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But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
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“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
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they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
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“Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days.
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“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.
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And Saul approved of their killing him.
The Church Persecuted and Scattered
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
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Philip in Samaria
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
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Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.
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Simon the Sorcerer
Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,
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When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria.
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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.
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Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
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So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”
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When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.
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Barnabas and Saul Sent Off
When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.
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All this took about 450 years. “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.
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The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad.
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Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them,
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They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,
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Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi
From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis.
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When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.
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As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
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But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.
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Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
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So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.
