Anthem Hayden

This week we began our 2025 Advent series. As we collectively prepare our hearts, minds, and homes for the Christmas season, it is our hope to keep our focus on Jesus. This week’s focus will be on anticipation and hope.

This week’s passage in Acts highlights the Lord (through Peter) healing a man who was paralyzed for 8 years, as well as raising a well-loved disciple from the dead. We discussed these miracles and how they led to the spread of the gospel, along with some of the purposes of miracles more broadly. We also heard some stories of miracles that the Lord has done among people we know, as well as discusse...

We are going on a journey of Saul’s post-conversion experience on the road to Damascus. The radical transformation that Saul experienced was not received well by the leaders of the day, nor by those who were once persecuted by Saul. However, through faithfulness and obedience of followers of Jesus, Saul would soon change the course of history for the name of Jesus.

In Galatians 1, Paul/Saul states that right after his astounding conversion he went away to Arabia. Although nothing is known about this period, the Lord clearly used this time in the wilderness to drastically transform Saul of Tarsus into the apostle who brought the Gospel to the Gentiles. God regularly draws his servants into extended periods of wilderness, where everything else is stripped away...

Long before he was known as the Apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus was an ardent enemy of the early church. This week’s exciting passage details the miraculous events surrounding his conversion. Originally headed to Damascus to hunt down and arrest believers, Saul had a life-changing encounter with the risen Jesus. Although his encounter with Christ started on the road to Damascus, Saul’s conversion was...

This week’s passage in Acts details a wonderful interaction between Philip and a high-ranking Ethiopian. Sometime after Philip saw great success in sharing the Gospel among the Samaritans, the Lord directed him to go deep into the unpopulated desert lands of the south. Thankfully Philip obeyed the bewildering and vague marching orders, and once there, the Spirit directed him to a man who was readi...

In this week’s passage, the Samaritans believe and are baptized (including a curious figure named Simon the Magician). When the apostles in Jerusalem heard this wonderful news, they sent Peter and John to validate and bless this new work of the Lord by praying for the new Samaritan believers to receive the Holy Spirit. Things quickly go wrong when Simon, a man used to wielding power and intrigue,...

The murder of Stephen was just the beginning of a much larger wave of persecution that the early church was forced to endure. (One of the ring leaders of this backlash was a man named Saul of Tarsus who we will cover extensively later on in our study of Acts.) Interestingly, this week’s passage almost immediately focuses on the positive benefits of the persecution rather than its negative effects....

Last week we covered Stephen’s Spirit-empowered sermon. This week we examined the Sanhedrin’s quick and violent response. Rather than feeling conviction that led to repentance, the Jewish leaders were filled with rage and stoned Stephen to death. While we might not die in a martyr’s death, each of us will experience physical death sooner or later. The scriptures speak extensively about how believe...

This week we find ourselves in the middle of Stephen’s saga. Last week set the stage for Stephen’s detainment and outlined the trumped-up charges that were brought against him. This week covers his Spirit-led defense, which happens to be the longest sermon recorded in Acts. In it, Stephen reminds the high priest and his cronies that the people of Israel have a long history of rejecting leaders sen...

This week we continued to look at the account of Stephen who began ministry as one of the seven men who were appointed to oversee the distribution of food to widows. This week’s text shows us that the Lord had greater plans for Stephen, such as doing great signs and wonders for the people and proclaiming the Gospel powerfully and with wisdom. What began as a simple and practical ministry expanded...

This week’s passage centers on growing pains that the early church experienced. The issue was that favoritism seemed to be shown toward Hebrew widows while the Greek speaking Hellenist widows were treated as second-class citizens. Rather than growing into an ungodly schism, this situation turned out to be a healthy turning point for the church. The apostles, clear in their God-given mandate to spr...

This week we resumed our study through the book of Acts. Acts 5 covers the growing threats to the church, coming from both inside (Ananias and Sapphira) and outside of the church (the religious leaders). In this week’s passage, Peter and the other apostles are arrested, questioned, and flogged for preaching the name of Jesus. Sadly, this persecution does not come from the unbelieving Romans but fr...

This week’s passage begins by painting a beautiful picture of the early church’s unity and generosity. Despite the growing opposition and persecution, the early church continued to flourish and grow. Their priorities seem clear: God came first, people and their needs came second, and finally earthly possessions came in at a distant third. Sadly, this was not true for all the believers. Acts 5:1-11...

This week we looked at the results of the miracle that was performed on the lame man. The response to the miracle was not unanimous. We explored the impact that witnessing a miracle has on people. We also see that this was the first  time Christs’ followers came up against the ruling religious men. The response to the message that Peter preaches gives us an insight into the hearts of the religious...

In response to the growing opposition to Jesus and His gospel, Peter, John, and the other believers lifted their voices to God in prayer. Instead of asking for safety and protection against persecution, they asked the Lord for boldness so that they could continue to share the gospel, regardless of the cost. Instead of asking the Lord to pour out His judgment upon their antagonists, they asked Him...

Last week we covered the account of the Holy Spirit healing a lame man (through Peter). This week's passage begins to detail the aftermath of that miraculous healing. Once the healed man began to walk, leap, and praise the Lord inside the temple, a great crowd gathered to see what had happened. Peter, capitalizing on the situation, preaches another gospel message to the gathered crowd, encour...

This week’s passage tells of the miraculous healing of a man born unable to walk. Once, Jesus’ disciples had heartlessly judged a disabled person in a similar situation. This time, however, Peter and John see past the poor beggar’s physical disabilities and see a man needing something more profound than money. Instead of giving the man silver or gold the Holy Spirit worked through Peter to heal hi...

Immediately after Luke tells us that approximately 3,000 souls were saved on the day of Pentecost, he then goes on to describe what the earliest church looked like. It is a beautiful and inspiring depiction! However, we must be careful to remember that this is a historical description of the ancient church in Jerusalem when it was exclusively composed of Jews. Although our context is radically dif...

This week we looked at Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. In this Spirit-empowered teaching, Peter explained to the crowd that the Holy Spirit was being poured out, as promised, upon all believers. He then invited the huge crowd to repent and believe in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, and miraculously 3,000 people were added to the church that day! This passage illustrate...

Acts 2 tells of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Jewish festival of Shavuot, more commonly known as Pentecost. While it is easy to gloss over the Spirit’s arrival to “get on to the exciting parts of the book,” it is vital to understand that the Holy Spirit is the key that unlocks the rest of this thrilling book. His arrival on Pentecost was earth changing!