28 days
Acts in 28 days
How it began: from a handful of disciples in Jerusalem to Paul in Rome, one chapter a day.
Acts is the second part of Luke's work, after his gospel. It tells how the Holy Spirit sends the first Christians from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth (1:8): first Peter, then Paul. You read about courage and quarrels, prisons and shipwreck, and about ordinary people passing on the news. Read one chapter each day, like a gripping story.
0 of 28 days read
- Day 1Read Acts 1
Waiting for the Spirit
Jesus promises power from the Holy Spirit and says: you will be my witnesses, in Jerusalem and to the end of the earth (1:8). That verse is the table of contents of the whole book. Then He is taken up, and the disciples pray together, with Mary and the women.
Where might 'your Jerusalem' be, the place where you are a witness?
- Day 2Read Acts 2
Pentecost
Wind, fire and languages: the Spirit comes, and pilgrims from every country hear the gospel in their own language. Peter preaches, three thousand people are baptised, and the first church devotes itself to the apostles' teaching, the breaking of bread and the prayers (2:42).
Which of those four things from verse 42 do you miss most?
- Day 3Read Acts 3
Silver and gold I do not have
At the temple gate a lame man asks for money. Peter says: silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: in the name of Jesus, rise up and walk (3:6). The man leaps into the temple.
What do you have to give, even if it is not money?
- Day 4Read Acts 4
We cannot keep silent
Peter and John are arrested and forbidden to speak. They answer: we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard (4:20). The church prays for courage, and they share everything with one another.
Where do you need courage not to keep silent?
- Day 5Read Acts 5
Ananias and Sapphira
A married couple pretend to give everything and secretly keep back part of it. The story is hard and honest: even the first church was not perfect. Later the apostles say before the Council: we must obey God rather than men (5:29).
Where are you tempted to seem better than you are?
- Day 6Read Acts 6
Seven helpers
There is a quarrel: the Greek-speaking widows are being overlooked in the daily distribution. The apostles let the church choose seven men to look after the tables, among them Stephen. A practical problem gets a spiritual solution.
Who is being overlooked around you?
- Day 7Read Acts 7
Stephen
Stephen gives a long speech through the history of Israel and is stoned, the first martyr. As he dies he prays, just like Jesus: Lord, do not hold this sin against them (7:60). A young man, Saul, approves.
What would it take to pray for those who hurt you?
- Day 8Read Acts 8
An Ethiopian on the road
Persecution scatters the believers, and that is how the gospel reaches Samaria. On a desert road Philip meets a high Ethiopian official who is reading Isaiah but does not understand it. He explains it, and the man asks to be baptised straight away.
Who once explained the Bible to you when you did not understand it?
- Day 9Read Acts 9
Saul becomes Paul
On the way to Damascus to arrest Christians, Saul is thrown to the ground by a light: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? The frightened Ananias has to go and bless him. The persecutor becomes a brother.
Who do you actually no longer believe can change?
- Day 10Read Acts 10
Peter and Cornelius
Peter has a vision of a sheet full of unclean animals: what God has made clean, you must not call unclean. Then a Roman officer is at the door. Peter realises: God shows no partiality (10:34), and the Spirit comes on the Gentiles too.
Which boundary between people would God want to break through today?
- Day 11Read Acts 11
Christians in Antioch
In Jerusalem Peter has to explain why he ate with Gentiles. In Antioch a church of Jews and Greeks together comes into being, and there the disciples are first called 'Christians' (11:26). Barnabas, 'son of encouragement', brings Saul in.
Who could you encourage, as Barnabas did?
- Day 12Read Acts 12
An angel in the prison
King Herod has James killed and puts Peter in prison. The church prays earnestly, and an angel leads Peter out. When he knocks, the praying group does not believe it at first; the servant girl Rhoda is so overjoyed that she leaves him standing outside.
Do you really expect God to hear your prayer?
- Day 13Read Acts 13
Sent out
While the church in Antioch is praying and fasting, the Spirit says: set apart for me Barnabas and Saul. The first missionary journey begins, to Cyprus and Asia Minor. From now on Saul is called Paul, and the gospel goes deliberately to the nations.
For what task might God 'set you apart'?
- Day 14Read Acts 14
Gods or men?
In Lystra Paul heals a lame man, and the people want to worship him and Barnabas as gods. They tear their clothes: we are men like you. Shortly afterwards Paul is stoned and left for dead, and he gets up and goes on.
How do you deal with praise, and with setbacks?
- Day 15Read Acts 15
The Council of Jerusalem
Must non-Jews be circumcised to become Christians? The apostles and elders meet, listen to Peter, Paul and James, and decide: we will not lay unnecessary burdens on them. The first church assembly settles a dispute with the Scriptures and the Spirit.
How do you look for an answer together with others when Christians disagree?
- Day 16Read Acts 16
Lydia and the jailer
Paul comes to Europe, to Philippi. A businesswoman, Lydia, becomes the first believer there. Paul and Silas are flogged and thrown into prison, and sing at midnight. After an earthquake the jailer asks: what must I do to be saved? (16:30).
What would you sing at your 'midnight'?
- Day 17Read Acts 17
Paul in Athens
In Thessalonica the Christians are accused of turning the world upside down. In Berea they examine the Scriptures daily. In Athens Paul speaks to philosophers at an altar 'to an unknown god': in Him we live and move and have our being (17:28).
How would you explain the gospel to someone who knows nothing about the Bible?
- Day 18Read Acts 18
Priscilla and Aquila
In Corinth Paul works as a tentmaker with a married couple, Priscilla and Aquila. In a vision the Lord says: do not be afraid, I am with you (18:9–10). Later Priscilla and Aquila explain 'the way of God more accurately' to the learned Apollos.
How can your ordinary work be a place where your faith becomes visible?
- Day 19Read Acts 19
Riot in Ephesus
In Ephesus new believers burn their books of magic. The silversmiths, who sell figurines of the goddess Artemis, fear for their trade and stir up a riot in the theatre: great is Artemis of the Ephesians!
What would you have to give up if you really followed Jesus?
- Day 20Read Acts 20
Farewell to Ephesus
A young man falls asleep during a long sermon and falls out of the window; Paul brings him back to life. Then at Miletus Paul says goodbye to the elders: it is more blessed to give than to receive (20:35). They weep at the farewell.
Who might you need to say goodbye to with gratitude?
- Day 21Read Acts 21
To Jerusalem
Everyone warns Paul not to go to Jerusalem. He answers: I am ready to die for the name of the Lord Jesus. In the temple a riot breaks out and Roman soldiers rescue him from the crowd.
Where would you rather not go, even though you know it is right?
- Day 22Read Acts 22
Paul tells his story
On the steps of the fortress Paul tells in Aramaic how Jesus met him near Damascus. When he says that God sent him to the Gentiles, the crowd erupts. He appeals to his Roman citizenship.
How would you tell in a few minutes how you came to know Jesus?
- Day 23Read Acts 23
A conspiracy
Before the Council, Paul sows division over the resurrection. At night the Lord says to him: take courage, you must bear witness in Rome as well (23:11). Forty men swear to kill him, but Paul's nephew foils the plot.
Where do you need those words today: take courage?
- Day 24Read Acts 24
Before Felix
The Roman governor Felix likes listening to Paul about faith and justice, but when it turns to self-control and the judgement, he is alarmed: go away for now; when I have an opportunity I will send for you. Paul stays in prison for two years.
Is there something you keep putting off until 'a more convenient time'?
- Day 25Read Acts 25
I appeal to Caesar
The new governor Festus wants to send Paul back to Jerusalem. Paul appeals to Caesar, the right of a Roman citizen. King Agrippa also wants to hear him. So, through the courts, the way to Rome opens up.
How has God ever turned a difficult situation in your life into a way forward?
- Day 26Read Acts 26
Almost persuaded
Paul tells King Agrippa about his conversion. Festus shouts: you are out of your mind, your great learning is driving you mad! Agrippa says: in a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian? (26:28). Paul wishes that everyone would become as he is, except for these chains.
What would someone need to go from 'almost' to 'yes'?
- Day 27Read Acts 27
Shipwreck
On the way to Rome the ship runs into a heavy storm. For fourteen days they see neither sun nor stars. Paul, the prisoner, encourages everyone and breaks bread, and all 276 people on board reach the coast of Malta.
How can you be an encouragement to others in a storm?
- Day 28Read Acts 28
In Rome, without hindrance
On Malta Paul is bitten by a snake and suffers no harm. In Rome he lives for two years under guard in a rented house and welcomes everyone who comes. The book ends open: he proclaims with all boldness and without hindrance (28:31). The story goes on, to this day.
The book has no ending. How are you helping to write the next chapter?