City Life Starter

Written by Scott Fiddler

The Word

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: . . .

38 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. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”  

41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Acts 2:14, 38-39, 41.

Reflection

When the Holy Spirit fell, Peter stood, and 3,000 believed. 

I probably read too much history, but when I read that 3,000 were baptized in one day, I immediately thought of Clovis.

Before he was a Christian, Clovis was a pagan king in Gaul (modern-day France). He and his pagan army routinely looted and burned churches throughout Gaul. His wife, Clotilde, was a Christian, and she prayed for and preached to him for years, but he never repented.

Finally, in 496 A.D., Clovis turned to Christ. When he was baptized, 3,000 of his men followed.

But the promise did not end there.

In 585 A.D., Aethelberht ruled the kingdom of Kent in southeastern England. He was a pagan, but for political reasons he married Clovis’s Christian granddaughter, Bertha.

After arriving in Kent, Bertha wrote to Pope Gregory, asking him to send missionaries. Gregory sent Augustine of Rome. 

Augustine arrived in Kent in 597 A.D., and within three years. Aethelberht had become a Christian. Augustine preached the gospel throughout Kent, and Anglo-Saxon England began the process of converting to Christianity.

Application

“For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” — Acts 2:39

I can’t imagine Peter could have imagined when he preached on Pentecost that the promise about which he preached was for a Gaulish queen 500 years later and 2,000 miles away. Or for the 3,000 who would be baptized when her husband converted. Or for the Anglo-Saxons in England. Or for us.

The gospel is a message that echoes across time. It knows no borders and has no expiration date.

It remains only for us to share it.

Prayer

Lord, empower me to be a conduit for extending Your promise into the future. Amen.