Acts

Insight 1 : The Holy Spirit given to everyone who follows Christ and believes in him empowers individuals and the corporate body known as the Church to be witnesses who testify to the gospel and share the good news of salvation they have received to the whole world. Acts 1 describes how Christ when he ascends into heaven tells his followers both men and women that they are to share the message they have been given to all people. Acts 2 tells of the first followers of Christ receiving the Holy Spirit and how through this they shared the message of Christ’s salvation to a large crowd in Jerusalem with people from every part of the empire and how they spoke in different languages. Acts 3 tells of how Peter and John 2 of the apostles who had known Christ intimately heal a man who had been lame by praying in the name of Christ. Therefore through the Holy Sprit empowering them they are able to be bold witnesses for Christ and to share the gospel with many people. Acts 4 tells of how Peter and John are arrested by the Sanhedrin which was a group of lawyers , priests and scholars who were experts in the Jewish law and how they were amazed at the witness of the uneducated men from the backwards region of Galilee.

Insight 2 : Every person who accepts the gospel message and follows Christ is given different abilities by the Holy Spirit which are to be used to allow the Church to grow and not for individual gain. Peter and John were given the gifts of teaching others about Jesus , of evangelism ( sharing the message of Christ) and of faith ( believing Christ will fulfill his plan and not being discouraged in difficult times). Therefore they continue to share the message of the gospel which is that all people have done bad things called sin which separates us from Christ and that Christ being perfect left God the Father in heaven and was born as a man and lived a perfect life. He died on the cross for our sins and rose again and is in heaven. If we believe Christ did this and confess that we are sinners and ask him to forgive our sins , we are forgiven and become new people. Despite being imprisoned and threaten with death they boldly share the message. (Acts5). As the Church grows a group of men are appointed to do the work of helping those in need. One of these men called Stephen becomes a bold witness for the gospel, which reminds me that Christ uses everyone who serves him (Acts 6). A vital part of the gospel message is that as Christ forgave us we are to forgive others. Stephen commended to die and being executed by stoning prays to Jesus and asks him to forgive the crowd for they do not know what they are doing. (Acts 7). The gifts of the Holy Spirit change us into new people who are accepting of people from different races , ethnicity , nationality , social and religious backgrounds. Philip an apostle who was a Jew and a person from Galilee spoke to a person from Ethiopia. (Acts 8).

Insight 3 : Every single person in the world is able to make the choice to accept or reject the gospel message and I must not judge other people. When a person becomes a Christian, the Lord will use the gifts and abilities they had before become a Christian for his purposes. Saul of Tarsus who became known as Paul set out to arrest and bring to trail Christians living in Damascus and on the Road to Damascus is blinded by Christ and after coming to Damascus is told the gospel message become a bold witness for Jesus and using his scripture knowledge to be an effective witness. (Acts 9). The story of Peter going to Caesarea after being approached by Roman soldiers on the request of a Roman Centurion called Cornelius , reminds me that the Lord wants us to share the gospel with everyone even our former enemies. (Acts 10). Peter upon returning to Jerusalem shares with the Church there that salvation was for all people even those who were not Jewish. (Acts 11). Barnabas and Paul go to a city in Syria called Antioch and share the gospel message which results in many people accepting the salvation of God and a vibrant Church being established in this city. ( Acts 12).

Insight 4: Being an effective witness of the gospel requires a person being willingly to listen to the Holy Spirit’s direction and to follow this direction despite difficult situations. After being called out as witnesses Paul and Barnabas leave Antioch and go to another city to teach the gospel called Icononium where the message is accepted. (Acts 13). Paul and Barnabas travelled from city to city and shared the gospel message. In many cases they were rejected and threatened with death. ( Acts 14). Paul and Barnabas split up and each individual being directed by the Lord finds another person to minister with and goes a different way to proclaim the gospel. ( Acts 15). While Paul , Silas and Timothy are arrested and put in Jail in Philippi , an earthquake occurs and they have the chance to escape and they and the rest of the prisoners stay. Paul, Silas and Timothy are then able to share the gospel and the jailer and his whole household becomes Christians. (Acts 16).

Insight 5 : Following Jesus involves using the gifts and abilities he has given you with the intention of encouraging other believers and sharing the gospel. Paul used the training and education he had received as a Pharisee to appeal to the philosophical mind of the Athenians and explain the gospel to them. (Acts 17). When he returned to Jerusalem Paul used his gifts of teaching and exhortation to convince the Christians in Jerusalem that it was wrong to force the Gentile Christians to follow the Jewish ceremonial law. ( Acts 18). When the gospel message was attacked and the 7 sons of the High Priest Sceva tried to drive out demons and became demon possessed Paul used his gift of driving out demons to show the authority of Christ and to share the gospel. ( Acts 19). Paul used his gift of faith to pray boldly in Christ ‘s name and his gift of healing to raise a boy back to life who fallen asleep and died from falling out of a window. (Acts 20). Paul goes to Jerusalem where he is arrested and faces death because of his faith in Christ and his being empowered by the Holy Sprit to be one who shares the gospel. (Acts 21).

Insight 6 : Being a follower of Christ involves a surrender of our lives to the Lord and using the systems of rule he has placed us in for his purpose. Paul willingly preached the gospel in Jerusalem, knowing he faced persecution and death. He also used his rights as a Roman citizen in order to be treated fairly and be given a chance to speak. (Acts 22). Paul obeyed Christ and faced death on his way to the Roman governor in Caesarea but he still obeyed Christ and shared the gospel. He was also given an escort of soldiers to travel with reminding me how God uses government for his purposes. ( Acts 23). Paul was imprisoned for 2 years and submitted to those in authority during that time. However he was still able to be a witness for Christ as he shared his faith with the Roman governor Felix. ( Acts 24).

Theme 7 : Faith in Jesus and following after him will bring us difficulties but in the end Christ will work all things for good. Acts 25 discussed how Festus does not understand why Paul is being held and awaits the coming of a contemporary King Agrippa to come. Thus Paul is imprisoned but is treated civilly and is able to continue to witness. Acts 26 describes Paul‘s witness to Agrippa during his trial in which Paul is proclaimed innocent and is sent to Rome. Acts 27 describes how Paul is shipwrecked and how the lives of all the prisoners are spared due to his good relationship with the centurion in charge of them. Thus Paul is able to be a witness for Christ. Acts concludes in chapter 28 by telling of Paul arrival in Rome where he is imprisoned for 2 years and in which he writes several letters to various churches which later form most of the New Testament.