Acts, Book of
ACTS, BOOK OF
Evidence from early Christian records, as well as from the book itself, indicates that Luke wrote the book of Acts. The book was the second of two volumes that Luke wrote, the first being Luke’s Gospel. Luke wrote for a person named Theophilus, with the purpose of giving Theophilus an account of Christianity from the birth of its founder to the arrival of its greatest apostle in Rome (Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-2). Sections of Acts that are written in the first person show that Luke was with Paul on some of Paul’s missionary travels (Acts 16:10-17; 20:5-37; 21:1-17; 27:1-28:31).
Luke was a doctor. It’s very important to back up statements we make about people from the Bible. Does anyone know where we would find that Luke is a doctor? (Colossians 4:14)
Let’s turn in our Bibles to Acts 1.
Acts 1:8: “But 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.”
When you are on a road trip and start getting hungry what signs do you look for? (Allow students to answer.) As we journey through the Book of Acts, words from this key verse will stand out all along the way. These words will be like road signs we see as we travel together.
Power:
What does the word power mean? The Ability to do or act; capability of
doing or accomplishing something; The possession of control or command
over others; authority; ascendancy (Dictionary.com) Some verses that
talk about power in the chapters we will be studying the next 12 weeks
are: (Have students with the verses read them as you call them out.
Acts 3:12, Acts 4:33, Acts 6:8 and Acts 9:22.)
The power found in these verses came from God in the form of the Holy Spirit. That’s our next road sign that we will continually see throughout the Book of Acts.
Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the 3rd person of the Trinity. The Trinity is made up of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are equally God with different jobs. After Jesus went back to Heaven the Holy Spirit came and empowered the believers to do the work that Jesus told them to do. (Acts 2:38; 4:31; 5:32; 6:5; 9:31)
While God the Son, Jesus is in heaven with God the Father, God the Holy Spirit gives power to those who believe in Him. He gives them power to have courage and boldness to share with others the salvation message.
The next road sign we will see is salvation. Salvation means be saved from your sins. In the book of acts we will see many people believe in the Lord Jesus and be saved. (Acts 2:41, 4:12 and 5:14) There will be an explosion of faith in people because the Apostles obeyed Jesus. As they were empowered by the Holy Spirit they shared the Good News with many people and as a result many were saved from their sins.
As we see many people saved in Acts, we will also see the apostles persecuted for their obedience to Christ.
The final road sign we are going to discuss this morning is persecution. What does the word persecute mean? To persecute means to harass, or trouble someone with hurtful methods. Some examples we will see in Acts are found in Acts 5:17-18 (Arrested and imprisoned), 7:54-58 (stoned to death), and 8:1.
We have an exciting journey before us! Each week as we see how the apostles served the Lord Jesus I pray that we would serve Him more in our own lives. The power that the Holy Spirit gave to the apostles is available to each one of us who has been saved. As we walk with Jesus each day may we see the Holy Spirit’s power working in our lives helping us to be more like Jesus and being obedient to the command He gave us in Acts 1:8.
As
we begin this journey together we need to think about a couple of
things. First, have you been saved? The Good News we will hear about
each week in our study of Acts is the news that Jesus died on the cross
for our sins. He was buried and God raised Him from the dead on the
third day. When a person believes that Jesus died for his/her sins God
saves them from the punishment for their sins. If you would like to
know more about how you can be saved please talk to one of us and we
will show you from the Bible how you can be saved today.
Second, if you have been saved are you sharing the Good News with others? If you are afraid you need to remember that the Holy Spirit lives in you and will give you power to be a witness for Jesus. Will you pray and ask God to give you His power to share the Good News with others?
(Pray for sensitivity to the needs of your students as you discuss abandonment. There may be students in class who have truly experienced abandonment from one or both parents. This lesson emphasizes that God never abandons His children.)
Let’s turn in our Bibles to Acts 1. Review with the class what they remember from last week’s overview of Acts 1-9.
Before we get into Acts chapter one, I would like for you to think about if there has been a time when you felt abandoned and all alone? Maybe you have been in a store with your family and you were distracted by something you were looking at and when you looked around your family was gone. At that moment how did you feel? When a person is left all alone he/she may feel abandoned or deserted. For the few minutes you were deserted by your family members you may have felt very frightened. As soon as you were reunited with your family you were so relieved and comforted to not have been truly abandoned.
Jesus’ disciples spent three years following Him. They heard Him teach about God’s Kingdom and witnessed Him perform many miracles. When they saw the Son of God nailed to a cross and die they may have experienced feelings of abandonment. They believed Jesus was God’s Promised Messiah and now He was dead and His body had been placed in a sealed tomb.
Feelings are not always the truth of what is really happening in a situation. If the disciples had felt abandoned when Jesus died it was not the truth. Jesus told them very clearly before He was nailed to the cross that He was going to suffer and would rise again. Matthew 26:32 “But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” (Matthew 16:21, Matthew 17:12, Mark 8:31, Luke 9:22)
Even though the disciples had been told by Jesus what to expect they were most likely frightened and overwhelmed when the things that Jesus said would happen were taking place. It would not have been easy to watch the innocent Son of God be treated like a criminal and be nailed to a Roman Cross. It was very traumatic and unsettling for Jesus’ disciples.
Sometimes feelings of fear, sadness, or loneliness can cloud our hearts to the truth that Jesus has spoken to us from His Word. The Bible is full of God’s instructions for His people to follow until He returns or calls them home. When we have feelings that seem to overwhelm us we need to find out the truth from reading God’s Word.
Three days after Jesus was buried in a sealed tomb God raised Him from the dead! He did exactly what He told the disciples He would do.
To prove that Jesus was really alive and not a figment of the disciples’ imaginations, Jesus stayed on the earth for 40 days after His resurrection. Let’s look at Acts 1:3. Luke tells us that over those 40 days Jesus gave many convincing proof of His resurrection.
This morning as you arrived our activity was to make a mural that records the different times that Jesus appeared to people in His resurrected body. (Allow students to share the different times that Scripture tells of Jesus appearing to someone or a group of people after He rose from the dead.)
It must have been so comforting to the once very frightened and discouraged apostles to have Jesus with them again.
Luke tells us what Jesus did during the period of forty days. Let’s look at the last part of verse 3 and see what He did with the apostles. (He spoke about the Kingdom of God.)
Jesus gave His apostles a very important instruction. Read Acts 1:4-5. Jesus knew what God’s plans were and He was preparing them for when He returned to heaven. The apostles didn’t fully understand what was about to happen. Even though they didn’t understand they needed to follow the instructions Jesus gave them.
God’s plan was for Jesus to return to heaven. Jesus had chosen His apostles to be messengers for Him after He left. What message did Jesus want His apostles to tell others? Matthew 28:19-20.
Although Jesus was returning to heaven He was not abandoning His apostles. God never leaves or abandons His children.
Let’s look at Acts 1:8. If you were here last week this was our memory verse. This verse helps the Apostles to know that they would not be abandoned and left alone. Jesus told them that God was going to send the Holy Spirit to give them His power to take the message to all people.
This message could not be taken to the people without God’s power. It was important for the Apostles to obey Jesus’ instructions and wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus finished instructing the apostles, His feet lifted off the ground and He began to ascend or go up into the sky. As He went up into the sky a cloud hid Him from the apostles’ sight.
Let’s imagine being there on that day. Do you think the apostles strained to see Jesus and try to get just one last glimpse of Him?
Let’s read Acts 1:10-11. Who do you think these two men were? (Angels)
As we read this passage we can see God’s faithfulness to send these two men to give this message. I wonder how long they would have stood there staring up into the sky if they had not received this message from the 2 men.
The apostles had a job to do for the Lord Jesus. They had work to do but first they needed to follow Jesus’ instructions. He told them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit.
They
obeyed His instructions and went to Jerusalem. They went into a room
where they were staying. Let’s find out who was in this upper room.
Read Acts 1:13-14.
While they were waiting for the Holy Spirit what does verse 14 tell us these people did? (They joined together constantly in prayer.)
Instead of allowing the fear of abandonment overwhelm them Jesus’ followers spent time praying and waiting for Jesus to send His Holy Spirit. Peter also spoke to the group that was gathered. Let’s read Acts 1:15 and find out how many were gathered together when Peter spoke. Peter told the believers that when Judas betrayed Jesus, he did exactly what God’s Word said he would. Peter said that they needed to select another apostle to replace Judas. Peter told them what the requirements for an apostle needed to be. Look in Acts 1:21-22 to find out what they were. (Someone who had been with them the whole time Jesus ministered on the earth until the time He ascended. He needed to be someone who witnessed Jesus’ resurrection.)
Two men selected based on the requirements were Justus and Matthias. The apostles prayed and asked God which one He had chosen to replace Judas. The man chosen to replace Judas was Matthias.
It would have been easy for the apostles to sit around feeling sad that Jesus had returned to heaven. Instead they chose to obey Jesus’ instructions and wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. They didn’t just waste time as they waited, they spent their time praying and waiting.
The apostles would miss having Jesus walk with them and being able to see His face. Very soon God would be sending the Holy Spirit to them. The Holy Spirit will always be with them and go wherever they go. The Holy Spirit would give them power to do the important job of sharing the Good News with other people.
After reading about the early days before Jesus returned to heaven we can be encouraged that Jesus has not left us alone. He has not abandoned us. If we believe that He died on the cross for our sins and was raised to life on the third day, the moment we believed His Holy Spirit came to live inside our hearts. We will never be alone and wherever we go, Jesus goes with us. If we ever feel sad, alone or confused we have the entire Book of the Bible to instruct us how to live our lives while we wait for Jesus to return or until He takes us to be with Him in heaven.
Evidence from early Christian records, as well as from the book itself, indicates that Luke wrote the book of Acts. The book was the second of two volumes that Luke wrote, the first being Luke’s Gospel. Luke wrote for a person named Theophilus, with the purpose of giving Theophilus an account of Christianity from the birth of its founder to the arrival of its greatest apostle in Rome (Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-2). Sections of Acts that are written in the first person show that Luke was with Paul on some of Paul’s missionary travels (Acts 16:10-17; 20:5-37; 21:1-17; 27:1-28:31).
Luke was a doctor. It’s very important to back up statements we make about people from the Bible. Does anyone know where we would find that Luke is a doctor? (Colossians 4:14)
Let’s turn in our Bibles to Acts 1.
Acts 1:8: “But 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.”
When you are on a road trip and start getting hungry what signs do you look for? (Allow students to answer.) As we journey through the Book of Acts, words from this key verse will stand out all along the way. These words will be like road signs we see as we travel together.
The power found in these verses came from God in the form of the Holy Spirit. That’s our next road sign that we will continually see throughout the Book of Acts.
Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the 3rd person of the Trinity. The Trinity is made up of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are equally God with different jobs. After Jesus went back to Heaven the Holy Spirit came and empowered the believers to do the work that Jesus told them to do. (Acts 2:38; 4:31; 5:32; 6:5; 9:31)
While God the Son, Jesus is in heaven with God the Father, God the Holy Spirit gives power to those who believe in Him. He gives them power to have courage and boldness to share with others the salvation message.
The next road sign we will see is salvation. Salvation means be saved from your sins. In the book of acts we will see many people believe in the Lord Jesus and be saved. (Acts 2:41, 4:12 and 5:14) There will be an explosion of faith in people because the Apostles obeyed Jesus. As they were empowered by the Holy Spirit they shared the Good News with many people and as a result many were saved from their sins.
As we see many people saved in Acts, we will also see the apostles persecuted for their obedience to Christ.
The final road sign we are going to discuss this morning is persecution. What does the word persecute mean? To persecute means to harass, or trouble someone with hurtful methods. Some examples we will see in Acts are found in Acts 5:17-18 (Arrested and imprisoned), 7:54-58 (stoned to death), and 8:1.
We have an exciting journey before us! Each week as we see how the apostles served the Lord Jesus I pray that we would serve Him more in our own lives. The power that the Holy Spirit gave to the apostles is available to each one of us who has been saved. As we walk with Jesus each day may we see the Holy Spirit’s power working in our lives helping us to be more like Jesus and being obedient to the command He gave us in Acts 1:8.
Second, if you have been saved are you sharing the Good News with others? If you are afraid you need to remember that the Holy Spirit lives in you and will give you power to be a witness for Jesus. Will you pray and ask God to give you His power to share the Good News with others?
- How many days did Jesus stay on the earth after His resurrection?
- Who are some people that Jesus appeared to in His resurrected body?
- What instructions did Jesus give His disciples before He returned to heaven?
- Why did Jesus say they needed to wait for the Holy Spirit?
- Why were the apostles staring up at the sky?
- How did the 2 men say Jesus would return?
- Where did the apostles go after Jesus ascended?
- Name some of the people who were gathered in the upper room.
- What did the apostles do after Jesus returned to heaven?
- Who was chosen to replace Judas as an apostle?
Bible Lesson: Apostles witness Jesus’ Ascension
The following is a guide to teach Acts 1. Provide Bibles for students who did not bring one.(Pray for sensitivity to the needs of your students as you discuss abandonment. There may be students in class who have truly experienced abandonment from one or both parents. This lesson emphasizes that God never abandons His children.)
Before we get into Acts chapter one, I would like for you to think about if there has been a time when you felt abandoned and all alone? Maybe you have been in a store with your family and you were distracted by something you were looking at and when you looked around your family was gone. At that moment how did you feel? When a person is left all alone he/she may feel abandoned or deserted. For the few minutes you were deserted by your family members you may have felt very frightened. As soon as you were reunited with your family you were so relieved and comforted to not have been truly abandoned.
Jesus’ disciples spent three years following Him. They heard Him teach about God’s Kingdom and witnessed Him perform many miracles. When they saw the Son of God nailed to a cross and die they may have experienced feelings of abandonment. They believed Jesus was God’s Promised Messiah and now He was dead and His body had been placed in a sealed tomb.
Feelings are not always the truth of what is really happening in a situation. If the disciples had felt abandoned when Jesus died it was not the truth. Jesus told them very clearly before He was nailed to the cross that He was going to suffer and would rise again. Matthew 26:32 “But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” (Matthew 16:21, Matthew 17:12, Mark 8:31, Luke 9:22)
Even though the disciples had been told by Jesus what to expect they were most likely frightened and overwhelmed when the things that Jesus said would happen were taking place. It would not have been easy to watch the innocent Son of God be treated like a criminal and be nailed to a Roman Cross. It was very traumatic and unsettling for Jesus’ disciples.
Sometimes feelings of fear, sadness, or loneliness can cloud our hearts to the truth that Jesus has spoken to us from His Word. The Bible is full of God’s instructions for His people to follow until He returns or calls them home. When we have feelings that seem to overwhelm us we need to find out the truth from reading God’s Word.
Three days after Jesus was buried in a sealed tomb God raised Him from the dead! He did exactly what He told the disciples He would do.
To prove that Jesus was really alive and not a figment of the disciples’ imaginations, Jesus stayed on the earth for 40 days after His resurrection. Let’s look at Acts 1:3. Luke tells us that over those 40 days Jesus gave many convincing proof of His resurrection.
This morning as you arrived our activity was to make a mural that records the different times that Jesus appeared to people in His resurrected body. (Allow students to share the different times that Scripture tells of Jesus appearing to someone or a group of people after He rose from the dead.)
Luke tells us what Jesus did during the period of forty days. Let’s look at the last part of verse 3 and see what He did with the apostles. (He spoke about the Kingdom of God.)
Jesus gave His apostles a very important instruction. Read Acts 1:4-5. Jesus knew what God’s plans were and He was preparing them for when He returned to heaven. The apostles didn’t fully understand what was about to happen. Even though they didn’t understand they needed to follow the instructions Jesus gave them.
God’s plan was for Jesus to return to heaven. Jesus had chosen His apostles to be messengers for Him after He left. What message did Jesus want His apostles to tell others? Matthew 28:19-20.
Although Jesus was returning to heaven He was not abandoning His apostles. God never leaves or abandons His children.
Let’s look at Acts 1:8. If you were here last week this was our memory verse. This verse helps the Apostles to know that they would not be abandoned and left alone. Jesus told them that God was going to send the Holy Spirit to give them His power to take the message to all people.
This message could not be taken to the people without God’s power. It was important for the Apostles to obey Jesus’ instructions and wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus finished instructing the apostles, His feet lifted off the ground and He began to ascend or go up into the sky. As He went up into the sky a cloud hid Him from the apostles’ sight.
Let’s imagine being there on that day. Do you think the apostles strained to see Jesus and try to get just one last glimpse of Him?
Let’s read Acts 1:10-11. Who do you think these two men were? (Angels)
As we read this passage we can see God’s faithfulness to send these two men to give this message. I wonder how long they would have stood there staring up into the sky if they had not received this message from the 2 men.
The apostles had a job to do for the Lord Jesus. They had work to do but first they needed to follow Jesus’ instructions. He told them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit.
While they were waiting for the Holy Spirit what does verse 14 tell us these people did? (They joined together constantly in prayer.)
Instead of allowing the fear of abandonment overwhelm them Jesus’ followers spent time praying and waiting for Jesus to send His Holy Spirit. Peter also spoke to the group that was gathered. Let’s read Acts 1:15 and find out how many were gathered together when Peter spoke. Peter told the believers that when Judas betrayed Jesus, he did exactly what God’s Word said he would. Peter said that they needed to select another apostle to replace Judas. Peter told them what the requirements for an apostle needed to be. Look in Acts 1:21-22 to find out what they were. (Someone who had been with them the whole time Jesus ministered on the earth until the time He ascended. He needed to be someone who witnessed Jesus’ resurrection.)
Two men selected based on the requirements were Justus and Matthias. The apostles prayed and asked God which one He had chosen to replace Judas. The man chosen to replace Judas was Matthias.
It would have been easy for the apostles to sit around feeling sad that Jesus had returned to heaven. Instead they chose to obey Jesus’ instructions and wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. They didn’t just waste time as they waited, they spent their time praying and waiting.
The apostles would miss having Jesus walk with them and being able to see His face. Very soon God would be sending the Holy Spirit to them. The Holy Spirit will always be with them and go wherever they go. The Holy Spirit would give them power to do the important job of sharing the Good News with other people.
After reading about the early days before Jesus returned to heaven we can be encouraged that Jesus has not left us alone. He has not abandoned us. If we believe that He died on the cross for our sins and was raised to life on the third day, the moment we believed His Holy Spirit came to live inside our hearts. We will never be alone and wherever we go, Jesus goes with us. If we ever feel sad, alone or confused we have the entire Book of the Bible to instruct us how to live our lives while we wait for Jesus to return or until He takes us to be with Him in heaven.
- Who wrote the Book of Acts?
- Who did Luke write the Book of Acts to?
- What was Luke’s job?
- What language did Luke write Acts in?
- When translated into English what is the title of Luke’s Book ?
- What’s another word for acts?
- What is the key verse for the Book of Acts?
- Name the Third Person of the Trinity.?
- Which part of the Bible is Acts found in?
- Who can you share the Good News with this week?
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