Summertime StoriesSample

Acts 5:29 – 32

 29 But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. 

30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed Him by hanging Him on a cross. 

31 Then God put Him in the place of honor at His right hand as Prince and Savior. He did this so the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven. 

32 We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him.”

I love this chapter of Acts. In verse seventeen, we see this scene where the apostles are imprisoned for preaching the Gospel in the name of Jesus. Angels come and free them, and instead of running away outside of Jerusalem, they instead go straight back to preaching in the temple. In verse twenty-nine the Pharisees question the apostles and ask them why they will not stop. They answer, “We must obey God rather than men.” 

I feel like so many times in our lives, the world around us, our family, our friends, our jobs, even culture, wants us to compromise the things that God has called us to do, and the people that He has called us to be. The apostles set such a high standard of how we should lay down our lives and sacrifice our comfort and even our freedom. I pray that we, as His church, would live our lives in such a way that we wouldn’t be afraid of being judged, made fun of, or even hated so that people would come to know Jesus and be forever changed. In verse forty-two it says that even after being imprisoned, beaten, and threatened with death, that the apostles did not stop teaching in the temple every day, and teaching from house to house. 

Let’s be a church that isn’t about just coming to a building on Sundays, but instead preaches the Gospel every day to those around us — sharing the good news that God has placed in our lives even if we feel uncomfortable!