Book of Acts

ENGLISH · ACTS 1:1-8

Day 1 – It’s All about the Power

The book of Acts is the sequel to the Gospel of Luke. Both books were written by Luke to a man named Theophilus to give an accurate account of the historical events before (Luke) and after (Acts) the death and resurrection of Jesus. In this passage, Luke is restating the Great Commission challenge that Jesus gave at the end of Luke when He commanded His disciples to spread the gospel throughout “Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus then told His disciples, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.”

ENGLISH · ACTS 2

Day 2 – The Church Begins

The events of this chapter change the disciples – and all future believers – forever! Jesus promised in Matthew 16:18 “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” In Acts 2 the building the Church begins. What Jesus called his “Church” is the worldwide body of true followers of Jesus who are permanently indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live for Him and spread His gospel message to the ends of the earth. The Church was a new thing that began when the Holy Spirit came to live in this tiny band of followers. This was a HUGE event! Previously the Holy Spirit only temporarily empowered chosen people (kings, prophets and a few others). From this time forward all true followers of Jesus are given this privilege permanently!

ENGLISH · ACTS 4:1-22

Day 3 – Fruitfulness

This passage is a great example of Acts 1:8 being fulfilled. In chapter three, Peter and John healed a beggar who had been crippled for years. In chapter four, the Holy Spirit uses this healing in a powerful way to reach out to the entire city of Jerusalem.

The religious leaders of the city were “greatly disturbed” because of this miracle and the preaching that followed. So, they arrested Peter and John hoping to intimidate them into silence and hinder this movement. They failed on both counts. The number of believers increased to more than 5,000, having started just weeks before with the 120 people who had witnessed the ascension of Christ. Acts 1:8 promises that God will give power to believers (now as well as then) so that they can speak about Christ in a supernatural way. Not only will believers have extraordinary courage but their words will also have great effect. When we yield our lives to Christ and trust His Spirit to fill us, He empowers us to do great things for Him.

ENGLISH · ACTS 4:23-31

Day 4 – Power with God and Power with Men

Peter and John had been arrested and threatened, but the Holy Spirit gave them courage to stand strong and they chose to witness boldly before the leaders of the country. They were released and immediately returned to the group of believers to share all that had happened. Then they all prayed.

ENGLISH · ACTS 5:12-42

Day 5 – “Doing Time” for Jesus!

God blessed the disciples during those early days with great “signs” of His presence in their lives:

Acts 5:1-11 – A couple who lied publicly to God were struck dead by God! Acts 5:11 – Great fear came over all who heard about these things. Acts 5:12-16 – People were healed of all types of afflictions and sicknesses. Acts 5:14 – Great numbers of new people came to believe in Jesus. You would think that given all this evidence of God’s presence and power everyone would have believed. But the religious leaders became jealous instead, so they put the apostles in jail.

ENGLISH · ACTS 8:26-40

Day 6 – Divine Appointments

Three great leaders in Acts are Peter, who led the outreach among the Jews, Paul who led the outreach to the Gentiles, and Philip who helped the transition from one to the other in Acts 8. Philip is the least known, but he was the first to leave Jerusalem to take the gospel to non-Jews. He first shared with an African and he did so without actually going to Africa. He was led by God to a special encounter, what we call a divine appointment, with an Ethiopian who had visited Jerusalem “to worship” (8:27).

ENGLISH · ACTS 9:1-30

Day 7 – Paul’s Story

In your opinion, who is the greatest opponent of Christianity in the world today? The answer in the time of ACTS was “Saul of Tarsus,” the same man we refer to today as the Apostle Paul! He was a leader at the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr for Christ. Later in life he wrote,

“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:12-17) Saul’s conversion to Paul shows that no one is beyond God’s reach and acceptance. It also shows the power of God to totally change a life. Paul became the greatest ambassador for Christ perhaps of all time, immediately reaching others with the power of the gospel that changed his own life.

ENGLISH · ACTS 10

Day 8 – The Gospel to the Gentiles

The events of this chapter mark another huge step for God’s Kingdom.There was a lot of racial/religious/cultural tension between the Jews who had hundreds of rules and the non-Jews or Gentiles. The Jews had rules about what is clean or “holy” (like the Temple, certain foods and animals, etc.) and what is unclean or defiled (like certain other foods and animals, dead bodies, certain diseases, and anyone who touched these things which included many Jews and certainly all non-Jews). Now God told Peter to enter the “unclean” house of an “unclean” man and share Jesus with him.

ENGLISH · ACTS 13

Day 9 – Broad Sowing and Multiplication

Acts 13 records the first half of Paul’s first missionary journey. The Holy Spirit calls Paul and Barnabas to take the gospel to new places so they travel to Cyprus and several cities in what is now Turkey. A close look at their actions reveals several strategies that we can also employ.

The first thing to notice is the diversity of people they shared with. Because they didn’t know who would respond to the gospel they shared with everybody, trusting God to work in the hearts of those He chooses. We also notice that the message spread in far greater ways than Paul and Barnabas could personally accomplish by themselves. In verse 16 Paul speaks in the synagogue of Pisidian Antioch and is invited back the next week to speak again. Only this time the “entire city” shows up! Some of those who heard the message and believed invited their friends and neighbors to hear the gospel.In verse 49 Luke writes that “The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.” This is an example of what we call “spiritual multiplication” where people who respond to the gospel are discipled to share with others and disciple them.

ENGLISH · ACTS 14

Day 10 – Discipleship

Find a map of Paul and Barnabas’s first journey. They started the trip in Antioch and ended their trip in Derbe (14:20), roughly 200 miles by land from where they began. But instead of closing the circle, they retrace the route over 400 miles by land and then back across 400 miles of Mediterranean Sea. Why? Verse 22 says they went back through the cities they had already visited to “strengthen the disciples and encourage them to remain true to the faith.” Their goal was never just to preach the gospel and then go elsewhere but to “follow-up” with those who responded and teach them to be multiplying disciples.

ENGLISH · ACTS 17:16-34

Day 11 – Connecting to the Culture

Here Luke gives us a record of Paul’s interaction with a pluralistic group in Athens who know nothing about Jesus. This group was much like our modern cultures today. Athens was a city full of idols, empty gods made of wood or stone or gold who should not steal praise from the one true living God. Paul preaches in the synagogue but also in the marketplace.

Some of the local philosophers debate with him and invite him to speak at the Areopagus to a society of philosophers. Paul gives a creative talk that exemplifies how to approach such a group.

ENGLISH · ACTS 19

Day 12 – Launching Movements

Paul goes to Ephesus and finds a group that had been baptized by John the Baptist but had not remained in the Holy Land long enough to hear about Jesus. So he baptizes them in the name of Jesus. He also spoke in the synagogue and soon had many followers, but some opposition too. So he began teaching them in a school for two years (v.10). Verse 10b makes an amazing statement: “…so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.” The population at the time is estimated at about 2 million people. How many people do you think Paul personally talked to in those two years? 100 people? 1,000? 5,000? So who reached the rest? The book of Colossians gives us some clues:

Paul never went to Colossae, a town about 150 kilometers (100 miles) from Ephesus (Colossians 2:1, 2). One of the “students” at the school where Paul taught every day was Epaphras, who was from Colossae (Colossians 4:12). Paul did not lead him to Christ but we think Timothy, Paul’s protege, did. “Epaphras shared the gospel and started the church in Colossae: Colossians 1:5-8 – “In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world-just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.”