The book of Acts records the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant and from the focus on the nation of Israel to the church. The first event recorded is the impartation of the Holy Spirit on believers during Pentecost. What is the role of the Holy Spirit? How are the roles of the Holy Spirit different in the Old Testament than in the New Testament?\r\n

When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, some of the believers began speaking in tongues. This was a sign from God; an unprecedented miracle God used to validate that what was happening was from Him. Through this event God demonstrated He had a new way to unite people with Himself and other believers. Find out what this means for believers now and how we can be a part of this union as well.\r\n

What is the Body of Christ? What does it look like? Jesus emphasizes the importance of believers being unified with himself and each other. To accomplish this, believers must take an active role in developing these important relationships. The early church devoted themselves to spending time with each other, studying God's word, and prayer. This significantly impacted their individual spiritual lives as well as the health and growth of the church.\r\n

During the time of the early church, the disciples performed extraordinary miracles in the name of God. Peter and John met a man who had been unable to walk from birth. They healed him and he was able to get up and walk. How can we know the difference between authentic miracles and phony miracles? How do claims of miracles that turn out to be fake hurt the message of the church? Miracles are often followed by persecution. How should believers respond to persecution? A personal testimony from Mary is included.\r\n

A study of the lives of Ananias and Sapphira reveals the importance of addressing hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is damaging to the church and its reputation. What are the characteristics of a self-righteous hypocrite? The Bible teaches that hypocrisy can take a hold of a group and destroy authentic Christian community. It is critical that it is identified and rooted out. A testimony from Courtney is included.

Unity is a key factor in the church, fellowship, and spirituality. What happens when the members of the body are divided? Our enemy, Satan, seeks to destroy God's people by tempting us to turn on each other and by encouraging apathy toward one another. What does division look like? Are we allowed to dissent and still maintain Godly unity within the church?\r\n

Many people believe worshiping God has to be done in a special building, at a specific time, or with certain actions or rituals. What does God have to say about sacred space and tradition? What is formalism and how do we fall into it? See what Acts has to say through the defense of Christianity that Stephen gives to a group of devout Jews.\r\n

The Bible says, "There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female. You are all one in Christ Jesus." What happens when the members of the church do not live according to this verse? Cultural containment is not a condition that just happens to groups. It is the outgrowth of sins of omission and commission. It is not enough to just say, "We have no objection to those outside of our cultural group coming in." The burden is on us to get outside of our comfort zone and seek out people who might be different than us, but need God. Cross cultural unity bears witness to the reality of Christ, and we are called to be united with one another.\r\n

Who is Saul? How did he become Paul? How did one of the foremost persecutors of the early church become one of the greatest Christian workers of all time? See what happened to Paul on the road to Damascus, how God captured his attention and convinced Paul to radically commit his life to following God and spreading His message. Includes a testimony by Doug Patch.\r\n

God wants to use believers to tell other people about His message and help them understand what God has done for them on the cross. However, believers can put up barriers to that message. Our prejudices, traditions, and arbitrary absolutes can stand in the way of God's love. We should be actively ridding ourselves of these barriers so people can see who God is through us. See what God has to say about this through Peter and Cornelius.\r\n

Believers who truly want to know God's will see His will as a treasure and are continually seeking to live life God's way. For the grey areas of decision, perhaps not made clear through Scripture, here are a few others ways of discerning His will (all accompanied with prayer): 1) direct divine revelation; 2) providential circumstances; 3) inner spiritual prompting; 4) correlated leading; 5) spiritual expediency; and 6) the provision of spiritual fruit being borne. Usually the convergence of these (sometimes along with mature counsel and personal desires and gifts) allows a believer to gain a sense of God's will.

Peter the apostle is thrown into prison and eventually rescued by an angel of the Lord. We gather several principles from this story: 1) God doesn't promise to answer any and all prayers; 2) it's important to be persistent in prayer; 3) corporate prayer is also essential to the prayer life; 4) God wants us to approach Him in prayer; 5) pray within God's will?the object of our prayers is more important than the quantity of our prayers; 6) prayer is how we can relate to God personally; 7) learn to recognize, remember, and appreciate answered prayers.

Paul and Barnabas are sent out by the Holy Spirit on their first missionary journey. As they travel from city to city, they teach the Good News that people are made right with God through believing in Jesus and not by their works. They teach the history of God's work through Israel and the coming and death of Jesus. This message is from the Creator and important for all people because God's love is for all people. Throughout their missionary journey they experience the positive impact and power from the Holy Spirit's work along with opposition.\r\n

Paul and Barnabas travel on their first missionary journey to spread the Good News and perform miracles. In one city the people mistake them for gods and attempt to worship Paul and Barnabas. Paul immediately gives a defense for belief in the Creator God. Through external and internal general revelation God gives testimony of His reality and kindness. A close look at the cell gives evidence for design and a designer. Looking within ourselves reveals there is a desire for significance, moral motions, creativity, and love. There is evidence for belief that we are personal and spiritual beings created by a personal God. Paul and Barnabas suffer for the message of the Good News but continue to travel and preach the Gospel.\r\n

Paul and Barnabas fight against the Pharisee's legalistic teaching being spread in Antioch. They take a firm stand and sharply dispute it. They remind people they are made right with God through grace and not by following the law. Peter also speaks up and supports Paul and Barnabas by delivering the same message about grace. Understanding grace and the relationship God offers has a transformative effect that produces freedom and results in a life of giving love. This life is satisfying and exciting.\r\n

Paul's second missionary journey is a historical narrative that illustrates how to serve God. This journey highlights six ministry principles: 1) timing; 2) contextualization; 3) discipleship; 4) leading and empowering by the Holy Spirit; 5) spiritual warfare; and 6) having the right attitude. Ministry is the most exciting thing people can be part of and experience in this life.\r\n

Paul continues his missionary journey. He preaches and persuades others about Christ's death and resurrection. Pluralism is a common view in this culture. Paul engages people and their cultural views. He finds common ground with them, challenges them, and teaches them about the character of God. Because Paul is distressed about the idol worship, he gives a convincing speech about the truth of God. Today postmodern pluralism is the common worldview. Taking Paul's approach can be effective in our day. God's desire to have a relationship with every person is the same today as it was back then. Presenting truth in a sensitive and persuasive way is essential.\r\n

The ancient city of Corinth is introduced as the Apostle Paul travels from Athens to Corinth, in the middle of his second missionary journey. Because of the contention between Paul and his critics, Paul intentionally became a ?tent maker? to ensure no unnecessary boundary remained for Paul to share the Gospel. Biblical principles on money, sacrificial Christian service, and church finances are explored.\r\n

Paul begins his third missionary journey and spends many years in the city of Ephesus. As a result of God's ministry through Paul, the Gospel spread throughout the whole region surrounding Ephesus. This movement spread from Paul to other people through household churches. The question ?how did this movement happen from house to house?? is explored as many cases in the New Testament of house churches are discussed, and contrasted with the traditional experience of temple religion. The New Testament example of dynamic Christian community is applied to the modern day.

As the Christian movement in the area around Ephesus grows, three small, seemingly unconnected narratives are followed in Acts 18-19. Principles from these narratives are discussed and it's clear that God was supernaturally involved in these events. Expectations on if and how God will act are also discussed.

Paul's defends himself as a Christian worker to the elders in the Ephesian church. In this discourse, we see 11 central themes of effective Christian ministry.

Acts 21 follows Paul's arrest in Jerusalem to close to the end of his life in Rome. While this long trial of his seems disheartening and unnecessary, this time becomes one of the most important in Paul's ministry; this narrative describes how God worked to spread the Gospel further in new parts of the world.