Anthem Hayden

In this week’s passage, Paul remains in the custody of the Romans. In an attempt to find out what the ruckus was all about, the tribune demanded that Paul stand before the Jewish Sanhedrin. Paul, unintimidated, declared to them that he had lived his life (“citizened”) before God in good conscience. As we covered last week, citizenship (both as a Roman and citizen of Heaven) seemed to remain on the forefront of Paul’s mind. Sadly, the chief priests and elders of the people were not concerned with truth or godliness but with wealth and power. Paul must have sensed this, for instead of continuing to preach the Gospel, he deftly pitted the two major factions of the council against one another. As violence broke out once more, Paul was again brought back to the relative safety of the Roman garrison.

As the murderous mob cried for the extermination of Paul, the Roman soldiers quickly whisked him away. The order was then given to flog him. However, as the Roman soldiers bound and stretched him out, Paul claimed Roman citizenship. If he indeed held the coveted position of legal citizen, Paul had rights and privileges that would protect him from such violence and secure him a fair and legal trial. Like Paul’s Roman citizenship, all who believe become citizens of the Kingdom of God and enjoy rights and privileges as such. How frequently do we claim these?

As Paul’s third missionary trip drew to a close, he and his ministry partners visited believers in Tyre, Ptolemais, and Caesarea. At each stop, the Holy Spirit spoke and clearly warned Paul that affliction and persecution awaited him in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, Paul remained steadfast in his conviction that the Spirit was using these warnings to prepare him for persecution, not to spare him from it.

In this week’s text, Paul is tenderhearted and loving as he informs the Ephesian elders that they will never again see him in this lifetime. This passage gives us a unique picture of Paul’s heart for people he loves, as well as a beautiful picture of what Godly leadership can and should look like in the local church. While Paul’s address was specifically to elders, his words of exhortation and encouragement can readily be applied to every believer.

This week’s text tells the story of a young man named Eutychus, who attended a church service in Troas to listen to Paul preach. Unfortunately, this young man positioned himself on a window ledge. While he was technically in the service, he was also right on the edge, right between the light of the room and the darkness of the night outside. During the marathon service, Eutychus grew drowsy and eventually fell asleep, which led him to plummet from the third-story to the ground below. This unusual account illustrates to us the very real risks of flirting with the edge, toying with darkness, and spiritually falling asleep.

From before Roman times, Ephesus was home to a local false goddess who became known as Artemis (known to the Romans as Diana). In this week’s passage a group of Ephesian craftsmen who fashioned idols of this false deity began a riot against the believers who were threatening their culture, religion, and livelihood. Soon a massive crowd formed as numerous other Ephesians joined in the tumult, even though most of them weren't clear on why they were upset and rioting. Fascinatingly, God used a representative of the local government to protect the believers, talk sense into the people, and quell the riot.

During Paul’s time in Ephesus, God poured out His Spirit in numerous exciting ways: people heard the Gospel, God performed extraordinary miracles, thesick were healed, those under spiritual oppression were liberated through the power of Christ, the fear of the Lord fell upon all, the name of Jesus was extolled, people confessed their sins and renounced their sinful behavior, and the Word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily! We all desire to experience such powerful movements of the Lord... but what are we willing to do to see God move in similar ways?

This week’s passage finds Paul returning to Ephesus at the beginning of his third missionary journey. Upon arrival, he encounters 12 men who claim to be disciples, but who have only heard the message of John the Baptist. Paul then shares the Gospel with them, and they gladly respond in faith to Jesus Christ. They are then baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. Although there are clear differences, these 12 Ephesians represent a tragic reality in today’s church. Many believers still fail to effectively connect with the Holy Spirit in a regular and/or powerful way, even though they are already saved and filled with Him. Such people identify themselves as disciples of Christ and yet miss out on the Spirit’s transformative power which raised Christ from the dead.

This week’s passage focuses on an Egyptian Jew named Apollos. He was highly educated, passionate, and articulate. He was the poster child for religion, and he boldly proclaimed his message in Ephesus. The only problem with Apollos wasthat he was lacking in one critical area: a complete understanding of the Gospel of Jesus. He was well-versed in the Old Testament and instructed in John the Baptist’s message, but he was missing critical information about Jesus, His resurrection, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Thankfully Priscilla and Aquilla gently discipled him, and he went on to be a powerful disciple of Christ.

In this week's lesson there are several areas that we examined. We first looked at Priscilla and Aquila and what it means to use our everyday lives for the Kingdom. We also pondered what it means to trust God in the midst of uncertain trials, and finally the importance of Paul's passion for the church.

This week’s passage details Paul’s address to the Greek philosophers in Athens, Greece. Upon hearing the Gospel, the philosophers brought Paul to the Areopagus where he was asked to explain his message. Taking this wonderful opportunity, Paul confronted their idolatry and false beliefs as he shared with them the hope of the Gospel.

After being released from the Philippi prison, the travelersjourneyed to Thessalonica, where they were accused of "turning the world upside down" withthe Gospel. From there Paul and Silas travelled to Berea and continued to preach. The Bereansdemonstrated more noble behavior by receiving the Gospel with eager and open hearts, and byverifying it through a thorough examination of the Word. This passage offers helpful insight on how we should receive and communicate the Gospel.

In this week’s passage, Paul and Silas inadvertently causean uproar by casting out a demon. The Philippians responded by beating and imprisoning them.At about midnight, as they were praying and praising in their cell, a supernatural earthquake freed the prisoners, opened all the doors, and loosed their chains. Despite their chance at freedom, they stuck around to bring the Gospel to the jailer and his entire household. What initially appeared to be a roadblock was a direct path to the spreading of the Gospel in Philippi.

God is at work expanding the church from Asia minor into Macedonia (modern day Greece). We see the Spirit direct Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke to know where to go, guide them in winsome evangelism, and give them words to speak. We also see the Spirit open the eyes of Lydia to truly see the beauty of the Gospel!

Jesus Christ conquered death... He is risen! As 1 Peter 2:24-25 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” Resurrection Sunday celebrates our Lord’s victory over death and the grave. The resurrection proved His divinity, fulfilled hundreds of prophecies, validated the scriptures, and defeated His enemies. It also provides atonement for the sins of all who believe in Him; as Romans 10:9-10 says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouthone confesses and is saved.”

This week’s passage of scripture details the final portions of Paul and Barnabas’s first missionary trip. During this time the missionary team preached the gospel in numerous destinations with varying results. At various times they were welcomed,mistreated, run off, believed, stoned, and even worshiped. When we share the Good News of Jesus, we never know how others may respond. Nevertheless, we are each called to be missionaries in our own context, boldly proclaiming the Good News of Jesus.

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 jealousy led them to oppose and insult Jesus and His messengers whom they eventually drove out of town. Regardless of the opposition, many were saved, the gospel flourished, and the believers rejoiced.

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 influentialman, Sergius Paulus. However, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus attempted to prevent them from converting the Roman official. Unsurprisingly, the Lord prevailed over darkness. The false prophet/magician was humbled, and Sergius was saved.

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 world. What lessons can we learn from such passionate Jesus worshipers?

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 circumstances, Scripture encourages us to run with endurance the race that is set before each one of us.

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, thelocal 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 a drastic turn of events, the chapter ends with a liberated Peter and a dead king. Herod initially appeared to have power, authority, and control...until the Lord demonstrated His divine sovereignty over the situation.

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 amongnon-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 and encouragement to the new and growing church who, for the first time, were called “Christians”. Barnabas then sought out Saul of Tarsus to help him in this endeavor.

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 overlooked the incredible things God was doing. Instead of celebrating, they were nitpicking Peter on why he ate with Gentiles(never mind the fact that God had just saved them and gifted them His Holy Spirit). Therefore, Peter quickly recounted the events, and challenged them with this question: “Who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” As modern-day believers, do we ever inadvertently allow our prejudices and our man-made traditions to stand in the way of what God wants?

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 agroup 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 the Gentiles! God gifted them the Holy Spirit, and confirmed all of this by manifesting His presence among them in the same ways He did at Pentecost. This small meeting in Cornelius’ home changed the course of human history.

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 theLord, 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 that Jesus and His Gospel transcend all human differences and barriers. The Gentiles will soon receive salvation and the Holy Spirit, but first Peter’s preconceived notions as for whom the Gospel is (and is not) intended must be eradicated.

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 to receive Jesus, we celebrated communion together by receiving, once more, the body and blood of Jesus.

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 today.

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 discussed some of the common false beliefs that people have about miracles.

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 theapostle who brought the Gospel to the Gentiles. God regularly draws his servants into extended periods of wilderness, where everything else is stripped away except for God. Abraham, Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, and even Jesus all spent significant time in the wilderness before the Lord used them in mighty ways. God continues to draw His servants into times of spiritual wilderness, often against our will. Nevertheless, He is still good; He is right there with us in our hurt, bewilderment, seeming insignificance, and loneliness. And He will ultimately and undoubtedly use our seasons of wilderness of His glory and our good.

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.

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 downand 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 finalized three days later when a man named Ananias came and prayed with him. This passage teaches us that God can transform even the hardest of hearts. It also shows us that the Lord frequently uses insignificant figures, like Ananias, to play significant roles in His plans and kingdom.

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 reading through the scroll of Isaiah. Unfortunately for the man, he comprehended nothing of the text. Fortuitously for the man, the Lord had sent Philip the evangelist to meet him where he was at (literally and figuratively) and bring salvation in Christ to him.

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 newwork 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, attempts to purchase the power of the Holy Spirit from them so that he can use it for his own purposes. Unfortunately, it appears that Simon was drawn to the gospel for what he could get out of it, reducing salvation to a commodity, and the power of God to something he could control.

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 leadersof 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. In response to the persecution, the early church was scattered across the region and went about preaching the Word. Contrary to what many believe, scripture clearly teaches that persecution and suffering are good and useful elements in the lives of believers.

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 believers ought to view the death of our mortal bodies, encouraging us to view this event in light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ who has not only been raised from the dead but who has conquered death itself.

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 sent to them by God. Additionally, they have a long history of turning away from God and pursuing unrighteous things. He concludes his defense by pointing out that they continue in this pattern by rejecting and killing Jesus, and by opposing His gospel, church, and kingdom.

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 into all sorts of God-glorifying service. The passage is quick to point out that this was not due to Stephen’s power but through the Spirit. When we step up and serve the Lord we never know where He is going to take us. However, we can be sure that it will be for our good and for His glory!

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 spread the gospel, were swamped and could not oversee this important ministry. So, qualified believers were chosen to spread the mantle of leadership, to multiply the ministry of the early church, and to allow gifted believers to participate in ministry. What could have ended in evil, God used for good.

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 from the high priest and the religious rulers of Israel. This passage clearly shows the glaring differences between the burning passion of Jesus’ disciples and the self-serving hypocrisy of the religious rulers who honor God with their mouths, but whose hearts are far from Him.