Course contents5 units, 14 chapters
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Opening pageAfter Day 4, use this pack: key terms, verses, people, places, events, Acts 1:8, the seven outpourings, the five units, fourteen chapters, and the textbook review questions. It does not contain the final exam questions.
ACTS 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The empowerment-witness motif
Holy Spirit
The Spirit comes on the believer
Power
"You will receive power"
Witness
"You will be my witnesses"
Mission
The gospel advances to the nations
The outline of the book
Jerusalem
Acts 1:1-8:1 · The Jewish mission · Units 1 and 2
Judea and Samaria
Acts 8:1-12:25 · The transitional period · Unit 3
The ends of the earth
Acts 13:1-28:31 · The Gentile mission · Units 4 and 5
The author presents Acts 1:8 as both the interpretative key to Acts and a table of contents for the book. Source: Chapter 1, p. 18.
Each outpouring resulted in powerful missional witness. Tap an outpouring to see why it matters. The author writes the Antiochian event as an “outpouring” in quotation marks, and that distinction is kept here.
Pentecost, the first Jerusalem outpouring
Acts 2:1-4 · Jerusalem · The Jewish mission
The church is empowered for witness. Pentecost sets the stage and gives meaning to all that follows.
Studied in Chapter 3The second Jerusalem outpouring
Acts 4:31 · Jerusalem · The Jewish mission
Continued Spirit-anointed witness in Jerusalem. Being filled with the Spirit is not a one-time-only experience. The Spirit came in response to the disciples' earnest prayer.
Studied in Chapter 4The Samaritan outpouring
Acts 8:14-17 · Samaria · The transitional period
The first outpouring of the transitional period. With the evangelization and empowering of the Samaritans, the church took its first step in moving from its Jewish to its Gentile mission.
Studied in Chapter 5Figure 12.2. Paul's missionary strategy, as summarized in his Ephesian campaign. It included three key "pillars".
Pillar 1
Empowering
Twofold: the empowering of the missionary himself, and the empowering of the churches to be planted. Paul entered Ephesus full of the Holy Spirit.
Pillar 2
Proclamation of the gospel with signs following
Paul laid hands on others to receive the Spirit and was used by God to work extraordinary miracles.
Pillar 3
Mobilization
Paul set up a training school for missionaries and church planters, holding discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
Source: Chapter 12, Further Insight: Paul's Missionary Strategy, p. 176.
Chapter Memory
Chapter 1: Introduction to Acts
One-sentence memory
Acts is the Spirit-inspired story of the Spirit-empowered mission of the church, and Acts 1:8 is the key that unlocks it.
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The Damascene outpouring
Acts 9:15-18 · Damascus · The transitional period
Saul is healed, commissioned and empowered. Like the Samaritan outpouring, it helped prepare the church for its upcoming Gentile mission.
Studied in Chapter 6The Caesarean outpouring
Acts 10:44-48 · Caesarea · The transitional period
The third and final outpouring of the transitional period. It opened the door wide to Gentile inclusion into the body of Christ, and to full Gentile participation in the mission of God.
Studied in Chapter 7The Antiochian "outpouring"
Acts 13:1-3 · Antioch · The Gentile mission
The first outpouring during the Gentile mission. The Gentile mission began with a powerful move of the Holy Spirit in the church at Antioch.
Studied in Chapter 8The Ephesian outpouring
Acts 19:1-7 · Ephesus · The Gentile mission
Occurs during Paul's third missionary journey. Empowering is the first pillar of Paul's missionary strategy.
Studied in Chapter 12Source: Table 2.1, Chapter 2, p. 25.
Chapter Memory
Chapter 2: Preparation for Pentecost
One-sentence memory
Acts 1 gives the programme for the whole book: wait for the Spirit, receive power, and be witnesses from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.
Chapter Memory
Chapter 3: The Day of Pentecost
One-sentence memory
At Pentecost the Spirit was poured out, the disciples were all filled and spoke in other tongues, and the result was bold prophetic witness that added about three thousand people to the church.
Chapter Memory
Chapter 4: Ministry in Jerusalem
One-sentence memory
A second outpouring of the Spirit in Jerusalem filled the church again, produced bold witness and signs, and prepared the believers to face rising persecution, including Stephen's death.
Chapter Memory
Chapter 5: Persecution and Witness
One-sentence memory
Persecution scattered the church, but the scattered believers preached the word wherever they went, and in Samaria the Spirit was poured out so the new church could carry the gospel on.
Chapter Memory
Chapter 6: Continued Expansion of the Church
One-sentence memory
Jesus met Saul on the Damascus road, a Spirit-filled layman prayed for him to be healed and filled, and at once he began to preach.
Chapter Memory
Chapter 7: The Inclusion of the Gentiles
One-sentence memory
God arranged an appointment between a Gentile soldier and a Jewish apostle, poured out His Spirit on the Gentiles in Caesarea, and so opened the door to full Gentile participation in the mission of God.
Chapter Memory
Chapter 8: Paul's First Missionary Journey
One-sentence memory
A powerful move of the Spirit in Antioch launched the Gentile mission; Barnabas and Saul preached on Cyprus and in Asia Minor, planted indigenous churches, and reported back to the sending church.
Chapter Memory
Chapter 9: Missionary Council in Jerusalem
One-sentence memory
The Spirit-guided council in Jerusalem settled the Gentile Question: people are saved by faith in Christ alone, so Gentiles need not first become Jewish proselytes.
Chapter Memory
Chapter 10: Paul's Second Missionary Journey (Part 1)
One-sentence memory
The Holy Spirit kept Paul's team out of Asia and Bithynia so He could send them to Macedonia, and the gospel entered Europe at Philippi.
Chapter Memory
Chapter 11: Paul's Second Missionary Journey (Part 2)
One-sentence memory
From Thessalonica to Ephesus, Paul kept preaching Christ and him crucified, adapting to each culture without compromising the gospel, and the Lord encouraged him with a vision when the work was hard.
Chapter Memory
Chapter 12: Paul's Third Missionary Journey
One-sentence memory
Paul begins the third journey from Antioch, the Spirit is poured out on the twelve in Ephesus, and a two-year campaign using three strategy pillars reaches all of Asia.
Chapter Memory
Chapter 13: Jerusalem and Trials
One-sentence memory
Paul went to Jerusalem in the will of the Lord, testified there through arrest and five trials, and was told he must also testify in Rome.
Chapter Memory
Chapter 14: Journey to Rome
One-sentence memory
God brought Paul through storm and shipwreck to Malta and then to Rome, where the prisoner preached the kingdom of God without opposition.