The Book of Acts in the Bible, written around 62-63 A.D., may be best described as a history of the founding and growth of the early church. While there are some areas of great detail of the Acts of the Apostles, many times you must use cross references to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as well as some other epistles in the New Testament to get the full picture of what was happening at this time in history. The book was written by Luke, the same writer of the Gospel of Luke and you might want to think of it as a continuation and even a sequel to that Gospel.

Found as the 5th book in the New Testament, the Book of Acts can best be split into two parts; the first part dealing with the home church and its mission and the last concentrating on foreign missions. The book begins with the Ascension of Jesus and goes on through Paul’s jail time in Rome, which opens his ministry to the church at Rome. In this book we see the first mention of the dispensation of the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ command to take His gospel to all the world.

Outline of Acts

I. Introduction to the Beginning of the Church (1)

A. The Lord Prepares the Disciples (1:1-11)

B. The Lord Re-Establishes 12 Apostles (1:12-26)

II. The Church in Jerusalem (2-8:3)

A. The Church is Born (2:1-11)

B. Summary of the Young Church (2:42-47)

C. The Church Ministering in Jerusalem (3-8:3)

D. Struggle from Within and Without

E. The Climax of the Persecution in Jerusalem: Stephen Killed (6:8-8:3).
PIVOTAL PERSON #1

F. The Church is Scattered (8:1-3)

III. The Church Scattered into Palestine and Syria (8:4-12:25)

A. The Ministry of Philip (8:4-40). PIVOTAL PERSON # 2

B. The Conversion of Saul (9:1-30). PIVOTAL PERSON # 3

C. A Summary Report of the Church (9:31)

D. The Ministry of Peter (9:32-11:18)

E. The Church at Antioch: A New Center of Operations (11:19-30)

F. God Continues To Protect Jerusalem Church (12)

G. A Summary Report of the Church (12:24, 25)

IV. The Church Advancing to the End of the Earth (12-28)

A. The First Missionary Journey (13, 14)

B. The Jerusalem Council (15:1-35)

C. The Second Missionary Journey (15:36-18:22)

D. The Third Missionary Journey (18:23-19:19)

E. Paul in Jerusalem (21:15-23:22)

F. Paul in Caesarea (23:23-26:32)

G. Paul in Rome (27, 28)