Acts is broken down into 6 panels with each panel ending with a summary statement telling the reader that the Church was expanded and established. Studying each of these panels, the reader will begin to note several keys that contributed to and unlocked the summary statement. The Acts course in the Antioch School assigns a project to write an annotated list of the keys to establishment and expansion of the 1st century Church for each of the 6 panels of Acts. Here is an attempt at the third panel:

3. The Church and the Gentiles (prep. for a Gentile beachhead in Antioch) (Acts 9:32-12:24)


1)      God prepares both the messenger and the receiver of the message (9:43-10:17).

2)      The Gentiles receive the Word and the sign of the Spirit just as Jews had in Pentecost and the Samaritans after, thereby proving the message is for all, and are baptized. (10:44-48; 11:18).

3)      The new converts are discipled and shepherded (10:48).

4)      The Church was blessed when they saw souls through the eyes of God’s expanding mission rather than the cultural and religious dogmas of their day (11:1-18).

5)      The faithfulness of bold leaders’ blood waters the seeds of the Gospel expansion to Antioch (11:19-21).

6)      The Church sent men proven in character to shepherd the signs of grace in Antioch and God blessed it (11:22-26.)

7)      God raises up leaders in addition to the 12 Apostles to establish a multi-ethnic New Testament Church in Antioch (12:20; 25).

8)      This beachhead for the gospel advance to Gentiles becomes the training grounds for ministry for Paul and Barnabas to launch out (11:25-26).

9)      When God reveals a need though his messenger, there is unity demonstrated in care for more than just their own local church (11:29-30).

10)   When there was a crisis, God used the prayer of faith through flawed people to resolve the crisis (12:12-16).

11)   The great would be cut down and God’s glory would be displayed in the ragged followers (12:20-24).

Acts 12:24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.

Acts is broken down into 6 panels with each panel ending with a summary statement telling the reader that the Church was expanded and established. Studying each of these panels, the reader will begin to note several keys that contributed to and unlocked the summary statement. The Acts course in the Antioch School assigns a project to write an annotated list of the keys to establishment and expansion of the 1st century Church for each of the 6 panels of Acts. Here is an attempt at the second panel:

2. The Church in Judea & Samaria (Transitioning to Gentile Outreach) (Acts 6:8-9:31)


1)      Out of those serving faithfully in a subordinate leadership role, the Spirit calls & uses certain of them to sow seeds and advance His mission (6:8-10; 8:5-8).

2)      The witness of faithful men unashamed of the message and mission influences the strongest opponent (6:9-8:3).

3)       Though they were persecuted and spread out, the Church was not weakened (8:1-4).

4)      There was a sense of responsibility for sub leaders to see the Gospel advance beyond their comfort zone (8:4-8; 26-27; 40).

5)      There is investigation by leadership into reports of ministry to discern what God was doing and help fill in needed shepherding and also root out false religion (8:14-25).

6)      The overseers and sub-leadership worked together—not as micro-managers and not as renegades (8:4-25).

7)       There was not a hesitancy to minister since they believed God was working to open eyes (8:4-5; 26-40).

8)      Men were filled with faith to disciple outside of their comfort zone (9:10-31).

9)      Emerging leaders were given opportunity to serve as they were shepherded (9:26-30).

Acts 9:31 Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.

Acts is broken down into 6 panels with each panel ending with a summary statement telling the reader that the Church was expanded and established. Studying each of these panels, the reader will begin to note several keys that contributed to and unlocked the summary statement. The Acts course in the Antioch School assigns a project to write an annotated list of the keys to establishment and expansion of the 1st century Church for each of the 6 panels of Acts. Here is an attempt at the first panel:








Keys to the Establishment & Expansion of the 1st Century Church


1. The Church in Jerusalem (Acts 1:1-6:7)

Recently in our Sunday evening service, we were studying Acts 15 and the Jerusalem Council. This raised questions as to how the book of Acts applies to the Church today. In the Antioch School on Tuesday nights, this is one of the first issues we tried to answer. Here's a shot at an assignment from the Acts course in the Antioch School:  Write a one to two page argument on how you think today’s Church should use the principles and pattern in Acts.

Since different debates and denominations have risen out of different interpretations of the book of Acts, the church has a tendency to bypass the book to glean how the church is to operate and read it as simply a record of what happened in the early church.  What will result from this perspective is simply to look at the story in Acts as a description of the good old days of the church—the golden years that sound so thrilling, but are so far away and so lost.

On the other hand, some study the book of Acts through an underlying perspective to look at the early church’s activity and mimic everything that occurred in the book today. They see no limits to the activities that occur and would categorize them as prescriptive and normative.

The questions we need to wrestle with this book are—does Acts simply record a history of the good old days? Is it intended to be only descriptive? If not, are there intended instructions in the book? If there are intended instructions, how closely do we copy the first century church’s activity? Does it set a precedent? How far do we go?

To attempt to find that razor’s edge, we need to think carefully through the authorial intent of the book. Luke does not hide his reasons for writing the book and declares them in Acts 1 just as he has declared them for his previous volume in Luke 1.

In Acts 1:1-8, Luke reminds the reader that he has written before of what Jesus began to do and teach and the promise of a mission that the Holy Spirit would accomplish through Jesus’ followers after He left. Luke encapsulates this mission in verse 8 and builds the whole book on this verse: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Luke then selects and shapes the material that follows in the book to reflect 1:8. Everything that happens in the book of Acts can be traced back to that verse. The strategies and patterns he shares with the reader are intended to show how the mission was carried out. Luke divides the book into six panels that end with a summary statement that tells how the movement was advancing from Jerusalem to Rome. Each of these panels have very intentional keys embedded in them that propelled the advance of the Gospel. The major character is the Holy Spirit who uses flawed people to carry out the Father’s will and design for His Church.

The movement begins with a very Jewish church in Jerusalem and expands to all ethnicities as it infectiously spreads to the major Roman cites of the day. Luke wants the reader to see the Holy Spirit’s action in using the message of the risen Christ to change lives and communities and form former rebels into changed lives that create a new covenant community that can grow in spite of apparent hindrances.

In order to see what aspects of Luke’s book are normative for the church, we must connect the stories with the overall intent of the author. Each panel and the stories that make up the panel need to be read with the question of what is the point Luke is trying to make by including this material and how does it function in the overall story? When we push up the authorial intent of the narrative, we won’t get lost in the forest.

For the reader to be able to show how the purpose of the story is to establish a precedent that continues throughout the book, there would need to be a repetition of a pattern that occurs in the book of Acts. That pattern must connect with the drumbeat of the author in order to lend itself to be considered as normative for the church through all ages.  If the activity in the book seems to be limited to a certain culture and time and would not be transferrable to all cultures and ages, then it would be difficult to see that practice as normative.

However, if the practice connects to the purpose of the book as an activity that would contribute to all cultures for the advancement of the Gospel in the church, then serious consideration needs to be given to the prescriptive value of it. The repetition and its ties to Luke’s intent needs to be a crucial factor in determining what is carried over from Acts to the present.

Also, in addition to the repetition in the book of Acts itself, attention needs to be given to the confirmation in the rest of the New Testament—Christ’s instructions in the Gospels and the Apostolic material in the letters. What is mandated in the New Testament for believers in any culture will not oppose what is prescriptive in the book of Acts. The New Testament epistles were written out of the context of Acts, so where they touch on the same matters, they will reinforce what the Spirit deems prescriptive in Acts in harmony.

Finally, we need to look in the book of Acts for the function of the activity and then determine if the form the function was delivered in is normative. To do this we need to ask the question of why did they do what they did, and can we do that same thing with the same answer to the why question.  The functions should be transferrable to every generation, but the forms may change from culture to culture. When the function is attached to a form in Acts, we need to ask if the form portrayed is described partially and incompletely, and if it varies when the function is given in other situations. But if the function with the form has appeared consistently in the New Testament, there is great precedent for it.  The function, principle, organism, truth, and message will not change from culture to culture, but the form, organization, tradition, and method may.

The science of studying Acts is determining where freedom in form is so that we can effectively carry out the advance of the Gospel. Scripture is our foundational tool, and a study of church history and the specific culture we are in to implement the functions in Acts will lend wisdom for the function for today.