INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF ACTS
The book of Acts is a transition between the Law and the Church
The book of Acts forms a bridge between the Gospels and
Paul's
Epistles. It tells a story of the birth and the growth of
the Church.
The main theological emphasis of the Book of Acts is the
Holy Spirit.
There are three major themes
in the books of Acts.
1. Apologetic defending Christianity
2. Validating
Paul's Apostleship .
3. Defending the inclusion
of the Gentiles in the new kingdom
The author of the book of Acts and the Gospel of Saint Luke
is believed to
be Luke. However Luke's name is not mentioned in either
book. Nor does
Luke claim to be the author in any book of the New
Testament.
The question is how did the Church fathers come to a
conclusion that Luke is
the author?
The first conclusion is that the writer of Acts had to be a
traveling companion
of Paul because of the level of details Paul's events.
The Luke is mention by Apostle Paul in three of his
epistles; Colossians 4:14 ,
2 Timothy 4:11
and Philemon 24. In Colossians 4:4, Luke is called a doctor by
Paul ; " Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas
send greetings."
In the Gospel of Luke and in Acts in describing the
conditions of those healed by Jesus and
Paul, the writer use medical terms. These terms would have been common to a
doctor, but not to other disciples. For example:
Luke 4:38, Peter
wife's mother healed by Jesus of a high fever.
The writer used
the term megalos for great and pureto for fever
both are medical
terms.
In Luke
13:11-13, Jesus healed a woman who was bent over for 18 years.
The writer used
the astheneias for infirmity and sugkuptousa for curvature
of the spine.
In Acts the
writer used the term ludropkos for dropsy and
kathepsen for
fastened. Both terms are medical terms a
doctor
of that time
would use.
Luke is the only
disciple that is called a doctor by Paul. Thus, the conclusion
Luke was the
writer Of the Gospel of Luke and Acts.
Both the Gospel of Luke and Acts was written
to a man named Theophilus.
The name
Theophilus means friend of God. No one knows who he was.
Some believe that
Theophilus was a Jewish priest, or a Roman official.
Others believe as
the name suggests, that the books were written to the disciples
of Jesus.
Luke was one of
the 12 that Jesus picked as disciples.
True_____ or False_____
(answer Matthew
10:2, Mark 3:17, Luke 6:14)
Jesus ascended back in to heaven after His resurrection by
the power of the
_______________ (Acts 1:2).
After His resurrection Jesus spent _______days on earth. (Acts 1:3)
John baptized with water, but Jesus baptized with the
___________________
What is the difference?
Mark 2:10
Why did Jesus tell His disciple not to leave Jerusalem
They were to wait for____________ which was the giving of
the ______________
(John 14:26, Acts 1:8)
When we are obedient to Jesus, we act according to His
power.
The Church receives it power from the ____________________ (Acts 1:8)
The jobs of the Holy Spirit is
1. To be
your________________ _____________
2. To teach
you ___________things
3. To bring to
your_______________whatever____________
said and
did. (John 14:26)
Your mission as a disciple is to be ____________ of Jesus
Acts 1:8
You are to be ____________of Jesus to the ____________of the
earth
What verse contains the last works Jesus spoke to his
disciples
before He was taken back to heaven? ______________
The Church works best when everyone is on one ___________
and
in ___________and_______________. Acts 1:14
The word prayer in the text is the Greek word proseuche
which means worship.
The word supplication is the Greek word deesis which means
request,
When the Holy Ghost was given there were only men in the
room.
True___________ or False_____________ Acts 1:14
How many disciples were in the room when the Holy Ghost was
given
the first time? 12________, 120__________,
250___________ Acts 1:15
Judas was chosen to betray Jesus. True___________or
False___________
Acts 1:18, Psalms 41:9
Could Judas have chosen not to betray Jesus? What do you think?
God uses evil to work
for our good.
Peter taught his first lesson to the Church concerning the
replacement of
___________ as a disciple.
The first business of the Church was the selection
of____________ as
a replacement of the ___________ apostles Act 1:26
Rev. M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor Of Greater Macedonia
Baptist Church
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