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a Jesus centered gospel message
Acts 3:12-26 (JDV)
Acts 3:12 When Peter saw this, he reacted to the people: “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us, as though we had made him walk by our own power or godliness?
Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.
Acts 3:14 You denied the Sacred and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer released to you.
Acts 3:15 You killed the source of life, whom God raised up from the dead; we are testifiers of this.
Acts 3:16 And on the basis of faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you observe and know. So the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this completeness in front of all of you.
Acts 3:17 “And now, brothers and sisters, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your leaders also did.
Acts 3:18 In this way God fulfilled what he had predicted through all the prophets – that his Messiah would endure this.
Acts 3:19 Therefore seriously change your mind and turn back, so that your mistakes may be wiped out,
Acts 3:20 that periods of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah.
Acts 3:21 The sky must welcome him until the time of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about through his devoted prophets an age ago.
Acts 3:22 In fact, Moses said: The Lord your God will get a prophet up for you like me from among your brothers and sisters. You must listen to everything he tells you.
Acts 3:23 And every throat who does not listen to that prophet will be eliminated from the people.
Acts 3:24 “In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also foretold these days.
Acts 3:25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, And all the families of the land will be blessed through your posterity.
Acts 3:26 God got his servant up and sent him first to you to empower you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”
a Jesus centered gospel message
Peter takes advantage of this new window dressing miracle to preach another Jesus centered gospel message. He explains who Jesus is. He explains why Jesus had to die, and why he was raised from the dead. He offers hope of renewal and future blessing through Christ. And he predicts the second coming of Christ, along with a warning that those who refuse to trust in Jesus today, will be eliminated at his return. He even hints at the mission of these Israelites, because he says that God sent Jesus “first to you.” Once they receive Jesus, he will send them to the gentiles with this same gospel message.
Lord, show us how to spread the gospel message about Jesus.
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