Scripture: You who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it. -Acts 7:53 Observation: Stephen is giving the religious leaders and all in his audience a history lesson. It is not as if these people need the lesson as they are all pretty much scholars, yet Stephen is setting a stage and giving context to the greatest news in the whole world. Though bef...
Keep ReadingScripture: But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. - Acts 6:4 Observation: More people, more problems. The church was growing and with that growth some issues and problems had risen. Even with such a small number of believers, there were already differences in languages spoken and cultures within the church. These differences were causing...
Keep ReadingScripture: Vs. 13 "... the people held (the apostles) in high esteem."Vs. 15 "... (the people) even carried out the sick into the streets ..., that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall in some of them."Vs. 17 "But the high priest rose up, and all those with him, and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles a...
Keep ReadingScripture: "But Peter and John replied, which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." Observation: Peter and John had just healed a lame beggar. They did it right in the outer courts of the temple. Many people witnessed the miracle. The Sanhedrin throw Peter and John i...
Keep ReadingScripture: "And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, "Look at us." And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, "I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!"" (Acts 3:4-6 ESV)"And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: "Men of ...
Keep ReadingScripture: And all were amazed perplexed saying to one another, "what does this mean?" But others mocking said, "they are filled with new wine."Acts 2:12-13 Observation: The Holy Spirit has come, new languages being spoken by common man who do not fluently speak these languages. What this does among other people is spark faith and spark criticism. The man those two are ...
Keep ReadingScripture: Acts 1:7-8 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Observation: This interpretation of the last words of Christ before his ...
Keep ReadingPsalm 18:22 For all his rules were before me,and his statutes I did not put away from me. Observation: David has been delivered from his enemies. He has moved into a different yet fresh season as he has been under the pressure and chase of the enemy for a while. He through his times would cry out to God in frustration, anger, desperation, yet God has rescued David from ...
Keep ReadingScripture: PSALM 12Vs 1 "Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;for the faithful have vanished ..."Vs 2 "Everyone utters lies to his neighbor... "Vs 8 "The words of the Lord are pure words ..."PSALM 13Vs 1 "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?How long will you hide your face from me?"Vs 5 "But I have trusted in your steadfast love;my heart shall rejoice in your ...
Keep ReadingScripture: v 2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart Observation: David first asks the question about God's relationship to both the wicked and the righteous about who can dwell in God's tent. Most of the Psalm then defines the characteristics of those who are able to walk and dwell in God's tent (or tabernacle). Even though this...
Keep ReadingScripture: Psalm 11:2-4 2: for look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? Observation: The word of the Lord echoes across centuries, continents and rulers. King David writes over 3000 years ago and he could be writing ...
Keep ReadingScripture: I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. (Psalm 9:1-2 ESV) the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. (Psalm 9:7...
Keep ReadingScripture: Psalm 7:7-8; 17 Gather the nations before you. Rule over them from on high. The Lord judges the nations. Declare me righteous, O Lord, for I am innocent, O Most High! I will thank the Lord because he is just; I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. Observation: The psalmist cries out to the Lord for protection. God will judge everyone in all th...
Keep ReadingScripture: Psalm 4:8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Observation: The psalmist expresses a sense of peace due to his trust in God. In the evening when he sleeps and lies defenseless he still feels safe because of the faithfulness of God. Application: It is one thing for me to trust God when everything seems to b...
Keep ReadingScripture: Psalm 1: 1-3Blessed is the onewho does not walk in step with the wickedor stand in the way that sinners takeor sit in the company of mockers,2but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,and who meditates on his law day and night.3That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,which yields its fruit in seasonand whose leaf does not witherwhatever they do...
Keep ReadingScripture: Mark 15:1-2 "As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and the scribes and the whole Council.And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate."Mark 15:8 "And the crowd came up and asked Pilate to do as he usually did for them."Mark 15:11 "... the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release ...
Keep ReadingScripture: Mark 16:1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. Observation: Mary and Mary went early after the Sabbath to take care of Jesus. This would not have been a pleasant task given he had been in the grave for a bit. The smell, the dried blood, a stiff corpse. It was early...
Keep ReadingScripture: Mark 14:21 "The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man. It would be better for him if he had not been born" Mark14:30 To Peter, " Before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times" Observation: We have two betrayals. Judas betrays Jesus to the Sanhedrin. Peter denies Christ pub...
Keep ReadingScripture: Mark 5:29-31 Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this: 'Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' The second equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these." Observation...
Keep ReadingScripture: "But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. " (Mark 13:32-33 ESV) Observation: Jesus hasn't made it to Golgotha yet and the disciples are already asking about what the End of Days are going to look like. I guess I am ...
Keep ReadingScripture: Mark 10:23?-?25 NIV Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." ...
Keep ReadingScripture: Mark 9:33-35: 33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you discussing on the way?" 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." ...
Keep ReadingScripture: Mark 7:15 15: "Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into the. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them." Observation: Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees for their worship of human traditions (religion). They worship these over the commands of God. Verse 8: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observ...
Keep ReadingScripture: Mark 8:11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him (Jesus), seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation."Mark 8:13 And he left them..... Mark 8:17-18 Jesus said to the disciples, ... "Do you not perceive...
Keep ReadingScripture: Mark 5:34 And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, your suffering is over." Observation: The woman had been suffering for years, seen many doctors and exhausted her resources to be cured. The woman heard about Jesus' healing power. Jesus, who knows everything, was aware that he had healed the person who touched Him. The woman'...
Keep ReadingScripture: (Jesus) went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue.(and) many who heard him were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of...
Keep ReadingScripture:Mark 4:39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Observation:Jesus was at rest in the midst of a dangerous storm. How is this possible? He has authority over everything, including nature. He gets up and calms the storm with his words. Application:I find myself just like the disc...
Keep ReadingScripture: Mark 3:6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. Observation: Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. Instead of the religious leaders being amazed at the healing power of Jesus they were angered by it because it didn't fit their religious rules. Application: Religion tends to b...
Keep ReadingScripture: Mark2:21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. Observations: This parable is a response to the people asking why Jesus and his disciples didn't fast. He provided two parables to demonstrate his response. In this story, he gives the example of sewing on...
Keep ReadingScripture: Mark 1:9-12Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan.And when He came up out of the water, immediately He saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove.And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved Son, with You I am well pleased.The Spirit immediately drove Him out into the wilderness. Observation: What an amazing moment in ...
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