Historical Background

The Book of Acts is Luke’s second part to his continual narrative of what God had been doing in Israel and throughout the rest of the known world. In his first installment to Theophilus, Luke thoroughly investigated the accounts surrounding Jesus by interviewing eyewitnesses of all that had transpired (Luke 1:1-4). In the Book of Acts, Luke moves from an investigator to an activist, as he records how the Holy Spirit fulfills God’s Mission of bringing the good news to everyone everywhere.

The structure of the book follows Jesus’ last words to his apostles before ascending to heaven. Jesus tells them, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth,” (1:8). Therefore, Luke’s narrative unfolds just as Jesus prophesized. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles go forth fulfilling the Great Commandment (Matt. 28). As they go, they invite all peoples and nations to believe in Jesus and to be his followers.

Sermon Series

Title: Being Bold as the Gospel Goes

Since the Book of Acts is larger than most books in the New Testament, it may be best broken down into various segments. Perhaps it is best to think of this book as one continuous story with four installments, or parts. Like Star Wars or the Lord of the Rings trilogies, the Book of Acts can be divided in such a way that allows for appropriate breaks. This may be helpful to allow the preacher to use specific weekends for other purposes such as the Advent season, special service, or Holy Week.

Big Idea for Series: As you go, the gospel goes.

Part 1: The Humble Beginnings of the Church (Acts 1-Acts 8:3)

Text: Acts 1

• Title: Can I Get a Witness
• Exegetical Idea: Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he commissioned his followers through the power of the Holy Spirit, to testify about everything they had seen and heard regarding Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, as well as to the ends of the earth.
• Big Idea: The gospel must go.

Text: Acts 2

• Title: Help from Above
• Exegetical Idea: The church begins when the Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost filling Peter and the others with boldness to proclaim that Jesus rose from the dead and grace for the believers to live in communion with one another.
• Big Idea: The Holy Spirit gives you strength to speak and a heart to give.

Text: Acts 3-4:31

• Title: There is a Time to Heal and a Time to Kneel
• Exegetical Idea: After the Spirit uses Peter to heal a beggar, he enables Peter and John to speak with boldness in the midst of adversity and directs the believers to pray for further boldness so the gospel may continue to spread.
• Big Idea: A bold message requires bold messengers and bold prayers.

Text: Acts 4:32-Acts 5

• Title: Fighting for God or Against God
• Exegetical Idea: The battle lines are drawn when some Jews would rather hold onto their worldly possessions or religious rituals as opposed to unifying around the testimony of Jesus’ resurrection and the power of his Spirit.
• Big Idea: Stop fighting against God and start standing for God.

Text: Acts 6-8:3

• Title: It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times
• Exegetical Idea: As the early church began to flourish, Stephen upsets some Jews when he preaches that the Old Testament points to Jesus, resulting in his murder and persecution of the church in Jerusalem, but the gospel could now spread beyond Jerusalem and throughout the region.
• Big Idea: Even in the worst of times, God can do the best of things.

Part 2: Unexpected Gospel Growth (Acts 8:4-Acts 12)

Text: Acts 8:4-40

• Title: The Gospel Goes
• Exegetical Idea: The Holy Spirit uses the persecution in Jerusalem to spread the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria by empowering Philip, Peter, and John to witness to those who seek God and withstand those who oppose him.
• Big Idea: Wherever you go, the gospel must go.

Text: Acts 9

• Title: Saul: God’s Chosen Instrument
• Exegetical Idea: Saul encounters the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus and converts to Christianity, but many have difficulty believing that his conversion is authentic.
• Big Idea: Jesus can use anybody for the spread of the gospel.

Text: Acts 10-11

• Title: No Favorites
• Exegetical Idea: Through divine appointments by the Holy Spirit, Peter realizes that God shows no favoritism and accepts anyone from any nation who believes in Jesus.
• Big Idea: God accepts anyone with no exceptions.

Text: Acts 12

• Title: When the Chains Fell Off
• Exegetical Idea: Luke contrasts Herod’s death with Peter’s miraculous escape from prison by an angel of the Lord and returned to the believers who were astonished how the Holy Spirit rescued Peter from his imminent death.
• Big Idea: The Spirit can rescue you in your darkest hour.

Part 3: On the Road Again with Paul and Company (Acts 13-Acts 21:16)

Text: Acts 13-14

• Title: Follow the Leader
• Exegetical Idea: Paul and Barnabas are sent by the Holy Spirit from the church in Antioch to spread the gospel message first to the Jews in the synagogues and then to the Gentiles in streets throughout Asia Minor.
• Big Idea: Where the Holy Spirit leads, you should follow.

Text: Acts 15

• Title: The Table Is Extended for All
• Exegetical Idea: After debate on whether or not Gentiles needed to practice Jewish customs and traditions, the Council at Jerusalem reached the radical decision that salvation hinged on whether or not one trusted in Jesus and not one’s ethnicity or obedience to the Torah.
• Big Idea: God’s plan is to include believers from every background.

Text: Acts 16

• Title: Into Unchartered Territories
• Exegetical Idea: After Paul’s vision to bring the gospel to all peoples, he and his companions set out to travel the challenging and dangerous streets through Asia Minor and ancient Greece.
• Big Idea: You can’t spell gospel without g-o.

Text: Acts 17-18:17

• Title: The Bad, the Good, and the Not So Sure
• Exegetical Idea: Paul and company continue to preach the gospel to the Jews and Gentiles in ancient Greece and are met with reactions of acceptance, denials, excitement, and hesitancy.
• Big Idea: The gospel is for everyone, but that doesn’t mean everyone will be for the gospel.

Text: Acts 18:18-Acts 19

• Title: Man-made Gods Are No Gods at All
• Exegetical Idea: God does extraordinary miracles through Paul as he testifies about the grace of Jesus Christ in Ephesus, including forcing the people of Ephesus to choose between Jesus and the pagan goddess, Artemis.
• Big Idea: Choose wisely who or what you worship.

Text: Acts 20-21:16

• Title: An Emotional Farewell
• Exegetical Idea: Paul departs from his brothers and sisters in the faith and heads for Jerusalem where they know he will be targeted for imprisonment and possibly worse because of his mission work done throughout the world.
• Big Idea: In the midst of laughter and tears, the Lord’s will is done.

Part 4: Closing Arguments (Acts 21:17 – Acts 28)

Text: Acts 21:17-22:29

• Title: The Gospel Continues to Go
• Exegetical Idea: Paul is arrested in Jerusalem and after sharing about his experience with Jesus on the road to Damascus, he is nearly flogged until the commander of the Roman troops discovers that Paul is a Roman citizen.
• Big Idea: Gospel carriers, carry a target.

Text: Acts 22:30-Acts 24

• Title: The Gospel on Trial
• Exegetical Idea: After threats to Paul’s life, he is put on house arrest for two years under the Governor of Caesarea, Felix.
• Big Idea: When our lives face trials, God is still on his throne.

Text: Acts 25-26

• Title: What’s Your Story
• Exegetical Idea: While on trial before Festus, King Agrippa, and Bernice, Paul shares the details of his life before Christ, his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, and what his life has been like ever since.
• Big Idea: If Jesus is in your story, you have a powerful story.

Text: Acts 27-28:16

• Title: A Long Way to Rome
• Exegetical Idea: Paul experienced storms, shipwrecks, snakes, and more, but the Holy Spirit continued to use him to spread the gospel despite his circumstances.
• Big Idea: Despite your circumstances, God can still use you in mighty ways.

Text: Acts 28:17-31

• Title: The Gospel Goes Home
• Exegetical Idea: While awaiting his trial in Rome, Paul boldly and without hindrance continued to preach the gospel to all who are willing to hear.
• Big Idea: Share the gospel on the road and in the home.

Application

Similarly to the Book of Luke, the Book of Acts is a narrative piece of literature. Luke brings the reader on the incredible journey of what the Holy Spirit did through believers after Jesus’ ascension. It is the preacher’s responsibility to bring the listeners along this journey so they can learn more about themselves, one another, and most importantly, God. Linares states, “If a pastor cannot competently preach narrative, he cannot competently preach the Bible.”[1]

Narrative preaching is not personal storytelling, video clips, drama, or a didactic/linear sermon form. Those elements may certainly play a part in the sermon process, but true narrative preaching is understanding and unpacking the setting, character development, problem, plot, climax, and resolution. Grasping these literary devices will help the preacher to be genre sensitive to text. It will also aid in communicating the main idea of the story so that the listener may be able to appropriately apply the principles to life.

God used this narrative genre to communicate how the Holy Spirit used believers to spread the gospel throughout the known world. The Book of Acts allows the preacher to speak on several different topics:

• The power of the Holy Spirit (2:1-4, 4:8-12; 4:28-31, 8:15-17, 10:44-48; 12:5-11; 16:25-34; 19:1-6; 28:1-6).
• The need for evangelism and bold witnesses (1:8; 2:14-41; 4:8-20; 4:29-31; 5:29-32; 7:51-53; 8:4-8; 8:26-40; 13:48; 14:15-17; 17:1-34; 26:29).
• The importance of the multiethnic church (2:5-13; 2:42-47; 4:32-37; 8:27; 10:1-48; 15:19-35; 16:6-10).
• How the New Testament epistles fit within the timeline of the early church. (Acts 2:1-12; 8:1-4; 15:1-35; 17:1-9; 18:1-17; 19:1-41)

These are just a few of the many issues the early believers faced that many modern-day churches and believers may be able to relate to as well.

The Book of Acts also provides several glimpses into the community life of the earliest believers. For instance: They prayed together. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. They held their material possessions in common. They took care of widows. They performed signs and wonders. They ate meals together. They met in all kinds of different places (temple, synagogues, homes, a lecture hall). Some of these practices might be prescriptive for the church today (i.e., we should still be doing them), whereas the depiction of other practices in Acts might merely be descriptive, telling us about what the church did back then without intending that the church today ought to do those same things. Using other parts of Scripture, and a good commentary when needed, will help the preacher determine what is prescriptive or descriptive.

Theological Themes

Even though the Book of Acts is a narrative genre, there is an abundance of theological themes that can be traced throughout the book. Luke’s main purpose was not necessarily to communicate theological ideas in the same manner in which other New Testament letters were, but rather to continue to share what the resurrected Jesus was doing on earth from heaven (Acts 1:1-2). The following are a few of the many theological themes that may be identified in this book.

God’s Mission for Multiethnic, Multigenerational Gatherings of Believers

Throughout the book, men and women are encountering the good news that Jesus was crucified but is now alive. This message begins in Jerusalem, primarily with the Jewish people. However, through the power of the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost (2:1-13) it quickly spreads throughout Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of most of the known world (1:8).

It was God’s mission for the gospel to spread and bring people from different backgrounds and cultures together. It was not meant for one people group, but for all people and nations. Throughout the book, we see the gospel going to both Jews and Gentiles, educated and uneducated, young and old, and into a plethora of different cultures and people groups.

The Holy Spirit (Pneumatology)

The Spirit was active throughout the Old Testament and the Gospels, but in the Book of Acts we see him indwelling the lives of believers. Jesus promises the disciples they will receive power to be his witnesses when the Holy Spirit comes (1:8). Not long after Jesus’ promise, the Spirit comes at Pentecost and remains in the lives of believers. The indwelling of the Spirit throughout the Book of Acts was an indication of an authentic belief that Jesus was Lord (2:4-8; 8:14-17; 9:17; 10:44-48; 11:15; 19:6).

Persecution, Protection, and Providence

Throughout the Book of Acts, believers of Jesus experience intense persecution from those who oppose the gospel. The apostles are flogged by the religious authorities (5:17-42). Stephen is stoned because of his presentation of the gospel to the Jews (7:54-60). Believers are imprisoned because of their faith (8:3). James is killed for political favor with the Jews (12:3). Peter is arrested multiple times (4; 12). In addition, the last seven chapters record Paul’s imprisonment and trials. However, God’s protection and providence is also clearly evident throughout the book as the Holy Spirit uses the believer’s persecution for the advancement of the gospel and the mission of the church.

My Encounter with the Book of Acts

I always enjoy a good story. Whether it is in print or on the screen, I am easily caught up with the characters, conflict, and conclusion. The Book of Acts enthralls me every time I read it and preach it because not only is every chapter riveting, but because it is the historical foundation of our faith and the church. Preaching through Acts consistently reminds me of the bold faith the early believers expressed and empowers me to be a witness wherever I go.

One of the greatest opportunities I have had in life was the ability to teach the Book of Acts as a Study Abroad class with the Moody Bible Institute on a sailboat off the coast of Greece and in Israel. Visiting many of the sites of the church’s early beginnings and Paul’s missionary journey helped me move the story from the black and white pages of Scripture to the color of real life. If possible, do not miss an opportunity to visit the sites of the early church.

Commentaries

F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts: New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988).

Bruce’s commentary on Acts has stood the test of time. Originally published in the mid-twentieth century and then revised in the late 1980s it remains one of the best commentaries to help preachers understand and teach the Book of Acts.

Darrell Bock, Acts: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007).

This commentary gives the reader chapter-by-chapter exegesis with extensive research. Bock unpacks the sociological, historical, and theological aspects found in the Book of Acts. It also interacts with the Greek text but is sensitive to pastors who preach on regular basis.

Mal Couch, Gen. Ed. A Bible Handbook to the Acts of the Apostles (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1999).

This book is broken down into three sections: (1) The theology of the Book of Acts (2) The theology and work of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts (3) A verse-by-verse background guide to the Book of Acts. This book will help place the Book of Acts in its historical and cultural context while also tackling many of the theological and practical issues.

[1] Joe Linares, Proclaiming God’s Stories: How to Preach Old Testament Historical Narrative (Greenville: Bob Jones University Press, 2009), 29.

Chris Rappazini is an Associate Professor of leadership at Anderson University’s Center for Leadership and Organizations and Founder of Faithful Steps Forward, which provides leadership coaching and training to pastors and business leaders. He has also served as the head of the Pastoral Studies program at the Moody Bible Institute, where he was on faculty for eleven years. Learn more at FaithfulStepsForward.com.