Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs!
 
Today’s passage is Acts 12:11-25.  Let’s go!

Acts 12:11-12 (NIV)
11  Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”
12  When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.
 
On verses 11-12:  Peter now realizes that the deliverance from prison he was dreaming about was actually real.  His first instinct is to go to the house of Mary, mother of John-Mark, where many are praying for him.  Peter wants those praying for him to see for themselves the incredible deliverance God made possible for him, knowing how much encouragement that would bring to them. 

Acts 12:13-16 (NIV)
13  Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door.
14  When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
15  “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
16  But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.
 

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 11:19-30.  Let’s go!

Acts 11:19-24 (NIV)
19  Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to 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.
22  News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
23  When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.
24  He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

On verses 19-24:  When Stephen was martyred and persecution broke out on the church in Jerusalem (Acts 7-8:3), the church scattered (Acts 8:4) and some Christians traveled to places like Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch (v19).  Despite not having heard or seen the incredible ways that the Holy Spirit had touched the lives of Gentiles like Cornelius and household in Judea (Acts 10) or what the Holy Spirit did among Samaritans in Samaria (Acts 8), some of these scattered believers also began speaking to Gentiles too about Jesus Christ, in particular Greeks at Antioch, who responded in great numbers (v21).  So the church in Jerusalem sends Barnabas to Antioch, a Gentile city in Syria, to see the work that God was doing there and to encourage the growing church there.  God uses the encouraging presence and uplifting words of Barnabas to add to the work already happening in Antioch, bringing more people to the Lord there. 

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 10:34-48.  Let’s go!

Acts 10:34-35 (NIV)
34  Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism
35  but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.

On verses 34-35:  Peter recognizes that it was the Holy Spirit who gave him and Cornelius each a vision around the same time and used those visions to bring the two of them together.  Even as he is preaching to Cornelius’ household, Peter himself is realizing that truly God’s heart is for people from every nation.

Acts 10:36-43 (NIV)
36  You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
37  You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached–
38  how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
39  “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree,
40  but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 10:1-16.  Let’s go!

Acts 10:1-4 (NIV)
1  At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.
2  He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.
3  One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
4  Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.
 
On verse 4:  God heard the sincere prayers and took note of the generous donations Cornelius made to the poor, though Cornelius at this point had not yet put his trust in Jesus Christ.  Regardless of your faith position, God sees the good that you do and the sincerity with which you pray.  But if all the good you do was good enough to save you, God wouldn’t have sent Jesus Christ for you.  Likewise despite all the good that Cornelius had done in his lifetime, God still connected Cornelius to Peter so that Cornelius could hear the saving news about Jesus Christ.

Acts 10:5-8 (NIV)
5  Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.
6  He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
7  When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants.
8  He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.

Hi GAMErs!
 
Today’s passage is Acts 9:1-22.  Let’s go!

Acts 9:1-22 (NIV)
1  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.”
7  The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.
8  Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus…….

On verses 1-22:  As we read about Saul’s amazing conversion to Christianity, we see that God is full of grace and mercy. He does not treat His enemies as they deserve. Instead of destroying His enemies for their sins, His first choice is to woo them to His side. That’s what Jesus did with Saul. God could have easily destroyed Saul for masterminding the arrest, persecution and murder of His children. But instead He reached out to Saul with incredible grace and mercy, and won Saul over to His side.