Preparation for the coming of the spirit, chapter 1 1. Christ is the object of philemons love and faith vs. Jesus followers received the holy spirit on pentecost and became filled and equipped to spread the good news that would restore gods kingdom over the world. The easy transition from formal address to dialog in acts and luke shows how naturally the author adopted in his own narrative the medium of direct discourse.
From the empowering by the holy spirit in chapter 2, the early church made a great impact on all it encountered, the apostles peter and john playing a. 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. The acts of apostles gives us a unique insight into how the church began. 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. 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. In the body of the book bateman and peer break the epistles of john into units. The book of acts is the only historical record of the birth and early days following christs establishing his church. The book of acts gives the history of the christian church and the spread of the gospel of jesus christ, as well as the mounting opposition to it. 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.
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. 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. As such, it provides us with a valuable account of how. Acts agrees with pauls letters on the major outline of pauls career. It implies that the psalms were originally composed to be.
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. Purpose of the book as indicated previously, the original purpose of both the gospel and acts may have been to assist. The book of acts is a key part of gods plan to reach the whole world. Memory may have considerably condensed the actual utterance, and indeed, the speeches in acts are all relatively brief, succinct, and capable of explanation as summaries of longer address. The initial question regards the identity of theophilus, the one for whom the book is written. Paul begins by warning of the consequences of unbelief in chapter 1. The book of acts gives us a history of the work of the early church and the holy spirit, within the theatre of the known world. Book of acts overview insight for living ministries. The following outline is intended to be used while studying the book. 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.
Outline studies in the book of the acts of the apostles. 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. Although the author does not name himself, evidence outside the scriptures and inferences from the book itself lead to the conclusion that the. Luke recounts how peter and paul navigated oftenhostile environments to bring gods beautiful promise to cities large and small. Both books are most easily tied to the geography of the book. Besides linking the gospel narratives on the one hand and the apostolic letters on the. It might appropriately be called some of the acts of some of the apostles since it does not try to describe all of the acts of all the apostles. To make the picture abundantly clear, god has given us a hand picked record of the activities of the early church. 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. Here is a summary and overview of the book of acts. Author two lines of argument lead to the conclusion that luke, the friend, fellow missionary, and physician of paul wrote this book, under the. This is the main idea for the unit, reminiscent of haddon robinsons big idea for preaching. Luke was from antioch but traveled with paul all over southern europe and the middle east. 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.
The apostles had the holy spirit come upon them acts 2. Like luke, acts is addressed to the unknown reader theophilus, and in the introduction to acts, it is made clear that it is a continuation of luke. Luke, the author of the gospel of luke, was a doctor and gentile. There is no single chapter that does not exhibit gods power and wisdom in operation. The greek word is psalmos, from the hebrew word zmr meaning to pluck. The book of acts is a vital link between the gospels and the epistles. Carson and moo in an introduction to the new testament offer the following further breakdown of the book. The acts of the apostles often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth. A brief introduction the gospel of luke and the book of acts were written by the same author. The lord jesus christ at work by the holy spirit through the apostles in jerusalem, chapters 17 a. 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. 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 martyrdom. An exegetical outline of the gospel of john preaching source. It will help to keep the whole of the book before you as you work your way through each section.
When the holy spirit overpowered the upper room with the sound like a roaring windstorm, history changed forever. The early christian sermons that luke summarized and recorded form to a. An outline of the book of acts acts divides into two major parts roughly following the lives of peter and paul chapters 112 and 28. If you want to know what the book of acts is about, it is acts 1. Summary the book of acts, which continues the narrative that luke began in his. 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. 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. Synopsis of the book of acts from the bible jack wellman. 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 structure of the books of luke and acts are closely tied. In only three decades, a small group of frightened believers in jerusalem transformed.
Although many faithful servants were used to preach and teach the gospel of jesus christ, saul, also called paul, was the most influential. The outline is based on the theme verse of the book of acts. A brief synopsis the famous bible stories found in the scriptural text of the book of acts contained in this short summary of acts. Introduction to the book of acts acts study guide medium. Acts is the only biblical book that chronicles the history of the church immediately after jesuss ascension. The holy spirit coming in power shows that this too is the day the kingdom is. Some have concluded that theophilus was the magistrate who heard pauls case in rome and that acts and luke was a legal brief in pauls defense isbe, theophilus 3. People from many nations were beside themselves with wonder at hearing gods amazing acts in their own languages. Luke was a companion of paul on his missionary journeys, and in many parts of the book of acts it says we did this or that acts 16.
Detailed outlines of each bible book may be viewed here. Jesus had shown himself alive by many proofs for 40 days. The authors then provide a structural overview, a brief outline, and their clausal outline for the unit. The book of acts the acts of the holy spirit the bible teachers commentary an outline and map survey paul j. Luke begins with a global perspective, dating the birth of jesus to the reign of the roman emperors in luke 2. The book of acts tells how the multiethnic, international. Actus apostolorum, often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth book of the new testament. It implies that the psalms were originally composed to be accompanied by a stringed instrument. They continued to preach, and the church at antioch. As a second volume to lukes gospel, it joins what jesus began to do and to teach 1. The book is about bondage and love, forgiveness and joy. In the acts of the apostles, luke continues the story of the risen jesus, and describes the challenges the apostles faced in spreading his message through the roman empire. The book of acts provides a bridge for the writings of the nt.
The genre of the book of acts is narrative history with several sermons. If the book was just before or after pauls release, then it was likely written around 63 a. 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. Acts date and purpose the book of acts is simply called. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Acts of the apostles executable outline study resources. A history of the early church gene taylor2an outline of the book i. From there we see jesus ministry move from galilee 49, through samaria and judea 1019. Many scholars have proposed many different outlines for the book of acts. Before jesus was taken into heaven where he was enthroned to share gods rule over the world, he instructed his followers to be a witness for him. The importance of the book of acts the importance of this second of lukes twovolume work can. The book of acts tells about the beginning of the church.
Without this historical record, little would be known about the expansion of the church. The lord jesus christ at work by the holy spirit through the apostles in. Jesus sends the holy spirit to empower his disciples as they carry the good news of his kingdom to the nations of the world. This section introduces the principal character of the book and presents in a concise statement johns interpretation of him. Now the second volume, acts, will detail jesus continuing work through his apostles that he had chosen and the work of the holy spirit who would be. Brief summary of acts the kjv bible scriptures 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. 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. In the summary below, i present the official name of the biblical chapter with its common name in parenthesis. The first volume, the gospel of luke, shows as luke says, all that jesus began to do and teach.
Apr 09, 2011 the structure of the books of luke and acts are closely tied. By carefully noting the use of we and they in the book of acts, we glean that. From the empowering by the holy spirit in chapter 2, the early church made a great impact on all it encountered, the apostles peter and john playing a major role in this early work. Rather, the focus is clearly on some of the acts or deeds of mostly peter the key figure in. Mostly, it is about jesus christ, who is mentioned 11 times in 25 verses. Commonly called the acts of the apostles, it is simply titled acts in some of the oldest manuscripts.
Both works are dedicated to a man named theophilus and share a common writing style. Each book bears witness to gods mission to restore and renew creation, first through the crucified and risen jesus, and then through his followers. It is titled acts to emphasize that this book records the acts of the apostles through the work of the holy spirit. All else in the book is rooted in and grows out of this prologue. Acts is clearly on some of the acts or deeds of mostly peter. Intro to acts biblica the international bible society. To continue the story begun in the gospel of luke ac 1. Acts of the apostles 4 imprisonment in rome are 6062 a. The date of acts and the reasons for the book ending here are the most compelling reasons to see this work as in some sense a trial brief for paul. The author of each book where known is included along with a brief summary of the biblical books intent, content, and key characters.
T he book of acts in the bible, written around 6263 a. 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. Romans is a book of doctrine, christian living and justification by faith alone chaps. The life of the early church is recorded and preserved for us in the book of acts and the epistles. 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. Luke wrote the book of acts and the gospel of luke and he dedicated his work to a man named theophilus as mentioned in the summary of the book of luke. It is titled acts to emphasize that this book records the acts of. There has been much debate as to the purpose of acts.