Acts of the Apostles: Yeshua Continues What He Began

I usually begin the message directly with prayer. But before I pray, I want all of us to pray together. So, before we begin this journey, I want to say a few words.

We are starting a little late today. Clearly, there has been a great deal of spiritual warfare to get to this moment, even delaying us another week. That is not to say that what the Lord intends to do can be stopped, because no one can stop what belongs to the Lord. But many things have been affecting me and my thoughts, attempting to distort and disrupt this process, bringing in stress, anxiety, worry, fear, and all kinds of concerns, right up to this very moment.

As I was getting ready, changing my clothes, and preparing to come here, Renee said to me, “Don't worry. Even if today ends up being only prayer, only preparation for what is to come, let today be a day of prayer and preparation. If that is what is needed today, then so be it.”

Of course, I have prepared my notes, and we will get into today's message. But when she said that, I began to think. At that moment, God immediately brought an image to mind from a television public service announcement I had seen in the 1990s. That image has stayed with me.

I don't know whether you remember, but for a while back then, parents were constantly reminded that if there was a gun in the house, it must be locked in a safe. In the late 1990s, a series of incidents occurred in which children took out their parents' guns and ended up shooting their own friends. It happened again and again, and I have always remembered those news stories.

The Lord brought that image back to my mind, and then He said to me:

“I am placing a loaded gun in your hands.”

Everything you are about to learn, everything you are about to receive, is like a loaded gun. It can be a tool or a weapon; it can protect life, or it can cause your own death, even the death of others.

As I prayed about this, the Lord showed me that before a person can use such a tool and obtain a license to use it, that person must first be trained. They must understand the tool itself and their own relationship to it.

You must know what it is, how it should be used, when it must not be used, how it should be carried, when it should not be carried, and even when it is appropriate to let others know you have it.

Usually, this tool is carried concealed. You carry it with you, but when you enter a place, you have confidence within because you know you are protected. You walk with confidence and are not easily shaken by what is happening around you.

At the same time, however, you must be trained in discipline. You must know that when someone cuts you off on the road or shouts at you, that is absolutely not the time to use this tool.

This tool may be used only within very clear limits. Only when a force proportionate to the threat you face is coming against you may you touch it. You cannot use it because someone yells at you, spits in your face, or even slaps or punches you.

No.

Only in very clear and specific circumstances may this tool be used.

God kept showing me this in prayer. He said, “I am placing this tool in your hands.”

This is a powerful tool that can protect you and those you love. In the right situation, when God sends you as He sent Joshua, it can also be a tool for offense; but it can also be a tool for defense.

That image shook me. I thought, “Wow, we really need to pray about this.”

I have also prepared an introduction to Acts itself, but this is like an introduction to the prayer, an “introduction before the introduction.”

I want us to pray that God will make us careful. Because if you are not careful, this tool could also become spiritual suicide. We have seen people handle a gun recklessly and end up shooting themselves.

So we must understand the tool, our relationship to it, and ourselves and the tendencies within us.

From now on, we must be disciplined. We cannot reach for this tool the moment we feel fear, anger, or worry. We must become more mature.

So, let us pray.

Abba, Father, Lord, I thank You for this season. Thank You for where You are leading us, where You have already brought us, for placing us where we stand today, and for everything You have prepared for the future.

Lord God, in Your Word You tell us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood. We are not fighting human beings; we are fighting spiritual powers that truly exist.

We face a kingdom of spiritual influence, a realm of evil spirits with ranks, rulers, authorities, and spiritual powers in high places.

You have clothed and adorned us with the full armor and given us weapons. This armor and these weapons are for warfare and defense, but they also establish our identity.

So I pray and ask, Lord, as we enter Your Word, this teaching, and this season, make us mature, help us grow, and refine us.

Help us to be salt and light. Help us to be confident in the power and authority You have placed in our hearts, hands, and minds.

Lord God, I pray that You will not leave us as the people we once were. Help us understand our relationship to the tool You have placed in our hands, how it should be used, and how it should be returned to its holster.

Help us understand how to allow this tool to shape our identity so that we truly understand kingly authority.

But Lord God, this authority is not for dominating others, waving it around, showing it off, or using it to hurt people.

Lord God, we must be very careful, because this tool could even destroy the eternity of those we love.

Lord, we must understand that it can be used to destroy or to build; it can strengthen; it can help us rise; and it can indeed be used in spiritual warfare.

Yes, of course it can.

We have seen how Joshua entered the promised land. He was given everything needed for battle, to fight, reclaim the promised land, win the victory, and take possession of the land You declared to be his.

But Lord God, I pray that You will give us the same discipline.

We have sat at the Lord's feet. You have given us two years of preparation. Please do not let those two years remain merely knowledge in our heads.

Lord, let these teachings truly change and renew us from the deepest part of our being: change the way we speak, the way we act, the way we relate to others, and the way we take the gospel of the kingdom to the ends of the earth.

So Lord God, I pray that the season we are about to enter will be a blessing to us.

Lord, keep us throughout this process. Make Your face shine upon us and be gracious to us, because our desire is to please You and dwell in Your perfect will.

Lord, turn Your face toward us and let us dwell in Your shalom, Your peace. Father God, as we receive this teaching and apply it to our lives, make our goal clear.

We pray that goal now.

Lord God, may our goal be this: teach and train us to understand how to live out this faith and the way of Messiah as the first apostles truly did.

Let us, as the kahal, the assembly called together, be ready like the wise virgins for the next stage, the next chapter, and Your next coming.

So Lord God, I pray that You will make us ready, fully equip us, and open our eyes. When You call us, let us be ready to sound the teruah, the shout or trumpet blast, and cry aloud.

Lord God, I also pray that You will anoint us to be kings and priests, messengers and ambassadors of Yeshua's kingdom.

Amen.

Good morning.

Shabbat shalom.

Welcome back, everyone, after a few weeks away.

Today is a very exciting day for me. I hope it is equally exciting for you, because today we are finally beginning our study of the Acts of the Apostles.

That means today we will survey the historical background. At least, we will begin establishing the historical background of Acts.

Over the next few weeks, we will first examine in depth the author's purpose in writing, the people to whom he wrote, and how the book was received at the time.

But more importantly, we will discuss Acts as a whole. We will understand it both practically, as a work in its own right, and spiritually.

We will study it chronologically.

We will talk about all its important figures and their relationships with one another, with God's kingdom, and with Paul.

We will also discuss the controversies surrounding the book.

We will discuss some key events in history that ultimately contributed to the Acts of the Apostles being included in the biblical canon.

We will also talk about events and about those who spared no effort, doing everything they could to keep Acts from ever coming to light.

We will see how these events have shaped Christianity today.

Today we have a great deal of background to cover, which means we will not get very far into the text itself. But beloved, everything we discuss today is extremely, extremely important.

The information we are about to study will completely change your entire paradigm for receiving the gospel of the kingdom; it will completely change the way you understand Yeshua's ministry; and it will change your understanding of your identity, what we often call “our identity in Christ.”

It will change the way we understand Shaul of Tarsus, Paul, and his ministry.

It will also help us understand what our ultimate goal is.

Why are we beginning this journey? Why study Acts?

Our goal in studying the Acts of the Apostles in 2026 is to understand how to apply correctly and appropriately to ourselves everything Yeshua taught the apostles in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

We will examine how the early assembly received Yeshua's message, His commission, and His ministry, and how they applied it all in their lives and community.

That is our goal.

Thus, our goal is also to understand how the early assembly actually practiced what we today call church.

What was its structure at the time?

Even then, what things were being adjusted, corrected, and perfected?

How should we reproduce the pattern established by the early apostles and later expanded by Paul?

How should we follow Messiah's leading through the words of His disciples?

And how does Paul help us understand anew the whole pattern and the ministry originally established by Peter and James, Yeshua's brother?

For the past two years, we have studied Yeshua's ministry.

We have walked through His ministry with Him in chronological order. This has also made us His disciples.

The goal of the past two years was for us to identify so deeply with those disciples that we felt as though we had experienced it all ourselves.

Because we studied chronologically, about nine times out of ten, when we came to a biblical festival, the actual calendar had brought us to that same festival.

That was entirely God's doing.

We journeyed from 2024 to 2026.

Now we will also study Acts chronologically.

It will take about a year to complete this study.

You are committing one year of your life to this.

That is no small thing.

A lot can happen in a year.

On average we will study about two chapters a week, more or less. At that rate, we will finish the book around March 2027.

So we must prepare for the long term.

But today and next week we will establish the foundation. These two weeks are extremely important.

We already know what happens if a building's foundation is laid incorrectly. It may be off by only a millimeter at first, but by the time you reach the third floor, the windows will not fit.

Then everything begins to crack.

What we discuss today is the foundation.

So over the next few weeks, we must truly focus and remain alert. We need to pay attention not only to what I am saying, but to what Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, is saying to you through my words.

That is what matters most.

I will provide a great deal of information. At times it will be very technical and very “nerdy,” because in these first two weeks we need to understand the book, its background, its author, and those who originally received it.

But amid all this knowledge, I pray that through the Ruach, the Spirit, you will receive wisdom to understand how to apply it.

That is my prayer.

Today we will unpack the background of the entire book. I pray that you will receive spiritual revelation in it, because even amid a great deal of information and data, Ruach HaKodesh is still at work.

But there will also be distractions.

Just as there will be revelation, there will also be distraction. Revelation and distraction are always present together.

Another goal of studying Acts in 2026 is to learn to distinguish the two correctly.

What is revelation? What is distraction?

When the Lord gives us direction, we must eventually be able to say clearly, “Ah, this is not from God. Yes, this is from God.”

That is also one of our goals: to know exactly, without doubt, whether what we receive comes from God or from the devil.

Just as when Paul was continually harassed by the slave girl who practiced divination. Do you remember?

That was a moment requiring profound discernment.

Was this from the Lord or from the devil?

The woman practicing divination said, “These men are servants of Ha’Elyon, God Most High, and they are telling you the way of salvation.”

That is what the woman said, recorded in Acts 16:17.

And Paul took several days to make a judgment.

He is teaching us something there.

We will come to that later. It will be another twenty or twenty-five weeks before we reach that passage.

But Paul had to discern: was this from the Ruach, the Spirit, or from HaSatan, Satan?

Likewise, as we study Acts, we too will gradually gain that ability.

We will receive the same training and learn to discern: Is this distraction or revelation? An obstacle or an opportunity? Is it “go” or “stop”?

We will learn to make judgments correctly.

That is one of our goals and intentions in studying Acts.

Today and next week, we will lay the foundation for this.

Because, beloved, if we cannot understand the Gospels through the lens of the Acts of the Apostles, and if we cannot understand Paul correctly, do you know what will happen?

We will invent a new religion.

Did you know there are more than 45,000 Christian denominations in the world today?

From one Jesus and one message, more than 45,000 denominations have developed worldwide.

In the United States alone, there are an estimated 200 to 1,200 denominations.

Why?

Why has this happened?

Do you know the reason?

It is because of a lack of knowledge and a lack of wisdom.

That is why Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Psalms continually proclaim the importance of knowledge and wisdom.

So to say that 2026 is very important is an understatement.

Those of you who have followed us over the past two years, studying Yeshua's ministry piece by piece and detail by detail, will cherish this year.

Do you know what it will feel like?

It will be like entering the promised land.

If, over the past few years, you have felt that you were on the edge of something, saying in your heart, “I am trying to get in. I know the promise is there, the promised land is ahead,” then that is what 2026 will feel like.

This will be the year of crossing the threshold and entering the land.

But beloved, the work is not finished once we enter.

Do you know what happens next?

That is when the real work of building God's house begins.

So let us fasten our seat belts and begin.

When you study the Gospels, Paul's letters, and Acts, and then look at modern Christianity and the present condition of the church, one thing becomes very clear:

Christianity is built on an assumption that has almost never been seriously examined.

That assumption is that Yeshua's death, resurrection, ascension, and coronation marked the beginning of an entirely new religion.

Modern Christianity today basically operates on that assumption.

The story it tells goes something like this:

At the cross, the Torah, the Law, was abolished.

The Law, together with sickness, suffering, all evil, and everything old, was nailed to the wood.

Then humanity entered a brand-new “church age” of grace.

That is the narrative.

That is how modern Christianity operates today.

In this narrative, covenant faithfulness and covenant fidelity are replaced by a single verbal confession.

We call it the “sinner's prayer.”

In the way modern Christianity operates, you no longer need covenant faithfulness. As long as you say the “sinner's prayer” aloud, that is enough.

You say this prayer and secure your eternal destination. The matter is settled, right?

You're fine. You will go to heaven. Everything is done.

So, for almost all of Christianity, the resurrection represents a clean, clear, complete break: a separation from the so-called “old Jewish covenant” into something completely different and entirely new, something called Christian and Christianity.

What happens then?

Moshe, Moses, is set aside.

The prophets are set aside.

Every book from Malachi backward is set aside.

Sinai is completely rejected.

The commandments are no longer seen as covenant instruction, but as a relic, something ancient, old, and belonging to the past.

People say, “Of course it is good to know about these things. They have historical value, can help us understand the roots and foundation of the faith, and increase our knowledge of history.”

But they are no longer considered spiritual doctrine and a life of faith that we actually practice today.

More interestingly, in many theological systems people do not merely say that the Law of Moses has been “fulfilled.” “Fulfilled” is a safer word.

Some even say that the Law of Moses and the way of Yeshua are fundamentally incompatible.

They even say the two belong to completely different worlds.

The Law of the Old Testament is not merely different from Yeshua's new way; it is hostile to it, hostile to Messiah.

Because, according to this account, Messiah came to bring love and grace, while the Old Testament Law speaks of works, punishment, and labor.

But do you know what is interesting?

If you read Luke and Acts as a unified historical and theological work, treating them as one complete book, that supposed break at Yeshua's death and resurrection disappears.

It disappears completely.

Because you discover there is no break at all. It is one continuous story from beginning to end.

It is a unified, continuing narrative.

Acts does not reveal an entirely new religion prepared specifically for Gentiles and born from the death of Judaism.

It does not do that.

You will find that what Acts actually presents is the continuation of Israel's story, empowered by Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit.

It is the continuation of Israel's story, empowered by Ruach HaKodesh.

And this story is now given to all who are willing to take up their cross and follow.

If you are willing to take up your cross and follow, this story can become yours too.

When we truly enter Acts, we will read that the apostles continued to go to the Temple.

They did not leave the Temple.

They did not suddenly say, “Ah, the Temple is now a Jewish place; let's go home and start a church.”

No.

Their “church” was the Temple.

They also continued to pray at the appointed hours of prayer.

Do you remember Daniel? People were listening outside and saw him praying at the appointed times. They said, “He is praying. He is praying to the wrong god at the appointed times. We have to tell the emperor.”

So they went and reported him.

The apostles continued to observe those hours of prayer established by God long ago, following Messiah's teaching after His death, resurrection, and ascension.

So they continued going to the Temple and praying at the appointed hours.

Guess what else they did?

They quoted Moses.

They quoted the prophets.

And they quoted Moses and the prophets as authoritative words.

They did not interpret the resurrection as a departure from covenant fidelity.

They saw the resurrection as the covenant finally being vindicated.

The covenant was shown to be faithful.

The covenant was finally made manifest in a real, clear, tangible way. It is real, it is here, and it is yours too.

So the question was never whether grace exists.

Of course grace exists.

The real question is: Did grace ever mean abandoning covenant faithfulness? Or is grace itself the power by which the covenant can finally be truly lived out from within the human heart?

What does this mean?

It means that because of Ruach HaKodesh, the covenant can be faithfully lived out through a person's will, thoughts, and emotions.

Remember how we have always defined grace at Family Life.

Grace is power, a gift freely given by God, the power He gives us to fulfill the covenant, the Law, the Torah, and the commandments.

Not under compulsion, but from a desire within us; not out of pain, but out of inner joy.

We can obey from within, from the depths of our hearts.

Then we discover that Jeremiah's prophecy is being lived out in us.

Jeremiah chapter 31.

As we read Acts, we discover that the Law is indeed written on our hearts.

This empowers believers to remain faithful to the covenant inwardly, outwardly, and completely.

That is what Acts reveals to us.

Beloved, when Luke wrote Luke and then Acts, they were not written as two separate books.

No.

Originally they were one work, titled History of Christian Origins.

When Luke wrote to Theophilus, it was one book in two volumes, titled History of Christian Origins.

It was two volumes of a unified work.

The contents of Luke were the first volume, and the contents of Acts were the second, but originally they belonged to the same unified book.

Because they were originally one work, rather than the two separate books we see today, they initially circulated as one work among Jews and Gentiles.

Later, this unified two-volume work was divided into two books.

We will talk about who separated them.

Once separated, they were never put back together.

After the two volumes were separated, each received its own name and independent identity.

From then on, people no longer read them as a unified, continuous work, in the way the author originally wrote them and expected readers to receive them.

The moment Luke's original work was divided into two books, the way people received them changed too.

One volume became Luke, and the other became Acts.

And when you read them again as one unified narrative, you immediately discover that Luke is not describing a religious break.

Luke is describing the fulfillment and expansion of the covenant and the inner transformation, through Ruach HaKodesh, of believers in a covenant relationship with God the Father.

That is what he is describing.

That one difference changes everything.

Luke–Acts is one complete story.

Now I want you to hear what Luke tells us very clearly at the beginning of the second volume, in Acts 1:1.

“Dear Theophilus.”

I am reading Acts 1:1 now.

He says:

“In the former book, I wrote about all that Yeshua began to do and teach until the day He was taken up, after giving instructions through Ruach HaKodesh to the messengers He had chosen.”

I want you first to notice the word “began.”

“Dear Theophilus, in the former book I wrote about all that Yeshua began to do and teach.”

This is the first sentence, and it is very important.

If there is a beginning, that implies a continuation and an end, doesn't it?

The purpose of the first volume was to show us what Yeshua began to do and teach.

The word “began” in verse 1 is archomai in Greek, Strong's number 756.

Archomai: to begin.

Seven hundred and fifty-six.

It means that something began in the order of time.

Time brings order; time brings structure. In the order of time, archomai means that something formally starts, something is set in motion.

So Luke is essentially saying, “I have recorded something that began and will continue until it is completed.”

“Dear Theophilus, in the former book I wrote about all that Yeshua began to do and teach.”

Beloved, Luke is not saying that the first volume, Luke, contains the complete story of all Yeshua's work.

We must understand that Luke is not the whole story of Yeshua and the kingdom of God.

We often think that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the beginning, middle, and end of Yeshua's ministry.

No.

His work continues.

Luke is saying that Luke records only the beginning.

Therefore the second volume, what we call Acts, records the continuation of the work Yeshua began.

If the first volume records what He “began” to do, then the second volume is naturally what He continues to do, right?

That makes sense, doesn't it?

Do you see what I am saying?

Do you see why this difference is so important?

When you separate Luke and Acts, you are saying, “This is one thing, and that is another.”

Although they were written by the same person, you treat them as two different things.

But when you put them together, you are saying, “This is one complete whole.”

You have to read from beginning to end, because the end connects to the beginning.

It is one unified story.

Therefore Acts is essential to understanding Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, because Acts is the continuation of the story.

They are unified.

So the work we have done over the past two years has an extremely important connection to the work of the coming year.

It is all one long process.

If Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John record what Yeshua began to do, Acts records what Yeshua continues to do.

Only now, He continues His work through the Ruach and His apostles.

And through us.

That is why we are still continuing Acts.

We are His messengers.

Yeshua is still continuing to work.

What does this mean?

It means that if you do not read Acts as the second volume of the same mission and the same unified story, you cannot truly and faithfully understand the gospel of the kingdom that Yeshua proclaimed.

The message of the kingdom did not end at the resurrection.

Many people think the kingdom message ended there and something new began afterward.

But no.

The story continues.

No new religion was invented.

The same story and the same covenant fidelity continue, only now expanded.

More than that, it is now taking root in human hearts through Ruach HaKodesh.

Now I want to compare the beginning of Acts with the beginning of Luke.

Let us read Luke 1:1–4. I will read from a simpler translation, the New International Version.

Luke chapter 1:

“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us.”

Who are these “many”?

Who is he talking about?

He is talking about Matthew and Mark. John wrote later, so Luke is speaking primarily about Matthew and Mark here.

He may also be talking about some other so-called Gnostic gospels.

There were many other accounts of the gospel at the time. Some were utterly absurd heresies; others had some historical value but were not considered part of the unified story God intended to accomplish in His body.

They might provide some information, but they were not the inspired, unified witness.

There were also works about which people would ask, “Is it or isn't it? Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't.”

But in any case, we know Matthew and Mark fit what Luke is speaking of here.

He says:

“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us.”

He includes himself in “us.”

“Just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.”

Who is he talking about?

Peter, James, John, the apostles, and the disciples.

And the 120 people who had walked with Yeshua.

Jesus' mother was there. Mary Magdalene was there. Yeshua's brother James was there too, the one who later became a leader of the assembly.

They are all included.

Luke is saying, “These people were eyewitnesses. They handed these things down to us. They had been with Yeshua and experienced it all firsthand. They lived with Him, ate with Him, and stayed with Him. They were at His side and heard Him speak with their own ears.”

These eyewitnesses were still alive, still among them, and personally told Luke about these things.

Then verse 3 says:

“Since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I decided to write a detailed, orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know with certainty that what you have been taught is true.”

So Theophilus was a disciple.

He was already receiving instruction and learning these things.

But Luke decided to go further and conduct a very thorough investigation, so that Theophilus would not receive them by faith alone, but could also have solid facts, knowledge, and understanding of what had happened.

Theophilus was truly blessed.

He had already received these teachings by faith and sat at the feet of teachers and apostles, listening to God's Word in the Temple.

But on top of all that, Luke would compile for him a detailed, technical, investigated record, so that he could know, know, truly know, without any doubt:

All of this really happened.

And it happened just as he had been taught.

Luke is also telling us that to have this complete certainty, you need to put Luke and Acts together.

When you study the early Christian witnesses, those who were personally there, you find that they all connected Luke with both the Gospel and Acts.

They treated it as a unified work.

Even some early church fathers, such as Irenaeus, who lived in the second century and whom we have studied in depth before, confirmed that Luke was Paul's companion.

He regarded Luke as an extremely important transmitter of apostolic history.

Irenaeus believed that anyone who accepted Luke also had to accept Luke's testimony about Paul.

If you are going to accept Matthew, Mark, and Luke, then you must also accept Luke's testimony about who Paul was.

Beloved, the only correct way to understand Paul is through Acts.

There are some crucial chapters and passages in Acts that will help you understand Paul.

We will not discuss them in detail today.

Peter himself also said that Paul's message was sometimes difficult to understand.

Sometimes when I read Paul's letters, I think, “I know there cannot be a contradiction here. So if it looks like a contradiction, I must be missing something.”

I remind myself again and again, “There is no contradiction, no contradiction, no contradiction. Therefore there must be something I do not yet understand.”

But some people say, “No, there is a contradiction. So I will choose this side.”

Much of Christianity today has become more like the “church of Paul” than the “church of Christ.”

If you ask someone about their theological views, they are more likely to answer from Paul's letters than from the words Jesus Himself spoke in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

People will even put Jesus' words aside because they think Paul said something.

They say, “Yes, but what does Paul say here?”

In effect, they are saying, “I follow Paul rather than Jesus.”

When they cannot reconcile the two, they remain in a state of uncertainty:

“I don't know. I don't understand. I'll accept it by faith and move on.”

But you do not have to do that.

Acts will help us understand Paul and reconcile everything Paul says.

If you accept Luke as authoritative, you must accept Luke's testimony about Paul.

Because Luke clearly tells you who Paul is, how to receive him, how to understand him, what his passion and desire are, and what his mission is.

Because Luke was there.

He did these things together with Paul.

They traveled together.

Irenaeus said you cannot accept one and reject the other.

If you accept Luke's authority, you must accept Luke's testimony about Paul. Only then can you properly understand Paul's authority.

Otherwise you will invent a new religion.

So who was Irenaeus?

Let us briefly look at his history.

Irenaeus of Lyon was a Greek-speaking bishop.

Do you know where he originally came from?

He came from Smyrna.

He actually grew up in the assembly of Smyrna.

Do you remember the seven assemblies of Asia Minor and the prophecy concerning Smyrna?

That is where Irenaeus studied and was taught.

Do you know who his pastor was?

Polycarp.

Polycarp was the pastor of the assembly in Smyrna.

Once we go deeper into Acts, we will study these people.

Irenaeus sat and listened to Polycarp preach.

Now, do you know who Polycarp's pastor was?

Who led Polycarp? Whose teaching did Polycarp hear? From whom did his faith come?

John.

John himself.

Polycarp listened to John's teaching, and Irenaeus listened to Polycarp's.

Do you remember how we previously discussed the resistance of Smyrna and the assemblies of Asia Minor to Constantine?

They refused to accept the path later promoted by the Council of Nicaea.

In fact, divisions had already appeared within the assemblies before the Council of Nicaea.

The bishop of Rome had been trying to influence the seven assemblies of Asia Minor and change their practices.

But those assemblies said:

“How dare you do this? We are the seven assemblies of Asia Minor. We received teaching directly from John, and John leaned against the Lord's chest. You cannot tell us what to do.”

The bishop of Rome could only think, “How am I going to control them?”

For a long time they could only set the matter aside, until Constantine appeared.

What Constantine said was, “You must change or face the sword.”

He was not joking.

Irenaeus was a highly influential figure in that tradition. He received Polycarp's teaching, and Polycarp received John's.

Thus Irenaeus became an important bridge between the assemblies after the apostles and the next generation.

One of his most famous works is called Against Heresies, written around AD 180.

Do you know why he wrote it?

Because Gnosticism was rising on a massive scale, and many forms of Christianity today are also influenced by Gnosticism.

Irenaeus wrote to defend what he called the apostolic rule of faith publicly handed down by the assemblies.

Historically, he is important because he is the earliest surviving voice to insist that the assembly must accept all four canonical Gospels together.

He insisted on retaining Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

He was the first to say clearly, “All four must be retained; all four must be used.”

He said none of the four could be omitted; they need one another, and all are authoritative.

But when he spoke of Luke, he also included Acts.

In Irenaeus's teaching, Luke and Acts are connected.

The reason he insisted so strongly and firmly on retaining Acts was that he was fighting head-on against a very wealthy and influential shipping merchant at the time.

That man's name was Marcion.

Irenaeus wrote Against Heresies to counter the enormous influence Marcion exerted from Rome.

Marcion devoted his life to one claim: Jesus established a new Gentile religion composed of Gentiles; Jesus' work meant a break with the Jewish way and established Christianity.

That was Marcion's claim.

Who else preserved the early tradition that Luke–Acts was originally a unified work?

There is a name you may hear and say, “Oh, him.”

Our old friend Eusebius.

Interestingly, Eusebius also said that Luke and Acts originally belonged to the same work.

As we have said before when discussing Eusebius, he did do some positive things, but his fear of the emperor also led him to do some negative things.

Eusebius said Luke first wrote the Gospel and then wrote what he called “another book,” Acts.

By Eusebius's time they had already been separated, so he called Acts “another book.”

But he still said the two volumes were completed as part of the same plan, with some material drawn from Luke's own eyewitness experience.

Thus Luke personally knew how those events happened. He was qualified and had the authority to bring the two volumes together as a unified whole.

Another surviving ancient document is called the Muratorian Fragment.

You can look it up.

The Muratorian Fragment is generally thought to date from the late second century, approximately the same period as Irenaeus.

The fragment explicitly says:

“The acts of the apostles were written in one book.”

In this ancient document it also connects Luke, Acts, and Theophilus.

To this day, the fragment is used to help confirm Luke as the author.

So the unity of Luke–Acts is not an idea suddenly invented by modern scholarship.

Very early tradition spoke about the two books this way.

Even after they circulated separately as two volumes, people continued trying to connect them and repeatedly emphasized:

“They are one. They are one. They are one.”

Even after the two volumes had been separated, people continued for a time to insist that they were originally one work.

Isn't that interesting?

I find it very interesting. Once the two books were separated, people still strongly wanted to put them back together and make sure they were read as a unified whole.

You have to ask: Why?

Why did the early believers care so much about this?

Because Luke–Acts opens up the gospel of the kingdom to us and tells us how to build Christ's assembly, body, and community.

Now I want to discuss the dating of Acts.

Scholars debate exactly when Acts was written, and their views can broadly be divided into three groups.

The first group places it from the early to the mid-to-late AD 60s, before the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem.

The Temple was actually destroyed in AD 68, not AD 70. We discussed this in the final sessions of our Gospel study.

If you calculate according to the chronology and relevant information, the Temple was destroyed in AD 68.

The later widespread use of AD 70 is also connected with Eusebius, because he needed a neat number to correspond to calculations concerning Jesus' three-year ministry and related prophecies.

So the first group dates Acts before the destruction of the Temple, around the mid-60s AD.

The second group, the majority in modern scholarship today, dates Acts between AD 80 and 90, ten to twenty years after the Temple was destroyed.

This is very, very important.

There is a third group, a small number of scholars. They push the writing date very late into the second century, some placing it around AD 120, 140, or 150.

So which is it?

Which is correct?

It depends on your presuppositions.

It also depends on what you want to prove.

The date you choose is often related to the position you have already accepted before beginning your study.

If you believe Jesus established a new religion entirely different from Yahovah's original purpose, it is more convenient for you to place Acts after the destruction of the Temple.

If you believe the Bible is not inspired by Ruach HaKodesh at all, but is simply an excellent historical record of a prophet and related events, you may push the date to AD 140, 150, or 160 and view it as a history book written by later generations.

But if you believe Yeshua is the bridge through whom Yahovah's desire for the covenant established at Sinai can be fulfilled in every believer, you are more likely to date Acts before the Temple's destruction.

You are also more likely to see the Temple as part of the life of faith at that time.

Beloved, the Temple and its destruction are a major dividing point in our understanding of the practice of faith.

Because the apostles still went to the Temple. That was part of the way of Yeshua.

But once the Temple was destroyed, many things had to be reconsidered.

So the Temple and its destruction, and how we in 2026 should respond to that destruction, are very important.

We need first to see how they lived before the Temple was destroyed, and then how they responded afterward, in order to understand how we today, living after its destruction, should practice our faith.

The Temple is the key pivot here.

And there is considerable evidence supporting the view that Acts was written before the Temple's destruction.

This is not merely based on a presupposition.

The first evidence is that the people, events, and historical setting in Acts all correspond to the mid-to-late AD 60s.

When I say “the sixties,” I do not mean the 1960s, but approximately AD 64 to 68.

The kings, emperors, governors, procurators, councils, and journeys in it all fit the mid-to-late AD 60s.

They also correspond with the people, places, and events Josephus mentioned in his writing, because Josephus was writing in that era.

When Josephus says “my emperor” and mentions an emperor of that time, such as Nero, that corresponds to the historical setting described in Acts.

These were the people, events, times, and places of that period.

Josephus also provides some extrabiblical evidence for the chronology in Acts.

For example, Josephus mentions Theudas. Theudas appeared in the AD 40s during the governorship of Cuspius Fadus.

Theudas led a failed rebellion.

After Messiah's death, resurrection, and ascension, there was a revolt in Judea against Roman rule.

Gamaliel also spoke about this in Acts 5.

Gamaliel said, “Many people claiming to be messiahs have already appeared.”

Theudas was actually a fraud. He claimed he could part the Jordan River.

At that time, only about seven or eight years had passed since everything that happened to Yeshua. People's emotions were still intense, and they kept talking about how the risen Christ had appeared to people over forty days.

All of this was still very fresh and very real.

Theudas took advantage of those emotions.

He came forward and said, “I have parted the Jordan River.”

He was eloquent and gathered a large crowd, stirring their emotions until they eventually launched a rebellion.

The rebellion was suppressed by Cuspius Fadus and failed completely.

Acts 5 mentions this, and Josephus also places it in the AD 40s.

So Acts describes it as though recounting events happening in its own time.

Similarly, there is Judas the Galilean.

You know the story of Judas the Galilean, right?

When Josephus mentions him, he connects him with the registration in the time of Quirinius.

Acts likewise mentions Judas in the context of the relevant registration.

But one of the most persuasive pieces of evidence that the events in Acts happened in that era, and that Luke was a contemporary author, is what scholars call the “we passages.”

These are very clear evidence that Luke was not only alive and writing when those things happened, but also participated in them himself.

He was closely involved in what the apostles were doing and was recording his own eyewitness testimony.

Some of these things may have been compiled several years later, but Luke was indeed there at the time.

And Luke could not live forever, so he could not have written all this as late as AD 140, right?

The “we passages” appear mainly in Acts chapters 16, 20, 21, 27, and 28.

Chapters 16, 20, 21, 27, and 28.

Let me read one of them so you understand what I mean by a “we passage.”

We have actually already mentioned this part.

Please turn to Acts 16:9–18. I will use the Complete Jewish Bible.

Verse 9:

“During the night Shaul, Paul, saw a vision. A man from Macedonia stood there begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’”

This was the vision Shaul, Paul, saw.

“After he had seen the vision, we immediately prepared to go to Macedonia, because we concluded that God had called us to proclaim the good news to the people there.”

Do you see it?

“We immediately prepared.”

The writer says Paul had just seen a vision and come out of it. The Macedonian man said, “Please come to Macedonia and help us.”

Then Paul said to them, “Everyone, we have to go to Macedonia.”

The writer means, “Paul came to us and told us about the vision. So we immediately made a decision: Paul has just seen a vision; let's go.”

That is a “we passage.”

Next, verse 11:

“We sailed from Troas straight to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, and from there went to Philippi. Philippi is an important city in that region and a Roman colony.”

Luke is describing how they traveled to Macedonia in response to Paul's vision.

After seeing the vision, Paul said, “Everyone, I know what our next instruction is. We are going to Macedonia.”

So Luke says, “We came here first, then there, and from there went on to the next place.”

Then he says:

“We stayed in that city for several days.”

Luke ate with them, spent time with them, and stayed there with them.

He was part of this narrative.

“On Shabbat we went outside the city gate to the river, because we knew a minyan, a prayer gathering, would meet there. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered.”

Among the listeners was a woman from Thyatira named Lydia, a merchant who sold purple cloth.

You can see how God led Paul to meet the people who would play key roles in his mission, in the way God had arranged.

As Luke records these events, he is filled with wonder at them.

It is as though he is saying, “I was there. I heard about that vision firsthand. Let me tell you how this vision led us through a series of remarkable events, ultimately bringing us to this woman.”

When they met Lydia, she was already a worshiper of God.

The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Shaul, Paul, said.

She and her whole household received immersion; that is, they underwent mikveh, immersion or a cleansing rite.

Her heart was opened, and she received mikveh.

Then she invited them, saying:

“If you consider me faithful to the Lord, please come and stay at my house.”

She insisted until they agreed.

Later, as they went to the place of prayer, they met a slave girl who had a snake spirit that enabled her to predict the future.

When we reach that passage, we will study in detail what this snake spirit is. Do not be distracted by it now.

She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.

This girl followed Shaul, Paul, and “us.”

Luke says he was there too. He could hear her voice.

She kept shouting:

“These men are servants of Ha’Elyon, God Most High, and they are telling you the way of salvation.”

She shouted this day after day until Shaul, Paul, became deeply troubled, turned around, and said to the spirit:

“In the name of Yeshua the Messiah, I command you to come out of her.”

The spirit came out at that very moment.

Beloved, I want you to notice these expressions, “we” and “among us.”

Such expressions appear repeatedly throughout Acts.

So who is “we”?

Come on, isn't it obvious?

We know at least one person for certain.

“We” must include Paul, right?

Because Paul is mentioned in the text; he is one of “us.”

So if you read the text in its most straightforward sense and in context, the other person obviously included in “we” is Luke himself, the author.

Luke wrote himself into the narrative.

In fact, in several of his letters Paul also mentions a man named Luke who accompanied him.

If you read the text straightforwardly and compare those letters with the events in Acts, it is easy to conclude that Paul's Luke is the Luke in Acts, the author of the unified work Luke and Acts.

In Paul's time, this was an ongoing project for Luke.

Luke followed Paul, continually writing, asking questions, investigating, and recording various kinds of information.

Some things he saw with his own eyes.

So what Luke wrote includes not only what was happening at the time, but also his later recollection and organization of these events.

This was his life's work.

Using his travel notes and his later recollections of events, he gradually compiled this unified work, the History of Christian Origins.

Please turn to Colossians 4:12–14.

These are Paul's words to the believers in Colossae:

“Epaphras sends you greetings. He is one of you and a servant of Messiah Yeshua. He always strives for you in prayer, that you may stand firm, mature, fully confident in Yahovah's will and completely committed to it.

“I can testify that he works hard for you and for the people in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

“Our dear friend Luke the physician and Demas also send you greetings.”

So Paul is writing, and Luke is there beside him saying, “Remember to tell them I send my greetings too.”

Luke is there.

Paul also mentions Luke in 2 Timothy 4 and Philemon 24.

So what is my point?

My point is that Acts is composed of several kinds of material.

It includes things Luke heard from others and recorded while investigating the gospel of the kingdom;

interviews with people who personally experienced the events;

interviews with other eyewitnesses;

documents and records Luke considered reliable;

and finally, things Luke personally experienced while traveling with Paul.

Luke personally participated in these events.

Luke knew Paul very well and had a close relationship with him.

He joined Paul's missionary journeys.

He traveled with Paul.

Why is this fact so important?

Because we first meet Paul not in his letters, but in Acts.

It is in Acts that we see Paul as a new believer and see his Jewish setting.

Paul's full Jewish background is revealed to us in Acts.

And it is in Acts that we see how Paul became a follower and apostle of Christ.

This is very important.

Beloved, Acts provides the most foundational context for understanding who Paul is.

Without Acts, we will completely misunderstand Paul's mission, ministry, intentions, themes, theology, and goals.

Paul was a faithful, devout Jew. He loved the Torah, the Law, loved Yahovah, loved the covenant, and loved covenant fidelity.

What he later rejoiced in was that he no longer needed to be a ruthless soldier protecting the Law by his own strength.

At first he was a zealous Jew who wanted to fight for the Law himself.

But now he discovered that he only needed to hand the battle over to Yeshua, who had already won, and surrender to the Messiah who had already won the battle.

This deeply inspired Paul to travel throughout the known world of his day, telling everyone about the ministry of Ruach HaKodesh.

But he always did all this from a devout Jewish perspective.

Paul wrote from a devout Jewish perspective.

Luke knew Paul so well that he could speak with knowledge, true testimony, and personal connection about Paul's loyalty to his Jewish identity and to the Torah, and his commitment to the covenant and covenant fidelity.

That loyalty never disappeared when Paul came to believe that Yeshua was the Messiah Israel had been waiting for.

We will discuss this more next week. Today I am only touching on it briefly.

Now there was a problem that challenged all this and led Christianity down an evil path.

Many people were affected by events, teachings, and traditions that ultimately shaped modern Christianity as it is today.

I call this the “Marcion problem.”

What exactly did Marcion want?

Why did Marcion want to get rid of Acts?

Why is Acts so important to us in resisting the idea that Christianity is an entirely new religion?

This supposed “new religion” is considered separate from the faith of Yeshua, Peter, James, John, and all the other disciples.

Who was Marcion?

Marcion was a wealthy teacher from Pontus who lived in the second century AD.

He is commonly called Marcion of Sinope or Marcion of Pontus.

He came to Rome around the middle of the second century.

He was an extremely wealthy shipping merchant and quickly gained tremendous influence among the local believers after arriving in Rome.

When Marcion arrived, he did not present himself as an enemy of the faith.

On the contrary, he portrayed himself as a faithful ally who wanted to reform the faith.

He believed that before he came, Christianity had departed from its purest form.

Marcion was very generous and willing to give large amounts of his money.

Think about how much influence a very wealthy person willing to give money away generously could have in that era.

He was also very eloquent, articulate, and able to attract others.

And he was extremely enthusiastic about Paul's writings.

He gathered a large following in Rome, the center of power.

Marcion was so obsessed with Paul's writings that he believed Paul was the only apostle who truly understood Yeshua.

According to him, only Paul truly understood Yeshua.

But at the heart of Marcion's theology was an extremely radical claim:

He claimed that the God revealed in the Torah and the prophets was not the same God whom Jesus called “Father.”

That was Marcion's claim.

He believed the God we see in the Torah and the prophetic books was not the one Jesus meant when He said “Father.”

According to Marcion, Israel's Creator was only a lower god, an inferior god, a god who should be forgotten.

Jesus, on the other hand, revealed a higher, greater God who replaced the God of the Old Testament.

Marcion said the lower god was bound by law and very severe, while the higher God was free from law and acted according to love and grace.

He believed this higher God was Jesus, stronger, greater, and more powerful than the law-bound “God of the Old Testament.”

That was Marcion.

What Marcion did was tear the gospel away from the Tanakh, the Hebrew Scriptures.

He created a theological rift between Yeshua and Yeshua's own covenant story.

In Marcion's system, Christianity was not the fulfillment of Israel's story.

In his system, Christianity completely replaced Israel.

This was the birth of replacement theology.

Marcion insisted that the apostles in Jerusalem had all misunderstood Jesus because their connection to the Jewish faith was too deep.

Peter, James, John, Thaddaeus, Bartholomew—everyone on the list—had failed to understand Jesus correctly.

Why?

Because they continued going to the Temple and remained closely connected to Jewish tradition.

So Marcion said their words could not be regarded as authoritative.

I also want to mention something in passing.

When Paul's letters and Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John first appeared, the assemblies did regard these works as writings that could provide teaching and guidance.

But at the time they would not immediately call every letter “doctrine inspired by the Ruach,” as they did later.

They were more likely to say:

“Oh, Paul has written us another letter. It can help us deal with our present problem.”

For example, when faced with a man having a relationship with his father's wife, they would say, “We have a serious problem in our assembly. What should we do?”

Then they would receive Paul's letter and say, “Wonderful, now we know how to handle it. This letter can help us.”

They would pray with Paul's letter, asking Ruach HaKodesh for guidance.

That is how they received these letters at the time.

They would not immediately say, “Look, the Lord is directly issuing new Scripture to us.”

If Paul knew how people would later use his letters, he might have been very surprised.

So we must understand that these writings were first received as instructional material to help the assemblies organize, to help many different people remain in the same room instead of fighting one another, and to help establish a proper community structure.

Yet Marcion said that none of the other apostles understood Jesus, apart from Paul, because they were too attached to their Jewish history.

Because they were so deeply connected to the specific practices of the Jewish faith, they were neither willing nor able truly to practice what Jesus wanted to accomplish.

Marcion believed only Paul had broken free of the Law, and only Paul truly understood the message of grace.

So Marcion established his own biblical canon.

It included a heavily, heavily, heavily edited version of Luke and ten letters of Paul.

But Marcion carefully removed everything that sounded too Jewish or too deeply rooted in prophetic scripture.

He also excluded Acts entirely.

Acts completely contradicted his theology, so he said, “We don't want this book. This book is garbage.”

All passages connecting Yeshua with the Hebrew Scriptures were removed.

The material concerning creation, covenant, and Israel's continuity was also reduced or removed entirely.

Marcion even wrote a work called Antithesis.

You can find information about this book.

He wrote it to demonstrate what he considered irreconcilable contradictions between the Old Testament and Jesus' message.

He would say:

“Look, Jesus contradicts the Old Testament here.”

“Look, Jesus contradicts it again there.”

So he put these things into Antithesis.

At this point the assembly in Rome had a serious problem.

This man had gathered a large following in their own heartland.

How were they to deal with Marcion?

Marcion had become a huge problem.

Eventually, the assembly in Rome formally rejected him and expelled him from the assembly around AD 144.

But by then his movement had spread rapidly and become one of the most serious theological threats facing second-century Christianity.

He influenced many people.

Some accepted his most extreme views.

But the most dangerous people are often not those who fully embrace the extreme views, but those in the middle.

They did not become full followers of Marcion or accept the most obvious and bizarre claims.

They simply said:

“Some things he says sound very reasonable.”

“We cannot go too far, or we will be expelled from the assembly. But there are some things he says that I like.”

It was the influence of this middle group that continued to develop in different forms and ultimately led, nearly two centuries later, to various problems in the period of the Council of Nicaea.

We will continue discussing these things over the next few weeks.

Now I will end with this.

Beloved, why does this matter to us?

Because as soon as you read Luke and Acts as a unified narrative, Marcion's entire system collapses.

Everything Marcion sought to accomplish, and the ideas that later influenced the modern church, fall apart the moment you read Luke and Acts together.

The influence Marcion spread did not remain only among the extreme groups; it also entered those in the middle.

These people continued writing and spreading related ideas, eventually creating a division between the so-called “church of Paul” and the “church of Christ.”

That is the result of the “Marcion problem” continuing in different ways.

But when you read Luke and Acts together, this whole problem disappears.

You will understand Paul correctly.

You will never again separate Paul from Jesus.

You will see how the two are completely consistent with one another.

You will no longer say, “I know Jesus says this, but look at what Paul says.”

That conflict will disappear because you can understand Paul correctly from Jesus' Jewish context.

Acts refuses to let Paul float free of his Jewish identity.

The expansion of the gospel revealed in Acts is the story of Israel continuing forward through Ruach HaKodesh.

We will stop here today.

Abba, I thank You for the foundation established today and for today's teaching.

Lord, I know there has been a great deal of information, history, and many facts today.

I know much of it may remain on the level of philosophy and intellectual knowledge.

But Abba, I pray that You Yourself will take everything spoken today, wash it clean, and give it to us as rhema, a word given for the moment.

Let it become revelation and understanding.

Lord God, I pray that You will not let us fall into distractions that seek to harm us and steal from us.

Do not let us become trapped by or fall victim to things that seek to turn us aside, frighten us, and make us anxious, worried, and afraid.

God, we will not follow those things.

Do you know what we will do?

We will simply say:

“God, I trust You. I may not fully understand yet, but I trust You.”

Lord God, I pray that since You have placed me here to receive, understand, and continue this journey, You will work all things together for my good, because I love You and am called according to Your purpose.

Lord God, thank You for refining us to be salt and light.

Make us mature and teach us how to use this weapon correctly.

This is a loaded weapon, the sword of the Spirit that You have placed in our hands.

Lord God, thank You.

Thank You for giving us a warning before the message began.

But thank You also that we do not need to fear because of this warning.

We do not need to worry, because You are faithful.

You are faithful, and You brought us here.

As long as we remain committed to this journey, Lord God, You will faithfully lead us to the end.

So Lord God, as You bring this journey to completion in us, help us to be truly present and to seek You sincerely.

Let our hearts be ground open to You, where You plant the seed, where fruit can sprout and grow and produce an abundant harvest.

Lord God, may this harvest come to me, to my family, to Your body, and beyond.

Lord God, I also pray that You will protect me and those I love.

Protect me from harming myself, and protect those I love from being harmed by me.

Protect me from being harmed by those I love.

Place a protective fence around the words proclaimed and taught today, and protect the way people receive these words.

Lord, let Your Torah, Your Law, bear witness in our hearts, wash us, cleanse us, and renew us.

Enable us to hold to covenant fidelity from the heart and, through the Ruach, to dwell and walk in Your truth.

For Your Word is truth.

Help us dwell in it.

Lord God, I also ask for the peace that surpasses all understanding. May Your Shabbat, Your shalom, and Your rest come upon us.

For Lord God, You are the one at work, and we have come here simply to receive.

Amen.

Beloved, next week we will finish the introduction to the Acts of the Apostles and then enter the story itself.

As I said, we have established our goal.

We know where 2026 is meant to take us.

Our goal is to uphold and build God's body and assembly in righteousness and proper order.

At the same time, we ourselves must be able to discern revelation from distraction, what is from God from what is from the enemy.

Ultimately, this will help us properly exercise the power and authority God has placed within us.

That is what we want.

We want to become people who can actually exercise the same authority.

Scripture records that Paul drove out evil spirits through cloths, and Peter's shadow also brought healing and deliverance.

That same power is in us too.

So I pray that through studying these scriptures, we can come to this understanding and actually exercise this authority.

May we become well-trained people who can use the weapon correctly after we have studied the entire book of Acts.

May we use it correctly and appropriately, all for the glory of God's kingdom.

Amen.

Abba, I now also pray for the offering.

Lord, we are about to enter a new chapter, and this chapter requires Your body to give again, to water again.

There is much to be done.

To make these teachings interactive, we need to invest many resources. We need technology and equipment upgrades.

All the work being done here, everything happening within the four walls of Family Life, and all the ministry in Your body need to be sent out.

What sustains all of this is the giving of us believers.

So Lord God, help us in this time of need.

When we look at the storehouse and the granary and say, “God, we need You to provide; we need You to make a way for us,” please intervene personally.

Lord God, as we sow into all of this, restore to us all the necessary resources.

Whether money, time, commitment, work, or anything we invest for the season ahead, please provide so that we can begin with excitement and joy.

For Lord, this is a season when paradigms will change.

This is a season of tremendous change.

We have decided to commit ourselves to it, but we need You to provide and to send us to accomplish it.

So Lord, I pray for all that we offer and give.

Please see the joyful hearts with which we give.

Bless everything we offer, so that the blessings we receive may also become blessings to others.

Lord God, may we be blessed in order to bless others.

Amen, amen.

Shabbat shalom.