Acts 1–2: The Day Everything Changed
The Promise. Pentecost. The Birth of the Church.
Jesus spent 40 days after His resurrection teaching the disciples about the Kingdom. His final command before ascending was to wait. One hundred and twenty disciples gathered in the upper room. On the Day of Pentecost the Holy Ghost fell. They spoke in tongues as the Spirit gave utterance. Peter preached. Three thousand souls were added in one day.
Acts 2:38 — KJV
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
Acts 2:38 became the foundation of the New Testament church. Repentance. Baptism in Jesus’ name. The infilling of the Holy Ghost. Three thousand obeyed it on the first day. That number has not stopped growing.
Acts 3–4: Power, Persecution & Boldness
The Lame Man. The Arrest. The Bold Declaration.
Peter and John encountered a man lame from birth at the temple gate. Peter had no silver or gold. But what he had was worth more than any currency the world has ever known. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth the man leaped and praised God.
The religious leaders arrested them. They could not deny the miracle so they threatened them. Peter and John’s response became one of the most powerful declarations in church history.
Acts 4:12 — KJV
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Key Truth: Every time the enemy pushes back the church pushes harder. Every arrest becomes a sermon. Opposition does not stop the church — it proves the church.
Acts 5–6: Integrity & The First Deacons
Ananias & Sapphira. The Seven Deacons. Stephen.
Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Ghost about the price of their land. God dealt with it immediately. Their sin was not in keeping part of the money — their sin was in lying to God. Great fear came upon the church.
Growth brought new challenges. The apostles could not neglect the Word to serve tables. Seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, were chosen as deacons. Among them was Stephen — full of faith and power.
Key Truth: Organization does not hurt the move of God — it accelerates it. You cannot have revival on a rotten foundation. And you cannot sustain growth without proper leadership structure.
Acts 7–8: The Cost of the Gospel
Stephen’s Martyrdom. The Scattering. Philip.
Stephen gave the most comprehensive historical sermon in Acts and confronted the Sanhedrin with their rejection of the Holy Ghost. They stoned him. As he died he prayed: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. A young man named Saul held the coats of those who killed him.
Philip preached Christ in Samaria. Miracles happened. Then an angel directed him to a desert road where he found an Ethiopian official reading Isaiah but unable to understand it. Philip explained the Gospel. The man was baptized. The Gospel had reached Africa.
Key Truth: Philip did not wait for the lost to come to church. He went where they were. That is still the assignment of every Spirit-filled believer today.
Acts 9–10: Grace Has No Boundaries
Saul’s Conversion. Peter & Cornelius. The Gentiles Receive the Holy Ghost.
Saul was traveling to Damascus to arrest believers when the risen Christ appeared in a blinding light. He fell to the ground and heard a voice: “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” The church’s greatest enemy was transformed into its greatest missionary.
Ananias obeyed God and walked in calling him “Brother Saul.” Saul received his sight, was filled with the Holy Ghost, and was baptized. He immediately began preaching that Jesus is the Christ.
God gave Peter a vision and said: “What God hath cleansed, call not thou common.” Peter went to the house of Cornelius — a Roman centurion. While he preached the Holy Ghost fell on everyone in the room.
Acts 10:44–46 — KJV
“While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word… for they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.”
Critical Apostolic Point: The evidence was speaking in tongues. Not a feeling. Not a raised hand. They heard them speak with tongues. The standard never changed. It still has not changed today.
The Pattern God Is Building
What Five Sessions Reveal About How God Works
When you read these five sessions together you realize God is not random. He is building something. And the same pattern repeats across every chapter.
✦ God Moves
God always initiates. Pentecost was God’s idea. Every miracle in Acts was God moving first.
✦ Opposition Rises
Every time God moves the enemy responds. Arrests. Threats. Persecution. Stoning.
✦ The Church Multiplies
Every attempt to stop the church made it grow. Scattered believers become scattered seeds.
✦ The Gospel Advances
Jerusalem → Judea → Samaria → Ethiopia → Damascus → Cornelius’s house → the world.
Acts 1:8 — KJV
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Your home. Your neighborhood. Your family. Start where you are.
Your region. The people within reach. The familiar territory just beyond your door.
The people across the cultural divide. The ones you did not expect.
Everywhere. No limits. No exceptions. Grace has no boundaries.
What We Carry From Sessions 1–5:
The Holy Ghost is still the promise — and speaking in tongues is still the evidence
God will deal with sin in the camp so He can dwell in the camp
What scatters the church does not destroy it — God uses pressure to spread purpose
Nobody is too far gone for grace — Saul proved that on the Damascus road
The Gospel has no walls — God will reach anyone who is willing to receive it
“Lord, what You did in the Book of Acts — do it again.
Fill us with the same Spirit. Give us the same boldness.
Use us to reach the people no one else is willing to reach.
Let the Gospel advance through us in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
Session 6 is coming — Acts 11–12: The Church Under Fire