Anthem Hayden

This week’s passage continues to tell of Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. Stopping at the island of Cyprus, they traveled around preaching the Word. Soon they were invited to share the Gospel with a very influential man, Sergius Paulus. However, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus attempted to prevent them from converting the Roman official. Unsurprisingly, the Lord prevaile...

In this week’s passage Paul preaches his first sermon recorded in scripture. While the entire crowd is initially pleased to hear the gospel, the Jewish leaders grow envious when nearly the entire city shows up the next week to hear from Paul. Sadly, these Jews were more concerned about themselves and how others perceived them than they were about Jesus and the spreading of His Gospel. Their jealou...

This week’s passage is short and sweet. Covering just the first three verses in Acts 13, we took a closer look at some of the spiritually gifted leaders of the early church in Antioch. These verses also portray a compelling picture of the passionate way these men sought the Lord’s guidance and direction. The Lord spoke clearly to these believers to go and preach the Good News across the known worl...

This week’s message reexamined the martyrdom of James and the miraculous release of Peter (Acts 12) through the lens of Hebrews 11:32–12:3. This passage teaches us that genuine, God-honoring faith sometimes results in victory, liberation, and prosperity—but not always. At other times, God’s faithful servants endure significant hardship and injustice because of their faith. Regardless of our life c...

This week’s passage details another wave of persecution which swept through the early church. This time the persecution stemmed from King Herod Agrippa, who killed the apostle James and hoped to do the same to Peter. In reaction to this, the local church gathered and prayed fervently for him. Contrary to the king’s plans, the Lord sent an angel who miraculously freed Peter from impending death. In...

Last week’s passage ended with the apostles’ amazement at the conversion of Cornelius and his entire household - salvation had now come to the Gentiles! This week’s passage zooms out to include a much larger gospel movement among non-Jewish people. In the city of Antioch, God used unknown, average believers to share the Gospel with all sorts of people. Barnabas was then sent to provide leadership...

This week’s passage is the third and final retelling of how the Lord brought Peter and Cornelius together. This time the events are recounted by Peter, who is called upon to give an explanation to the other apostles and to give a defense for his actions to the members of the circumcision party. Sadly, this last group was so focused on their man-made traditions and expectations that they completely...

This week’s text continues the account of Peter and Cornelius. As we covered last week, Peter was given a vision which directly confronted his views on what (and who) was common and unclean. He was then commanded to accompany a group of Gentiles back to Cornelius’ home. This week we examined what took place once he arrived, and it was monumental! In a surprise twist, the Lord granted salvation to...

This week’s passage centers around two incredibly different people: Peter, a proud Jew, and an apostle of Jesus Christ; and Cornelious, an Italian Gentile, and an officer in the Roman army. Despite their vast differences, they each love the Lord, and each of them receives a vision from Him which will unite them in previously unthinkable ways. As the Lord directs Cornelius to Peter, He shows Peter...

To better understand this week’s Advent theme, which is receiving, we looked at John 1. In this poetic introduction to his gospel, John declares that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14a). Sadly, His own people did not receive Him... “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). After exploring what it means t...

This week’s Advent theme is Preparation. God used John the Baptist to prepare God’s people for the arrival of their Messiah. John’s message was clear and simple - he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins as the key element for preparing oneself for the Lord. John’s curt and unpolished message, referred to in Luke 3 as “good news,” still has much application in our lives to...

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...