The Book Of Acts: The Power Of Grace Pt. 2 with Pastor John Fowler June 28, 2026

Acts shows a church born by grace and marked by a love that could not be cooked up by human effort. Three thousand people came to Christ, and the grace of God was so powerfully at work in them that nobody treated their own stuff like it was only their own anymore. Agape love became the evidence that something supernatural had happened. Phileo love says, “as long as that person makes life feel good, love stays.” Agape love looks at the person doing the hurting and still says that soul is worth sacrifice.

Jesus told fearful disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came on them with power. Acts shows that power was not given so believers could brag about tools, gifts, signs, or wonders. The Spirit gave power so Christ’s people could be witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth, even to the very people who had crucified Jesus. Love cast out fear, and Peter stood before his oppressors and called them “fellow Jews,” then told them the truth so they could be saved.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are real, but the vocation of the church is seeking and saving the lost through agape love. The heart surgeon picture makes the point plain. The surgeon’s job is not showing off shiny tools. The surgeon’s vocation is saving lives, and the proof is a beating heart. In the same way, spiritual gifts are tools in the hand, but agape love keeps the patient in view.

Scripture will not let signs and wonders become the final proof of God’s Spirit. Moses had signs before Pharaoh, but Pharaoh’s sorcerers had signs too. Jesus said some would prophesy, cast out demons, and perform miracles, yet hear, “I never knew you.” Paul says gifts without love amount to nothing. The one evidence that remains is love, not conditional love, but the supernatural love of God placed in a person by the Holy Spirit.

The call of Christ presses down on unforgiveness and hate. The heart is like a vacuum, never empty. When hatred is removed, love fills the space. The Spirit’s agape love brings freedom, not by ignoring sin, but by offering forgiveness, salvation, and a new future through Jesus Christ.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Agape proves the Spirit’s presence [18:44] The Spirit’s presence cannot be reduced to one visible gift or one denominational test. Agape love is supernatural because it loves where human nature would pull back, protect itself, or write somebody off. The deepest evidence of the Spirit is not flash, but the ability to see a lost soul as worth sacrifice. [18:44]
• 2. Tools must serve the vocation [23:36] The gifts of the Holy Spirit are not trophies to display, but instruments used for saving lives. A heart surgeon who stares at shiny tools while forgetting the patient becomes dangerous, even if the tools are real. The church loses its saltiness when gifts become identity instead of instruments of agape love. [23:36]
• 3. Signs are not final proof [33:28] Jesus warned that miracles, prophecy, and deliverance can happen without true knowing. That warning should sober every believer who is more impressed by power than by love. The Spirit’s work must be tested not only by the supernatural, but by whether it carries the self-giving love of Christ. [33:28]
• 4. Love casts out real fear [36:42] Peter’s courage did not come from personality, education, or sudden confidence. The same man who denied Christ stood before the crowd because the Spirit poured agape into him. Love did not make truth softer, but it made truth saving instead of hateful. [36:42]
• 5. Hatred cannot share the heart [42:58] The heart is never empty, so unforgiveness always makes room for something else to rule. Hatred promises protection, but it makes the soul miserable and small. When hatred is laid down, love can fill places that resentment once controlled. [42:58]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:28] - Grace Creates A Generous Church
• [01:01] - Agape Love Is Supernatural
• [04:05] - Power To Witness To Enemies
• [07:13] - The Vocation Of The Church
• [08:52] - Discovering Love On Mission
• [13:31] - Rejected Over Tongues Requirement
• [16:15] - Pentecost And Spirit Power
• [18:44] - Love As The Evidence
• [22:21] - The Heart Surgeon Picture
• [30:06] - Not Every Knife Means Surgeon
• [33:28] - Signs Without Knowing Christ
• [36:42] - Love Casts Out Fear
• [40:54] - Salvation And The Danger Of Sin
• [42:58] - The Heart Is Like A Vacuum
• [45:07] - Invitation To Forgiveness And Freedom

Bible Reading

Acts 2:1-4
“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” [16:49]

Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” [04:38]

1 Corinthians 13:1-3
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”

Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'” [33:38]

1 John 4:18
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” [36:50]

Observation questions

1. In Acts 1:8, what did Jesus say the Holy Spirit would give power for, and who were the disciples supposed to witness to? [04:38]
2. In Acts 2:1-4, what visible and audible things happened when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost?
3. In Matthew 7:21-23, what kinds of spiritual acts did people claim to do, and what shocking words did Jesus still say to them? [33:38]
4. What picture was used to show the difference between the church’s vocation and the tools used to carry it out, and what counted as the real proof that the work was done well? [23:36]

Interpretation questions

1. If Acts 1:8 says the Spirit gives power for witness, how should that shape the way spiritual gifts are understood and used in the church? [17:51]
2. Paul says gifts without love amount to nothing in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3. Why might love be the clearest evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work, even more than dramatic gifts or signs? [18:44]
3. Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23 that some people did mighty works and still did not truly know Him. What does that warning reveal about the difference between spiritual activity and real relationship with Christ? [34:22]
4. 1 John 4:18 says perfect love casts out fear. How does Peter standing before the very crowd that had opposed Jesus help show what that kind of love looks like in real life? [36:42]

Application questions

1. Agape love sees even a hard person as worth sacrifice. Who in life is hardest to view that way right now, and what would it look like to begin seeing that person through the mercy of Christ instead of old hurt? [21:21]
2. The Holy Spirit gives tools, but the vocation is seeking and saving the lost. In this season, is more attention being given to gifts, preferences, and church culture than to people who need Jesus? What might need to change personally? [25:15]
3. Love casts out fear. Where has fear been keeping someone quiet about Christ—at home, at work, with family, or around a person who feels intimidating? What would one small act of faithful witness look like this week? [37:00]
4. Signs and spiritual moments can impress people, but Scripture says love is what remains. Is there a temptation to measure spiritual health by outward experiences more than by patience, forgiveness, and sacrificial love? [32:58]
5. The heart is like a vacuum and never stays empty. If resentment or hate has been living in the heart, what has it been producing lately—distance, bitterness, suspicion, harsh words, or something else? What would it mean to lay that down before God? [42:58]
6. Unforgiveness can feel like protection, but it keeps the soul bound up. Is there someone who still needs to be forgiven, even if trust cannot be rebuilt quickly? What makes that so hard, and what step toward freedom seems possible now? [44:07]
7. Christ offers freedom from guilt, shame, and the weight of sin. Where is that freedom most needed right now: in a hidden sin, an old failure, a broken relationship, or a sense of not belonging? What would it look like to receive that grace honestly instead of hiding from it? [45:07]