Pentecost and the Birth of the Church
And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
Listen to the "Verse by Verse" episode covering this scripture.
God’s miracles and the apostle Peter’s sermon had a powerful effect, and about 3,000 people were baptized on that Day of Pentecost!
To give this perspective, note that after more than three years of Christ’s preaching, it seems there were about 120 disciples gathered together and perhaps more than 500 brethren overall (Acts 1:15; 1 Corinthians 15:6). But now God was ready to launch the New Testament Church of God in a powerful way.
For more about Peter’s powerful sermon, see “The Sermon That Launched the Church.” For more about the Church of God, see our section on “The Church.”
