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Acts 8:26-40
Easter 5B
This section of Acts is filled with characters who challenge and expand our notion of belonging, the church and how Jesus saves. So what do we know about the man in this morning’s text? We know he was important enough to God that the Spirit sent Philip literally chasing his through the desert. We know…
Acts 4:5-12
Easter 4B
This Sunday’s text picks up in the middle of a story in which a man is healed in the name of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit. This becomes the platform for gospel proclamation in the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. “Salvation is found in no one…
Acts 3:12-19
Easter 3B
They didn’t know what they were doing or — more importantly — who they were doing it to when they handed Jesus over to be killed, disowning him before Pilate and asking for Barrabbas to be released instead. After a gut-punching litany of accusation like that, there’s a small grace, at least, in Peter’s willingness…
Acts 4:32-35
Easter 2B
As we start in on a series of texts from Acts, I’m mindful that the lectionary gives us brief excerpts drawn out of significantly longer narratives. Although you may not be able to read the full story in the Scripture reading, I think it is essential that the narrative context of these excerpts is honored…
Acts 19:1-7
Epiphany 1B
It’s even more sad than ironic that baptism is at least arguably one of the most divisive issues among Jesus’ friends. Christians whose baptism the Spirit unites sometimes argue almost endlessly with each other about things like the nature, proper timing and efficacy of baptism. Among the questions churches and denominations try to answer about…
Acts 1:1-21
Pentecost
It’s hard to remember a Pentecost Sunday on which the brokenness and division of the world into which God sent the Holy Spirit was on fuller display than 2023’s. So much pulls groups of people and nations apart that if people are to be united, something drastic must happen. Yet Luke begins his description of…
Acts 2:1-21
Pentecost
It was an annual holiday and so people knew what to expect. That’s how it goes with regularly occurring events. Yes, there can be minor variations but when it’s Christmastime, we all have our typical ways of celebrating the occasion and the same goes for Easter or Thanksgiving or even the Fourth of July. We…
Acts 1:6-14
Easter 7A
When it comes to what’s up and what’s down in this passage, there is a lot of back-and-forth when you think about it. First off, as we begin Acts, Jesus is where he has been for about the last six weeks: he is mostly here on this earth walking around with, eating dinner with, and…
Acts 17:22-31
Easter 6A
Well, you win some and you lose some. Paul had some experience with the truth of that old adage, and some of the relevant experiences can be seen in Acts 17 and Paul’s famous conversation with the Athenians at the Areopagus. The day was not without its spiritual victories. The chapter concludes by telling us…
Acts 7:55-60
Easter 5A
On the face of it, a six-verse Bible passage that centers on the brutal murder of an innocent man does not appear to be an edifying preaching text. Perhaps that seems all the more to be the case when we realize this passage is assigned in the Year A Lectionary for the Season of Eastertide…
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