In Acts 3, Peter and John display some power. They heal a lame man and a crowd gathers to see more! Peter explains that the power is God's, and it's at work through faith in the name of Jesus. Come and see that God is working powerfully through faith in Jesus Christ, and learn with us exactly what that means for our lives today.
In Acts 2, we see the explosive growth of the church in its infancy! As we consider the account of this early growth, we will see clearly that God uses the message of Jesus and His Spirit to grow a vibrant church, and we'll understand how God wants us to participate in that growth.
God has made one fact - one truth - more obvious than any other: that Jesus is God and Messiah. He's the Savior. And yet, many can be blind to that truth and its implication. The sneaky thing about blindness is that we are often blind to it. We aren't aware of what we aren't aware of. This blindness is exactly what Peter seeks to fix in his sermon in Acts 2.
Here in Acts 2, God keeps His word and completely empowers the disciples to fulfill the mission He gave them. Their inadequacy only highlights the all-sufficient power of God to accomplish His purposes. Take heart! God keeps His Word. He fulfills His promises, and He completely empowers us to accomplish His mission for us.
In our culture, "success" is often based on productivity. We feel a sense of fulfillment when we get a lot done. But is that truly success? Has God called us to productivity? No, true success is complete dependence upon our Sovereign God. Listen to consider how we can find success in our mission through complete dependence on our Sovereign God.
When we get "off mission" we tend to grind our wheels trying to accomplish things, but it's forced, difficult, and discouraging. The book of Acts reminds us of our mission in this age between Jesus' first coming and His second coming. He put us here for a reason - at this exact moment - to complete our mission. We are to witness to the world that Jesus is the Savior!
When we remember God's presence and provision, we find contentment. That's exactly what David does in Psalm 65. Find contentment in the worship of God's perfect provision and learn to praise the God Who answers prayer with abundant satisfaction.
In Psalm 64, David compares hurtful words to deadly arrows. His enemies use their words to tear him down, incite violence, and even scheme for his demise. David is afraid. As he turns to the Lord and asks for help, he remembers Who is truly in charge and rejoices in that truth.