In this book of Acts, we find the stories of the first believers. This is also called “Acts of the Apostles” - meaning, what did the disciples do after Jesus’ ascension?
For a broader view of this book of the Bible, we encourage you to watch this video:
Bible journaling tip:
In the book of Acts we find a lot of practices that the Early Church did. Their faith was alive and active, miracles were a common occurrence and thousands were being added to their numbers regularly. A creative way you can illustrate this is to create a type of logbook “Early Church 101” where you write down / draw each practice you come across. For example: 1. They celebrated the Eucharist together. 2. They visited each other’s homes. 3. They shared their possessions with the needy.
LOOK UP (information): encounter God through the Scripture
Author:
Acts was written by Luke - yes, the same disciple who wrote the Gospel of Luke. Keeping this in mind, we can see the book of Acts like the sequel to the Gospel of Luke. Read the last sentence of Luke, and then jump into Acts. How does this change how you view this book?
Audience:
The book of Acts gets into the nitty gritty practical ways of living as a Christian. Remember, these believers had no New Testament. They heard about Jesus first-hand, and they experienced miracles themselves - their faith was based on testimony and encounter. See if you can find both of those throughout the book of Acts. Write down in the margin, what the believers’ faith was based on.
History:
In Acts, we see a lot of promises that Jesus made fulfilled. Jesus said that the disciples would do much greater things than He did, and in Acts we see glimpses of that. Write down a list with promises that Jesus made and then see if you can find in Acts how the disciples and new believers saw these promises fulfilled.
Genre:
This book is a history of the Early Church - it is early Christian literature, filled with true life events and real people and their stories.
LOOK IN(revelation): contemplate / reflect on our own lives
Key verse:
Acts 2:42 NIV
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Inspiration:
Sometimes the questions around ‘how to be a Christian’ can trip us up. We can get so caught up in church activities and events that we can become busy with the things of God, while we forget the God of the things. Pause for a moment and breathe in deep - pray a prayer where you reconnect yourself with the heart of Christianity, with Jesus.
In this verse above, we see an example of how the Early Church lived. What do you think “they devoted themselves” means? Did they devote their time, their finances, other resources? What does fellowship mean for you?
LOOK OUT(transformation): respond with creative worship action
Drawing prompt:
Kingdom touched earth when Jesus walked these roads, and it seems like after that everything was different. Similar to how the photo above shows a hand touched by gold, Jesus promised that wherever the Gospel goes, miracles will follow.
Illustrate in your own way (any way you like) the effect that the Kingdom has on all creation. For example, you can take gold paint and create a line down the middle of a page and draw the transformation process happening. You could draw a desert that turns into a garden, or an old building that is fully restored. You could also draw yourself before and after Jesus.
Bible Journey with HolyJot:
Here are some questions / prompts provided by the HolyJot community.
- What man and wife also made a contribution, but what error did they commit – 5:1-3? (Think: What can we learn from this about what influences people to sin?)
- What did Peter say they had done wrong – 5:9?
Follow this link to dive into this book with an online Bible Study group.
Writing prompt:
Similar to how the book of Acts is sort of a manual for Christian living, we can create one. Write down the spiritual disciples that you practice at home or at your church and all the ways that you connect with God. Spiritual disciples are prayer, reading the Bible, meditation, listening to worship music, fellowship, etc.
Prayer:
God, I want to thank you for the book of Acts. This book helps me so much because I can see how to live in a Christian way. You are so kind to have given me this book, and I don’t have to figure it out by myself. Let my response to this text be worship unto you!