-
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
-
Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
-
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
-
So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.
-
and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
-
So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
-
Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
-
“This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
-
He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.
-
Philip in Samaria
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
-
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria.
-
After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
-
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.
-
Peter Explains His Actions
The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.
-
The Church in Antioch
Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews.
-
But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.
-
When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.
-
who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.
-
After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.”
-
The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.
-
On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
-
Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
-
When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
-
The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.
-
Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.
