The Saints - the Book of Actsعينة

DEVOTION

The Book of Acts, which continues the narrative that Luke began in his gospel, is especially important because it is the only biblical book that chronicles the church’s history immediately after Jesus’ ascension. As such, it provides us with a valuable account of how the church was able to grow and spread out from Jerusalem into the rest of the Roman Empire. In only three decades, a small group of frightened believers in Jerusalem transformed into an empire-wide movement of people who had committed their lives to Jesus Christ, ending on a high note with Paul on the verge of taking the gospel to the highest government official in the land—the Emperor of Rome.

Acts can be neatly divided into two sections, the first dealing primarily with the ministry of Peter in Jerusalem and Samaria (Acts 1-12) and the second following Paul on his missionary journeys throughout the Roman Empire (Acts 13-28). The Book of Acts is significant for chronicling the gospel’s spread, both geographically and culturally. It records the transition from taking the gospel to an exclusively Jewish audience—with Peter preaching to a small group in the Upper Room—to the gospel going out among the Gentiles, primarily under the ministry of the apostle Paul. The transition is best illustrated by Peter’s vision in which he heard a voice telling him, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy” (10:15). Peter then shared the gospel with many Gentiles. The lesson? God wants His message of hope and salvation to extend to all people—“in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (1:8).

Why not grab a few friends or your small group and journey through this plan together?

To learn the context of Acts 1-12, watch this short video by the Bible Project below. It will help to give you a deeper understanding of what is happening in this book of the Bible.