Our church’s summer sermon series was on the first eight chapters of Acts, so I thought I’d share a few notes on it.
- Of course we know that, in Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira became famous — or, rather, infamous — for their dishonesty in contributing the proceeds from a land sale to the early church. But I had passed over the brief mention at the end of chapter 4 of the man who did it the right way, namely Barnabas, who later becomes famous — not at all infamous — as Paul’s mentor and partner in peripatetic preaching.
- The persecution of the Christians in Jerusalem right after Stephen’s martyrdom there led to their dispersal to “Judea and Samaria” — and Jesus’ last words to his followers before His Ascension were to witness “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” See Acts 1:8 and 8:1 (even the verses’ numbering is symmetrical!). As our pastor said in his sermon, “There are no wasted trials.”
- In what was probably the first batch of church deacons (Acts 6:1-6), Stephen and Philip played critical roles in the early church. That’s worth bearing in mind since their office was created for important but more quotidian tasks.
- The Great Takeaway from Acts is the Great Commission.