Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

Click Here to Read or Listen to Acts 20 Through Macedonia and Greece Paul continued to travel around the area where he had planted churches, in places like Philippi and Greece, strengthening and encouraging them. Though he was on the run from those who persecuted him, God still used him mightily. In verse 5 it says, " They waited for US in Derbe".  Many commentators believe the "us" refers to Luke, who wrote both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts.   Paul couldn’t leave without this demonstration of love to his fellow followers of Jesus. He spent two very fruitful years in Ephesus, but it was now time to go. - Guzik From Greece, Paul had planned to take the long journey by sea directly back to Syria (where his sending church at Antioch was), but the plotting of some anti-Christian Jews made him take a more overland route back through Macedonia, accompanied by many companions. “It may have been planned to attack him on board ship, especially if the vessel was cr...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Acts 19 Paul in Ephesus Paul asks an interesting question when he goes back to Ephesus and meets some disciples. He asks them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" This question raises several questions such as: does one automatically receive the Holy Spirit when they believe? Is there a bifurcation between coming to faith and being filled with the Holy Spirit? What is the relationship between water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit?  Their reply is even more interesting. They say, "We did not even know there was a Holy Spirit!"  Paul them asks them what kind of baptism did they receive? And they reply, " John's baptism. " John's baptism was a baptism of repentance to prepare people for Christ.  Then, they were baptized in the name of Jesus.  Then Paul laid hands on them and prayed over them, and they experienced the power of the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues. Their speaking in fo...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Acts 18 In Corinth Corinth is called an "isthmus", which is a five sided island. Because of it's location with its many sea ports, there were lots of sailors and traders that frequented the island.  In Paul’s day, Corinth was already an ancient city. It was a commercial center with two harbors and had long been a rival to its northern neighbor, Athens. Corinth was a city with a remarkable reputation for loose living and especially sexual immorality. In classical Greek, to act like a Corinthian meant to practice fornication, and a Corinthian companion meant a prostitute. This sexual immorality was permitted under the widely popular worship of Aphrodite (also known as Venus, the goddess of fertility and sexuality). - Guzik Paul met a Jewish couple named Aquila and Priscilla, who were exiled from Rome to Corinth. He worked as a tentmaker there to help pay for his living expenses.  Paul’s tentmaking was an important part of his ministry. Though...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Acts 17   In Thessalonica They came to Thessalonica: This was an important port city, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) and a three-day walk from Philippi. Modern Thessalonika is still a large, thriving city. - Guzik As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and note he "reasoned" with them why Jesus was and is the Messiah. We call this "apologetics" today. Paul tells us to be prepared to give an "answer" for the faith we have and to do so with gentleness and respect. We don't cram the gospel down people's throat, but simply present the truth of the Gospel and let God do the rest.  The result was both Jews and Gentiles came to faith in Jesus. It worked. Also a few " prominent women" . Again, we see the important role women played in the early church.  These, like the women in the Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:50), had probably come previously under Jewish influence. Here, However, they were attracted by the higher...

  Timothy Joins Paul and Silas In Acts 16, we are introduced to Timothy, who would be mentored by the apostle Paul. Timothy became an important friend to Paul, and he wrote 1 and 2 Timothy. Note also Timothy's mom was Jewish and his dad was Greek, and Timothy was already a disciple. Paul circumcised him. I wonder if he did it himself. Ouch! This was a huge commitment Timothy made, and the reason would be so it wouldn't be a deterrent to him reaching the Jewish believers on their missionary travels.  Their mission was to travel to the churches where the gospel had taken hold, to deliver the news of the decision in Jerusalem, and to strengthen and encourage them. The church was strong and grew daily in numbers of people reached. This is how the church should be. God wants to the grow the church today. The question might be how are we getting in the way! Timothy Joins Paul and Silas Paul shows his sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, when he has a vision of a Macedonian man begging h...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Acts 15 The Council at Jerusalem Up to this point there was little to no structure in the church. Last chapter we saw that Paul appointed "elders" in every city. When certain Jews came from Judea to Antioch, they tried to get the Greek converts to be circumcised according to Jewish Law. In fact, they said unless they were circumcised they could not be saved.  If the Pharisees believed anything, they believed one could be justified before God by keeping the law. For a Pharisee to really be a Christian, it would take more than an acknowledgment that Jesus was Messiah; he would have to forsake his attempts to justify himself by the keeping of the law and accept the work of Jesus as the basis of his justification. - Guzik Paul and Barnabas were against it and debated them. They knew this had the potential to become a huge problem in the church, so they went to the church in Jerusalem to meet with the elders. On their way home, they met with believe...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Acts 14   In Iconium Paul and Barnabas went to Iconium, which is a major city in modern day Turkey. As usual, they went into the synagogue, and they spoke so effectively many Jews AND Gentiles came to faith. Though they faced opposition from Jews and Gentiles who refused to believe, they still spent a great amount of time there. They not only preached the Good News, but the Lord validated their preaching by them doing signs AND wonders.  What are signs and wonders? he term sign (σημεῖον semeion) appears thirteen times in Acts (Acts 2:19, 22, 43; 4:16, 22, 30; 5:12; 6:8; 7:36; 8:6, 13; 14:3; 15:12) and denotes “a miracle of divine origin, performed by God himself, by Christ, or by men of God.”[1] The noun wonders (τέρας teras) appears 9 times in Acts (Acts 2:19, 22, 43; 4:30; 5:12; 6:8; 7:36; 14:3; 15:12), only in connection with a sign (σημεῖον semeion), and refers to “something that astounds.”[2] The purpose of the signs and wonders was to harn...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Acts 13   Acts 13 starts out by stating that there were both prophets and teachers in the church in Antioch. A prophet is a someone who speaks the Word of God in a timely manner. It can be both "forthtelling" and "foretelling". Meaning some prophecy is for the moment and at other times it can be predictive. Today most prophecy is God's word being delivered in a timely manner for today.  Note they were worshipping and fasting. It is not often we see a whole church BOTH worshipping and fasting. While we don't need to get legalistic about fasting, it is a way we focus on God and His will with more intensity and focus. In this case the Holy Spirit speaks directly to them telling them to set apart Saul and Barnabas for a special work. They were set apart to be missionaries.  On Cyprus You can see the places they traveled. Cyprus was the island that Barnabas grew up on.   Cyprus is the third-largest and third-most populous island in...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Acts 12 Peter’s Miraculous Escape From Prison As the church starts growing, the first wave of serious persecution comes in and through King Herod. He killed James, John's brother, and proceeded with a plan to take out Peter, though he was deterred by it being Passover season. Herod was so paranoid about Peter, he had four squads of four, or sixteen men guard him. James was the first of the 12 apostles to be martyred.  Most importantly, the church was "earnestly" praying for Peter. Fortunately for Peter an angel appeared in his prison cell in a blaze of light. He woke up Peter and his chains instantly fell off. Apparently the 16 men were impervious to these happenings. Herod used all of his human power to guard Peter, but God sent on angel to set him free.  For Peter, it seemed as if it were all a dream and wasn't really happening. But it was really happening, and they walked by the guards together and magically through the city gate ope...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Acts 11   Peter Explains His Actions When Peter went back to Jerusalem, the Jewish believers questioned him on why he went into the house of a Gentile to eat. But rather than reacting, Peter went through every detail of the story on how God had orchestrated his meeting with the men from Cornelius' house through a vision, which God also gave to Cornelius.  Peter clearly showed them that he was determined not to eat anything unclean according to the Jewish Law, but the Lord said, "What I have declared clean don't declare unclean!" The angel also said to Cornelius,  "He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved." Importantly, Peter recounted how after he preached the gospel to them, they were filled with and manifested the Holy Spirit just as the Spirit had done with them at Pentecost. This was also just as Jesus had taught them before he left. After they heard Peter's compelling testimon...

Click Here to Read or Listen Acts 10 Cornelius C alls for Peter Cornelius was a centurion in charge of a regiment in the Roman Army. As such a Jewish person would generally speaking dislike him. But Cornelius honored what he knew of God and did good works for the poor, so much so that God's angel visited him. The angel told him that God had seen his gifts offered to the poor and to send men to Joppa to bring a man named Peter back to him. So Cornelius sent his men to Joppa. Peter’s Vision Meanwhile, Peter went up to his rooftop to pray and fell into a trance where he saw a sheet lowered down by all four corners. He was very hungry, and on the sheet were four-footed animals, birds, and reptiles. A voice heaven told Peter to " kill and eat ".  Because there were "unkosher" animals on the sheet Peter said, " I have never eaten anything impure. " But the voice told Peter that what God had made pure let no one call impure. When this happened a third time, h...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Acts 9 Saul’s Conversion There are many famous conversion stories in the bible but probably none more famous than the conversion of Saul, who later became Paul. Saul was so intent on stopping the Christian movement that he traveled all the way to Damascus to chase the Christians down. He hoped he might round them up, imprison them, and bring them to Jerusalem.  As he was traveling, a bright light from heaven flashed, and he fell down to his knees. The voice said, " Saul, Saul why do you persecute me!" Saul knew there was a divine presence as he said, " Who are you Lord? "' The voice said, "I am Jesus who you are persecuting."   While Saul was not literally persecuting Jesus, by persecuting his followers, he in effect was persecuting him. Why? Because Jesus lives in us. Paul says, "Christ in you, the hope of glory!"Colossians 1:27 Saul was immediately blinded, and Jesus told him to go into the city of Damascus, ...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Acts 8 The Church Persecuted and Scattered After Stephen's killing, the church started scattering due to heavy persecution. They only ones who didn't flee were the apostles. Godly men buried and mourned for Stephen. Meanwhile, Saul was going from house to house rounding up the believers. He put both men and women in prison.  While the church grew very quickly, it also dispersed very quickly.  Philip in Samaria Those who were scattered included Philip, who was one of the 7 deacons just called to serve the church. Philip not only preached the word but also did many miracles and cast out demons. Not just a few people but " many, many ", says Luke. Though Philip was not an apostle, he was doing everything that the apostles were doing after Pentecost. This brought great joy to the city.  It showed that everyone could do the things Jesus did, because they were given the power of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Acts 7 Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin When the high priest asked Stephen to respond to the charges of teaching against the customs and laws of Moses, Stephen proceeded to give them an Old Testament history lesson. He begins by recounting Abraham's journey from the Mesopotamia to Harran, where his father died. God then told Abram that his descendants would be enslaved for 400 years, which we now know was in Egypt.  Then, he recounted the covenant of circumcision God made with Abraham, which was implemented when Abraham received the child of the promise, Issac. Issac was circumcised when he was eight days old, according to this new covenant God had made with Abraham. From Issac came Jacob, and from Jacob came the 12 sons, who would become the 12 tribes of Israel.  Jacob's sons became jealous of his youngest son Joseph Joseph was Jacob's favorite son, mostly because he was born to his wife Rachel, who he loved more than his other wife Leah. M...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Acts 6 The Choosing of the Seven As the church grew exponentially, the demands on the apostles to do things like resolve conflicts between the Greek speaking and Jewish widows, increased exponentially as well. This prompted the 12 apostles to tell the disciples to choose seven mem who could serve as deacons meeting the more practical and administrative needs of the community.  Importantly, the apostles said that they needed to focus on "prayer", and the "ministry of the word ". Though it wasn't below them to do things like, " waiting on tables ", it took their focus off of important matters such as preaching and teaching God's Word and spending copious amounts of time in prayer. As a pastor of 30 years, I know full well this challenge. I think every pastor faces it at some level or another. The bottom line as Paul says in Ephesians 4,  the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that th...

Click Here to Read or LIsten to Acts 5   Ananias and Sapphira Not everything was "hunky dory" in the newly formed church. Though we saw in the last chapter people were selling their property and putting the proceeds at the feet of the apostles, in the case of Ananias and Sapphira not so much. Though they had sold their property, they gave some to the church but kept some of the proceeds to themselves.  The real sin here is deception. When they laid down the proceeds with the apostles, they were publicly stating that they were giving it all to the church. But, Peter also says that Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit. Though we don't know deliberately how he did this, before one lies to another human usually they have lied or at least tried to deceive the Holy Spirit. Of course, since the Holy Spirit is God, he was never going to get away with it.  But, then something dramatic happened. When Ananias heard this, he fell over and died. Wow! As you would imagine great fear seized ...