’s Word.
Something made possible only through Jesus Christ.
We are given the Spirit not just to observe God’s glory,
But to participate in our mission to be Christ’s witnesses to the world.
If you believe in Jesus,
You are a participant in His mission.
And He has empowered you by His Spirit to tell of His glory for the benefit of the world.
Slide
Then, vs. 19-20 prophesies about the not yet part of these last days.
This vision expresses a final and all-encompassing judgment of God that will fall on the world.
Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.
The sun shall be turned to darkness,
And the moon to blood.
This shows humanity’s universal need to know Christ.
Slide
But the hope, Peter says in vs. 21,
Is that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord,
The name of Jesus Christ,
Shall be saved.
Slide
With this thought in mind, Peter moves away from the OT prophecy,
Addressing the Jewish crowd again in vs. 22,
Begins explaining the resurrection,
And how what they just saw at Pentecost is the continuation of Christ’s story,
Who not only now lives,
But reigns.
The mighty works and wonders and signs prove that God is still at work.
Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension fulfilled OT promises and established God’s kingdom.
So, Peter first emphasizes the death and resurrection of the man, Jesus Christ.
But He was a man who did signs and wonders,
He performed miracles.
Showing what life in His Kingdom would be like,
A life with no illness, no demons, no fear, and no death.
Because Jesus will restore all things.
And these people knew Jesus, the man who did these things.
Slide
But in vs. 23,
Peter makes it clear that this man, Jesus, truly died.
But he explains this as a major paradox of the Christian life.
The tension of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility.
Peter says that even though Jesus was delivered up by human hands,
This happened as a result of the determined plan and foreknowledge of God.
Peter’s goal here is not to resolve this tension between sovereignty and responsibility.
The Bible presents these two things as a mysteriously harmonious reality.
Here, Peter is simply presenting God’s sovereignty as a means to fulfill His promises.
So, these wicked men had put Jesus to death,
But Peter is saying that they ultimately executed the sovereign plan of God.
In other words,
Yes, God ordained the death of His own Son.
And yet, the Jewish leaders who used the Romans to have Jesus crucified,
Are responsible for killing Jesus.
God ordains both the means and the ends of human events,
Yet we humans maintain both our freedom and the responsibility for how we use our freedom.
Peter starts explaining the resurrection with such a difficult truth so early, why?
Because the Jewish people he is addressing could not fathom that their Messiah would be crucified.
In their minds, the Messiah is supposed to win!
But Jesus died,
So, how could He be the Messiah?, they thought.
Peter is explaining that it is because Jesus did not die as some helpless victim.
He willingly gave His life as part of God’s sovereign plan.
AND, Peter is explaining that the Jews are responsible for Christ’s death.
They could not pass the buck to the Romans,
Saying, “Well, they are the ones who actually crucified Jesus.”
No, the Jews both asked and pressured the Romans to crucify Jesus.
So, Peter is standing before those same men now,
Who likely shouted from the crowd to crucify Him.
And he is telling them that they are accountable for the death of Jesus.
He explicitly says, “You crucified Him,
You nailed Him to the cross,
You killed Him.”
Peter is saying they are guilty of murder.
He is not presenting this as a debate or speculation,
But for the purpose of conviction that leads to repentance.
The Bible makes it clear that we all are equally guilty.
Jesus was crucified for our sin, the Bible teaches.
We deserved to be crucified.
And crucifixion is a torturous form of execution.
Regarded as the most horrible form of death.
Even before being nailed to the cross,
The punishment began with beatings and lashes.
In a twisted form of justice,
They would make the victim carry his own cross to the place he would be executed.
Their death was a slow, painful, wasting away.
Life drips out of them like a leaky faucet.
Deformed from their beatings and whippings,
They draw out their life only as a way of extending their own agony.
Slide
Despite suffering this gruesome death,
God’s plan did not end at the cross.
Vs. 24 shows that the plan included God raising Jesus from the dead.
This is the fundamental event of Christianity.
It is the basis of the gospel.
Jesus was literally dead,
Not injured, not sleeping, not in a coma,
He was dead.
He was not resuscitated,
He was resurrected.
The grave could not hold Him.
And because He was resurrected,
Death has been overcome,
Therefore, we no longer need to fear death.
Slide
Again, Peter goes on to explain how God promised this by quoting a second OT passage,
Psalm 16:8-11, in vs. 25-28.
In Psalm 16, David was primarily speaking about his own personal experience,
But Peter is showing how God inspired David to prophesy about Jesus’ experience.
He is explaining how this Psalm is a promise fulfilled in Jesus,
Slide
Therefore, Peter concludes in vs. 27, Jesus is God’s Holy One who did not see corruption.
He was not punished after His death.
And instead of being in the grave, is in the presence of God.
Slide
In vs. 29-30, Peter explains how this could not ultimately be about David.
Everyone knows David is dead,
They could go to his tomb where his body rests, he says.
Slide
Not so, for Jesus, Peter continues in vs. 31-32.
He is not in a tomb.
He is risen.
So, Christ’s resurrection is the foundation of our faith.
You must believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ if you are a Christian.
It is a required fact of the gospel.
The Bible says if Jesus was not risen,
Then our faith is pointless.
So, all of Acts, and the NT really, hinges on this historical fact.
That is what Peter is explaining here,
Christ’s resurrection is necessary.
Peter is confident of this based on David’s prophetic words concerning the resurrection of the Messiah.
Jesus explained this as well.
And after His death and resurrection,
He made numerous appearances to His followers.
Proving the resurrection to be a public testimony of His release from the grave,
Which serves as evidence of the Father’s acceptance of His sacrifice.
His resurrection is a victory over death for Him and His followers.
It is as simple as this:
If He rose, the gospel is true!
If not, it is a lie.
He paid for our sins in full!
His sacrifice satisfies the Father’s justice.
And His resurrection authenticates all the claims He made during His life.
Without His resurrection, redemption fails.
But because He is risen,
We confidence that the Bible is true.
The kingdom of darkness has been overthrown,
Satan has fallen,
The triumph of good over evil is secured forever.
Peter repeatedly explains the reality and significance of Jesus’ resurrection throughout his sermon.
The basis for his claims is that he and the rest of the apostles were all witnesses to the risen Jesus.
They had seen Him themselves.
Slide
In vs. 33, Peter is closely linking Christ’s death and resurrection with the outpouring of the Spirit.
He is saying Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father,
And the events of Pentecost are a result of His enthronement.
An enthronement made possible because He defeated death.
Peter emphasizes how this is part of God’s plan,
To exalt Jesus to the place of honor,
To the position Jesus occupied with the Father from eternity past.
From this position of honor,
Jesus resumes the authority to pour out the Holy Spirit.
The gift of the Spirit only comes through the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus.
Now that He lives, He can give the life-giving Spirit.
This is why Jesus promised that His leaving would be better for His followers.
This teaching reveals all three Persons of the Triune God.
Jesus, the Son, the second person of the trinity, was raised up,
Then He received from the Father, the first person of the trinity,
The Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity.
The Triune God worked together in the life, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus the Son.
Slide
Peter then concludes his sermon by quoting his third and final OT prophecy in vs. 34-35, Psalm 110:1.
This prophesied of Christ,
Now reigning as King,
Judging His enemies.
The basis of Christ’s exaltation was His resurrection.
Slide
In vs. 36, Peter reaches a climax,
Specifically addressing the Jews again,
He stresses that Jesus is the Messiah,
He is the Savior,
He is both Lord and Christ,
He has now been exalted,
He will come back as the conquering King,
He is God,
The anointed hope for salvation.
And, Peter says to them, you killed Him.
He is emphasizing the reality that they crucified the Messiah,
They are enemies of God.
Slide
Yet Jesus is the true King.
And you must confess Him as Lord,
That is Peter’s message.
YOU: Trusting the Resurrection (vs. 37-41)
YOU: Trusting the Resurrection (vs. 37-41)
He emphasizes this in vs. 37-41,
By talking about Trusting the resurrection.
Vs. 37 reveals the results of Peter’s sermon,
And it shows that it hits home for many of the listeners.
Demonstrating the power of the gospel,
Luke says that Peter’s sermon pierced the hearts of his listeners.
They realized their guilt for executing Jesus,
They felt convicted because of their guilt.
They knew they were objects of God’s wrath,
And now they desired to be free from condemnation.
So, without even waiting for an invitation,
They ask Peter and the apostles how they are supposed to respond to this message.
This is what we want anyone who hears the gospel to ask.
Peter’s sermon shows how the Holy Spirit takes the gospel and works in people’s hearts.
As you exalt Jesus as His witness,
Pray for the Spirit to convict the hearts of your hearers.
Slide
In vs. 38, we see God’s glorious work of conversion.
Peter gives some simple yet profound application that makes up the way to forgiveness.
While there is no explicit mention of faith,
It is implicit in Peter’s response,
Because repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus implies belief.
The point of this narrative is that God grants forgiveness through Christ,
Even to those who rejected and killed Christ.
Repentance is the idea of turning toward God in sorrow for your sin.
It is a change of your state.
Repentance and baptism are presented in the NT as essentially two sides of the same coin.
We see this with John the Baptist in Mark 1:4,
Slide
And it is central to the commission Jesus gives us in Matthew 28:18-19
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
We talked about how we connect with God through baptism two weeks ago now,
Once again, we see Acts reinforcing this as a part of our mission.
Specifically, we are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, it says.
Being baptized in the name of Jesus is a public declaration of repentance and faith.
And it symbolically identifies us with dying to self as we go under the water,
And being raised to life in Christ as we come back out of the water.
Peter says this is for the forgiveness of sins.
It is repentance in the name of Christ that forgives your sins,
Baptism in the name of Christ is a sign of the forgiveness of your sins.
Slide
Titus 3:5 elaborates,
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
Peter says that when you repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus,
You receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,
Which brings with Him the seal of forgiveness.
Slide
Ephesians 1:7 says it this way,
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
Slide
One of the major themes of Acts is that salvation through Christ extends beyond the nation of Israel.
Peter teaches that here.
Speaking to Jews, he says that salvation through Jesus is for the you,
For you children,
AND for all who are far off,
That is, the Gentiles.
The gift of forgiveness is not just for Jews,
It is for Jews and Gentiles,
It is for all,
It is for you!
It is for everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself, Peter says.
Slide
Jesus taught this in John 6:37,
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
Slide
Also Ephesians 1:4-5 says,
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
Peter’s main point here is that sinners are included in God’s work of salvation.
The fundamental truth is that salvation belongs to God,
He has chosen those who will be saved and the means by which they will be saved.
Slide
Peter continued speaking to the crowd, vs. 40 says.
But Luke summarizes this with a note of impending judgment,
Save yourselves from this crooked generation.
He is not saying to cooperate in salvation.
Rather, he is highlighting the principle of condemnation that rises from the evidence of personal inability to save yourself.
It is a way of stressing your hopelessness in the face of God’s punishment.
Being a witness this way seeks to drive your listeners to the hope of the gospel,
To the promise of God’s complete provision of forgiveness in Christ.
The call to save yourself is a call to trust Christ’s offer of salvation.
True witness must balance the reality of God’s judgment and the hope of the gospel.
Slide
And don’t miss out that in one day,
In response to this one sermon,
God brought 3,000 to Himself!
They accepted the altar call,
They were baptized that day,
And they were added to the community of believers.
Notice how close the link between coming to faith and baptism was.
They did not delay being baptized.
The huge crowds of people who travelled to Jerusalem from all over to celebrate Pentecost,
Heard the gospel of Jesus Christ,
And some trusted in Him and were baptized into the community of believers.
Peter urged them to turn from their sins,
And many of them did.
This dramatic increase established a new community we call the church.
WE: Conclusion -
WE: Conclusion -
Slide
In closing, remember that God keeps His promises!
His promises are for all who are far off.
He does not play April Fools pranks on us.
He promises salvation,
And delivers salvation to all who would repent.
So, let us offer this promise of eternal life,
This promise of forgiveness,
The promise of the Holy Spirit.
Let us proclaim this truth of the person and work of the crucified, risen, and exalted Lord Jesus Christ.
We have much to encourage us in this.
We have everything needed to be a faithful witness;
The Word and the Spirit.
Therefore, we can be His witnesses with confidence,
Knowing that the Spirit convicts people of sin and leads them to repentance.
The Spirit transforms individuals to create a living body called the church.
The church is a community of new creations in Christ.
We live on mission as citizens of His Kingdom.
And as we continue through Acts this year,
We can see the importance of being connected to a biblical community.
The first step on this path is to respond to Peter’s application in his sermon,
Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Pray.