INTRODUCTION

The book of the Acts of the Holy Spirit and of the Apostles in confirming the Word of God, the spread of Christianity, and the ministry of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles is the sequel to Luke’s Gospel; both books are dedicated to “Theophilus”. Luke himself appears to have been  an eye witness to some of the events described in the second half of the work, because from Acts 16:10 onwards he occasionally uses the word “we”, also his  accurate knowledge of the different localities to which he refers and his vivid description of the storm in Chapter 27 confirm that the account we have from Dr. Luke is a first hand one.

Among the themes we will look at in the book of Acts is the birth of the church; mission and evangelism, the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of believer starting from Pentecost. May the Holy Spirit teach us as we commence the study of the Acts. Acts 16:10-16; Acts 27.

THE BIRTH OF THE CHURCH

The first mention of the church throughout the Bible was in the book of Matthew when Jesus asked His disciples who do people say He was. When Peter gave the revelation, Jesus said, on that revelation will He build His church. The only other time Jesus mentioned the church is in the same book of Matthew when He was counselling on how conflicts should be resolved in the church. No other mention is made in the Bible until the church was indeed born in the book of Acts. Jesus had said in Matthew that “…. I will build my church”. The use of the “will” makes it clear that the church was indeed not yet in existence. The church was hidden from man and the devil but Jesus knew that secret which was between Him, The Father and The Spirit. That is why till today, since the church was born in Act 2, the Trinity has been active in the church and only the church has the revelation of the Trinity. From Acts2, a good study of the book will reveal that the church is often referred to. The church, which is the Body of Christ could only come into existence after the ascension of Jesus Christ.

THE ASCENSION OF JESUS CHRIST

The book of Acts relates how the ministry of Jesus Christ after His resurrection reaches of climax through His ascension into heaven to sit at the right hand of God. The resurrection established that Jesus was the son of God. The ascension is described only in the writings of Luke (i.e. the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of Apostles) although there are clear hints of it elsewhere, especially in John’s Gospel. The ascension, in common with many other aspect of the ministry of Jesus Christ, fulfilled Old Testament prophesies. The ascension was also foretold during the ministry of Jesus Christ Himself, who spoke of returning to His Father. It is important that as a believers we understand the significance of the ascension. The purpose of the ascension include the sending of the Holy Spirit, the preparation of places for believers in heaven and the continuing exercise of the high priestly ministry of Jesus Christ especially in relation to His intercession for believers.