The First 40 Years – Engaging with the Apostle’s Teaching – Part 2 (AD 30)

After the birth of the early church, we looked at what the 3,000 new followers of Jesus were being taught, and it was simply “The Apostle’s Teaching.” Here is how Luke recorded it: “Those who had received his (Peter’s) word were baptized; and that day there were added about three

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The First 40 Years – Engaging with the Apostle’s Teaching – Part 1 (AD 30)

In last week’s blog, we focused on the birth of the very first church. It all began with Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost when he called on all those who had gathered to repent of their sins, the main “offense” being the crucifixion of their own Messiah. Prior

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The First 40 Years — The First Church is Born (AD 30)

In last week’s blog, we took a close look at Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. As he wrapped up his message, he wanted to focus on the truth of the resurrection of Jesus, something that all of the disciples had witnessed for 40 days prior to His ascension

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The First 40 Years — The Sermon that Changed Everything (AD 30)

As we saw last week, Peter told the crowd that had gathered on the Day of Pentecost that this was a fulfillment of the prophecy spoken by Joel hundreds of years earlier. And, as we saw last week, Peter wrapped up Joel’s prophecy by saying: “And it shall be that

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The First 40 Years – The Day of Pentecost – AD 30 (Part 3)

Let’s begin with a brief synopsis of my last two blogs. The Feast of Pentecost is the first major event recorded in the Book of Acts following Jesus’ ascension into heaven. Pentecost was always celebrated 50 days after Passover, and on that Day in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, the Holy

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The First 40 Years – The Day of Pentecost – AD 30 (Part 2)

As we saw last week, the Feast of Pentecost is the first major event recorded in the Book of Acts following Jesus’ ascension into heaven. We also discovered that Pentecost was celebrated by faithful Jews from around the empire who came into Jerusalem to remember what God had done during

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The First 40 Years — The Day of Pentecost (AD 30)

Last week, we concluded our series on “The First 40 Days” following Jesus’ resurrection, culminating with His ascension into heaven. Today, we begin our new series entitled “The First 40 years” as we travel with the Apostles through the Book of Acts, focusing on the highlights of what God was

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The First 40 Days — The Final Encounter (Part 2)

Last week, we discovered that the real Elijah that the nation (and the disciples) had been looking for was actually John the Baptist, who came in the “spirit and power of Elijah.” Remember the words of the angel who spoke to Zechariah (John’s father) prior to his birth: “He will

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The First 40 Days — The Final Encounter (Part 1)

After leaving the Sea of Galilee, Jesus met His disciples on the Mount of Olives, located near Bethany, just a short distance east of Jerusalem. The disciples had plenty of questions, and began with this one: “Lord, is it at this time that you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

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The First 40 Days — The Fourth Encounter (continued)

In this blog, we move from Jesus’ encounters with the disciples in and around Jerusalem to the shores of the Sea of Galilee. As we saw last week, He had prepared another “charcoal fire” and was cooking some fish and bread on it. Breakfast was ready, but first they had

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