The title of today’s blog comes from an often-used fishing term where anglers are allowed to catch fish and then release them back into the water. No eating your catch! The whole point is that for most fishermen, the thrill comes from outsmarting those little creatures, not eating them! They

Well, it’s time to jump back into the next phase of growth in the early church in Jerusalem. We have focused upon their commitment to maintaining fellowship and prayer, and to always listening to the Apostle’s teaching about Jesus’ life and ministry, including His death, resurrection, and ascension. Peter’s first

In addition to devoting themselves to fellowship, sharing, and prayer, the early church was devoted to hearing and understanding “The Apostle’s Teaching.” And this was the subject of the last few blogs, as we considered the historical and cultural setting in which the early church grew starting in Jerusalem, and

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

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

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

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

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

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

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