Acts 5:1-11 Ananias and Sapphira – a sad story… I’m sure a lot of money sermons could be preached on this incident – for example, how much of our “proceeds” are we keeping back? But it’s not the “keeping back” that got Ananias and Sapphira in trouble, it was their lying about it, presumably to …
Category Archives: RTB 2020 – Epistles
January 16 / Acts 4:32-37
Acts 4:32-37 Today’s reading is the second “transition section” that we have seen in Acts. The first was at the end of Chapter 2. In these transition sections time passes, but we don’t know how much. So it could have been that Peter and John appeared before the Council in the first few weeks after …
January 15 / Acts 4:23-31
Acts 4:23-31 …to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. (v. 28) Every time I run into some “predestination” item I wonder about predestination and choice and free will. My Study Bible, not a fan of absolute predestination, argued against any notion that the Lord had put it into the …
January 14 / Acts 4:13-22
Acts 4:13-22 One of my favorite Scripture verses: …for we cannot help but speak of the things that we have seen and heard. (v. 20) That was my “go to” verse from my classroom days. I would irregularly quote Scripture in class whenever verses popped into my head (appropriately into my lecture!). And I never …
January 13 / Acts 4:5-12
Acts 4:5-12 I’ve long imagined Peter and John before this gathering, standing together in a large room facing the many rulers, elders and scribes – but I’ve never imagined the healed man standing there with them! Verse 3 says “they arrested them” – must have been all three. Verse 7 says they “set them in …
January 12 / Acts 4:1-4
Acts 4:1-4 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. (vv. 1-2) I’m intrigued by the phrase …greatly annoyed…, or “greatly disturbed” as I …
January 11 / Acts 3:11-26
Acts 3:11-26 Read another four verses into chapter 4 if you want to see how this incident ends. My Study Bible again enlightened me, this time about Solomon’s Portico. This structure was a porch on the east side of the inner wall that enclosed the outer court. (You might want to find a picture of …
January 10 / Acts 3:1-10
Acts 3:1-10 Peter and John together seems to me a strange pairing. We’ll see them together for the next week or so. We know Peter as the leader of the Apostles, and we always picture John as one of the younger Apostles. Yet here they are going to the temple together. They had run to …
January 9 / Acts 2:40-47
Acts 2:40-47 My Study Bible pointed out the likelihood of two different meanings to “breaking bread”. Verse 42 has And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. The likely meaning here is their regular Eucharistic celebration, possibly in the temple area or in some …
January 8 / Acts 2:29-39
Acts 2:29-39 Sometimes I wonder if there is not a hierarchy within the Trinity. No doubt, greater minds than mine have resolved this issue and have all three members of the Godhead as co-equal with one another. I wish I could give you something from one of our Creeds or from the 39 Articles to …