After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said his followers would become witnesses of the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Acts 2:14-41 records a summation of their very first sermon and tells us that about 3,000 people were added to the church that day! What was that first message of the Christian church all about? Did Peter stand and talk about religious rituals, moral obligations, tithing, or starting up a building program? Join Pastor Jim as he unpacks the timeless truths of the Gospel found in the first sermon of the early Christian church.
Sermon Notes
“The more one examines the various factors which seem to account for the extraordinary victory of Christianity the more one is driven to search for a cause underlying them all. It is clear that at the very beginning of Christianity there must have occurred a vast release of energy virtually unequaled in history. Without it, the future course of the religion is inexplicable. Why this occurred may lie outside the realm in which modern historians are supposed to move.”
Kenneth Scott Latourette
Acts 2:12
- Honest Inquiry: “What does this mean?”
Acts 2:13
- Arrogant Dismissal: “These people are drunk!”
(v. 14-23)
- The Sovereignty of God
- The Sinfulness of Humankind
(v. 24-36)
- The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ
(v. 37-41)
- The Receptivity of a Pierced Heart
- The Salvation of Repentant Sinners
Religion is about what we must do or refrain from doing.
Christianity is about what Christ has done.
Religion is about behavior modification.
Christianity is about heart transformation.
The symbols of the Christian faith are not a ladder or a set of scales, but a cross and an empty tomb.
“One of the things which modern man needs saved from is a moral sense which is outraged at a divine provision of redemption.”
Carl Henry
“To knife through our pretense, cowardice, and evasions, to see the truth about ourselves and the true state of our souls before God — this requires enormous courage and ruthless trust in the merciful love of the redeeming God. Put simply, sin must be acknowledged and confessed before there can be forgiveness and real transformation.”
Brennan Manning
Ruthless Trust
“The Good News is not, ‘Here are the rules, see how many of them you can keep.’ Instead, I believe he would say, ‘Here is Jesus. See what God has done for you through him.’”
Christopher J. H. Wright