Facts of acts

Opening Prayer: Acts 9.1-9
 Review on Church Origin
and Foundation and Facts
about Acts (OR/GD)
 Early Lifestyle of the Church

FACTS ABOUT ACTS

The Early Church
by Michael C. Kelly, SJ

Introduction to ACTS:
 Jesus Realized that he was going to die
that his followers needed divine
assistance; He promised to sent them
the Helper—the Holy Spirit.
 Aside from the four gospels that tell us
about the life of Jesus in Palestine there
is another book that tells of what
happened after Jesus left His followers
—the Acts of the Apostles.

The Book of ACTS:

 Describes the transition between Jesus
and the Church.
 The title “ACTS” may not be the best
name for this book for it doesn’t tell the
story of what all apostles did after their
death. However, there were two
HEROES in the story—PETER and
PAUL.

The Book of ACTS:

 Shows the followers of Jesus continuing
his work:
 Preaching of the KOG
 Teaching and healing

 Concern for the poor and the needy

 Baptizing men and women in Jesus’ name

 Breaking of the bread

The Book of ACTS
 Sources:
 Access to memories
and stories of the
churches in
 Author: Compare Jerusalem and
Antioch
Luke 1:1-4 and  Personal Encounter
Acts 1:1-5
with St. Paul
 Date probably  Personal Notes and
written: around 70- Experiences
80 A.D.

Luke’s Purpose in Writing Acts
 To emphasize the importance of
Jerusalem as the MOTHER Church, the
seat of the apostles, and the doctrinal
focal point of Christian missionary
activity.
 To show the work of the Spirit guiding
the spread of the WORD, forming the
Christian community and bringing new
members into the church.

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

 The great event in the transition from
Jesus to the church was the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit.
 It happened on Pentecost Sunday.
 Pentecost (Gk) means Fiftieth. For the
Jews it was a FEAST which occurred
SEVEN weeks (about 50 days) after the
PASSOVER.

Theophany of God on Pentecost Day

 There was the appearance of FIRE
touching the apostles; Thunder, Great
Wind.

 These symbols were used in the O.T. to
signify the presence of God (see Ex.
19:16ff and Deut. 4:9ff)

Importance of the Great Event
 Great Transformation occurred among the
Believers:
 From timid and fearful to courageous missionaries
 The SPIRIT as the dynamic force moves the
apostles to preach and witness to Jesus.
 In Short: the gift of the Pentecost marks the
beginning of the era of the church and the
beginning of the mission of the church. It is a
new era in salvation history –the church under
the guidance of the Spirit continues Jesus’ task
of announcing the kingdom to all men.

Point for Reflection:

 If we only allow the Spirit of God to move in
us we would do wondrous deeds.
 Of whose voice do we follow or listen today?

LIFETSTYLE
IN THE EARLY CHURCH
 The first six chapters of Acts tell quite a
bit about what life was like in the early
community.
 It appears that the early Christians
formed a close group around the
apostles in Jerusalem.
 Accordingly, they learned from the
apostles, took part in the fellowship and
shared in the fellowship meals (early
form of the Holy Eucharist)

LIFETSTYLE
IN THE EARLY CHURCH
 It is interesting to note that the early
community prayed in the Temple, the Jewish
place of worship/prayer.
 It took some time for the early church to
distinguish itself from the Jewish religion and
Jewish practices.
 They were not called CHRISTIANS until the
church had spread to ANTIOCH (Acts 11:25-
26). They were first called “THE WAY OF THE
LORD” by some( Acts 9:1-2).

CHARACTERISTICS
OF THE EARLY CHURCH
 COMMON PROPERTY
 The early believers shared their goods in common
 SACRAMENTAL BEGINNING
 The Three Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism,
Confirmation, Holy Eucharist)
 See Acts 2. 42-47
 PERSECUTION
 Early followers of Jesus experienced persecution
 St. Stephen= First martyr saint of the Catholic church
(Acts 6)

The First Sermons of Peter
 Read Acts 2:14-42
 As soon the Holy Spirit had taken
possession of the followers of Jesus,
Luke narrates “Peter stood up with the
other eleven apostles and in a loud voice
began to speak the crowd…” (v.14)
 One should not think that the sermons in
Acts were delivered exactly as they are
found in the text.

Content of Acts

 Content of Acts
 A. Narration
 B. Discourses
 Unity of Luke and Acts
 Similarity between Peter and Paul
 Initial Address: 2,14-36 13,16-41
 Cure of a lame man 3,1-10 14,8-10
 Encounter with magicians 8,9-24 13, 6-11
 Raising to life 9,36-42 20,7-12
 In prison 12, 1-18 21,27-28,31

Saul known as Paul

“The thirteenth disciple of Jesus”
The Apostle to the Gentiles

Saul called Paul

 Basic sources
 Acts = Act of Conversion
 Letters/Epistles = Fact of Conversion

 Life of Saul before knowing Jesus
 Born in Tarsus
 Tribe of Benjamin; he is a Jew

 A Pharisee (teacher of the Law)

Saul called Paul
 He is a Roman Citizen
 Civil status (1 Cor. 7.8)

 Paul After conversion
 Read Acts 9.1-9
 His conversion is exposed to the REAL
PRESENCE of GOD.

CONVERSION means…

a. Turning Away from
b. Change of Heart and Mind

SAUL’S conversion involves…

a. MORAL CONVERSION : turn away from sin
b. SOCIAL CONVERSION: change of allegiance
c. PERSONAL CONVERSION: change of values /
outlook in life

SAUL’S three C’s

a. CONFRONTATION
b. CONVERSION
c. COMMISSION

SAUL’S CONVERSION means…

CHANGE of:
a. ALLEGIANCE : from God of the Law to
God of Love
b. HEART: ways of thinking about God
c. PRIORITIES: From selfish earthly desire to
communal, universal good

Personal Reflections:

 What is my understanding about God or
Jesus? Is my knowledge about Him
correct?
 What are my priorities in life? Do I
include God in those priorities?
 What have I done for Christ? What am I
doing for Christ? What do I want to do
for Christ?

READ Matthew 6:19-34

“But seek first the kingdom [of God]
and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given you
besides”-v.33

Facts of acts

More Related Content

What's hot

Viewers also liked

Similar to Facts of acts

Facts of acts