Acting out his Faith

 

Well, let’s finally delve into the Bible.

The Old Testament is important as it is the background story for Jesus coming to live among us. But sometimes it is really heavy, a lot of words and a lot of things that we, with our twenty-first century brains, have a hard time grasping. So, I’m gonna start in the New Testament.

You hopefully have heard of the books of the Gospel – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They each tell the story of the life of Jesus on this earth. Many of those stories are familiar with us, especially at Christmas and Easter.

The next book in the New Testament is Acts. It is known by Biblical scholars as the History of the Early Church.

Theophilus, I wrote about Jesus in my earlier book. I wrote about all he did and taught until the day he was taken up to heaven. Before Jesus left, he gave orders to the apostles he had chosen. He did this through the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:1-2, New International Reader's Version)

The book of Acts is named that because it describes the deeds, missions, and actions of the early Christian apostles (mostly Peter and Paul). It was written by the apostle Luke, the same guy who wrote the Gospel book named after him. I like his writing because, in pretty much any translation of the Bible, I find it easy to understand. He doesn’t use a lot of flowery language or vague metaphors; Luke tells it as it is.

After his suffering and death, he appeared to them. In many ways he proved that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days. During that time he spoke about God’s kingdom. One day Jesus was eating with them. He gave them a command. “Do not leave Jerusalem,” he said. “Wait for the gift my Father promised. You have heard me talk about it. John baptized with water. But in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:3-5, NIRV)

Later on in this book, Luke writes about how Saul was converted and became the most spirit-filled believer who spread the Gospel to pretty much the whole world at the time. You know him as Paul. Maybe if you have time this week, try to read the rest of the Book of Acts. And I’ll see you next Sunday, when I’ll tell you about some of the books that Paul wrote.

For two whole years Paul stayed there in a house he rented. He welcomed all who came to see him. He preached boldly about God’s kingdom. He taught people about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one could keep him from teaching and preaching about these things. (Acts 28:30-31, NIRV)

(In case you don’t get around to reading those 28 chapters of the Bible this week, that is how Acts ends.)

(The picture above doesn't have anything to do with the Bible. It was taken in front of our hotel in Ulm, Germany. I took over 1300 pictures on that trip, so thought I would share some of the pretty flowers here.)