The book of acts, which continues the narrative that luke began in his gospel, is especially important because it was the first written history of the christian church. The temple in this book called acts was the third temple. Watch our overview video on the book of acts, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. See what its about from the first verse to the last. The book of acts is one of the most exciting and challenging of the new testament, filled as it is with the works of the early church, empowered by the holy spirit, the tongues of fire and rushing wind on the day of pentecost ch. Its subject and intention is nicely summarised by the words of the lord in chapter 1. Most bible narratives take place in one corner of the near east. The emphasis of the book is the fulfillment of the great commission. As such, it provides us with a valuable account of how the church was able to grow and spread out from jerusalem into the rest of the roman empire. Before starting a long series on acts, you need to read the acts of the risen lord. Author two lines of argument lead to the conclusion that luke, the friend, fellow missionary, and physician of paul wrote this book, under the.
The life of the early church is recorded and preserved for us in the book of acts and the epistles. We use your linkedin profile and activity data to personalize ads and to show you more relevant ads. See all 4 formats and editions hide other formats and editions. In only three decades, a small group of frightened believers in jerusalem transformed. T he book of acts in the bible, written around 6263 a. Thus, we are going to outline this chapter, then discuss the major points of it, and concentrate on some often overlooked and wrongly taught things in this chapter. The book of acts was written to provide a history of the early church.
Acts intro to acts biblica the international bible society. These notes are the culmination of many years of my teaching new testament studies, but as time rolls on, and the lord permits, i will add more information. The book of acts was likely written between ad 61 and 64. Acts concerns the very vital period in christian history between the resurrection of jesus and the death of the apostle paul, the time when christian ideas and beliefs were. Both books are most easily tied to the geography of the book. But in acts, several major characters loopdeloop their way around the roman empire.
As i said, the book revolves around the apostles, peter and paul. This is, in effect, an outline of the book of acts see plan and outline below. The tradition from the earliest days of the church has been that luke, a companion of the apostle paul, wrote the books of luke and acts colossians 4. Acts of the apostles, the second part of the work that begins with the gospel according to luke, is the story of the early church after jesuss. Luke described to theophilus in his first letter about jesus life up to the resurrection. The book of acts, also called acts of the apostles, does not specifically identify its author. Acts is book number 44 of the bible and number 5 of the new testament. It will help to keep the whole of the book before you as you work your way through each section.
Although the author does not name himself, evidence outside the scriptures and inferences from the book itself lead to the conclusion that the. The title now given to the fifth and last of the historical books of the new testament. As luke wrote to theophilus and the early church, he highlighted the vital importance of spreading the gospel of the kingdom of god through their witness to the nations of the earth in the power of the holy spirit. Acts records the apostles being christs witnesses in jerusalem, judea, samaria, and the surrounding world. Acts free bible commentary on the book of acts in easy english. The genre of the book of acts is narrative history with several sermons. The gospel being spread in phenice, and cyprus, and antioch, barnabas is sent to. An overview of the book of acts, which provides an introduction to the apostles and gives a brief summary of the leaders, peter and paul, as well as the other apostles. By carefully noting the use of we and they in the book of acts, we glean that.
In the book of acts, god blessed the apostles by giving them converts almost every time they preached the gospel. With this additional short summary of the book of acts you can discover the people, places and stories detailed in this holy scripture. Acts of the apostles executable outline study resources. D rome it is when and where the book abruptly ends ac 28.
The beautiful, amazing, powerful, weak, dysfunctional church a chapterbychapter bible study of the book of acts 6 acts 1 50 days 1. The book of acts is the link between the gospels and the epistles. Acts closes with paul under house arrest in rome, stopping short of crucial events. Of these, the first twelve report events between the time of jesus last meeting with his disciples and the beginning of pauls work as a christian missionary. For assurance of our own salvation, we can compare our own conversion experience with those in acts. An overview of the book of acts the life of the early church is recorded and preserved for us in the book of acts and the epistles. The gospel is preached from jerusalem to all judea chapters 17 the gospel is preached in samaria chapter 8 the gospel is preached to the gentiles chapters 912 the gospel is preached to the ends of the earth chapters 28. The book of acts is a vital link between the gospels and the epistles. A third purpose in the writing of acts was to provide stability to the new faith. We read of the evangelistic methods and message of the early apostles and preachers 3. A better title for this book is the acts of the holy spirit and because of this the book of acts is an unfinished book.
One may divide the book as acts 112 peter and acts 28 paul. In volume ii acts he told the story of the words and works of christ that were done through his apostles. The name jesus in ancient hebrew text yeshua in first century hebrew text. The gospel spreads to the uttermost parts of the world. The initial question regards the identity of theophilus, the one for whom the book is written. Lukes account of gods unfolding plan ivp 2011 by alan j. But ye will receive power, the holy spirit having come upon you, and ye shall be my witnesses both in jerusalem and in all judaea and samaria and to the end of the earth. Luke, the author of the gospel of luke, was a doctor and gentile. A second purpose in writing acts was to give a written defense of christianity. Acts is the only biblical book that chronicles the history of the church immediately after jesuss ascension. The main issues revolve around whether he is a man perhaps a greek official for whom luke acts is an apologetic for the gospel or a kind of generic. The authorship of acts is ascribed to luke for these reasons. It also may be divided around the expansion of the gospel in acts 1. It is titled acts to emphasize that this book records the acts of.
Found as the 5th book in the new testament, the book of acts can best be split into two parts. People from many nations were beside themselves with wonder at hearing gods amazing acts in their own languages. To record the establishment and early growth of the church 6 based on content, what else does the book appear designed to reveal. Luke was from antioch but traveled with paul all over southern europe and the middle east. The book begins with the ascension of jesus and goes on through pauls jail time in rome, which opens his ministry to the church at rome. Acts of the apostles 4 imprisonment in rome are 6062 a. In the first volume, luke informs us all that jesus began to do and teach.
Outline of acts free bible outlines bible study start. Preparations for worldwide witnessing, jesus ascension, outpouring of holy spirit, persecution of disciples, sauls conversion, paul and barnabas, missionary tours. Study 1 going through the book of acts words of life. They contain the history of the nation from davids death and solomons accession to the destruction of the kingdom of judah and the desolation of jerusalem, with a supplemental notice of the liberation of jehoiachin from his prison at babylon, twentysix years later. The content of acts according to the kjv bible scriptures contains a short overview of the main subjects, people, events and ancient topics in the following summary of the kjv bible scriptures. Sermon outlines from acts sermon outline series paperback january 1, 1978 by croft m pentz author 4. In acts, jesus sends the holy spirit to empower his disciples as they carry. It might also be called the acts of the holy spirit, as that person of the godhead is very much an active participant throughout the book.
Introduction to the book of acts acts study guide medium. Luke begins with a global perspective, dating the birth of jesus to the reign of the roman emperors in luke 2. This summary of the book of acts will help with many different forms of bible study. The holy spirit coming in power shows that this too is the day the kingdom is. The books of acts is often called the book of the holy spirit or the book of the apostles. The importance of the book of acts the importance of this second of lukes twovolume work can. May 14, 2014 heres my short commentary on the commentaries i used. Luke wrote the book of acts acts of the apostles to record how believers were empowered by the holy spirit, worked to spread the gospel of christ, and are a model for the future church.
The following outline is intended to be used while studying the book. When the holy spirit overpowered the upper room with the sound like a roaring windstorm, history changed forever. Outline studies in the book of the acts of the apostles. Acts with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. And this kind of blessing continued throughout the book of acts. The main issues revolve around whether he is a man perhaps a greek official for whom lukeacts is an apologetic for the gospel or a kind of generic. The lord jesus christ at work by the holy spirit through the apostles in.
Its narrative supplies a bridge connecting the life and ministry of jesus to the life of the church and the witness of the earliest believers. Provides an overview of acts and two outlines for the book of acts as well as an index for bff acts articles, powerpoints and audiovideo podcasts. If the book was just before or after pauls release, then it was likely written around 63 a. The structure of the books of luke and acts are closely tied. There has been much debate as to the purpose of acts.
Luke records many examples of conversion in the book of acts e. The book of acts is a key part of gods plan to reach the whole world. The book of acts is a remarkable work of history and theology. Actus apostolorum, often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth book of the new testament. Paragraphbyparagraph outline for the book of acts josh. The beginning verses of acts make it clear that acts is a sequel of the story started in luke and written to the same man named theophilus, generally a title ascribed to highranking roman officials. Acts continues from there on starting with christs resurrection. The book is called acts or the acts of the apostles because it contains an account of some of the apostles.
Heres my short commentary on the commentaries i used. Nov 08, 2012 an overview of the book of acts, which provides an introduction to the apostles and gives a brief summary of the leaders, peter and paul, as well as the other apostles. Carefully, paragraph by paragraph, the book of acts has been evaluated in the following pages. In this video i share the outline to acts, the overall message, key lessons learned and the key events, people and places in the book of acts. Our story starts off where the gospel of luke left offjesus is back now that hes resurrected, jesus decides to hang out and chat with his disciples whom luke calls apostles for forty days. From there we see jesus ministry move from galilee 49, through samaria and judea 1019. In fact, the work is given in detail of only two of the apostles, peter and paul. The book of acts provides a detailed, orderly, eyewitness account of the birth and growth of the early church and the spread of the gospel immediately after the resurrection of jesus christ. While there are some areas of great detail of the acts of the apostles, many times you must use cross references to the gospels of matthew, mark, luke and john as well as some other epistles in the new testament to get the full picture of what was. Jun 12, 2015 1 in peters sermon at pentecost acts 2. Several questions can be answered from the first 2 verses. But stephen reminded the jews that god was bigger than any temple. This summary of the book of acts provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of acts. Author though he does not mention himself by name, the author is undoubtedly luke, physician and frequent traveling companion of the apostle paul.
The apostles had the holy spirit come upon them acts 2. The book of acts the acts of the holy spirit the bible teachers commentary an outline and map survey paul j. Stephen said some words from the book by the prophet isaiah isaiah 66. Each paragraph in the esv translation of acts has been evaluated and a factual statement about its content was recorded in one sentence. Purpose of the book as indicated previously, the original purpose of both the gospel and acts may have been to assist. The first few times i read acts, all the new city and province names just blurred together in my. Apr 09, 2011 the structure of the books of luke and acts are closely tied. As such, it provides us with a valuable account of how. Luke wrote his gospel and also the book of acts compare luke 1.
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