Day 91 - FOUNDATION STONES IN A YEAR
Reading: Acts 2: 14-40
“It is doubtful there would be any such thing today as Christianity apart from the belief that Jesus came alive again after he was killed”. So says Professor David Seccombe in the opening lines of his book The King of God’s Kingdom – and it is no exaggeration; for Christianity as we know it, began with Peter’s impassioned sermon at Pentecost in which he announced that Jesus was alive.
During our Faith Station devotions this month we’ll be looking at the resurrection of Jesus – the subject that lay at the heart of most early-Church preaching and that lies at the heart of Easter in ever-increasing significance.
Picture the scene with me if you will. Peter, fisherman Peter, deny Jesus three times Peter, going back to fishing Peter, is preaching the first-ever Gospel sermon in the world – to a hostile and unbelieving audience – and what is the focus of his sermon? The resurrection.
I don’t know about you, but if I was going to try and win people over to my way of thinking, I wouldn’t start with a thoroughly unbelievable story about someone being raised from the dead! Especially if that someone had recently been crucified by the very people I was preaching to! Yet, something caused Peter to start there. Emboldened by the Holy Spirit he felt compelled to tell what he believed was the most important thing about Jesus – God had raised him from the dead.
We are going to spend this Easter looking at much of what the Bible has to say about the resurrection. The fact that Peter chose to make this the subject of the very first sermon makes it especially exciting and significant for us.
Prayer
Father, as I give myself to the study of the resurrection this month, will you please open your Word and my heart to grant me a knowledge of the truth, Your truth…that sets me free.
For the family
You will find the resource below a helpful guide to celebrating Easter with the family