In the book of acts, the holy spirit is active speaking and directing the work. Our exploration of the structure and content of acts will divide into three parts. The messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at jerusalem. Sunday school lesson plans sunday school powerpoint. I hope you will continue to develop the lessons based on the book of revelation. You will have approximately 20 minutes to complete this homework assignment. Acts is the second book written by luke after the third book of the gospel. It contains many particulars concerning the apostles peter and paul, and of the christian church from the ascension of our saviour to the arrival of st. Exploring the lives and legends of the apostles kindle edition by litfin, bryan. Though scholarly it is written in a tremendously accessible way so that the student as well as the casual reader can both get something from this. The holy spirit comes to the apostles in the form of tongues of fire acts 2.
At the beginning of acts, luke tells us that the purpose of his first book was to write about all that jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven 1. It alone presents an extensive picture of early church life and history. You would open the pages to see the ministry account of jesus ending in the gospel of john. The gospels and acts offer ideas for deeper thought and further reading for even greater challenge. Acts 1 new international version niv jesus taken up into heaven 1 in my former book, theophilus, i wrote about all that jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the holy spirit to the apostles he had chosen. Exploring the book of acts chapter 1 exploring the book of acts chapter 2. A chapterbychapter bible study of the book of acts 2 acts the beautiful, amazing, powerful, weak, dysfunctional church table of contents scripture passage page 1. Acts 1 commentary matthew henry commentary on the whole. The baptism of the great commission was a command required of all people throughout the whole world. Though scholarly it is written in a tremendously accessible way so that the student as well as. More than any other book in the new testament, the book of acts provides us with a clear picture of how the early church made disciples in obedience to the command of christ and multiplied churches in order to advance the kingdom of christ. Many people call acts the acts of the apostles, but really, if you want to add to the name acts, perhaps, a better name would be the acts of the early church.
The acts of the apostles is a unique and therefore crucial book of the new testament. The book of beginnings, genesis is foundational to understanding the grand themes of scripture. Lukes gospel had described jesus work in galilee, judea and especially jerusalem. Chapterbychapter bible studies acts kathleendalton. In this godcentered, scholarly commentary, john phillips brings genesis to life verse by verse as he addresses questions, explains hebrew words, details background information, and references other passages of scripture for fuller understanding. The object of the book has been considered to be, 1. There are four descriptions of the baptism of the holy spirit in acts. Exploring the book of acts chapter 1 gci archive grace. Christ appears to the apostles after his resurrection acts 1. The story is filled with drama, miracles, and speeches about the risen christ. Exploring the book of acts summary spiritual walk with. This is implied in the first verse of acts when luke again addresses theophilus and speaks of his former book, that is, his gospel 1.
Matthias is appointed to replace judas as the 12th apostle acts 1. It is an excellent textbook for courses on the gospels and acts. Transcript darris mcneely the book of acts is one of my favorite books to go through, the fact i get to teach it every year to a group of students at our ambassador bible college here at the united church of god office. Spiritual walk with christ exploring the book of acts summary. This twofold division is one of the simplest ways to divide the book of acts, but its. While the first 15 verses of chapter 1 have much to say about pauls relationship to the saints in rome, they have even more to say about his relationship to the gospel. Acts chapter 1 begins with a summary of proofs of the life of jesus christ. In acts, jesus sends the holy spirit to empower his disciples as they carry. But in acts 1, the apostles look to external characteristics and are unable to make. Other topics while luke tells the story of the spread of the christian gospel from jerusalem to rome, he is. The author quite certainly was luke for the following reason. In this video, well explore how jesus and the spirit renew the people of.
A guide to the gospels and acts wenham, david, walton, steve on. It is the greatest sequel ever written, the sequel of sequelsthe sequel to the story of christ see 1. Actschapters 112 bible study book is a sixsession study that will equip you and your group members to understand. This summary of the book of acts provides information about the title. Acts 1, new international version niv the bible app. Exploring the lives and legends of the apostles by bryan liftin is a very enjoyable work. The second is to serve as preparation for urbana96. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Exploring the architecture of everyday life chapter 1 david m. Oct 04, 2016 watch our overview video on the book of acts, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought.
Between the acts has no chapter divisions, perhaps as a gesture towards this sense of wholeness and connection, but there are breaks in the text. Jan 12, 2012 those who support this principle do so by relying on the stories in the book of acts. There is no single chapter that does not exhibit gods power and wisdom in operation. One is simply to strengthen believers as witnesses to the work and life of jesus, both in history and in their lives. Image of explore the bible the ten plagues of egypt. Exploring the riches of the book of romans romans 116. 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. The book of acts was likely written between ad 61 and 64.
Verse 1 demonstrates clearly that the unnamed author of acts is the same person as the unnamed author of the third gospel luke 1. Comparing these passages to acts 1, we can learn that holy spirit baptism and the baptism of the great commission were two separate baptisms. Exploring the book of acts opens up rich lessons for us today. The birth of the church happens in acts 2 with the outpouring of the holy spirit. This is the third in a series of three smallgroup bible study discussion guides luke 19, luke 1024 and selected portions of acts which explore the meaning of witness. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. When we look at the accounts in acts of believers receiving the holy spirit, do we see consistency.
The book of acts is clearly a sequel, a second volume to be read in conjunction with the first, the book of luke. A timid peter is transformed into a bold evangelist whose first preach sees about three thousand souls added to the church acts 2. The book of acts was penned by luke, the physician. The book describes the spread of christianity from its origins with jews in jerusalem, to eventually include all peoples, even in the capital city of the roman empire. Explorethebible explorethebible webexplorethebible.
The title as we know it comes from the second century and only partially discloses the theme of the document. The book of acts course a, lesson 1 free bible study. As implied by the title acts of the apostles, the 5th book in the gospel is a contemporaneous document of what the apostles did after jesus resurrection. Read these first few paragraphs from the opening of the book now. Jesus was given the unlimited power of the holy spirit john 3. We will see many examples of this baptism in the book of acts and will learn much more about it. Other topics while luke tells the story of the spread of the christian gospel from jerusalem to rome, he is also able to achieve some additional purposes. Acts chapter 1 questions for discussion the living.
Im here reading the good book and as i just found the bible. Exploring the architecture of everyday life chapter 1. To relate in what manner the gifts of the holy spirit were communicated on the day of pentecost, and the miracles performed by the apostles, to confirm the truth of christianity, as showing that christs declarations were really fulfilled. The waiting period introduction the gospel story has a sequel. Write the five key words in acts on the board overhead or powerpoint. The significance of the prologue with its introductory address to. 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.
Exploring the acts of the apostles grace communion. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of god. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading after acts. Exploring virginia woolfs between the acts 5 time and continuity woolf, declaring that certainly and emphatically there is no god nevertheless values moments of understanding, not epiphanies in a christian sense, but what she called moments of being schulkind and lee eds. Various false concepts can be traced back to misinterpretations of this book. It begins with recording the spread of the christian church in jerusalem, judea and samaria got, n. The book of acts shows how god fulfilled his ancient promises to. This book is commonly called the acts of the apostles, but it does not discuss most of the apostles it focuses only on peter, and then paul. The church is born imagine if you will what it would be like if the book of acts wasnt in the bible. To make the picture abundantly clear, god has given us a hand picked record of the activities of the early church. The acts of apostles gives us a unique insight into how the church began. Chapter 1 acts 1 ppt acts 1 script chapter 2 acts 2 ppt acts 2 script acts 2b ppt acts 2b script. The book of acts, also called acts of the apostles, does not specifically identify its author.
Watch our overview video on the book of acts, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. Acts chapter 1 questions for discussion the living word. Those who support this principle do so by relying on the stories in the book of acts. Exploring the book of acts promotes a biblical and proper concept of gods purpose for the church. The gospel of luke and the book of acts form a single, twovolume work. In the prologue to his gospel in luke chapter 1 verses 1 through 3, luke. While not explicitly stated, lukes purpose in acts seems to be to show the continuing work of jesus, carried out by the power of the holy spirit through the church. These proofs include his resurrection, his conference with the disciples, and the instructions that he left for them before he ascended into heaven. With these instruments he has produced the exploring commentaries, other books and hundreds of powerful messages from the word of god. This series challenges individuals and churches to put aside traditions, comforts, preferences, and programs in order to follow the example of the early.