We are spending 2011 preaching through the book of Acts. It’s been rocking my world as we study the movement of the Gospel, Holy Spirit, and Church in the earliest Christian community. I have been struck the most by the Apostles consistent one-two punch of miracles (both healing & killing!) and preaching in tandem – you never see one without the other in these early chapters. The Gospel comes in power, both in word & deed.
I know that many churches will study or have studied this Gospel-saturated book, so I wanted to help by submitting some resources from our preaching planning team. Enjoy!
Commentaries We are Using:
- The Message of Acts by John Stott (my personal favorite)
- The Book of Acts by F.F. Bruce (NICNT)
- Acts by Darrell Bock (Baker Exegetical)
- Evangelism: Studies in Acts by Tim Keller
Acts Preaching Outline (PDF)
Notes from Acts 1-4:
- Message 1: Uprising Intro
- Message 2: Pentecost
- Message 3: Community
- Message 4: Peter & John, Part 1
- Message 5: Peter & John, Part 2
Companion Children/Family Ministry guide to Acts 1-4 (Uprising)
Watch videos from the series at http://www.fbcwpb.org/Podcasts/Series/uprising.html
I’ll end with one of my favorite quotes from Stott on the Holy Spirit in Acts:
Without the Holy Spirit, Christian discipleship would be inconceivable, even impossible. There can be no life without the life-giver, no understanding without the Spirit of truth, no fellowship without the unity of the Spirit, no Christlikeness of character apart from his fruit, and no effective witness without his power. As a body without breath is a corpse, so the church without the Spirit is dead. (Message of Acts, 60)
Posted on March 21, 2011
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