The Promise of the Holy Spirit

The new sermon series, Rise, focuses on the Book of Acts, which will be explored over about 11 months, paralleling the time span of the events it recounts. This series will follow the apostles day by day, and the first passage, Acts 1:1-8, introduces important questions. Theophilus, the recipient of the book, is likely a prominent early Christian who requested an account of the apostles' history. The author of Acts, Luke, previously wrote the Gospel of Luke, and he aims to provide a clear, chronological account of the early church’s growth and the apostles' ministry.

Luke's style includes unique superlatives, emphasizing events with phrases like "no small debate," which highlights the intensity of conflicts in early Christian history. The Gospel of Mark is identified as the foundational gospel, with Matthew and Luke expanding upon it, each tailored for different audiences: Matthew for Jewish readers and Luke for Greco-Roman ones. The Book of Acts itself, written by Luke, is a continuation of this narrative, documenting the spread of the gospel primarily through Paul’s missionary journeys.

John's Gospel, written later, is intentionally different from the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), offering a distinct perspective of Jesus’ life and teachings. John, written after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, serves to record additional stories requested by the church before the apostles' death. Thus, the four Gospels are interrelated, with Mark as the earliest, followed by Matthew and Luke, and finally, John providing a later, complementary account.