In this assignment you will read each chapter of Acts, making observations as you go. You will also read commentary we have provided on each section Acts to help you follow the overall flow of the book. Read the instructions next to each step below and turn this entire document in to your TA at the next class session.
1. Read Acts 1 and write a one-sentence summary of what happened in each section below.
Acts 1:1-14 _____________________________________________________________________________
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Acts 1:15-26 ____________________________________________________________________________
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The birth & expansion of the church
The book of Acts opens with Jesus telling his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the gift of the Holy Spirit. But they have a particularly disappointing reaction to his announcement. They associated this coming blessing of God with something very local and narrow:
(Acts 1:6,7) “When the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, are you going to free Israel now and restore our kingdom? He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”
Their question shows they still didn’t understand the nature of the kingdom Jesus came to bring. They were still hoping he would conquer Israel’s enemies and set up God’s kingdom on earth. Their question also revealed their culturally and racially narrow perspective. God did have a special place for Israel in His plan; but his concern extended beyond them to the rest of humanity. Recall God’s promise to Abraham: "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Gen 12:1-3) They longed for a kingdom that would free the Jews from Rome. Jesus’ kingdom would free the world from Satan’s power.
(Acts 1:8) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples were gathered together in a house near Herod’s temple. Jewish people from all over the Roman world were in Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost. Then suddenly while they were praying, it happened. Accompanied by the noise of wind and the appearance of fiery flames, the Holy Spirit came and filled them. Empowered by the Spirit, Peter stood before the crowds to explain what was happening:
(Acts 2:32) God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. (33) Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
He told everyone listening that they too could be forgiven of their sins and filled with the Holy Spirit.
In verse 41, Luke gives us the first of several summary statements that organize his narrative of what took place in the early church. We will continue referring to these summary statements at the story of Acts unfolds.
(Acts 2:41) So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
What an amazing start for the kingdom of God! Clearly, a movement had begun.
At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus came announcing that the kingdom of God was at hand. But his listeners wanted to know more. How could they recognize the arrival of the kingdom?
(Luke 17:20-21) One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God isn't ushered in with visible signs. You won't be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It's over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is among you.”
Christ taught that his kingdom was present among them and would continue to grow in an inconspicuous way (Matt. 13:44), starting small and growing large (Matt. 13:31,32). As early Christians came together - brothers and sisters with a common Father – they formed an organic unity, God’s family, and became the expression of his kingdom on earth.
(Acts 2:42-47) They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
This organic unity between Believers in Christ is called the Body of Christ. Through the Body of Christ, Jesus Christ establishes His personal presence and reign on Earth as Messiah king. Humans participate in and extend this new kingdom by putting their faith in Christ and serving him.
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Acts 4:32-5:11 ___________________________________________________________________________
Acts 5:12-42 ____________________________________________________________________________
Acts 6:1-7 ______________________________________________________________________________
Acts 6:8-8:4 _____________________________________________________________________________
What does the Holy Spirit do in Acts 8:5-8:40? _________________________________________________
Acts 9:1-31 _____________________________________________________________________________
Some of Christ’s followers saw the far-reaching implications of the Kingdom. Stephen in particular realized that all the Old Testament sacrificial system was obsolete and replaced by Jesus Christ. He taught that Herod’s Temple in Jerusalem was no longer needed – even an obstacle to the growth of the Kingdom. His insight was simple. Such things as the Holy of Holies clearly pictured how nobody can enter God’s presence while stained with sin, but now the thick veil of separation was torn from top to bottom, and God was free to enter the hearts of men. That meant that God dwelled among his people wherever they went.
(Acts 7:48-50) “The Most High doesn't live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says, ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you ever build me a temple as good as that?’”
(Acts 8:2) “a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria… (4) Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
The encounter left Saul blind, and his campaign screeched to a halt; – in fact, it reversed direction. Saul was now convinced the Disciples were telling the truth, and Jesus was alive, resurrected, and clearly was the prophesied Messiah! Even critics of the Bible concede that Paul’s dramatic turnaround is difficult to explain. If he didn’t meet Jesus on the road to Damascus, who or what did cause his change of heart?
Though this experience (Acts 9:1-30), Paul was transformed from being the chief opponent of the church to its greatest missionary. Paul, more than anyone else, was responsible for transforming Christianity from a sect of Judaism to a worldwide, international movement.
Acts 11:19-30 ___________________________________________________________________________
Acts 12:1-25 ____________________________________________________________________________
Luke shifts his focus to the ministry of Peter in the coastal area of Palestine (9:32-43). There, prodded along by the Holy Spirit, Peter participated in the conversion of Cornelius, a Roman Centurion (10:1-48). These new inroads for the kingdom into the Gentile world were initially received with skepticism by the church in Jerusalem (11:1-3). But the Holy Spirit was at work in Peter’s life to break him and the people he led from their conservative and prejudiced ways.
(Acts 11:19-22) “Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.”
From this time forward, Antioch, not Jerusalem, was the spiritual hotbed of the early Christian movement. Antioch, about three hundred miles north of Jerusalem, was a great place to have as a mission base to the rest of the world:
“During the first century, (Antioch) was, after Rome and Alexandria, the third largest city in the empire, having a population of more than 500,000. First-century Antioch was a melting pot of Western and Eastern cultures. It was, in fact, a meeting point for many nationalities, a place where barriers between Jew and Gentile were very slight, so numerous were the converts to Judaism in the city, and so high the status of the Jews there – they enjoyed full citizen rights… As one of the largest cities in the Empire, and one of the great commercial centers of antiquity, with business connections all over the world, Antioch saw the coming and going of all sorts of people from every quarter of the globe.” (Longnecker)
5. Read Acts 13:1-14:28.
Early in 48 A.D., Paul and Barnabas were “set apart by the Holy Spirit to the work to which he called them.” This work involved preaching the gospel to the Gentiles and began with itinerant preaching and church planting in the towns in Asia Minor.
Everywhere they went, Paul and Barabus’ listeners were polarized by the Gospel message. They met with great receptivity and fierce opposition. Judaizers (traveling teachers who wanted Christians to observe the Jewish laws and customs) followed them from town to town stirring dissention. They almost managed to kill Paul in Lystra, nearly stoning him to death (Acts 14:19-20). But Paul dusted himself off and continued his church planting ministry.
Historians call this Paul’s first missionary journey and it was incredibly successful.
6. Read Acts 15:1-35 and answer the questions below.
What was the controversy about in Acts 15:1-35 and how was it resolved? ___________________________
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What happened in Acts 15:36-41? ___________________________________________________________
Paul’s second and third missionary journeys (Acts 15:36-21:16)
Planting churches in Macedonia and Greece: Paul and Timothy wanted to take the Gospel to the northern part of Asian minor, but the Spirit “did not permit them.” (Acts 16:7) Instead, Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia appealing to him for help. Prompted by this vision, Paul left Troas and sailed for Macedonia (16:6-10). It was at this time that Luke became part of the team.
Among the major cities that they visited were Philippi (16:11-40), Thessalonica (17:1-9), Athens (17:16-34), and Corinth (18:1-17), where Paul wrote 1 & 2 Thessalonians.
Paul’s Ephesian ministry: Paul set out again from Antioch to visit old churches and plant new ones. Paul had perhaps his most fruitful ministry in Ephesus at this time (19:1-19), where he spent over two years. Using the lecture hall of Tyrannus as his hub, he impacted the whole region of Asia Minor – so much so that the when his converts burned their occult literature, the pile was valued at several million dollars. Not only that, but the idol-making business was drying up because the Christian movement there!
The resentment of pagan idol makers led to a riot. (19:21-41) By reading Paul’s farewell speech to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, and from their emotional attachment to Paul, one gathers that Paul had made a life-changing impact on this group of men. It was while he was in Ephesus that Paul wrote 1 & 2 Corinthians.
8. Read Acts 21:17-28:31 and write a one-sentence summary below of the events Luke describes in each section.
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Acts 25:1-22 ___________________________________________________________________________
Acts 25:23-26:32 _________________________________________________________________________
Acts 27:1- 28:31 _________________________________________________________________________
In the final section of Acts, Paul arrives in Jerusalem to give poor believers living there a financial gift from the Gentile churches – particularly the Macedonians and Corinthians (Acts 19:21; 20:2, 3; Romans 15:25-27; 2 Cor. 8:1-4).
Soon after his arrival, a group of Jews from Asia recognized Paul and instigated a riot, accusing him of speaking against the law and the temple. The commander of a Roman Cohort heard that the city was in confusion and intervened just as the Jews began beating Paul. To find out why everyone was so upset, the commander made the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling council) appear before him to explain the cause of the riots. This meeting devolved into another chaotic scene, and eventually Paul was taken to Antipatris, a town near the coast, under the cover of night. Once there, he appeared before Felix, a Roman procurator. This was the beginning of a long series of imprisonments and defenses before various rulers (21:17-26:32).
Paul eventually used his right as a Roman citizen to appeal to the emperor and so Acts ends with his journey to Rome and the ministry he carried out there for two years while under house arrest (27:1-28:30). This was from 58-60 AD.
Not only did Paul preach the gospel during his two years imprisonment in Rome, he also spent time writing to various churches. The so-called “prison epistles” were written during this period (Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, & Philippians). In his letter to the Philippians, Paul reveals his perspective on his imprisonment:
(Phil. 1:12-14) Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.
The book of Acts is just the beginning of the story of the spread of the gospel. It has no real ending because the kingdom that Jesus came to bring continues to grow, even in our own day. Jesus promised that more and more people will be delivered from Satan’s kingdom until individuals from every ethnic group in the world have heard and responded to the offer of his forgiveness (Matthew 28:18-20).
Summary Statement:
(Acts 28:30-31) And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters, and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.