Acts 7:1-29 Where have you seen God’s fingerprints of faithfulness on your life? When you are struggling to make sense of you current circumstances, what do you recount to remember God’s ultimate faithfulness? As Stephen stood before the Sanhedrin, awaiting an uncertain fate, he recounted God’s works on behalf of the Jewish people beginning from the book of Genesis. As he spoke of Abraham, Isaac, ...

Acts 6:1-15 We are called to serve and minister to those who are often overlooked. Who do you feel like are those in your life? Who could you love whom others might not be noticing or reaching out to? Early in the church the Gentile widows were being overlooked for material assistance. Jewish widows were receiving daily food, while the Gentile widows were neglected. When this came to the attention...

Acts 5:1-42 To what extent are you willing to obey God? In Acts 5 we see a picture of both disobedience and obedience and the results that follow. First, Ananias and Sapphira wanted to fit into the culture of generosity in the early church, but were not concerned about truly obeying God. They valued social acceptance more than God’s acceptance. The result was death. Disobedience will rarely lead t...

Acts 4:1-37 Jesus is unique. As the eternal Son of God, he alone transformed all human history through his life, death, and resurrection. He further wants to transform our lives and our ability to respond to all of life. How do you generally respond to difficult circumstances? Acts 4 shows us a response that is truly supernatural in nature. Peter and John were arrested, and probably wondered if th...

Acts 3:1-26 How similar is your life to that of Jesus? In what ways do people see Jesus in you? After receiving the Holy Spirit, the disciples continued the ministry of Jesus. They came upon a crippled man and healed him in the name of Jesus. In the same way Jesus healed for years, these men performed similar acts. When the healing drew attention though, they put all the focus on Jesus. Their mira...

Acts 2:1-47 How is your life different because you know Jesus? In just a few short weeks, the disciples went from a scared group to powerfully experiencing the power of God. The day came when the power Jesus promised descended upon them. The Spirit in-dwelt them, and the proof was in their ability to speak in many languages. This speaking in tongues in the exact way described in Acts 2 was rare ev...

Acts 1:1-26 Acts is the second part of the Gospel of Luke. It picks up after Jesus' death, resurrection, post-resurrection appearances, and ascension. The focus moves from the earthly ministry of Jesus to the work of the Holy Spirit through the disciples. The very same work which continues through us today. The effectiveness of the ministry was tied to two things. First, they were only going to be...

John 21:1-25 Do you ever feel like you have drifted too far from God, wracked with guilt and shame you cannot seem to shake? As we consider the love of Jesus, we should always remember that his grace is greater than our sin. John 21 finds Jesus once again appearing to his disciples, this time in northern Israel. He begins his meeting by telling them how to catch an extravagant number of fish. This...

John 20:1-31 In writing his Gospel, John was not only concerned with the belief of the disciples, but desires for everyone to come to belief in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. He places the purpose for his writing in the final verse. John 20:31 says, “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John’s w...

John 19:23-42 Three times in our reading today, John points to an event around Jesus' crucifixion which fulfills earlier Scriptures. Often these fulfillments are of a specific prophecy in a specific verse. For example, John 19:24 fulfills Psalm 22:18, and John 19:33 fulfills Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12, Psalm 34:20, and Zechariah 12:10. Other times the fulfillment seems to be broader than simply a ...

John 18:25-19:22 Each of us has been given a sphere of authority and are to lead within the areas which God has given to us. So how well are you leading where God has placed you? In John’s depiction of Jesus’ trial, we encounter two different sets of leaders. The religious leaders saw Jesus as a threat to their religious-political system. They had slowly lost followers and fanfare throughout Jesus...

John 18:1-24 When you wake up in the morning do you primarily think about what you need to accomplish, or how you can serve others? Is your focus on yourself, or on other people? Keep these questions in mind as you read John 18. After an exhausting night which included a meal and intense prayer, a mob came to arrest Jesus. If Jesus’ mindset was selfpreservation he could have fled or denied his ide...

John 17:1-26 The day before Jesus died, he stopped and prayed for you. Yes, he specifically prayed for you. What an amazing thing —to know that Jesus took the time mere hours before his betrayal to pray. So, let us investigate together what exactly he prayed. Stop and reread John 17:20-23. Notice Jesus’ prayer for us centers around the idea of unity. First, he wants us to experience unity with him...

John 16:1-33 If you had to explain the person of the Holy Spirit to someone, how would you describe him? In John 16, as Jesus heads to his imminent death he stops to provide some critical instructions to his disciples. Out of all the issues he could have discussed, he taught them about the Holy Spirit. He wanted them to understand that he would send the Holy Spirit who would live within them. Thou...

John 15:1-27 On Jesus’ last night before his death, he walked from the upper room in Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane. In his teaching, we see some of the essential truths he longed to communicate to his disciples before he was taken from them. He tells his disciples that he is the vine and his followers are branches. He is the source of life, so the only way we can thrive is to remain connec...

John 14:15-31 Jesus has been modeling and speaking about love throughout the gospel of John, and especially in his upper room discourse in John 13-14. He wants to leave his disciples with a clear understanding of what it looks like to love God and others. If you were to point to one thing in your life which shows your love for God, what would it be? In John 14 Jesus highlights obedience as evidenc...

John 13:31-14:14 What would you show as evidence that you are a follower of Jesus? If someone wanted to convict you as a Christian, what would they bring to a judge? According to Jesus in John 13, the proof we are Christians is the way we love people. Our calling is not to occasionally love others, but to follow in Jesus’ footsteps by loving continually as an overflow of the love he has shown us. ...

John 13:1-30 In John 13 we are told that Jesus “now showed them the full extent of his love.” Jesus showed his love through service. He postured himself as the lowest person in a household by washing the disciples’ feet. He humbled himself by becoming a servant to show love. He stooped down to bless others. If we are to follow in the way of Jesus this is the same mindset we need to adopt. In the t...

John 12:20-50 Jesus’ path to glory is very different from the strategy of the world. Our world tells us to pursue comfort, ease, happiness, and self-fulfillment, while Jesus models a path towards death and sacrifice. As we seek to follow Jesus, we will have to come to terms with whether we are willing to embrace his way of life. Jesus says that “unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and die...

John 11:55-12:19 In John 12, the last week of Jesus’ life on earth comes into focus. As Jesus heads toward his death, opposition only intensifies. The first source of opposition in John 12 is that of the Pharisees. They have been trying to stop Jesus throughout his ministry, but now commit to doing so at any cost—even a willingness to kill him and Lazarus. They would do anything to keep Jesus from...