Plan and Outline
Luke weaves together different interests and emphases as he relates the beginnings and expansion of the church. The design of his book revolves around
(1) Key persons: Peter and Paul;
(2) Important topics and events: the role of the Holy Spirit, pioneer missionary outreach to new fields, conversions, the growth of the church, and life in the Christian community;
(3) Significant problems: conflict between Jews and Gentiles, persecution of the church by some Jewish elements, trials before Jews and Romans, confrontations with Gentiles, and other hardships in the ministry;
(4) Geographical advances: five significant stages Peter and the Beginnings of the Church in the Holy Land (chs. 1-12)
1. Peter and the Beginnings of the Church in the Holy Land (chs. 1-12)
- Introduction (1:1-2)
- Christ's resurrection ministry (1:3-11)
- The period of waiting for the Holy Spirit (1:12-26)
- The filling with the Spirit (ch. 2)
- The healing of the lame man and the resultant arrest of Peter and John (3:1;4:31)
- The community of goods (4:32;5:11)
- The arrest of the 12 apostles (5:12-42)
- The choice of the Seven (6:1-7)
- Stephen's arrest and martyrdom (6:8;7:60)
- The scattering of the Jerusalem believers (8:1-4)
- Philip's ministry (8:5-40)
B. "As far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch" (9:32;12:25;11:19;)
I. Paul and the Expansion of the Church from Antioch to Rome (chs. 13-28)
. "Throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia" (13:1 -- 15:35; see 16:6 and note)
A. "Over to Macedonia" (15:36;21:16;16:9;)
B. "To Rome" (21:17;28:31;28:14;)
ACTS
3 NLT
1 Peter and John went to the Temple one
afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service.
2 As they approached the Temple, a man
lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple
gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going
into the Temple.
3 When he saw Peter and John about to
enter, he asked them for some money.
4 Peter and John looked at him intently,
and Peter said, “Look at us!”
5 The lame man looked at them eagerly,
expecting some money.
6But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or
gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the
Nazarene, get up and walk!”
7 Then Peter took the lame man by the
right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were
instantly healed and strengthened.
8 He jumped up, stood on his feet, and
began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the
Temple with them.
9 All the people saw him walking and heard
him praising God.
10 When they realized he was the lame
beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely
astounded!
11 They all rushed out in amazement to
Solomon’s Colonnade, where the man was holding tightly to Peter and John.
12 Peter saw his opportunity and addressed
the crowd. “People of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And
why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or
godliness?
13 For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob—the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus
by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before
Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him.
14 You rejected this holy, righteous one
and instead demanded the release of a murderer.
15 You killed the author of life, but God
raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact!
16 “Through faith in the name of Jesus,
this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’
name has healed him before your very eyes.
17 “Friends, I realize that what you and
your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance.
18 But God was fulfilling what all the
prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things.
19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God,
so that your sins may be wiped away.
20 Then times of refreshment will come from
the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed
Messiah.
21 For he must remain in heaven until the
time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through
his holy prophets.
22 Moses said, ‘The LORD your God will
raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people. Listen carefully
to everything he tells you.’
23Then Moses said, ‘Anyone who will not listen
to that Prophet will be completely cut off from God’s people.’
24 “Starting with Samuel, every prophet
spoke about what is happening today.
25 You are the children of those prophets,
and you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God
said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants all the families on earth will be
blessed.’
26 When God raised up his servant, Jesus,
he sent him first to you people of Israel, to bless you by turning each of you
back from your sinful ways.”
ACTS
4 NLT
1 While Peter and John were speaking to
the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple
guard, and some of the Sadducees.
2 These leaders were very disturbed that
Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a
resurrection of the dead.
3 They arrested them and, since it was
already evening, put them in jail until morning.
4 But many of the people who heard their
message believed it, so the number of believers now totaled about 5,000 men,
not counting women and children.
5 The next day the council of all the
rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem.
6 Annas the high priest was there, along
with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest.
7 They brought in the two disciples and
demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,
said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people,
9 are we being questioned today because
we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was
healed?
10 Let me clearly state to all of you and
to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus
Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the
dead.
11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the
Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become
the cornerstone.’
12 There is salvation in no one else! God
has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
13 The members of the council were amazed
when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were
ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized
them as men who had been with Jesus.
14 But since they could see the man who had
been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council
could say.
15 So they ordered Peter and John out of
the council chamber and conferred among themselves.
16 “What should we do with these men?” they
asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign,
and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it.
17But to keep them from spreading their
propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name
again.”
18 So they called the apostles back in and
commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John replied, “Do you
think God wants us to obey you rather than him?
20 We cannot stop telling about everything
we have seen and heard.”
21 The council then threatened them
further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish
them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God
22 for this miraculous sign—the healing of
a man who had been lame for more than forty years.
23 As soon as they were freed, Peter and
John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and
elders had said.
24 When they heard the report, all the
believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign
Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—
25 you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit
through our ancestor David, your servant, saying, ‘Why were the nations so
angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans?
26 The kings of the earth prepared for
battle; the rulers gathered together against the LORD and against his
Messiah.’
27 “In fact, this has happened here in this
very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and
the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you
anointed.
28 But everything they did was determined
beforehand according to your will.
29 And now, O Lord, hear their
threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your
word.
30 Stretch out your hand with healing
power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy
servant Jesus.”
31 After this prayer, the meeting place
shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the
word of God with boldness.
