Author: timmacbride

Acts 2:42-47

/ timmacbride

A shorter post today, but a very important one. And one you’re going to have to do the bulk of the work for! Yesterday, we read Peter’s great speech at Pentecost, and the response – three thousand people added to their number in the one day. This led to the formation of a small community, of which Luke now gives a brief description:

Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Note this isn’t a prescription for how communities of believers should function; it’s a description. But having said that, it’s a pretty powerful and inspiring one. Who wouldn’t want to be part of a community like that? Although in our own context – different culture, different time, different social structures – the details might look a bit different. But the principles seem to be ones to which we would do well to aspire.

To think about

Now it’s your turn. I’m going to mention briefly the principles we see at work here in the earliest “church” grouping. For each, think about two things: (1) How are you in your church living this out? (2) How could you and your church be living this out better?

  • Devotion to the apostles’ teaching (which we now have in written form, in Scripture)
  • Devotion to fellowship (meeting together to share life and encourage one another to live for God)
  • Devotion to the breaking of bread (this could mean the Lord’s Supper but probably just means shared meals in one another’s homes)
  • Devotion to prayer
  • Accompanied by God’s powerful actions
  • Sharing of possessions, by which those in need can be cared for
  • Joyful praise of God
  • An upright reputation in the community
  • Numerical growth

Acts 2:14-41

/ timmacbride

In our journey through Acts, we arrive today at Peter’s speech in chapter 2. It’s Pentecost, and the Holy Spirit has come upon each believer, giving them the ability to speak the gospel in the language of all those visiting Jerusalem from around the empire. This amazes everyone (although some think they’re just drunk). Peter then gets up to explain to the crowd the significance of this miraculous sign – it’s not spirits, it’s the Spirit:

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Acts 2:1-13

/ timmacbride

One of the most disappointing opening scenes of a movie I’ve ever watched was that of Executive Decision. (Spoiler alert: if you haven’t yet watched this 1996 action classic, you’re never going to.) The top-billed cast member was Steven Seagal, surely the greatest living actor of our time. If he’s still alive. From some of his recent straight-to-video releases I’m not entirely sure. But how that guy never won an Oscar…

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Acts 1:12-26

/ timmacbride / 2 Comments

Yesterday, we saw in Acts 1:1-11 how the disciples were commissioned to continue Jesus’ work, being his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth – announcing the reign of God in his world. But they weren’t going to do this by their own power. (After all, they were just “men of Galilee” as the angel reminded them.) They were to wait for the Holy Spirit to give them the power to fulfil their incredible calling. But what to do while you wait?

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Acts 1:1-11

/ timmacbride

For the last two days, we looked at the genre and purpose of Acts. Now, we’re ready to dive in to the text itself!

Previously, on…

In any long-running TV drama – particularly one with a complicated plot – each episode will begin with a brief reminder of what has happened previously. It will show a series of brief scenes to bring to mind the storyline. And those scenes aren’t chosen at random: more often than not, each scene will show an element of the plot that’s about to be progressed in tonight’s episode.

That’s kind of what Luke does here in today’s reading, the opening of Acts chapter 1, recapping the “story so far” from his first book, the Gospel of Luke.

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Coffee break

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Coffee with the King is going on a short mid-winter coffee break. It will return on Monday July 13 with a series in Acts.

In the meantime, there are plenty of archives to keep you company – you can search by Bible book under “Previous Series” to the right (or at the bottom if you’re reading on a mobile browser). Or you could read one of the books suggested below, available in hardcopy or instantly as ebooks:

Tom Wright, Simply Good News – is your view of the Gospel too narrow? ($14.68 on Kindle)

Scot McKnight, The Blue Parakeet – how do we interpret the Bible for today? ($3.86 on Kindle)

A man born blind — John 9 (part five)

/ timmacbride

This week we’re looking at the story of the man who was born blind, found in John 9. Specifically, we’re looking at the three responses made to Jesus in this story. You might want to start with Monday’s post to catch up, or quickly read the first 15 verses of John 9. So far, we’ve seen that some people (like the Jewish leaders) are prejudiced against Jesus from the beginning. Others are initially interested, but competing concerns – such as the approval of others – end up winning out (just like the blind man’s parents.) Today, we encounter another kind of response: that of the man himself.

Some will pursue their initial interest, and come to saving faith

And his response is quite different. It’s the exact opposite, in fact, of the lame man we read about last week in John 5. Although it starts similarly enough. Both are healed by Jesus (both on a sabbath), and both initially have no idea of the identity of the one who healed them. Have a look at how the recently-not-blind man reacts first:

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