Acts by Dennis McCallum (2016)

This is the transition passage between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant when the resurrected Jesus commands his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit would then empower them to be his witnesses.

When the disciples are all in one room on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is put into them as they are put into the body of Christ. This marks the change from the Old Covenant to the New.

The key and essential aspects of authentic body life which causes the never duplicated explosive growth of the body of Christ.

Ananias and Sapphira were deceitful. How God dealt with their hypocrisy, and why, is discussed.

The Apostles demonstrate how to counter Satan's tactics of persecution and division by depending on God, resulting in the growth of the church.

Stephen is brought before the Sanhedrin and gives a history lesson, stating God rejects sacred space, has worked and is working outside of Israel, and still decries His people as stiff-necked, unwilling to change, and murderers of His Messiah.

When the Samaritans accepted Christ, Peter and John came down from Jerusalem to lay hands on the believers so that they received the Holy Spirit. thus breaking down cultural, social and prejudicial barriers to Christianity. Likewise with the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch.

Saul's conversion to the Apostle Paul. He goes from zealously killing Christians to zealously preaching the Gospel to Jews in the synagogues of Damascus for three years.

Cornelius, a Centurion, a God-fearing Gentile, was instructed by God's messenger to send for Peter in Joppa. Meanwhile, God was preparing Peter to preach the Gospel to Cornelius' group of Gentiles by demonstrating that the tradition of eating unclean meat was not Biblical, but was a religious tradition added by men which would be a barrier to giving the Gospel to the Gentiles.

In order to know God's will, there are several factors that must be in evidence: 1. You must have accepted Christ as your Savior, 2. Recognize God's leading, 3. If a moral decision, it must be within God's will, 4. Mature Christians counseled and agree 5. Already trying to follow God's will, 6. In keeping with Scripture.

God does not promise He will answer any and all prayers, and He answers them in His time in order to build our faith through perseverance. Prayer should be a meaningful personal two-way communication. Corporate prayer is important, and be thankful for answered prayer.

Barnabas was in Antioch, then left to find Saul and bring him back to Antioch. While in Antioch, God spoke through the Holy Spirit to the believers that they were to set aside Paul and Barnabas for work that He has for them. Dennis compares and contrasts God's call to missionaries with the Postmodernists' view of missionaries.

Paul, with Barnabas in Lystra, heals a lame man, which causes the people to begin to worship them as their gods, Zeus and Hermes. Paul corrects them, stating they are just men, and giving the glory for the miracle to God. He makes a statement about free will in verse 16, and in 17 clearly states that God has made himself known both in His creation evident in nature and within humans.

Jews, sent by James to Antioch where Paul and Barnabas were converting Gentiles, said that these Gentile believers had to be circumcised to be saved. The debate was taken to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, who decided that Grace was sufficient for salvation, and not legalism.

During Paul's second missionary journey, the following principles are highlighted: 1) ministry is the most important activity in the world, and 2) ministry should be: immediate; contextualized; disciple-based; and led by the Holy Spirit.

Paul and Silas are in the city of Philippi and encounter persecution as they tell people about Jesus. Four ministry principles are related based on Paul and Silas' faith in the face of spiritual opposition.

Paul continues on his second missionary journey; he is persecuted and driven out of Thessalonia, Berea, and arrives in Athens by himself. Here Paul has a more receptive audience and presents arguments to refute present day postmodern pluralism.

Paul arrives in Corinth by himself, but was led to Aquila and Priscilla, Jews exiled from Rome, and stayed with them making tents and persuading Jews and Greeks when not working his trade. When the Jews blasphemed Paul, he devoted his ministry to the Gentiles. When Paul became discouraged and feared for his life, he was encouraged by Jesus in a vision to not be afraid because He was with Paul.

Paul enters Ephesus, and by reasoning and persuading, many believe, are baptized, and the growth of Christians multiplies, not just in Ephesus but throughout this Roman region referred to as Asia (see the letters to the seven churches in Revelation). This growth is accomplished by groups of Christians meeting in houses because it was illegal at this time to have a Christian church building.\r\n

Paul teaches thirteen central themes in effective Christian Ministry to the elders of Ephesus at the end of his third and last missionary journey.

Paul embarks on his return journey to Jerusalem and encounters believers praying for him and concerned for his safety, knowing he will encounter opposition in Jerusalem. However, Paul knows that the Holy Spirit is leading him back, and is willing to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.

Paul is taken to Caesarea to stand trial before the Roma governor. Paul is imprisoned in Caesarea for two years but given enough freedom to allow friends to visit and provide for his needs, which allows Luke to write Acts, and Paul to write the prison epistles. Paul gives the gospel message each time he is brought before the court to respond to charges.

During Paul's journey from Caesarea to imprisonment in Rome, despite dire circumstances, Paul was able to maintain his faith in God and knew that it was God's Will for him to reach Rome and be imprisoned there. Many people came to Christ throughout this journey and Paul's two-year imprisonment in Rome.