Using the book of Acts, chronicle the order and significant events in the growth of the early church in Jerusalem and beyond.

Question:

Using the book of Acts, chronicle the order and significant events in the growth of the early church in Jerusalem and beyond.

Answer:

The book of Acts is a tremendously important book as it is a historical chronology of the formation of the Christian church. Some have called it “Acts of the Apostles” but I would present that the apostles themselves would in all likelihood support a re-titling of the book to “Acts of the Holy Spirit”. Some discussions have occurred over the authorship of this book but the evidence seems to suggest that Luke was the author and as such, it is important to read this in conjunction with the gospel of Luke. This historical book is given root in the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) on which the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles. It is the Holy Spirit’s work that day that serves as the great catalytic event that begets the building of the early Christian church.

When we look at Acts, we can section it into 6 parts (or panels) as Luke has seemed to leave this organizational element in the book with his brief summary statements (Acts 6:7, 9:31, 12:24, 16:5, 19:20). Let’s review the 6 panels so we can appreciate the book of Acts in a more holistic fashion:

1)    The Good News in Jerusalem (Acts 1:1 – 6:7)
a.    Luke continues where he left off after the prologue
b.    The filling up of the twelve with the Holy Spirit marks a new beginning
c.    The early life of the church in Jerusalem is described in the form of the common life, its preaching/healing ministry, the opposition, and judgment within the community to test the Spirit. It is a new community that believes in Christ but remains in the Jewish traditions.
d.    This section ends with two groups forming within the church: Greek-speaking and Aramaic-speaking Jewish Christians. We starting seeing that the Hellenistic synagogue worships (Greek-speaking) become a focus in the next panel.

2)    The Good News in Judea and Samaria (Acts 6:8-9:31)
a.    Inroads is being made into the Hellenistic peoples
b.    Stephen and Philip become two leaders who preach with focus on 2 critical issues: (1) that the temple does not reside in a building (2) the law being broken by those who crucified Jesus
c.    Samaria now comes into the picture
d.    Saul of Tarsus* is converted and this begets his role in the future expansion of the church into Asia and Europe

3)    The Good News for the Gentiles (Acts 9:32-12:24)
a.    Luke sets the stage for the works being done by the apostles for the gentile conversion to come
b.    Under the conducting of the Holy Spirit, we see Peter (who has legitimacy with Jerusalem) bring Cornelius to Christ (the first gentile believer) (notice: the importance of the story as it is told twice (10:1-48, 11:1-18)
c.    No one could restrain the Holy Spirit from bringing the gospel to the Gentiles, not Peter nor his fellow Jews (Acts 11:17)
d.    Antioch is founded as a Hellenistic church becomes key as the sending church for Paul’s missions to Asia and Europe

4)    The Good News in Asia (Acts 12:25-16:5)
a.    Notice how the church of Antioch plays a central role
b.    Paul is now in the picture in a strong way and paves the way for the gentile mission to push forward
c.    This becomes a clash with the Jewish view that access to the gospel should be limited
d.    Jerusalem council is held and affirms the gospel being “law-free” for the gentiles

5)    The Good News in Europe (Acts 16:6-19:20)
a.    Paul’s second and third missionary trips occur (links to Antioch)
b.    Paul is redirected to Europe by the Spirit
c.    Conflict occurs with non-believers (usually the scattered Jews (aka Diaspora Jews) (interestingly the state doesn’t intervene and in fact apologizes on occasion)
d.    The gospel is being preached in an exclusively pagan setting

6)    The Good News (and Paul) in Rome (Acts 19:21-28:31)
a.    Paul ends up in Rome through a sequence of events much like what befell Jesus
b.    Paul continues to reach out to his Jewish brethren. Later we see Paul say he rather be accursed and see his fellow Jews saved.
c.    In parallel to how Jesus was found not guilty 3 times (22:29, 23:26-30; 26:32) prior to his conviction, Paul and the church are found not guilty as well
d.    We see the story come to a close when Paul reaches the gentile capital and preaches to the Jews and Gentiles. The message is the same for both and we see that God is in control of how, to whom, and when His message would be spread.

* On a side note it is interesting that the name Saul means “grand” or “big” and that the Greco-Roman name he had Paulus means “small”. Paul always referred to himself in the future as Paul and not his Jewish name which would have irked some of the Jews. Perhaps it was because Paul realized his position as a tool of God as we hear him say. His humility superseded his culture and environment. Don’t we often let our comfort or culture or tradition take precedence?

You may also be interested in…

1. Different analogies used in Scripture to describe the church.
2. What can we learn about worship through the book of Revelation?