It has been described in different ways by aelius donatus in the fourth century a. 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. Acts 1, new international version niv the bible app. 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.
Acts 1, holman christian standard bible hcsb the bible app. The gospels tell the story of jesuss ministry, death, and resurrection. Authorship it is generally held that luke, the physician and traveling companion of paul wrote both the gospel of luke and the book of acts. Luke is uniformly identified as the author acts by the second century a. This title accurately reflects the contents of the book, which is a series of vignettes chronicling the lives of key apostles especially peter and paul in the decades immediately following christs ascension into heaven. T he book of acts forms a bridge between the gospels and pauls epistles. He was also the author of its companion work, the gospel of luke.
A pivotal point in the book of acts is when saul of tarsus the apostle paul meets jesus on the road to damascus and is converted. Fluent in seven languages, he made vast contributions to the literature of the new testament. Acts free bible commentary on the book of acts in easy english. I believed judas was predestined to betray jesus as in acts 1. Although the author does not name himself, evidence outside the scriptures and inferences from the book itself lead to the conclusion that the author.
And it proposes to show the continuation of all that jesus began both to do and teach 1. But stephen reminded the jews that god was bigger than any temple. Lightfoot was one of the greatest scholars of his day. Apr 19, 2011 the book of acts in 3 minutes thechurchatbrookhills org. This book of acts bible study pamphlet shows that god is active. The following outline is intended to be used while studying the book. It is our story, the story that informs who christians are. Therefore, when a church begins to dwindle, lose its power, and turn dull and drab in its witness, it needs desperately to get back into the spirit, expectation, knowledge and teaching of the book of acts. Philip, peter and johns ministry to the samaritans as well as peters vision at joppa made it clear that they needed to take the gospel to the gentiles and confirms that the holy spirit is leading them to broaden the mission field. Act one makes up 25% of a storyline, with act two taking up 50% and act three the final 25%. The book of acts pamphlet is not simply ancient history.
The book of acts bible study christianity oasis ministry has provided you with the book of acts bible study on the book of acts bible study events. Book of acts bible study book of acts bible study stories. Pastors and church leaders especially need to revisit the book, immerse themselves in it, and not leave until it produces some radical changes in their thinking and practice. The letters or epistles after acts tells us of the supreme care and guidance that god has for his people then, now, and in the future. Luke even began to speak in the first person plural in the latter portion of acts, as he. 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. Its in acts that we discover how gods plan of salvation would play itself out in the world. After an introductory account of the descent of the holy spirit on the apostles at. The church in jerusalem had taken their time in fulfilling. The acts of the apostles, fifth book of the new testament, a valuable history of.
A summary, synopsis or recap is a shortened version of the original. He told them how saul on his journey had seen the lord and that the lord had spoken to him, and how in damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of jesus. It will help to keep the whole of the book before you as you work your way through each section. Acts records the apostles being christs witnesses in jerusalem, judea, samaria, and the surrounding world. The acts of the apostles often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth. 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. The temple in this book called acts was the third temple. Summary the book of acts, which continues the narrative that luke began in his. The acts of the apostles, the second volume of lukes twovolume work, continues lukes presentation of biblical history, describing how the salvation promised to israel in the old testament and accomplished by jesus has now under the guidance of the holy spirit been extended to the gentiles.
Authorship of actsluke is the author of the book acts. Jesus knew from the begging that he was going to be betray by judas jesus said it was better for him judas not to be born. The book of acts tells us of some of the acts of some of the apostles, but more so it tells us history. This summary of the book of acts provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of acts. The threeact structure is a model used in narrative fiction that divides a story into three parts, often called the setup, the confrontation and the resolution. Luke acts makes up 28% of the new testamentmore than that written by either paul or john. Jan 02, 2020 the emphasis of the book is the fulfillment of the great commission. Besides linking the gospel narratives on the one hand and the apostolic letters on the other, it supplies an account of the life of paul from which we can learn the setting for his letters. This was the message of the gospel in the book of acts, and god confirmed his word with signs following. Acts continues the story of christianity in the 1st century, beginning with jesuss ascension to heaven. The book focuses primarily on the acts of two apostles, peter and paul. When you open the book of romans, on the other side of acts, you discover that a man whose name is never mentioned in the gospels is writing to a group of. The background of acts 2009 by third millennium ministries.
Peter is not mentioned in acts after the account of the council. For that and other reasons, he concludes, the book of acts was intended to. This fantastic bible study pamphlet provides loads of information at a glance. Acts plays a pivotal role as the linchpin between those two elements. In the opening scene, i think, the director wanted to show luke dean jones as a physician first then later as a companion of paul as they traveled to many places proclaiming the gospel. The title of the book of acts comes from the greek word praxis, a word often used in early christian literature to describe the great deeds of the apostles or other significant believers. In writing the book of acts, luke traces the expansion of the christian movement from its earliest beginnings to the time when it reached worldwide proportions. This course introduces you to the story of the early church, the worlds greatest institution after the home. Almost every commentator on acts maintains its purpose is to tell the story of the birth and growth of the church. The story of the book of acts clayton baptist church.
In this book we see the first mention of the dispensation of the holy spirit and jesus command to take his gospel to all the world. This makes sense on an intuitive level because every story comes in three parts with a beginning, middle, and ending. What todays church needs to learn from the book of acts. It contains the acts jesus carried out after his ascension, through the holy spirit, in establishing the church. Actus apostolorum, often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth book of the new testament. The book of acts sheds light on the gift of the holy spirit, who empowers, guides, teaches, and serves as our counselor. While the birth of the church is found in acts though not in the way most think lukes purpose was far different. Mikeal parsons notes in reading acts as a sequel to the fourfold gospel p. Questions are broken down by chapter and verse and asked in a multiplechoice format. Acts is the only biblical book that chronicles the history of the church. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Its the story of the early church, early missionary work, and the initial move of the holy spirit. Acts 1 niv bible in my former book, theophilus, i wrote. To continue the story begun in the gospel of luke ac 1.
The book of acts in 3 minutes thechurchatbrookhills org. The acts of the apostles is the seventh chapter in the great story of the bible. The epistles are letters written to various firstcentury churches and individuals. In only three decades, a small group of frightened believers in jerusalem transformed. Navigate deeper into the acts of the apostles with rose publishings 14page bible study resource, the book of acts. Acts summary we have detailed a brief summary of the book of acts for bible study or sunday school lessons.
In one of his works defending the supernatural character of the new testament, he said of the book of acts. The book of acts in 3 minutes thechurchatbrookhills org youtube. Book of acts overview insight for living ministries. Specific questions about the readings in the book of acts can be found in the attached study new testament acts study. The book of acts in the bible, written around 6263 a. As a second volume to lukes gospel, it joins what jesus began to do and to teach 1. Acts is the only biblical book that chronicles the history of the church immediately after jesuss ascension. If we fail to learn about what real christianity is from the book of acts, we will just keep on playing church, pleasing men, and displeasing god. It tells of cities and dates and people that were affected by the gospel. David spoke about judas concerning his betrayal in the book of psalms. 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 remainder of the book is devoted to the lord jesus christ at work by the holy spirit through the apostles unto the uttermost part of the earth. This the book of acts bible study on the book of acts bible study verses looks at the book of acts bible study stories and asks what is the book of acts bible study about, who is in the book of acts bible study stories, why is the book of acts. Luke was keenly aware of the way in which christianity was being attacked by enemies of the movement, and he wanted to present the story of its development in a most favorable light. Stephen said some words from the book by the prophet isaiah isaiah 66. It breaks off with paul in his own hired house in rome. It is because the book of acts is a continuing story. Here is a summary and overview of the book of acts.
The book of acts provides a bridge for the writings of the nt. This film depicts the birth of the early church through the eyes of luke, the author of the gospel of luke. The book of acts in 3 minutes thechurchatbrookhills org adonaispearl. The book of acts reveals the truth that gods method for doing evangelism is, for all ages, the preaching of the gospel. The book of acts reveals the amazing and true success of this method for accomplishing the purpose of god and the salvation of the church of jesus christ. Clicking on a chapter will show you the text of that chapter of acts in the bible king james version.
71 648 1159 1328 1039 1415 1552 206 415 724 85 668 240 517 1237 8 17 627 920 1354 1117 534 883 1171 374 1461 546 454 1148 30