The Chapters – Quick Access
Basics
BOOK: Acts
Description: An account of the early years of the Church
Author: Luke, the physician, writer of Luke’s Gospel
Date written: Probably somewhere between 63AD and 70AD
Chapters: 28
Brief Synopsis
- The ascension of Jesus and the disciples waiting for the Spirit to come.
- The Day of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to create the Church.
- The activity of the early church and particularly of the apostle Peter.
- The apostle Paul and the spread of the early church, concluding in Rome
Why Read Acts
The Acts of the Apostles is the account of the start of the Christian Church and a simplistic division of the book might be:
- chapters 1 to 12 – Mostly Peter’s Ministry
- chapters 13 to 28 – Mostly Paul’s Ministry
We say ‘mostly’ because the truth is that in the first part there is also included
- chapter 7 – Stephen’s speech and subsequent martyrs death
- chapter 8 – Philip’s ministry exploits
- chapter 9 – Saul’s conversion.
- The second part also includes
- chapter 15 – the Jerusalem council.
- However, apart from that significant meeting, the rest of that part is all Paul.
Perhaps a secondary title for this book might be, “The Acts of the Holy Spirit” for it most definitely is an account of the ongoing work of Jesus Christ through his Spirit as He inspires and empowers His apostles. We should also note that with very few exceptions it is made up of accounts of the apostles as they plough the course of the early church, not of ordinary members of the church.
Outline
- Part 1: Ch.1-12 Peter and the Beginnings of the Church in Palestine
- 1:1-9:31 Throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria
- 1:1-2 Introduction
- 1:3-11 Christ’s post-resurrection ministry
- 1:12-26 The period of waiting for the Holy Spirit
- Ch.2 The outpouring of the Spirit & Peter’s first sermon
- 3:1-4:31 The healing of the lame man and the resultant arrest of Peter and John
- 4:32-5:11 The community of goods
- 5:12-42 The arrest of the 12 apostles
- 6:1-7 Problem of administrations & the Seven chosen to deal with it
- 6:8-7:60 Stephen’s arrest and martyrdom
- 8:1-4 The scattering of the Jerusalem believers
- 8:5-40 Philip’s ministry
- 8:5-25 In Samaria
- 8:26-40 To the Ethiopian eunuch
- 9:1-31 Saul’s conversion
- 9:32-12:25 As far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch
- 9:32-11:18 Peter’s ministry on the Mediterranean coast
- 9:32-43 To Aeneas and Dorcas
- 10:1-11:18 To Cornelius
- 11:19-3 The new Gentile church in Antioch
- Ch.12 Herod’s persecution of the church and his subsequent death
- Part 2: Ch.13-28 Paul and the Expansion of the Church from Antioch to Rome
- 13:1-15:35 Throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia
- 15:36-21:16 Over to Macedonia
- Ch.13-14 Paul’s first missionary journey15:1-35 The Jerusalem conference
- 15:36-18:22 Paul’s second missionary journey18:23-21:16 Paul’s third missionary journey
- 21:17-28:31 To Rome
- 21:17-23:35 Paul’s imprisonment in Jerusalem
- 21:17-22:29 Arrest
- 22:30-23:11 Trial before the Sanhedrin
- 23:12-35 Transfer to Caesarea
- Ch.24-26 Paul’s imprisonment in Caesarea
- Ch.24 Trial before Felix
- 25:1-12 Trial before Festus
- 25:13-26:32 Hearing before Festus and Agrippa
- 27:1-28:15 Voyage to Rome
- 28:16-31 Two years under house arrest in Rome
Concluding Comments
- The story told in Acts is dynamic, a record of the working of the Holy Spirit, energizing, equipping, enabling, and empowering the believers so that the word was shared, miracles were performed, and the church grew in numbers and spread.
- Persecution in the early days of the Church only served to ensure the word was spread even more, and more and more people became believers.
- Signs and wonders followed the word, and the Holy Spirit took believers and used them to spread the word – see Philip and later Paul, Barnabas and Silas.
- Persecution later on, of Paul and his apostolic team, only made them keep on moving and wherever they went and spread the word, the Church was established.
- Even through the turmoil of Paul’s later ministry, the word of God was shared with rulers right up to Caesar’s palace in Rome.