Acts Kingdom

Signs and Wonders will Follow

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit, GOD’S POWER MINISTRY. Spiritual gifts are portions of God’s grace. They display the personal, powerful presence of the Holy Spirit and are given to every believer for the common good of the church. Though we vary in what seems to be each believer’s “dominant” gifting from God’s creative work in us (see article entitled “Holy Spirit Gifts and Power” ), the Holy Spirit will give us whatever is needed (v. 11 ) to minister to distinct circumstances. He distributes these freely and readily in the moment of need in order to enable the believer’s ministry in Jesus’ name. Spiritual gifts are not badges of honor or signs of spiritual maturity. They are not “earned.” Our attitude concerning the gifts is to be willing, available good-hearted friends of Jesus. We are to be compassionate friends of those in need, confident of God’s promises and power-gifts to serve such need. Amen
1 Corinthians 12

Acts Kingdom

Proclaim the Good News

The word “evangelism” does not actually occur in Scripture. The Greek word, euangelion , is the actual proclamation of good news of any sort. However, the verb euangelizo (“to evangelize”) is used over fifty times of believers who were presenting the good news of God’s love through Jesus Christ with the intent of persuading men and women to repent and receive God’s forgiveness. Early Christians spontaneously evangelized as they proclaimed and preached the Good News everywhere!

(See Mark 1:1; Luke 4:18–19; 1 Corinthians 15:1–4.)

Evening Praise

Jesus is Your Example

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: 1 Peter 2:21 NKJV

1 Peter Invites: Understand that suffering is part of the Christian life. Study Jesus’ responses to suffering, and follow His example. Not that we are to go and be nailed to a tree. That suffering  was for the sins of the world once and for all. Peter is saying how did our Lord face a challenge, what was His attitude?

Acts Kingdom

Reach Out to All

In Acts 10:34, Peter speaks clearly regarding God’s heart toward all people: “God shows no partiality.” This means He wants everyone, regardless of nationality, ethnic orientation, religious or world view to hear the gospel and believe. In Christ, there are no barriers. Amen

Evening Praise

Jesus is Your Fellowship

that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3 NKJV

Fellowship
Sharing, unity, close association, partnership, participation, a society, a communion, a fellowship, contributory help, the brotherhood. (Compare “coin,” “cenobite,” “epicene.”) Koinonia is a unity brought about by the Holy Spirit. In koinonia the individual shares in common an intimate bond of fellowship with the rest of the Christian society. Koinonia cements the believers to the Lord Jesus and to each other.

Acts Kingdom

Unity  in Diversity

Three  times, Peter saw a vision of unclean  animals (animals  unclean for food by the law of  Moses). This triple  vision was entended to show Peter that God is no respecter of persons and the gospel is available to all.
Acts  10:34-35

Acts 10:15 tells us God’s words to Peter: “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” What attitude toward others do you believe God targeted with these words?

Evening Praise

Know God's Revealed Will

When we read Mark 1:40-45, we cannot  question  whether healing is God's will. In this  passage Jesus declares His willingness to heal the  sick. "The leper was certain that Jesus was able to heal him, he was not sure that it  was His will." But Jesus' response  settled it. "I am willing;  be cleansed."
Understand if we feel the need to say "If it is your will Lord." When we pray, do we really understand  God's  will about healing  for our lives? Notice the "I am" that's  our God folks. Amen

Acts Kingdom

Power Ministry

However, Saul’s role in the drama of the early church took a drastic turn. His dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus is considered by many to be one of the two great proofs of the validity of the Christian religion (the other and most important being the resurrection of Jesus). When Saul of Tarsus encountered Jesus, the vigilant, relentless persecutor of Christians was converted to the very faith he resisted and warred against. He was filled with the Holy Spirit when Ananias laid hands on him following specific direction from the Lord. From that day, Saul the persecutor became Paul the apostle. He preached the gospel with power; and signs and wonders attended his ministry wherever he went.
Read Acts 4:36, 37; 9:26, 27; 11:22–30; 16:14, 15, 40; 18:2, 18, 19, 26; Romans 16:3.

Faith and Healing

Healed by His Stripes
Isiah 53:5

The dynamic ministry of Jesus not only revealed God’s heart of love for mankind’s need of a Redeemer, but unveiled God’s compassionate heart of mercy for mankind’s need of a Healer. The will of God was perfectly disclosed in His Son; we are to seek ways to fully convey that perfect revelation. Just as the Fall of man introduced sickness as a part of the curse, the Cross of Christ has opened a door to healing as part of salvation’s provision. Healing encompasses God’s power to restore broken hearts, broken homes, broken lives, and broken bodies. Suffering assumes a multiplicity of forms, but Christ’s blood not only covers our sin with redemptive love; His stripes release a resource of healing at every dimension of our need.
Read Matthew 8:16–17.

Jesus is Your

Righteousness

For He made Him who  knew no  sin to be sin for us, that we might become a the  righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5 : 21 NKJV

This statement is the positive counterpart to the statement in v. 19 that God does not impute our trespasses to us. He imputed them instead to Christ, who was sinless in every respect (see Heb. 4:15 ; 1 Pet. 2:22 ; 1 John 3:5 ). He bore our sins on the Cross and endured the penalty that we deserved, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him . See also Rom. 8:3 , 4 ; 1 Cor. 1:30 ; Gal. 3:13 , 14

Acts Kingdom

Defeat the Enemy

Paul proclaimed in Romans 16:20 the ultimate  triumph of Christ and the church over all evil: "And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly." As we step out in faith to evangelize  the lost, we are partnering in the ultimate defeat of Satan. And, as the seed of Abraham Galatians  3:29, we can take delight in extending  God's blessings to the world. Amen  

Jesus is Your Forgiveness

having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
Ephesians 1:5-7 NKJV

Predestined does not suggest a fatalism that excludes some while including others, but assures an appointed plan and guaranteed destiny for all the redeemed.

Accepted is literally “graced with grace.” “In Christ” is a recurring term designating the sphere in which all salvation is realized and the realm in which God’s kingdom purposes are fulfilled—in the circle of the King’s (Christ’s) reign.

This letter repeatedly insists that the ground of all grace is the reconciling death of Jesus Christ on the cross
( 2:16 ), at the expense of His redeeming blood ( 2:13 ). Through this alone God offers forgiveness ( 4:32 ). Forgiveness is possible because Christ loved the church and gave Himself to provide it ( 5:25–27 ).

Acts Kingdom

Stand Before  Opposition

Christianity  is  truly a life against  nature.  Those who belong to the Lord have left the behind the world of separation from God  caused by sin and have entered into a new state of  being  full connectedness  with God the Father  through Jesus Christ  Colossians  1:19

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away, behold all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Jesus is Your

Peace

You, Lord, give true peace to those who depend on you, because they trust you. Isaiah  26: 3

Perfect peace is  expressed in  Hebrew by shalom, a Hebrew method of putting great emphasis on a word.  You will keep Him in everything the word shalom implies : health,happiness, well-being,  peace.  The word translated mind is not the usual Hebrew word, but rather is a word meaning "creative  imagination." Isiah's thought is that he whose creative imagination,  the seat of plans and ideas is firmly founded on the eternal Lord, will enjoy shalom in all its implications.

The Integrity of the Word of God

The Word is actually what it declares itself to be. It is a revelation from God to us.  It is God speaking to us.  It is God speaking to us now. Not only is it a book of the past and a book of the future;  it also is a book of now. This book is God-breathed, God-indwelt, God-inspired message. Amen
Hebrews  4:12

Acts Kingdom

Persecution  Breeds Power

To prepare for this session, read Acts 6:8—9:31.

If a gas in a closed container is heated so much that the pressure exceeds the strength of the container, an explosion occurs. That’s why aerosol cans, which contain pressurized propellant gases, have warnings on them against being placed near sources of heat.
The religious leaders and other enemies of the gospel found out from the beginning that containing the apostles’ witness to the resurrection of Jesus was difficult. Increasing the heat just seemed to excite and incite the witnesses.
As Christ’s followers yield to the power of the Holy Spirit. Our words, fueled by the Spirit’s wisdom and the signs and wonders we perform by the power of the Holy Spirit, is a fuse. Amen

Acts Kingdom

Victory Over the World

Our faith brings  victory over the world 1John5:4
It provides us with a spiritual weapon by which we cambat  both the temptations and the precautions of a godless society.  Amen

Acts Kingdom

Seek Spiritual Unity

Acts 4:32 tells us they "were of one heart and soul". "One heart" meant to be true or in sync with one another.  They were headed in the same spiritual direction.  The Greek meaning is to to breathe or to breathe spiritually together.  This spiritual unity is both powerful and practical.  Amen

Acts Kingdom

Kingdom Extra

When God establishes and begin to bless His covenant people, He dramatically indicates how essential integrity is how destructive deceptive indicates is. Joshua 6-7

Acts Kingdom

Boldness in the Spirit

Peter and John were "uneducated and untrained" Acts 4:13. In the sense that they had not received rabbinic training carrying out the detailed and often obscure arguments that the Sadducess and Pharisees and Scribes were noted for.

The Hebrew education as children, and long portions used in rituals of worship growing up. This is what the Sadducess and Pharisees saw in them, the Promise of the Father gives us Boldness and Power. Amen