Changed

ACTS: The Great and Powerful Church
Message by Pastor Terry Crawford
Covenant Church
Shepherdstown, WV

Acts 4:1-2 HCSB

Now as they were speaking to the people, the priests, the commander of the temple police, and the Sadducees confronted them,   because they were provoked that they were teaching the people and proclaiming the resurrection from the dead, using Jesus as the example.

People get upset when you teach something they don't agree with.

Acts 4:3-4 HCSB

So they seized them and put them in custody until the next day, since it was already evening. But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about 5,000.

Life change can happen  anywhere

Acts 4:8-12 HCSB

Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders:    If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a disabled man — by what means he was healed — let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene — whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead — by Him this man is standing here before you healthy.   This ⌊Jesus⌋ is the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.    There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people, and we must be saved by it.”

The power of Jesus changes lives.

Acts 4:14-16 HCSB

And since they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in response. After they had ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin, they conferred among themselves, saying, “What should we do with these men? For an obvious sign, evident to all who live in Jerusalem, has been done through them, and we cannot deny it!

Changed lives quiet skeptics.

Acts 4:18-20 HCSB

So they called for them and ordered them not to preach or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God ⌊for us⌋ to listen to you rather than to God, you decide;   for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Changed lives tell their story.