Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 4:23-37.  There are many powerful lessons we can learn from this passage.  Let’s go! 

Acts 4:23-36 (NIV)
23  On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.
24  When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
25  You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
26  The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.
 
On verses 24-26:  Notice how much the early church relied on two habits: prayer and studying the Scriptures.  Before the books of Acts, we see no record of the disciples searching and quoting the Scriptures themselves, but now after seeing the resurrected Jesus and after being filled with the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures become so important and alive to them.  They begin to use the Scriptures to preach, to pray and to make decisions.  Here in verses 25-26 these Christians are quoting Psalm 2:1-2 in their prayer.
 
What can we learn from this?  The Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures go hand in hand.  If you want to grow in your relationship with God, you need to cherish both the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures.  When you draw near to the Holy Spirit, He gives you insight to the Scriptures, and your understanding of the Scriptures in turn teaches you how to relate to the Holy Spirit.  When you have the Holy Spirit but spend no time in the Holy Scriptures, you blow up.  When you spend much in the Holy Scriptures but don’t rely on the Holy Spirit, you dry up.  But when you have both the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures working together, you grow up.

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 4:1-12.  Let’s go!

Acts 4:1-4 (NIV)
1  The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.
2  They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
3  They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.
4  But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

On verses 1-4:  The Sadducees were a group that did not believe in the idea of resurrection and were big critics of anyone who preached it (see for example Matthew 22:23, Mark 12:18 and Acts 23:8).  According to Acts 5:17, the high priest and all his associates were members of the Sadducees.   This suggests that the whole priesthood and temple leadership at that time were influenced by the belief that there is no such thing as resurrection.  So when word gets around that Peter and John are proclaiming that in Jesus Christ the dead are resurrected, the priests, the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees all come up to Peter and John and use their authority to put Peter and John in jail.  But instead of curtailing the Christian movement, these actions only seemed to give it more momentum.  The men in the church were now numbering about five thousand, meaning that there conceivably could have been more ten thousand men, women and children professing faith in Jesus by this time.

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 3:1-11.  Let’s go!

Acts 3:1 (NIV)
1  One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer–at three in the afternoon.

On verse 1:  At this point the early church was still comprised entirely of Jewish Christians.  Thus these early Christians would continue the habit of going to the Jewish temple to worship God.  Later on, as more and more non-Jewish (Gentile) people became Christians, the early church would need to tackle the question of whether these Gentile Christians had to follow Jewish customs like going to the temple.  In the meantime, here we see Peter and John going to the temple just like other Jews.  The traditional temple prayer times included 9am, 3pm and sunset.

Acts 3:2 (NIV)
2  Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.

On verse 2:  I wonder who put the crippled man at the temple gate called Beautiful every day.  Who put him there?  Whoever it was, I bet it was someone who believed that if there was anywhere in the world that a crippled man should be able to find hope, it’s at the gate of the place where people worshiped God.

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 2:29-36.  Let’s go! 

Acts 2:29-33 (NIV)
29  “Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.
30  But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.
31  Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay.
32  God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.
33  Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

On verses 29-33:  Peter connects the Scripture passages he quoted before (Joel 2 and Psalm 16) with what his audience is seeing in front of them to deliver one coherent message:  that Jesus Christ, who lived, died, and rose again is now the one at the Father’s right hand pouring out the Holy Spirit on His church.
 
Acts 2:34-36 (NIV)
34  For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand
35  until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”‘
36  “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 2:14-21.  Let’s go! 

Acts 2:14-15 (NIV)
14  Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.
15  These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!
 
On verses 14-15:  Before a crowd of thousands, Peter stands up and is about to tell them about Jesus. Peter, who used to be ashamed of his faith and denied Jesus in front of a few people, is now speaking to thousands about the difference Jesus has made in his life.  That’s the power of the Holy Spirit working.  The Holy Spirit gives us courage, strength and wisdom to do what we could not do in our own power.
 
By the way, I find Peter’s statement in verse 15 funny.  “These men are not drunk…It’s only nine in the morning!” as if to say, “Just wait until 12pm.  That’s when we’re more likely to get drunk.”  Of course, I’m pretty sure that’s not what Peter meant.  Instead Peter is wisely addressing the elephant in the room and debunking a misconception that many in the crowd may have had about what was going on.