Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 22

This post covers Acts 9:1-19a. In it, Saul is converted on the Damascus road, Ananias visits him to lay on hands, and he is born again.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 21

This post covers Acts 8:26-40. In it, we find the story about Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 20

This post covers Acts 8:4-25. In it, the Gospel spreads to Samaria by way of Philip. Peter and John come to Samaria and both they and Philip encounter Simon the Magician. The Holy Spirit is given by laying on of hands to the Samaritans.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 19

This post covers Acts 7:54-8:3. In it, Stephen is stoned and Saul is introduced.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 18

This post covers Acts 7:48-53. In it, Stephen answers the charges that the council has accused him of. Specifically, that he has spoken against the temple, Moses and God, and the law.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 17

This post covers Acts 7:44-47. In it, Stephen discusses the tabernacle/temple. He is setting up a very subtle accusation concerning idolatry and the temple.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 16

This post covers Acts 7:17-43. In it, Stephen discusses Moses and the Israelites continued rejection of him. God, because Israel keeps rejecting Moses, gives them over to idolatry.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 15

This post covers Acts 7:9-16. In it, Stephen's speech continues by talking about the story of Joseph being sold into slavery and then reconciling with his family. The main point of this section is that Israel rejects the messengers of God. This idea is repeated many times in Stephen's speech and is one of the main points overall.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 14

This post covers Acts 7:2-8. In it, we look at Stephen's opening salvo about Abraham. The main point of this section of his speech is that the council is the descendants of Abraham.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 13

This post covers Acts 6:1-7:1. In it, we see the apostles deal with some potentially divisive issues in the church that are distracting them from the work of preaching the word. Also, Stephen is introduced as a servant of God and is arrested by the council.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 12

This post covers Acts 5:17-42. In it, we get to read about round 2 between the Apostles and the council. Many of the same themes are repeated; Christ's death, resurrection, exaltation, and obeying God above all else. Also, hostilities are escalated between the Apostles and the council.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 11

In this post we will cover Acts 4:32-5:16. In it, we see how the disciple community was living at this time and we get two contrasting stories about material things: Joseph, and Ananias and Sapphira. Also, we see the way the Jerusalem population is reacting to the apostles and disciples.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 10

This post covers Acts 4:23-31. In it, the believers respond in faith to the Sanhedrin's warning. There are also some interesting verses concerning predestination and God's sovereignty.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 9

This post covers Acts 4:13-22. In it, the council decides what to do with Peter and John, then the apostles respond. This is the first of 3 confrontations with the Jewish council that the apostles/disciples have.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 8

This post covers Acts 4:1-12. In it Peter and John are arrested by the council while speaking to the people on Solomon's Portico who were amazed by the lame beggar's healing. Peter gets right to the point when confronted by the council.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 7

This post covers Acts 3:11-26. In it Peter seizes the opportunity to speak to those who have seen the lame beggar healed.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 6

This post covers Acts 3:1-10. Here we have the story of the lame beggar being healed by Christ through Peter. This story is emblematic of Luke's major signs and wonders theme in Acts and it leads directly to the first confrontation with the Sanhedrin ("council" in the Bible).

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 5

This post covers Acts 2:22-47. This is the rest of Peter's speech on the Day of Pentecost. In it, he expounds on v. 21, which is about calling on the name of the Lord in order to be saved. After his speech, 3,000 are saved and join the community of disciples in Jerusalem.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 4

This post covers Acts 2:14-21. In the passage, we begin with the prophecy of Pentecost. Peter begins his speech after the HS falls by giving evidence via Joel's prophecy that the last days are here and the HS is being poured out on all who will believe.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 3

The passage covered in this post is Acts 2:1-13. In it we will discuss the signs of Pentecost and the HS coming down, parallels with the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai, and the major Lukan theme of world evangelization that begins with the disciples speaking tongues in various world languages.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 2

This is part 2 of our study in the book of Acts. It covers Acts 1:12-26. The passage relates the apostles in prayer before Pentecost and their selection of a new apostle in Judas' place.

Bible Study: The Acts of the Apostles, Part 1

This post will cover the introduction to Acts and from 1:1-11 which contains Jesus' instructions to the apostles and his ascension. In this passage we will see how Luke sets up the themes in the book and how his gospel blends with the beginning of Acts; really making it one long book that transitions from Christ's ministry to the Holy Spirit's ministry as the Church is born.