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 9 NLT
1 Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats
with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the
high priest.
2 He requested letters addressed to the
synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any
followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and
women—back to Jerusalem in chains.
3 As he was approaching Damascus on this
mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him.
4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice
saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”
5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the
voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!
6Now get up and go into the city, and you will
be told what you must do.”
7The men with Saul stood speechless, for they
heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one!
8 Saul picked himself up off the ground,
but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand
to Damascus.
9 He remained there blind for three days
and did not eat or drink.
10 Now there was a believer in Damascus
named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes,
Lord!” he replied.
11 The Lord said, “Go over to Straight
Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus
named Saul. He is praying to me right now.
12 I have shown him a vision of a man named
Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”
13 “But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve
heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the
believers in Jerusalem!
14 And he is authorized by the leading
priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.”
15 But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my
chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as
to the people of Israel.
16 And I will show him how much he must
suffer for my name’s sake.”
17 So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid
his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you
on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with
the Holy Spirit.”
18 Instantly something like scales fell
from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was
baptized.
19Afterward he ate some food and regained his
strength. Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem Saul stayed with the believers in
Damascus for a few days.
20And immediately he began preaching about Jesus
in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”
21 All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t
this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus’ followers in
Jerusalem?” they asked. “And didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them
in chains to the leading priests?”
22 Saul’s preaching became more and more
powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was
indeed the Messiah.
23 After a while some of the Jews plotted
together to kill him.
24 They were watching for him day and night
at the city gate so they could murder him, but Saul was told about their
plot.
25 So during the night, some of the other
believers lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the city
wall.
26 When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried
to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not
believe he had truly become a believer!
27 Then Barnabas brought him to the
apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and
how the Lord had spoken to Saul. He also told them that Saul had preached
boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus.
28 So Saul stayed with the apostles and
went all around Jerusalem with them, preaching boldly in the name of the
Lord.
29 He debated with some Greek-speaking
Jews, but they tried to murder him.
30 When the believers heard about this,
they took him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus, his hometown.
31 The church then had peace throughout
Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in
the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also
grew in numbers.
32 Meanwhile, Peter traveled from place to
place, and he came down to visit the believers in the town of Lydda.
33 There he met a man named Aeneas, who had
been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years.
34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ
heals you! Get up, and roll up your sleeping mat!” And he was healed
instantly.
35 Then the whole population of Lydda and
Sharon saw Aeneas walking around, and they turned to the Lord.
36 There was a believer in Joppa named
Tabitha (which in Greek is Dorcas ). She was always doing kind things for
others and helping the poor.
37 About this time she became ill and died.
Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room.
38But the believers had heard that Peter was
nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, “Please come as soon as
possible!”
39 So Peter returned with them; and as soon
as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with
widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had
made for them.
40 But Peter asked them all to leave the
room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, “Get up, Tabitha.”
And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up!
41He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then
he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them
alive.
42 The news spread through the whole town,
and many believed in the Lord.
43 And Peter stayed a long time in Joppa,
living with Simon, a tanner of hides.
ACTS 10 NLT
1 In Caesarea there lived a Roman army
officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment.
2 He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was
everyone in his household. He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly
to God.
3 One afternoon about three o’clock, he
had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. “Cornelius!”
the angel said.
4 Cornelius stared at him in terror. “What
is it, sir?” he asked the angel. And the angel replied, “Your prayers and gifts
to the poor have been received by God as an offering!
5 Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a
man named Simon Peter.
6 He is staying with Simon, a tanner who
lives near the seashore.”
7 As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius
called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, one of his personal
attendants.
8He told them what had happened and sent them
off to Joppa.
9 The next day as Cornelius’s messengers
were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about
noon,
10 and he was hungry. But while a meal was
being prepared, he fell into a trance.
11 He saw the sky open, and something like
a large sheet was let down by its four corners.
12 In the sheet were all sorts of animals,
reptiles, and birds.
13 Then a voice said to him, “Get up,
Peter; kill and eat them.”
14 “No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have
never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean.
”
15 But the voice spoke again: “Do not call
something unclean if God has made it clean.”
16 The same vision was repeated three
times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven.
17 Peter was very perplexed. What could the
vision mean? Just then the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house. Standing
outside the gate,
18 they asked if a man named Simon Peter
was staying there.
19 Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over
the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for
you.
20 Get up, go downstairs, and go with them
without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them.”
21 So Peter went down and said, “I’m the
man you are looking for. Why have you come?”
22 They said, “We were sent by Cornelius, a
Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man, well respected by all the
Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he can
hear your message.”
23 So Peter invited the men to stay for the
night. The next day he went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from
Joppa.
24They arrived in Caesarea the following day.
Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close
friends.
25 As Peter entered his home, Cornelius
fell at his feet and worshiped him.
26 But Peter pulled him up and said, “Stand
up! I’m a human being just like you!”
27 So they talked together and went inside,
where many others were assembled.
28Peter told them, “You know it is against our
laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with
you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or
unclean.
29 So I came without objection as soon as I
was sent for. Now tell me why you sent for me.”
30Cornelius replied, “Four days ago I was
praying in my house about this same time, three o’clock in the afternoon.
Suddenly, a man in dazzling clothes was standing in front of me.
31 He told me, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has
been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God!
32 Now send messengers to Joppa, and summon
a man named Simon Peter. He is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner who lives
near the seashore.’
33 So I sent for you at once, and it was
good of you to come. Now we are all here, waiting before God to hear the
message the Lord has given you.”
34 Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly
that God shows no favoritism.
35 In every nation he accepts those who
fear him and do what is right.
36 This is the message of Good News for the
people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord
of all.
37 You know what happened throughout Judea,
beginning in Galilee, after John began preaching his message of baptism.
38 And you know that God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good
and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
39 “And we apostles are witnesses of all he
did throughout Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on
a cross,
40 but God raised him to life on the third
day. Then God allowed him to appear,
41 not to the general public, but to us
whom God had chosen in advance to be his witnesses. We were those who ate and
drank with him after he rose from the dead.
42 And he ordered us to preach everywhere
and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of
all—the living and the dead.
43 He is the one all the prophets testified
about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven
through his name.”
44 Even as Peter was saying these things,
the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message.
45 The Jewish believers who came with Peter
were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the
Gentiles, too.
46 For they heard them speaking in other
tongues and praising God. Then Peter asked,
47“Can anyone object to their being baptized,
now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?”
48 So he gave orders for them to be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay
with them for several days.
ACTS 11 NLT
1 Soon
the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles
had received the word of God.
2 But
when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized
him.
3 “You
entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!” they said.
4 Then
Peter told them exactly what had happened.
5 “I
was in the town of Joppa,” he said, “and while I was praying, I went into a
trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four
corners from the sky. And it came right down to me.
6 When
I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of tame and wild animals, reptiles,
and birds.
7 And
I heard a voice say, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’
8 “‘No,
Lord,’ I replied. ‘I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have
declared impure or unclean. ’
9 “But
the voice from heaven spoke again: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has
made it clean.’
10 This
happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up
to heaven.
11 “Just
then three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where we
were staying.
12 The
Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles.
These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man
who had sent for us.
13 He
told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him, ‘Send
messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter.
14 He
will tell you how you and everyone in your household can be saved!’
15 “As
I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he
fell on us at the beginning.
16 Then
I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you
will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
17 And
since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the
Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”
18 When
the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They
said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of
repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”
19Meanwhile,
the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s
death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached
the word of God, but only to Jews.
20 However,
some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began
preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus.
21 The
power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed
and turned to the Lord.
22When
the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to
Antioch.
23 When
he arrived and saw this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and
he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord.
24 Barnabas
was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people
were brought to the Lord.
25 Then
Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul.
26 When
he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with
the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch
that the believers were first called Christians.)
27 During
this time some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch.
28 One
of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the
Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was
fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.)
29 So
the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in
Judea, everyone giving as much as they could.
30 This they did, entrusting
their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in
Jerusalem.
