Peter’s First Sermon Changed Everything

Sunday, May 17, 2026

Scriptures: Acts 2:13-34

• Sermon Summary

  In the second message in our new series on Acts, Jeremy explores the theology of the early church through Peter's first sermon. The gospel of Jesus Christ subverts our traditional expectations of divine judgment and power, and it is better than we could ever imagine. Jeremy looked at:

  1. how the church started moving forward by re-interpreting the words of the prophet Joel,

  2. how the Holy Spirit was poured out on men and women and children equally,

  3. how the Day of the Lord gets re-interpreted as the cross and the day of judgement on sin. Resurrection is God’s victory over death and sin,

  4. how the expectations of the militaristic messiah get uprooted by the cross and the imagery of the lamb in Revelation.

  Basically these initial chapters of Acts is the story of a church learning to see the world differently in the light of Christ

• Discussion Guide

  Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.

  Connect: Connect around this question that Jeremy had for the coffee break:
  Can you think of a time when you sensed something new beginning in your life—but not everyone around you could see it yet? How did you respond?

  Share: Share your thoughts on the ways we listen or not listen to each other.

  Peter quotes the prophet Joel to emphasize that God pours out the Spirit on all people—sons and daughters, young and old, men and women.

  Why do you think it is so easy for the world, and often the church, to fall into hierarchies, and what does it look like practically for us to "listen well to each other," including the kids and elders in our community?

  Reflect: Reflect on how Peter’s speech presents the victory of Christ through Resurrection over everything that holds us in bondage.
  Jeremy presented this theory of atonement as Christus Victor. It is one of the many views of the atonement. God is not the author or perpetrator of violence on the cross, but rather the victim who absorbs our sin and refuses to pay it forward. Jeremy states that the day of God's judgment on sin is actually the proclamation of God's favour on creation.

  How does this perspective challenge or reshape the ideas of judgment, vengeance, and cosmic justice that you grew up with or typically hear about in our culture?

  Engage: Engage with this quote from the sermon.

  "We have heard one thing about God, we’ve been told one thing about the divine, but when we turn and we actually see Jesus — it all looks very different from what we had expected…
  Everything looks different in the light of resurrection.Whether it is the Day of the Lord, or the identity of the Messiah, or the expansiveness of God's grace…
  The starting point of the church is that the good news of Jesus is even better than we expect."

  What do you think about this idea that the story is always better than we expect.
  Would you call that belief the starting point of your faith?
  How can we keep ourselves open to the good news of Jesus that is consistently better than our rigid or limited or fearful expectations?

  Take away: What is one thing that you want to think more about this week?

  Prayer from the sermon:
  God of new beginnings,
  Spirit who rushes into fearful rooms and opens our imagination to what is possible—
  would you meet us here again today.

  Where we are anxious, give us courage.
  Where we are sceptical, give us curiosity.
  Where we have mistaken your judgement for vengeance,
  teach us again what resurrection looks like.

  Help us to hear your story in words we can understand.
  And maybe more importantly—
  teach us to listen well to each other.

  As we reflect on the story of Jesus,
  and the birth of your church,
  would you remind us that your Spirit is still moving,
  still speaking,
  still making all things new.

  And may we now find the courage to trust you in it all.

  In the strong name of the risen, Christ,
  We pray
  Amen.

• Service Songs & Prayers

  CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 42

  MUSIC Curated by Clint Siebert
  Bethel Music- Reign Above It All
  Bethel Music - Goodness of God
  Mission House - I Don’t Have Much
  Chris Tomlin - Holy Forever
  
  EUCHARIST INVITATION
  Written by Alexandra Chubachi
  
  Holy God,
  Today we thank you for the table you have set before us.
  The life you have called us into.
  It is one of mystery, wonder and miracles.
  Of questions, doubt and pain.
  Through the bread and the grape,
  simple reminders of the ways your body broke as you reached for our rescue,
  Give us what we need for today.
  Enough hope and enough grace and enough love.
  Here, Christ offers nourishment and plenty, enough for everybody.
  An ascendant hope after the crush of death, a light in the dark.
  Amen.
  
  SERIES BUMPER
  The Way Forward Within Reach Series