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And because of his words many more became believers.
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Jesus Prays for All Believers
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
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Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”
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In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)
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The Fellowship of the Believers
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
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All the believers were together and had everything in common.
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The Believers Pray
On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
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The Believers Share Their Possessions
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
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The Apostles Heal Many
The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.
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When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
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When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
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He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive.
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Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
Peter at Cornelius’s House
The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along.
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The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.
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Peter Explains His Actions
The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.
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So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him
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The Council at Jerusalem
Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”
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This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
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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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Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
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The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers
Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers.
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With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.
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Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.
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After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them.
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Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas
Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.”
