Acts

Faith and Fellowship Ignited

The title “Acts of the Apostles” is a bit misleading. The book contains only a few of the “acts” of some of the apostles, primarily Peter and Paul. It is more a story of the expansion of the church from Jerusalem to Rome. Whereas Jesus is the chief character in the Gospels, the Holy Spirit, working through the apostles, is the dominant character in the book of Acts. The book could more appropriately be entitled the “Acts of the Holy Spirit.”

Luke wrote the introductory statements in vv. 1-5 to connect the Book of Acts with his former book, the Gospel of Luke. Acts is considered to be the sequel, like Luke Volume II, in which Luke records the historical transition from Judaism to Christianity—a total remake of the way God interacted with His people. In his former book, Luke had recorded what Jesus had begun to do and to teach during His earthly ministry. In this second book, he wrote what Jesus continued doing to build His church through Spirit-indwelt Christians.

This 12-part Bible study focuses on the spread of the early church, from chapters 1-12.