Gives gives his testimony to the Sanhedrin. Reciting a history of Israel, Stephen makes the case that those with “stiff necks” and “uncircumcised hearts” have always rejected God’s purposes. Incensed, they drag Stephen outside the city and stone him to death. And so Stephen becomes the first disciple to follow Jesus through death.

As fear and amazement grip the people of Jerusalem, internal problems and external threats hit the early Church. Stephen is introduced – the disciple who would be the first to give his life for his witness to Jesus.

In the aftermath of the healing of the lame man, many come to faith. But the jealousy of the Sadducees is stirred up and the leaders try to compel the Apostles to shut up by they are only made more bold. As the Spirit is working to knit all the believers together in one heart…

We start by discussing Peter’s “Call to action” at the end of his Pentecost sermon. We then discuss the healing of the man born lame and Peter’s second sermon. In these early chapters of Acts, we get a view of the power and simplicity of the Spirit’s work as the Church is being formed.

On the Day of Pentecost, Peter gives his sermon explaining why the Holy Spirit has been poured out and how salvation is available to all through the name of Jesus.

At the celebration of Pentecost – a celebration of the early harvests – The Holy Spirit is poured out and fills the first disciples. We take a sideline to talk about the Baptism and filling of the Holy Spirit. We also begin to work through Peter’s powerful sermon explaining the amazing things that were taking…

We finish our exploration of 2 Peter 1 by looking that the final 3 virtues: Godliness, Brotherly Affection and Generous, Unselfish Love. If we are people who live these qualities out and they are all growing, we will be useful and fruitful in our deep, personal knowledge of Jesus.

The Eleven Apostles take action to replace the traitor Judas who killed himself. Then, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is poured out on the first believers and followers of Jesus.

We talk about Jesus’ divine power that has granted to us all that we need for life and godliness. We then talk about the first 4 virtues that we need to add to our faith that has been allotted to us.

We look at the first 14 verses of Acts with the basic instructions Jesus gives to the Apostles that set the Mission for the rest of the narrative.