3,000 Souls

Day 155: Acts 2:1-47

'Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.''‘ - Acts 2:37-38 ESV

The same Peter who rebuked Jesus, cut off someone's ear, and denied our Savior three times, is now found here stepping up in the inaugural moment of the Christian Church to preach the very first message. It was a sermon given in response to skeptics who were claiming that the disciples had been sipping too heavy on the "new wine."

What struck me from our reading today is how strong of a message Peter brought these thousands of Jews who had gathered for the Jewish feast of Pentecost.

"You crucified Jesus" isn't how I usually start a time of sharing my faith with someone else, but this crowd needed desperately to hear the truth. Turns out, they were starved for it. So much so that Peter continued with "many other words," saying, "save yourself from this perverse generation."

Result?

3,000 souls were brought into eternal life.

Now, there is such a thing as being belligerent, but there is also such a thing as being too passive in our approach to sharing our faith with others. May God help us find the balance today between the two so that we can effectively reach those who need Jesus.