The Church at Shelby Crossings
Friday, September 10, 2010
A diverse community of believers committed to developing passionate followers of Christ to impact the world.

The Book of Acts

The Book of Acts Study Guide

 
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Why study the book of Acts?


1. The Holy Spirit -  Enough Said
This has first and foremost importance. We could stop at this reason alone. Have you been giving Holy Spirit control? Being a sinner saved by grace means God has the right to tell us to do whatever he wants and we are to obey. We have no rights. He has complete control. We see in Acts, the Holy Spirit empower the church in Acts 2 and continues throughout the book and until Christ returns.

2. Expansion of Gospel to Outsiders
In the Gospels, the good news goes out mostly to a Jewish context but in Acts, the good news of Jesus breaks forth into various cultures, people groups, and languages. Shelby Crossings, we must fight to be hospitable and reach outsiders who look nothing like us. If we don’t, we will be an institution and not a church.

3. Prepare your life for Gospel Preaching without 'preaching'
We often think the command to preach means we need a stage, a podium, and neat hair, but Acts shows us what gospel living and gospel preaching looks like in the marketplace and in the town square. Peter and Stephen teach us early on how to present the gospel with boldness and confidence.

4. Church Planting
The book of Acts reveals God’s strategy for evangelism - church planting. Shelby Crossings was started as a church plant with a vision to develop passionate followers of Christ to impact the world. In order to reach our community, our small groups will have to be little “churches” planted in neighborhoods. Acts will challenge each group to figure out what this looks like.

5. Learn to Lead others to Faith by studying Conversion Stories
Paul gets knocked off a horse. The Ethiopian Eunuch longs to understand Isaiah. We see snapshots of Jesus coming and intervening in the lives of those who reject him, despise him, and are clueless to Him. Acts will equip us to share our story and listen to other’s story without glancing down at our iphone every 3 minutes.