Daily Encouragement Day 245 – Acts 2

Acts continues the story of the birth of Christianity from the ascension of Christ to the time of Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome.  It serves as a crucial historical narrative that provides the backdrop to most of the epistles as it develops the exciting story of the birth and expansion of the early church which begins in Jerusalem, the city of the empty tomb, (1-7), spreads in the provinces of Judea and Samaria (8-12), and reaches throughout the Roman Empire (13-28).

When the Holy Spirit comes on the Day of Pentecost, Peter is empowered to deliver a sermon about the resurrected Christ that leads to the conversion of 3,000 listeners.  All the sermons and defenses in Acts point to Jesus Christ as the resurrected Savior of the world.  In his sermon in Acts 2, Peter built upon Jesus’ fulfillment of several Old Testament passages and pointed his listeners to the fact of the empty tomb to convict them that Jesus is both Lord and Christ (2:36).

READING of ACTS 2

Prayer:

Lord, only the resurrection of Jesus and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit can account for this radical transformation in the life of Peter.  May I abide in the same hope and power.

Meditation passage for today: verses 22-24, 36-38, 42