Mark Mizer   

Acts

One of my favorite books in the New Testament is Acts. Although not used often as a reading in worship it has special meaning to me.

At one time it was thought Acts was written by the Apostle Paul. However, I think more likely it was written by several authors. We find in Acts both Disciples and Apostles, those, such as Peter who struggled with forming a church of our Christ, and Paul, who never met Christ in the flesh but had quite an encounter and conversion on the road to Damascus, when he served as a Pharisee persecuting Christ's followers.

For me, Acts serves as a linchpin between the Gospels and the Epistles; the Gospels serving as the stories of Jesus Christ in the flesh as a human, witnessing his death and Resurrection, and the Epistles of Paul who became the ultimate Evangelist, spreading the Word of Christ through much of the then civilized world. Without Paul, it is possible we Gentiles would have never known about Jesus Christ.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank you for the Disciples and the Apostles who gave their lives in your service to bring your words of light and life to us all. Amen.