Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

Click Here to Read Acts 17 In Berea 10  As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas  away to Berea.  On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.   11  Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica,  for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures  every day to see if what Paul said was true.   12  As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. What was different between the Berean Jews and most of the other Jews Paul had preached to in the synagogues? They were eager to receive the message, and then examined it on their own to see if it was true.  They didn't assume just because Paul was a respected teacher everything he said would be true.  They were students of the Old Testament to see if what he was teaching was in alignment with the God inspired scriptures.  Notice also they searched daily.   You might say they were hungry for

Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi 11  From Troas  we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis.   12  From there we traveled to Philippi,  a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia.  And we stayed there several days. 13  On the Sabbath  we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.   14  One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira  named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart  to respond to Paul’s message.   15  When she and the members of her household  were baptized,  she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us. Paul, Silas and Timothy hear God's call to go to Macedonia to preach the gospel.  Rather than going to the synagogue, they went ou

Click Here to Read Acts 15 The Council at Jerusalem 15  Certain people  came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers:  “Unless you are circumcised,  according to the custom taught by Moses,  you cannot be saved.”   2  This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem  to see the apostles and elders  about this question.   3  The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia  and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted.  This news made all the believers very glad.   4  When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.   5  Then some of the believers who belonged to the party  of the Pharisees  stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.” As we have seen in the

Read Acts 14 In Iconium 14  At Iconium  Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue.  There they spoke so effectively that a great number  of Jews and Greeks believed.   2  But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.   3  So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly  for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.   4  The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles.   5  There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews,  together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them.   6  But they found out about it and fled  to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7  where they continued to preach  the gospel. Anyone who preaches or teaches the gospel wants to be effective. They want others to hear the message of Christ and be changed.  In the

Click Here to Read Acts 13 Acts 13  "In the church at Antioch  there were prophets  and teachers: Barnabas,  Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,  Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod  the tetrarch) and Saul.   2  While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,  “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work  to which I have called them.”   3  So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them  and sent them off." We often hear of missionaries being sent out to preach the Good News to a group of people who have not yet heard it.  The sense of calling and the sense of a church setting apart and sending those called is described here in the sending of Saul and Barnabas by the church at Antioch.  Notice the church is known by the area where it is located.  The church is always called to reach people around its four walls in its community.  But it is also called to send people out beyond its locality.  Rather than an &quo

12  It was about this time that King Herod  arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.   2  He had James, the brother of John,  put to death with the sword.   3  When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews,  he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.   4  After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.   5  So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.  6  The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains,  and sentries stood guard at the entrance.   7  Suddenly an angel  of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Click Here to Read the Rest of Acts

Read Acts 11 The Church in Antioch 1 9  Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed  traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch,  spreading the word only among Jews.   20  Some of them, however, men from Cyprus  and Cyrene,  went to Antioch  and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news  about the Lord Jesus. 21  The Lord’s hand was with them,  and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. The church continues to grow exponentially for a couple of reasons. Even though the church was persecuted the believers were sent out to new places where they were able to preach the good news to both the Jews and the Gentiles.  Notice it is not necessarily the apostles doing this work. We don't even know the names of those who are spreading the word in such a winsome way.  Importantly it says, " The Lord's hand was with him, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord ."  

Acts 10 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on  all who heard the message.   45  The circumcised believers who had come with Peter  were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out  even on Gentiles.   46  For they heard them speaking in tongues [ b ]  and praising God. Then Peter said,   47  “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water.  They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48  So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.  Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days. This is a great story on how God intervened supernaturally to help Peter see that, like Paul, he too was called to preach to the Gentiles.  While Paul was a zealous Jew who persecuted Christians, we see Peter's Jewish piety as well.  In his dream he saw many unclean animals dropped down through a sheet from heaven and a voice that said, " Get up Peter, kill and eat ."  Three ti

Click Here to Read the Rest of Acts 9 Saul’s Conversion 9  Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.  He went to the high priest   2  and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus,  so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way,  whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.   3  As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.   4  He fell to the ground and heard a voice  say to him,  “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5  “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,”  he replied.   6  “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” We have seen in the first 8 chapters of Acts that Saul was a zealous Jew, who persecuted new Christian believers and was present at the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr.  Saul believed he was serving God by trying to stop the Christian movement.  Like o

Click Here to Read the Rest of Acts 8 The Church Persecuted and Scattered On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered  throughout Judea and Samaria.   2  Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3  But Saul  began to destroy the church.  Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Philip in Samaria 4  Those who had been scattered  preached the word wherever they went. 5  Philip  went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.   6  When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said.   7  For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many,  and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.   8  So there was great joy in that city. The rest of the 1st century after Jesus rose from the dead was a time of great persecution for the new Christian church at its believers.  They were per