Study Desk

After a long debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days God chose me from among you to preach the Good News to the nations. They heard the Good News from me, and they believed.

God, who knows the thoughts of everyone, accepted them. He showed this to us by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us.

To God, those people are not different from us. When they believed, he made their hearts pure.

So now why are you testing God by putting a heavy load around the necks of the non-Jewish believers? It is a load that neither we nor our ancestors were able to carry.

Then the whole group became quiet. They listened to Paul and Barnabas tell about all the miracles and signs that God did through them among the people.

Simon has told us how God showed his love for those people. For the first time he is accepting from among them a people to be his own.

"So I think we should not bother the other people who are turning to God.

After Paul had seen the vision, we immediately prepared to leave for Macedonia, understanding that God had called us to tell the Good News to those people.

One of the listeners was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira whose job was selling purple cloth. She worshiped God, and he opened her mind to pay attention to what Paul was saying.

This girl followed Paul and us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God. They are telling you how you can be saved."

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God as the other prisoners listened.

After this the jailer took Paul and Silas home and gave them food. He and his family were very happy because they now believed in God.

Some of them were convinced and joined Paul and Silas, along with many of the Greeks who worshiped God and many of the important women.

But the people in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God in Berea, too. So they came there, upsetting the people and making trouble.

In the synagogue, he talked with the Jews and the Greeks who worshiped God. He also talked every day with people in the marketplace.

As I was going through your city, I saw the objects you worship. I found an altar that had these words written on it: to a god who is not known . You worship a god that you don't know, and this is the God I am telling you about!

The God who made the whole world and everything in it is the Lord of the land and the sky. He does not live in temples built by human hands.

This God is the One who gives life, breath, and everything else to people. He does not need any help from them; he has everything he needs.

God began by making one person, and from him came all the different people who live everywhere in the world. God decided exactly when and where they must live.

God wanted them to look for him and perhaps search all around for him and find him, though he is not far from any of us: