Archives: Episodes

In Acts 4, Peter and John are arrested for preaching Christ after the lame man is healed, and the rulers order them to stop speaking in His name. Praying from Psalm 2, the believers confess that Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles, and Israel did only what God’s hand and purpose predestined to occur, because God determined...

In Acts 3, Peter and John heal a man lame from birth at the Beautiful Gate, a public miracle that fits the historical details Luke records. Peter refuses any credit and points the crowd to Jesus, the servant the God of Abraham glorified, whom they had disowned before Pilate.

GCA Deacon Micah Gingerich preaches Genesis 50:20 through the story of Joseph, rejected by his brothers and later exalted. Men meant evil, but God meant it for good, and Joseph’s story foreshadows Israel’s rejection of Christ, their Redeemer. God works all things for His own glory (Romans 11:33–36).

In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost, and the once-fearful Peter boldly preaches from Joel and the plain facts of Christ’s death and resurrection. Jesus was delivered up by God’s predetermined plan and foreknowledge, and the Lord added to the church those who were being saved.

Beginning a fresh study, we read Acts 1 at face value: apostles whom Jesus chose, the risen Christ’s many convincing proofs, and forty days of teaching on the kingdom. The disciples’ question shows that the kingdom promised to Israel is still to come, at the Father’s appointed time.