The description of Pentecost in Acts 2 illustrates God’s desire to reach people from all over the world.
This is why everyone heard the good news in their native languages.
I find it amazing that I’ve read from Acts almost every day for the past 30 weeks. It’s such an encouraging history of the earliest days of the Church.
What I take from this book is that God works through ordinary people to accomplish incredible good.
The argument over which person is the greater Christian is unnecessary.
Both were devoted followers of Christ.
See Paul’s own words on this matter in 1 Corinthians 1:10-13.
There is a significant focus on sailing in this book. To travel around the Mediterranean in New Testament times involved lots of time on the water.
The book summarizes the earliest days of the church.
People ate together, shared their possessions, and risked their lives to get out the good news.
I find it interesting that although American Christians can only imagine what this would have been like, there are Christians in countries around the world that are experiencing all three of these realities today.
In verses 29-31, we see Paul’s sharing the good news of Christ with many people despite his house arrest.
In verses 23-28, Paul warns the unbelieving Jews in Rome that he’s been sent to the Gentiles, too.
In verses 17-22, Paul sets up a meeting with the local religious leaders.
He shares enough background that they ask to hear him speak about his views to a larger crowd.
In verses 12-16, Paul finally completes his nautical odyssey and arrives in Rome.
We learn, in verses 7-11, that everyone from the shipwreck stayed on Malta for three months.
This doesn’t appear to have been a significant hardship, and Paul prayed over all of the sick on the island to ask for their healing.
Everyone ended up better off at the end of the three months than they were at the beginning.
