The Fifth Act | Living in the Final Act - Suzy Silk

Church of the City New York

COTC NYC

Religion & Spirituality, Cotc, Churchofthecitynewyork, Cotcnyc, Christianity, Jontyson, Churchofthecity

4.8 • 837 Ratings

🗓️ 28 July 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, Pastor Suzy Silk continued our series through the Book of Acts, The Fifth Act, by teaching on Act 15 and the critical role it can play in defining the time in history we are currently living in. The Early Church was still a primarily Jewish community, and as the Gentiles began to be integrated in, it disrupts their normal practices, despite Gentiles receiving the same gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 10. A council of elders and leaders is called in Jerusalem to discuss how they should handle the influx of Gentile brothers and sisters, and the conclusion they came to should shape how we see people becoming Christians today: salvation is given by grace through faith in Jesus the Messiah—there is no other requirement.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Teaching text here, it comes from Acts chapter 15, verse 1 through 29.
0:13.0	Acts chapter 15, verse 1 through 29.
0:18.0	It says this, certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers.
0:26.7	Unless you are circumcised according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.
0:32.6	This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them.
0:40.4	So Paul and Barnabas were appointed dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed,
0:47.0	along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria,
0:52.9	they told how the Gentiles had been converted.
0:56.5	This news made all the believers very glad.
1:00.0	When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders
1:04.5	to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
1:08.8	Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees
1:11.8	stood up and said, the Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses. The apostles
1:19.9	and elders met to consider this question. After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them.
1:30.7	Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.
1:38.4	God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he did to us. He did not
1:47.8	discriminate between us and them for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try
1:55.6	to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear.
2:02.2	No, we believe it as though it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.
2:10.2	The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul,
2:15.1	telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles
2:18.4	through them. When they finished, James spoke up. Brothers, he said, listen to me. Simon has described to us
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 10 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from COTC NYC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of COTC NYC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.