The Word Revealed at Kenwood

Many visitors come by over the two years. Paul is writing other letters.The Gospel is not stuck although Paul is! These are the Acts of the Exalted Jesus.What happened to Paul... what does history propose?The open ending leaves us with responsibility.

Paul's entry into Rome. There is only one guard assigned to him for his house arrest. This is a great meeting/teaching time with the Jewish brethren in Rome.

The journey continues. The Christians in Rome walk south to meet Paul and Luke. They all walk to Rome together. Paul is encouraged!

All are saved. Paul gets bitten. It's a long winter on Malta.Paul survives the snake bite Then starts praying and healing the people who have treated them so well.

This trip is under the sovereignty of God. Paul's prayers for the crew are answered. All hope was abandoned but Paul is always the evangelist!

Live your life as a confession of your faith. Keep sharing your testimony and trust God with a response, it's His to fulfill.

Paul's third testimony and how he's rooted in God's call.Paul walked away from a position of power to follow Christ

Paul appeals to Caesar for judgement. Festus is glad to be rid of this problem. Agrippa !! and Bernice enter the story and set the scene for chapter 26.

Paul is accused of sedition and makes his defense. He denies the charges and goes straight to the heart of the Gospel and defense of Christ

Global servant Kit Ripley talks about her 23 years of mission work in northern Thailand. She works with tribal people who are survivors of trauma. She shares about how God has directed her to care for those who have been exploited and are in need healing. She sees Jesus in the resilience and recovery of those she works with and their subsequent turning of what was intended for evil to good for the glory of God. Many graduates of the New Life Center have become teachers or now run programs to help others. Kit shares how she uses therapeutic arts as a part of ministry for intervention for survivors of trauma. As a seasoned global servant, Kit speaks about how God calls people of diverse talents to help in His work around the world.

What is this white washing? Discussion of the resurrection differences in the Jewish beliefs. Paul gets sent to Felix who is Pilate's successor.

The word gentiles makes the crowd explode. Paul is almost beaten again but pulls the citizenship card. This allows him to keep spreading God's word.

Paul testifies to all gathered at the Temple. Begins by identifying with those in the crowd, but a piece was missing. Jesus is the missing piece. Have your testimony ready.

Paul is saved by the Roman legion and brought before the Tribune. There's a discussion on the podcast about Josephus and his historical record around this time.

What caused the uproar at the temple? Why was the Jewish community so concerned about who entered the temple area?

The unity of the body is on display.Respect the local church leaders since they know the culture and people best.Let Christ be glorified always.

Luke details the journey and how it is a bit of a farewell tour for Paul.

What ministry looks like. Flexibility in ministry. Speak the truth and don't back down. Preach the whole message of God and don't pick and choose.

We walk and travel in time with Paul. He teaches about humility and tears of a pastor.

The offering of the nations to Jerusalem is both monetary and one of the people of the nations - fruit of missions

The Gospel is always bad for certain businesses! Paul wants to go into the theatre to make a defense of Jesus. His companions urge him not to go. The Spirit keeps Paul quiet. The Gospel frees us from unholy attachments.Great is our Lord Jesus!!

Don't mess with evil, don't take the name of Jesus as some magic word.Clear the bad from your life as they did with the burning of the books.Prevail through the Word of God.

We are blessed to have a guest who is a missionary in Mongolia who is himself Mongolian. We cover his church's outreach to Buddhists in that part of Asia as well as the many camps used to spread the gospel.

The book of Acts is descriptive rather than prescriptive.  Prescriptive passages are those that advise or instruct what should happen. These passages provide explicit and specific instruction for the believer to live out. An example of prescriptive passages include the epistles. But descriptive passages are those that describe what has happened this is what Acts is.

Apollos - Who is he? - Eloquent, trained in scriptures, teaching but still learning

There is a lot that happens in this chapter. Read it carefully. 

The Word continues to spread through a number of people. This is near the end of the second missionary journey.Listen to S02 E29, there is another reference to Claudius in more detail.

Greek philosophy of the day. Paul is where the people are - tells God's story about the human family.  All are called to believe.

The middle of Paul's second journey. They meet with people from different backgrounds who realize they need a savior.

Michael discusses the work of Bill Glass Ministries in prisons and the impact on these lives that scripture has. 

Philippi is the first Christian church in Europe. The uproar after Paul's preaching lands the group in jail. Even that ends  up being for the good as it was in God's will.

Theirs is a cross-cultural ministry. Jesus has fulfilled the promises to both the circumcised and uncircumcised.The Holy Spirit opens doors and closes them!

The Jerusalem Council and how they resolved the conflict with compromise and scripture.

We see them evangelizing as they travel. They don't force the conversation but meet the people where they are. We see we shouldn't elevate Christian leaders too high.

The pastors chat about Paul's first missionary journey.

The pastors discuss the composition of the new leadership team at Antioch. Among the new leaders are Paul and Barnabas who are called by God to be set apart for his use. The leadership team disperses geographically to share the gospel with the world.

Herod Agrippa 1 and others begin to persecute the Christian Church. James is killed and Peter is imprisoned.

The acceptance by the church at Jerusalem of the gentiles. The expansion of the outreach and the renaming of The Way to Christians 

Peter and Cornelius story continued and the conversion of Cornelius and his household.

Luke describes Peter's actions in Acts including Tabatha and Cornelius.

A conversation about Paul's background, education and mentors. Saul is his Hebrew name and Paul is his Greco-Roman name. He approved Stephen's execution in Acts 8. 

Who is this eunuch? Phillip explains Isaiah 53 to the eunuch from Ethiopia who then believes and is baptized.  Time does not have to pass between believing and baptism.

Talk about Simon the magician and Samaria in the first century

Acts 7 - Stephen witnesses to a group of foreign Jewish freemen. He is martyred by stoning.

Acts 6 the appointment of deacons and a congregational meeting

Acts Chapter 2. The new church worships and teaches at the temple but also spends time together eating and in communion.

The Holy Spirit appears as fire to the believers. The gift of other tongues is given immediately. Peter preaches the first sermon after the resurrection of Jesus. Many come to believe!

The disciples and others get to spend 40 days with Jesus after his ascension and brief return. The Holy Spirit is promised

Why Luke broke it into two parts, gospel and Acts. What it shows us of discipleship and Jesus being alive in the world. Would the epistles have made any sense without this book? Luke's second book could be called the Acts of Jesus or the Acts of Jesus and the Spirit. It is the only account that we have of what happens after Jesus' resurrection before we get into the second century non-biblical Christian writings talking about the church.