In this passage, Peter and John are challenged by the religious leaders of how they were able to heal the lame man. Despite the threats imposed on them by the leaders, Peter and John stood firm in acknowledging the power and authority of Jesus Christ's name. On hearing what had happened to Peter and John, the early Christians prayed for God's help and leading and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. As Christians today, we would accept that prayer is to be an important part of our life. The practical challenge for us is how much is prayer a part of our daily life?

"We are not going to move this world by criticism of it nor conformity to it, but by the combustion within it of lives ignited by the Spirit of God." In this chapter of Acts we see the disciples waiting expectantly for the arrival of the promised Holy Spirit. When He comes in power it is in a way that none of them could have predicted, and even the people around them wonder what has happened and what it means. Peter responds to them with different types of evidence for who Jesus is, which is something all of us need to answer for ourselves today. As Peter pleads with them they respond with remorse and repentance and the church is unified, magnified and multiplied.

John 3:16 is probably the most well known passage in the Bible, but what is the context in which it comes? As Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus He reminds him of when God instructed the Israelites to look in faith to the bronze serpent in order to be saved from physical death. He then compares it to His own death and resurrection and the eternal life that comes through looking to Him. Charles Spurgeon was one man who was confronted to look to Jesus and it changed his life forever.

We know that God loves our community, but does our community know that God loves them? In today's passage we find the disciples hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jewish leaders when they have an encounter with the risen Jesus, who then blesses them with His peace before commissioning them to go out and love the world as He has done. If Jesus showed up in our community today, where would He go? Who would He help? What would He do? We can't do everything, but we can do something.

Sometimes those closest to us can be the most difficult people to love. The more we know someone, the more vulnerable we are and more likely to both cause and feel hurt. Today's message looks to the way Jesus responded to the failings of His friends (the disciples) to give us practical ways we can love those who are close. After all, "we love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).