Scripture
Acts
159 sermons
The Church in Light of Her Reigning King
Acts 4:23–31 records the early church's response to persecution: not a plea for escape, but a theologically grounded prayer for boldness. Working through this passage, the sermon traces four features of the church under pressure — her unity, her confession of God as Creator, Revealer, and Sovereign Orchestrator, her petition for gospel courage, and the divine blessing that follows. The sermon draws on Psalm 2 as the interpretive key, showing that the rage of the nations against Christ and his people is met by the laughter of the enthroned King, and that Christians in every age are called to rest on God's absolute sovereignty and pray for boldness to proclaim Christ crucified and risen.
The Words of Truth and Reason
Acts 26:18, which B. B. Warfield calls 'the summation of the gospel,' records Christ's commission to Paul: to open blind eyes, to turn sinners from the power of Satan to God, to grant forgiveness of sins, and to bring them to an eternal inheritance — all by faith alone. The sermon expounds these five gospel blessings in their natural order, showing that each presupposes the severity of the human condition: spiritual blindness, satanic bondage, guilt before a holy God, and the inability to merit anything. The application presses believers toward constant gospel-mindedness rather than a merely occasional sacramental recollection, and calls every unregenerate hearer to see their need for Christ as the only Savior.
Paul at Athens
Paul's encounter with the philosophers of Athens in Acts 17:16–34 sets the pattern for faithful gospel witness in any pagan culture. The sermon works through Paul's provocation at Athenian idolatry, his proclamation of God as sovereign Creator and righteous Judge, and his call to universal repentance grounded in the resurrection of Christ. Idolatry — whether ancient image-worship or modern self-worship, money, or pleasure — is shown to be not an approximate form of true religion but a passionate flight from God. The congregation is urged to imitate Paul: to be outraged at idolatry, to proclaim Christ without apology, and to resist the indifferentism that treats the gospel as something to consider another day.
The Conversion of Cornelius
Peter's sermon to Cornelius in Acts 10:34–48 presents the irreducible content of apostolic gospel preaching: the impartiality of God toward all nations, the person and work of Jesus Christ (his sinless life, atoning death, and bodily resurrection), his exaltation as ordained judge of the living and the dead, and the exclusive promise that remission of sins comes through his name alone to all who believe. The sermon argues that a crossless or tombless message is no gospel at all — moralism and self-improvement cannot substitute for blood atonement and imputed righteousness. Believers are called to live daily in the light of Calvary, and the unconverted are warned that rejecting the only Savior means one day facing him as judge.
The Ascension of Jesus Christ
The ascension of Jesus Christ is not a theological footnote but the capstone event that confirms the completion of His atoning work and inaugurates His present reign at the right hand of the Father. Working through Acts 1:9–11, this sermon establishes six observations: the ascension followed Christ's finished atonement, was visible and bodily, was glorious in the Shekinah cloud, sets the pattern for a literal and visible second coming, and resulted in His enthronement as Messiah-King over all nations. The enthroned Christ is the ground of Christian perseverance, bold prayer, and the church's missionary commission — and He is the only refuge for sinners who will otherwise confess Him as Lord on the day of judgment.
Paul's First Missionary Journey
Acts 13 records Paul's sermon in Pisidian Antioch, the first extended exposition of the gospel in the New Testament missionary narrative, and provides the historical backdrop for understanding why Paul wrote the epistle to the Galatians. Paul's address in the synagogue moves from Israel's redemptive history through the Davidic promise to its fulfillment in Christ's death and resurrection, culminating in a declaration that justification comes by faith alone, apart from the law of Moses — the very claim the Judaizers would later attack. The sermon also establishes that the local church, not para-church organizations or individual initiative, is the God-ordained sending structure for gospel missions, and that divine sovereignty in election (Acts 13:48) underlies every evangelistic endeavor.
The Salvation of an Ethiopian Eunuch
Acts 8:26–40 records the sovereign calling, gospel instruction, and baptism of an Ethiopian eunuch — a Gentile and a eunuch, doubly excluded from full participation in Israel's assembly, yet brought to Christ through the preaching of Philip from Isaiah 53. The sermon exposits three movements in the narrative: the Spirit's sovereign direction of Philip to the eunuch, the necessity of the proclaimed gospel for salvation, and the eunuch's believing response expressed in baptism. The occasion of eight baptisms frames the exposition as a demonstration that God saves sinners of every kind through the hearing of the gospel — the substitutionary death and resurrection of Christ — and that believer's baptism by immersion is the proper public confession of that saving faith.
The Ascension of Jesus Christ
The ascension of Jesus Christ is not religious myth but historically verified fact with profound doctrinal and practical consequences for the believer and the church. Working through Acts 1:9–11, five observations are drawn: the ascension was visible, bodily, and glorious; it sets the pattern for Christ's bodily and glorious return; and it resulted in his enthronement at the right hand of the Father. The sermon applies this doctrine to personal holiness, corporate joy, evangelistic zeal, faithfulness to the next generation, and the call to sinners to look to the enthroned Christ in faith.
Observations from Saul's Conversion
Acts 9 records the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, the church's fiercest persecutor, who became its most prolific apostolic voice. This sermon draws four observations from that account: the sovereign and victorious grace that alone explains any sinner's conversion; the inexorable strength of general and special revelation that presses against all who suppress the truth; the identity of the ultimate recipient of persecution as the risen Christ himself; and the proper, grace-saturated response believers owe to sinners who are saved. The controlling application is that no sinner lies beyond the reach of God's conquering grace, and that knowledge should fuel both intercessory prayer for the unconverted and a generous, Ananias-like welcome for those newly brought to faith.