Transcript

The book of the Acts of the Apostles…what is it all about? Today, we begin a new series on the New Testament book of Acts. We are going to give you an overview of this fascinating book called the Acts of the Apostles, or simply “Acts”.

The book is called Acts of the Apostles. It could be called Acts of Jesus. It is about His continuing work. It’s the story of His work without Him in person, and this is the next phase of His work. He ascends, and the Holy Spirit comes. The work of Jesus has continued through every era.

Luke is thought to be the author, although Acts never says that. Acts is addressed to the same person as The Gospel of Luke. We don’t know much more than this about Theophilus. The pronouns used show that Luke must have traveled with Paul. Acts and Luke have similar styles and language, giving further proof that it was written by the same author.

Jesus’ life and teaching were focused on His Kingdom. Acts is a continuation of His life, so one would expect the kingdom to continue to be a theme, and it is.

Kingdom is mentioned at the beginning and at end of Acts and a total of 8 times in the book. It’s not in your face and obvious but it is there. It is twice in the first 6 verses. First referring to what Jesus taught between the resurrection and ascension in verse 3. Again, in verse 6, the disciples ask him if he will set up the Kingdom now.

The last two are also worth mentioning. In the last chapter, Paul is doing what Jesus did at the beginning of Acts. The Jews from Rome came to Paul and he “expounded and testified” the Kingdom using the law of Moses and the prophets to show the Jews. Remember how Paul started out? Persecuting the church! Remember ALL he had been through. It was a lot. Then Acts ends with Paul boldly proclaiming the Kingdom and teaching Jesus. This is exactly what Jesus was doing with the disciples in Acts 1, so while not overt, the theme of the Kingdom is present in Acts. 

Two verses form our theme, Turning the world upside down with Jesus.

Act 4:13 describes the disciples as unlearned, ignorant men, or uneducated, untrained, but they had been with Jesus. This is what made them stand out. Now whether we are learned or unlearned, common or extra special, may the same be said of us, he/she has been with Jesus. 

Acts 17:6 says, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”

This is in the words of those who disagree with them. Acts is the account of Jesus Kingdom “turning the world upside down.” His kingdom has continued to do this for 2,000 years. Many other “acts of Jesus followers” could be written from every culture and every era. Think about His church in persecuted parts of the world, or the Christian story during the Reformation. His Kingdom continues to turn the world upside down.

These two thoughts are the basis for our theme—turning the world upside down with Jesus.

Why does the Gospel always “turn the world upside down?”

Every generation since He ascended could write their own “Acts.” It is very interesting to see how the church has impacted all generations. As a youth, I had an older gentleman tell me he was very encouraged by the young people who were sharing Christ in cities. He felt it was blessed to see it and recognized that he would not have done that as a young person. As an older man, he also recognized his generation was good at starting missions and para-church organizations, many of which are still at work today. It was his view of how the church was “turning the world upside down” engaging the world with Christ where they are.

Acts 1:8 is an outline of the book.

The New Testament without Acts would feel much different. We have the expansion of the gospel documented. Notice how it expanded, like ripples. Except ripples get smaller as they go out. Think of it as an avalanche—starting from Jerusalem, then going to the whole world and continually getting bigger.

Luke organized the Book of Acts around Jesus’ command that His followers be witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The account of Acts shows this gospel movement spreading outward through the power of the Holy Spirit. In this course, we’ll follow that same pattern—the Progression of the Gospel—as we trace God’s mission: beginning in Jerusalem, reaching Judea and Samaria (at home), and spreading to towns around Jerusalem (our neighborhoods). It also crosses ideological barriers; no longer is it just Jews in chapters 10 and 11. In chapter 13, we follow Paul as he takes it to the “uttermost parts of the earth.”  

Our study of the book is broken down into the 3 areas taught in this verse. First is the Gospel in Jerusalem, chapters 1-8 and we will cover it in 7 lessons. Then Judea and Samaria 8-12, (4 lessons) and the Ends of the Earth, Paul’s missionary journeys 13-28 (6 lessons). Our first series will be 6 lessons from chapters 1-8.

Here are our goals in studying the book of Acts:

Learning Outcomes—What is the point? As we go through Acts here are some goals to keep in mind. We won’t talk about them each lesson, but the teachers have used these to guide their thinking.

Recognize how the church is turning the world upside-down with Jesus.

• The same God is accomplishing His purpose. This is a continuation of the Gospels which is still happening! Jesus ascends and the Spirit was/is given to accomplish His purposes.
• The same goals are being pursued. His church is still taking Jesus to the world, we must live out our faith with other believers, support the body, etc.
• The same gospel is being proclaimed. Their example is a good one for us to follow, the teachings of Jesus was an earthquake to Jewish culture, it will do the same in your culture. 

Examine how the Holy Spirit convicts, guides, and empowers believers to live as faithful witnesses of Jesus.

• The coming of the Holy Spirit never happened like this. Think about the huge change this was. They were learning on the fly. The good thing is there are things we can learn from them that apply to now. 

Demonstrate practical ways to participate as faithful witnesses of Christ.  This is not just theory and looking at the past, it must be lived. How will it change you?

• Locally – they give us a great example of prayer, evangelism, and working through struggles and problems.
• Globally – Jesus crosses all barriers, no longer is this for Jews only. prayer 4:32, monetary support 11:29,   

Here is a common question: Are we expected to replicate what the early church did in Acts? Are the examples in Acts commands we are to obey?

Acts is the story of the early church, are we expected to do things now like they did back then? Acts 2:46 “And continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.” And Acts 4:32 is similar. If you look at this example, you will see they met in homes, broke bread every time, met daily, and had all things in common. I recognize my experience is limited, but I don’t know of a church that practices all of these. I know of some churches that do some of them.  

You could ask the same question about Acts 15, is our church expected to obey the commands sent to the churches in this letter?

It usually ends up that we use Acts to support the practices we like and say the early church did this. If we are talking about practices we don’t do, then we take the other side and say the early church chose to do it this way but is not expecting all Christians after them to do this. These questions are big and we need His help to answer them correctly, and they are best answered with a body of believers. May God give us wisdom to serve His church in our time.

This is a very good question, and it is good for us to consider how we should apply Acts to our lives. This also brings us to the end of today’s lesson. We thank God that His Kingdom is still turning the world upside down and it is our desire to work with Him.