Saturday January 30th, 2021
Memorize: Romans 1:16 New Living Translations (NLT)
« For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. »
Read: Acts 2:14-42 New Living Translations (NLT)
14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd,
“Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this.
15 These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming.
Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that.
16 No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘In the last days,’ God says,
‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on my servants—men and women alike—
and they will prophesy.
19 And I will cause wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below—
blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
20 The sun will become dark,
and the moon will turn blood red
before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.
21 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.’
22 “People of Israel, listen!
God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through Him, as you well know.
23 But God knew what would happen, and His prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed Him to a cross and killed him.
24 But God released Him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life,
for death could not keep Him in its grip.
25 King David said this about Him:
‘I see that the Lord is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
26 No wonder my heart is glad,
and my tongue shouts his praises!
My body rests in hope.
27 For you will not leave my soul among the dead
or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.
28 You have shown me the way of life,
and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’
29 “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us.
30 But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne.
31 David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection.
He was saying that God would not leave Him among the dead
or allow his body to rot in the grave.
32 “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this.
33 Now He is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand.
And the Father, as He had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.
34 For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
35 until I humble your enemies,
making them a footstool under your feet.”’
36 “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”
37 Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”
40 Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.
42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
Message:
The world today is full of sorrow, pain and agony.
More people are going into depression nowadays.
Suicide rates have gone up, there are wars and rumours of wars, fights and even more violence.
The only people living peacefully are those who are connected with the Prince of Peace, those who have Christ living in them.
When a person becomes born again, the first thing he/she experiences is peace.
Believe me, the gospel of Christ is the only way out of all the chaos in this world. If you have not yet embraced the gospel of Christ, I would advise that you do so right away so that you can begin to live a peaceful and joyful life.
If you already know Christ and you don’t share His gospel with people around you, then it is clear that you don’t love them.
The Gospel of Christ is good news to the broken-hearted, joy to the depressed, strength to the weary and life to the dying (Luke 4:18). Don’t keep it to yourself, share it with the world.
Jesus wants to save, heal and deliver them, but He needs you to introduce Him.
Whenever I hear about someone who committed suicide or did something terrible because they were experiencing depression, I hurt deeply within me. I always wish I had the opportunity to share the gospel of Christ with them before the issue got out of hand.
Some of them are with you in the office, your neighborhood and there are no restrictions in your meeting with them.
Sharing the gospel of Christ goes beyond just words, it also involves your actions. It entails how you smile when you see them, asking about their wellbeing, caring for them genuinely as Christ cares for us.
Don’t just preach the gospel, show love to them practically. James 2:15-16GNT says:
« “15 Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don’t have enough to eat. 16 What good is there in your saying to them, “God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!”—if you don’t give them the necessities of life? »
Are you sharing the gospel of Christ to the brokenhearted
Action point: Share the gospel of Christ with someone this weekend.
Author: Pst E. A. Adeboye.
Text edited by Naomie
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