Tag: Peter and John

Morning Reading: Acts 4.13-22 NLT – can’t stop telling

Reading: Acts 4.13-22 NLT

The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say. So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves.

Testimony in Kenya
Testimony in Kenya

“What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.” So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.

But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”

The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.

Prayer: Lord Jesus – Give me the boldness and steadfastness of Peter and John who, under threat of the authorities, remained obedient to God. Holy Spirit – Give me the words to speak truth to power in a way that is clear and unequivocal . Heavenly Father – Work your wonders in me and through me… that the world may know Jesus is Lord. Amen.

Hymn: “Since Jesus Came Into My Heart” – Rufus H. McDaniel (1914)

Morning Reading: Acts 4.5-12 NLT – no other name

Reading: Acts 4:5-12 NLT

The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest.

They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?”

jesus_savesThen Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed?

“Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.

“For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’

“There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus – You alone have the power to heal… you alone have the power to save.  You alone are the way, the truth,  and the life…. no one comes to the Father except through you. May the whole world know that you are Lord.  To you be all honor, glory,  wisdom,  power, riches and strength.  Amen.

Spiritual Song: “There Is No Other Name” – Robin Mark

Morning Reading: Acts 4.1-4 NLT – growing church

Reading: Acts 4:1-4 NLT

While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees.

People attend a Mass led by Catholic priest Marcelo Rossi at the Mother of God sanctuary in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012. Rossi, a Latin Grammy-nominated Christian music singer and author of best-selling books in Brazil, inaugurated on Friday the massive new Roman Catholic church that will hold about 20,000 worshippers when complete. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
People attend a Mass led by Catholic priest Marcelo Rossi at the Mother of God sanctuary in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012.
Rossi, inaugurated on Friday the massive new Roman Catholic church that will hold about 20,000 worshippers when complete. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead.

They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning.

But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of believers now totaled about 5,000 men, not counting women and children.

Prayer: Lord Jesus – Fill your church with your Spirit. Guide and direct your servants to seek and save those who are lost. Baptize them into your family and make them spirit and truth worshipers. Teach and train them to become more like you and send them out to tell others of your mercy and grace. And may you receive all the glory. Amen.

Hymn: “We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations” – H. Ernest Nichol (1896)

Easter Reading: John 20:1-9 NLT – He’s alive!

Reading: John 20:1-9 NLT

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

image
Eugène Burnand, The disciples Peter and John came running to the tomb on the morning of the Resurrection, 1898. Paris, Musée d'Orsay

Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in.

Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings.

Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.

Spiritual Song: “He’s Alive!” – Don Francisco