Acts 7: Stephen in the Sanhedrin

Stephen (Greek name) was falsely accused of "betraying" Israel by preaching that Jesus would destroy the temple and change the law of Moses. He was taken to be judged by the Sanhedrin - with the same high priest that condemned Jesus. In his discourse, he highlighted how Israel was unfaithful to the Lord. At the end, he said:

52 Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, and you have now become betrayers and murderers of Him; 53 you who received the Law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

It is common to think that we should avoid confrontation to all costs, but Stephen knew that this Sanhedrin condemned Jesus, so they would condemn him too. Despite their fury:

55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 

He saw the Son of Man, not site, but standing as supporting him at that moment. 

59 They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

Here he prays to Jesus as if Jesus was ready to receive him. For Stephen, his life was to serve the Messiah. Saul was there and witnessed this, perhaps judging him but also perplexed how the faith in Jesus was strong.

Acts 6: Greeks in the church of Jerusalem

In Jerusalem, the gospel is spreading among local and foreigner Jews- Jews that came from Greek speaking places. Widows were vulnerable at that time because there was no retirement from government at that time. Greek speaking widows complained that they were put in second place when the meal was distributed. The apostles proposed that the congregation chose 7 people to be in charge of this meal distribution. It is very interesting that all 7 chosen people had Greek names, specially, Stephen and Philip. The church in Jerusalem had a problem and they showed love in the solution when they put 7 people, very likely Jews from the diaspora (not from Jerusalem), in charge of the solution.  

From the very beginning, the church seemed to adopt a less ethnic view of the "people of the Lord". 

Acts 5: sin & death in the church

Ananias and Sapphira saw the great generosity of Barnabas and how he was praised. They decided to copy Barnabas in order to be praised too.
I know that the Lord is good and worth to be praised; however, I can't understand how the Lord is good when Peter said to Sapphira soon after his hushand has died:

8 And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for [g]this price?” And she said, “Yes, for that price.” 9 Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”

I think that if I were in Peter's place, I would tell her directly that his husband has died in order to prevent her from dying.
The Lord is good and worth to be praised, but He humbles those who want to be praised, even those who claim to belong to Jesus.
In a way, Ananias and Sapphira were worse than the young rich guy who asked Jesus how to get eternal life.

We read in Acts 5:29:

29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

Obey = πειθαρχεῖν / peitharchein
In bible.cc notation it is V-PNA :

• V:** Verb
• P:** Present (An ongoing, habitual lifestyle of obedience)
• N:** Infinitive ("**To** obey")
• A:** Active (We choose to do the obeying)

Peter states that he must obey the Lord instead men; and in a way, Ananias and Sapphira were focusing more on people than in the Lord. Disobedience and vainglory goes together.

Acts 4: σωθῆναι - to be saved, to be healed

In Acts 3, a crippled beggar is miraculously healed causing a great perplexity in Jerusalem. Peter and John were arrested by the Sadducees because they preached that the resurrected Jesus healed that man. As they had authority over the temple, they had soldiers who could arrest John and Peter. They stayed all night in prison to be judged in the following day. In the judgement, before very important people such as the chief priest Caiaphas (who had "judged" Jesus), Peter said that the crippled beggar was healed/saved by the name of Jesus and then:

11 He (Jesus) is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation/heal in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved/healed.”

Peter said that as the crippled beggar needed Jesus to be saved/healed, so does Caiphas, me and everyone else; but saved or healed from what? We are naturally fragmented, broken; but Jesus can make everyone who trusts in Him, whole.

In this world with social media, youtube, etc. a lot of people want to spread some original idea to call attention to himself; but here in Acts, the apostles were called to spread salvation in the name of Jesus; they were called to witness Jesus as the Messiah who resurrected from the death. In a way, it is burden to call attention to oneself and it is freedom to call attention to Jesus.

Acts 3: faith in the name of Jesus

Peter and John met a crippled beggar in the temple. He asked for money.

6 But Peter said, “I do not have silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!”

Peter and John had a great treasure: Jesus. We are naturally selfish; as we are rich we become afraid to share our wealth, but here it is different.

The man was healed and then, he praised the Lord.
Everybody was marveled. Peter made a speech where he talked about Jesus's death. He reminded that his listeners were guilt given that they asked for the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus. However, the name of Jesus is precious. Peter said:

16 And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

The crippled beggar trusted in the name of Jesus and was healed by Him. Peter said that Jesus was in the center of the Old Testament. 
To a Jew in Jerusalem, Jesus was crucified and was cursed by the Lord, but now, Peter (who denied Jesus) is proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah, the one pointed by the Scriptures.
As it all happened in the temple, the Jewish leaders knew about this. They were against Jesus and against the message of the apostles, but how to deal with this great sign?

Acts 2: Proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah

Jerusalem was the center of the 3 Jewish feasts, one of them was the Feast of Pentecost, 50 days after the Passover. Acts 2 says that 10 days after the ascension of Jesus, foreign Jews from many places are in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. In this occasion, the Holy Spirit came over the disciples and made them talk in other languages, attracting the attention of the foreigner Jews. Peter explained that they were in a very special moment in history - when prophecies are being fulfilled. He uses Psalm 16 as a prophecy to the resurrection of the Messiah, and Joel 2 to explain the coming of the Holy Spirit. Peter explained that Jesus is at the right or the Lord waiting for his enemies to under His feet as in Psalm 110. Peter said:

36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Most of the listeners should have been 50 days before in the Passover when Jesus was crucified by their approval. Thus, given that everything Peter was saying were true, they became the enemies of the Lord. The logical question they made was: what can we do? Peter said:

8 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Let this gift of the Holy Spirit be with me, changing my life so that I become more and more like Jesus.

Acts 1: How can evil be so powerful if Jesus is alive?

 In Acts 1:6, the disciples are with Jesus after resurrection. However, Rome is still in power. We read:

  

6 So, when they had come together, they began asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time that You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

Somehow that is the question that we do sometimes: "if Jesus is with me, how can evil still hurt me? how can evil hurt your people?". The answer was:

7 But He said to them, “It is not for you to know periods of time or appointed times which the Father has set by His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.”

 The Holy Spirit will give power to me and to the church so that I and the church will witness that Jesus is alive.

How can evil be so powerful if Jesus is alive?

The answer must be that the evil will be subjected by the powerful kindness of the church. Certainly that I don't have power in me to witness Jesus alive. This power comes through the Holy Spirit.