Introduction to Acts

Introduction to Acts Dan Berry Purpose: To record early church history and show that the gospel message is based on historical fact To show that the gospel applies to all nations and classes of people It gives us hope that we can all be saved Outline The church in Jerusalem The church in Judea and Samaria Paul’s mission to the Gentiles Paul in Jerusalem Paul’s journey to Rome Peter and Paul The first part of Acts is related to Peter The latter part of Acts is related to Paul Though a simple way of organizing the book, their ministries are not separate and to make this distinction too sharp can result in missing details Characters in Acts Many people are introduced in Acts Authorship -- Luke A physician who traveled with Paul Also wrote Luke Not one of the 12 disciples Addressed books to (sponsored by) Theophilus Authorship attributed to Luke early – 2nd Century Greek and the only Gentile writer of the NT A Christian, he’s also writing about his own faith A political objective: to show that Christianity is not a threat Showed a contrast to the legalistic rituals of law keeping of Judaism (see Leviticus) Roman officials continually found Paul innocent Peter His beginnings Born around 1 BC, died around 67 AD A fisherman Account of his (and his brother Andrew’s) calling is in Matthew First to preach after Pentecost First to preach to the Gentiles A disciple and an apostle (one sent forth, one directly sent by Jesus) His ministry was in Jerusalem and Samaria – an area of 40 - 50 miles Paul His beginnings Born in Tarsus (modern day Turkey) A Jewish family A Roman by birth Trained by famous rabbi, Gamaliel, in Judaism Originally, Saul, a persecutor of Christians, Acts describes his conversion He took four journeys, three main missionary trips and then a journey to Rome Practical Application God can do amazing things through ordinary people when they are empowered by the Holy Spirit Acts helps in the understanding how we can be directed by the Holy Spirit It gives us hope that we can be saved – salvation is open to all Acts shows the importance of prayer: it is mentioned 31 times Spreading the Gospel Started in Acts There is still work to do to make sure the whole world hears the Gospel