Acts of the Apostles Teaching Points

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Fidelis

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I’m currently teaching a course on salvation history and have come to the Book of Acts. I’m looking for some suggestions on which “high points” I can briefly present to the class along with a brief overview.

The class lasts aabout an hour and a half. I typically limit myself to about 10 Powerpoint slides becasue I’ve found that is all we usually have time for. The first one recaps what we talked about the previous week so that leaves nine slides for instruction, with no more than one major point or passage per slide. So I guess what I’m looking for is about 7-8 episodes, points or passages that would best exemplify this book and how it fits into salvation history.

Some no brainers I have so far are:

The Ascencion
The choosing of Matthias
Pentecost
The conversion of Paul
The Council of Jerusalem

Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.
 
If I were you, I would also add the following topics:

The first miracle by Peter and John
Stephen’s martyrdom
Peter’s vision and the conversion of the Gentiles.
Paul and Barnabas’ missionary journeys
Paul’s arrest and arrival in Rome.

You could also give a few examples to highlight the thematic similarities between Luke’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.😉
 
Fidelis said:
I’m currently teaching a course on salvation history and have come to the Book of Acts. I’m looking for some suggestions on which “high points” I can briefly present to the class along with a brief overview.

The class lasts aabout an hour and a half. I typically limit myself to about 10 Powerpoint slides becasue I’ve found that is all we usually have time for. The first one recaps what we talked about the previous week so that leaves nine slides for instruction, with no more than one major point or passage per slide. So I guess what I’m looking for is about 7-8 episodes, points or passages that would best exemplify this book and how it fits into salvation history.

Some no brainers I have so far are:

The Ascencion
The choosing of Matthias
Pentecost
The conversion of Paul
The Council of Jerusalem

Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.
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certainly these are wonderful topics to cover about the book of Acts. The Haydock Bible Commentary could help you with explaining the topics you decide to cover within the book of the Acts. Here is the link to the Haydock Bible Commentary.
haydock1859.tripod.com/
 
Other things:
  • Peter’s divine escape from prison
  • Martyrdom of James son of Zebedee
  • Peter’s raising Tabitha from the dead
  • Baptism of water vs. batpism of spirit
  • Paul before Agrippa
 
The Acts of the Apostles is often called “The Gospel of the Holy Spirit”. I’d concentrate on the theme introduced in Acts 1:8 - “But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The rest of Acts mirrors Jesus mission, Peter performs many miracles and teaches in Judea, even raising someone from the dead (you will be my witness in Jerusalem, throughout Judea…).

Then Paul performs many miracles and teaches to the Gentiles, even raising someone from the dead (… and to the ends of the earth).

All of this shows the Church that Jesus built continuing His Gospel Message just as He commanded at the end of Matthew’s Gospel - Then Jesus approached and said to them, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
 
One of the most insightful things for me during my study of Acts with Jeff Cavins was the amazing parallels between the life of Christ as described in Luke and those of Peter and Paul in Acts.
 
davidv said:
One of the most insightful things for me during my study of Acts with Jeff Cavins was the amazing parallels between the life of Christ as described in Luke and those of Peter and Paul in Acts.
Click to expand...
Now, THAT’S what I was trying to say!!!
 
The story of Philip and the Ethiopian might also be good. The exchange is so rich. In this short passage (~10 verses) major points are covered such as being open to the direction of God, evangelism, scripture study with a teaching authority, link between the Old and New Testament foretelling Jesus Christ and last but certainly not least baptism.
The fact that the Ethiopian was well educated and of very high rank can help enforce the need for going beyond one’s private understanding (sola scriptura) to the teaching authority of the Church.

Thanks,
Mike
 
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