A Journey Through Luke & ActsSample

Luke is the author of one of the earliest accounts about Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension, we call this account, The Gospel of Luke. But did you know that Luke also has a second volume? We know it as the book of Acts. It’s all about what the risen Jesus continues to do and teach through his Holy Spirit in his people after he ascends into heaven.

Luke begins Acts with a meeting between the disciples and the risen Jesus. For weeks, Jesus continues to teach them about his upside-down Kingdom and the new creation that he launched through his death and resurrection. The disciples want to go and share his teachings, but Jesus tells them to wait until they receive a new kind of power, so they can have all they need to be faithful witnesses to Jesus’ Kingdom. He says their mission will begin in Jerusalem, then move out to Judea and Samaria, and from there out into all the nations.

The main theme and design of the book of Acts flows right out of this opening chapter. This is a story about Jesus leading his people by his Spirit to invite all nations to live in the love and freedom of his Kingdom. The first seven chapters show how the invitation will begin to spread in Jerusalem. The next four chapters map out how the message spreads to the non-Jewish neighboring regions of Judea and Samaria. And from chapter 13 on, Luke tells us how the good news of Jesus’ Kingdom begins to reach all the nations of the world.