Acts of the Holy Spirit

Lesson 1 - Wait for God’s Promise

Acts 1

Acts 1:1-26. Jesus commanded His disciples in Acts 1 to wait for the promised infilling of the Holy Spirit to empower them to become His witnesses to the ends of the earth. One of the most amazing and uplifting observations about the early church is that a small band of ordinary people, who likely had never travelled outside of Judea before, somehow evangelized the whole world in the power of the Holy Spirit!

Lesson 2 - Filled with His Spirit

Acts 2

Acts 2:1-47. As Acts 2 opens Christ’s followers waited to be filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus had instructed them. Luke records the miraculous events of Pentecost and how the believers’ effectiveness changed so radically as a result!

Lesson 3 - Learning to Walk!

Acts 3, Acts 4:1–22

Acts 3:1-4:22. God uses Peter and John to heal a man who had been lame since birth. What a remarkable miracle that was! It was extraordinary because the man was given the ability to do something he had never done before! The crowd marveled at what they saw, but surprisingly the religious leaders could not find it in their hearts to praise God for what had occurred!

Lesson 4 - Growth Gives Rise to Opposition

Acts 4:23–37, Acts 5

Acts 4:23-5:42. The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem became jealous of the church’s growing popularity. They resented the fact that God’s power was at work through the followers of Jesus rather than through them and so they threw the Apostles into prison and eventually had them publicly beaten in an attempt to put them off their work. However, the Christ-followers rejoiced in the fact “that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace” for Christ's sake!

Lesson 5 - Faithful to the End

Acts 6, Acts 7, Acts 8:1–3

Acts 6:1-8:3. Stephen boldly preached the word of God to the Sanhedrin. Though he had the 'face of an angel' all they could think to do was silence his message. He was the first martyr of the early church and his death led to a great persecution of the believers in Jerusalem. As a result many were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, but what was meant for evil, God used for great good!

Lesson 6 - The Gospel Spreads

Acts 8

Acts 8:1-40. No matter where they went the disciples shared the Gospel with everyone they met and the church began to grow. However, in Acts 8 we become keenly aware that it was the Holy Spirit who guided the spread of the Gospel and who opened hearts to the truth about Jesus Christ!

Lesson 7 - The Transformation of Saul

Acts 9:1–31

Acts 9:1-31. Saul's life was transformed when Christ met him on the road to Damascus. This man who had been such an enemy of Christ became His follower and the greatest Apostle and teacher of the New Testament church. God used different people at different moments in Paul’s life as His agents of grace. We need to remember that we are agents of God’s grace too as we interact with those around us in our day-to-day lives.

Lesson 8 - The Gentiles Included

Acts 9:32–43, Acts 10

Acts 9:32-10:48. Peter was used in exceptional ways by God; and in our lesson this week we see how he was also used to bring the Gentiles in to God's Kingdom. Without showing any discrimination, Peter took the risk of accompanying Cornelius' servants to Caesarea where he preached the good news of Jesus Christ to the Roman official's friends and family.

Lesson 9 - The Church Moves Forward

Acts 11, Acts 12:1–24

Acts 11:1-12:24. As the church grew to include the Gentiles, despite the hesitant response of some, they went into a time of persecution. At the beginning of Acts 12 Herod had been in command, James had been killed, Peter arrested, and it seemed as if the Church was “on the run”; but verse 24 of that same chapter told a different tale! Herod was dead but however “the word of God continued to increase and spread”. God's purposes had prevailed — not man’s — and the work of God continued!

Lesson 10 - Paul and Barnabas Commissioned

Acts 13, Acts 14:1–8

Acts 13:1-14:8. The Holy Spirit dispatched Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey traveling via Cyprus to the Roman provinces of Lycia and Galatia. There is much we can learn from their example. Relying heavily on prayer and upon the Holy Spirit, we are to lovingly spread the Good News of Jesus, even when it comes at great cost to ourselves!

Lesson 11 - The Jerusalem Council

Acts 15:1–35, Acts 14:8–28

Acts 14:8-15:35 After Paul and Barnabas returned from a very eventful first missionary journey, it was not long before false teachers began to disrupt the church in Antioch with their doctrine of circumcision teaching that salvation was only for the Jews. This caused such distress Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem to speak with the Apostles. The Council of Jerusalem as it came to be known, issued a firm decree confirming that salvation is for both Jew and Gentile alike and that it is given by grace, not by the Law.

Lesson 12 - Trouble in Philippi

Acts 15:36–41, Acts 16

Acts 15:36-16:40. After several unsuccessful attempts at journeying into Asia, Paul and Silas ended up traveling to Philippi to take the gospel to the Macedonians. Their ministry there probably looked very different to what they had expected, as after delivering a slave girl from demonic possession they ended up beaten and thrown into prison!

Lesson 13 - The Intellectuals of Athens

Acts 17, Acts 18:1–11

Acts 17:1-18:11. Paul was never ashamed of the gospel of Christ and nothing deterred him from fulfilling the call of God on his life. Though he faced hardships frequently, God urged Paul to continue to speak and to not be silent, for He promised to be with him no matter what. You and I would do well to remember that He has promised to be with us as well!

Lesson 14 - Opposition in Ephesus

Acts 18:12–28, Acts 19

Acts 18:12-19:41. Paul faced opposition wherever he went. Whether in Corinth or in Ephesus. The silversmiths of Ephesus were angry because of his preaching. For as people turned to Christ, they lost their fascination with the goddess Artemis and the silversmiths' business suffered because of it! Yet even when they rioted Paul, courageous as always, was willing to speak to the crowd about Jesus!.

Lesson 15 - Paul Heads for Jerusalem

Acts 20:1 - 21:30 Many who feared for his safety begged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem; but his mind was already made up! It broke his heart to see how distressed they were, and yet he was unwilling to alter his course.