Acts 28: Paul Makes it to Rome

The Rev. Kevin Parviz, pastor of Congregation Chai v’ Shalom in St. Louis, MO, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study 1 Acts 28.

In this last chapter of Acts, Paul and his fellow travelers find themselves on the island of Malta where they are met with kindness by the locals. When Paul miraculously survives a snake bite, the islanders regard him as a god. Paul goes on to heal the father of the chief official on the island, solidifying his reputation as a man of God. Eventually arriving in Rome, Paul's house arrest allows him to continue preaching and sharing the Christian faith with both Jews and Gentiles.

The Book of Acts takes us back to the earliest days of Christianity, unveiling the incredible acts of the apostles and the growth of the early church. Acts offers a firsthand account how the Apostles and Jesus’ disciples respond to his death and resurrection. It makes us witnesses to the beginning of fulfilling Jesus’s command to spread the Gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. We encounter miracles and wonders, we see the church struggling to organize itself in the absence of Jesus, and we learn of the trials and tribulations the early Christians faced in a world that rejected them.