2022_01_03 Insight Post- Kim Feld
This week’s reading- Acts 1-2
Happy New Year! I’m excited to begin this year’s Bible reading plan and believe it will be a significant next step from last year’s study of the four biographies of Jesus. This year, we will focus on the early church’s history, beginning with the book of Acts. We will read Acts and Paul’s letters to the churches together this year, but we will read them in chronological order of the events. The One Year Chronological Bible called 24/7 (2007) by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. was used to help develop our plan. Like last year, we will focus on one to two chapters per week. You can download the entire plan to follow along at nhcbrp.com.
The book of Acts was written by Luke, who also wrote the biography of Jesus that bears his name. You will find that Acts is written in the same style as Luke with evident attention to detail throughout. Acts is written like a sequel to Luke; Luke ends with Jesus’ ascension into heaven, and Acts picks up the story there, giving a little more detail. In Acts, we learn that Jesus appeared to his disciples and others over 40 days following His resurrection.
As we read about the early church, we hope that we will see timeless lessons for us to apply today. Living in community is difficult; there were problems in the early church, just as there are today. But our faith was never meant to be lived out alone. We were created for community. Jesus prayed in John 17 that we would be unified as believers and show a watching world something so radically different that they would be drawn to His saving grace. Let’s make 2022 the year that Northern Virginia is turned upside down by the power of love.
Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach