Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:
Acts
The Book of Acts records the birth, growth, and expansion of the early church following the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Written by Luke, Acts serves as the historical continuation of the Gospel of Luke, tracing how the message of Christ moved from Jerusalem to the ends of the known world.
Acts opens with the risen Christ commissioning His followers and promising power through the Holy Spirit. This promise is fulfilled at Pentecost, where the Spirit empowers the apostles to preach boldly and cross cultural and linguistic boundaries. The church is not formed through strategy or organization alone, but through divine empowerment and shared devotion.
The early chapters focus on the leadership and witness of Peter and the Jerusalem church. Miracles, teaching, prayer, and community life demonstrate the transforming power of the gospel. At the same time, opposition quickly arises. Arrests, persecution, and martyrdom reveal that faithfulness carries cost, yet the church continues to grow rather than retreat.
A major turning point in Acts is the conversion of Paul. Once a persecutor of Christians, Paul becomes the primary messenger to the Gentile world. His missionary journeys form the backbone of the book’s second half, carrying the gospel throughout Asia Minor and into Europe. Acts shows the gospel breaking ethnic, cultural, and social barriers as Jews and Gentiles are united in Christ.
Acts also addresses internal challenges. Disagreements over leadership, doctrine, and inclusion test the unity of the church. The Jerusalem Council stands as a key moment, affirming that salvation comes by grace through faith, not by adherence to the Mosaic Law. The church is guided not by tradition alone, but by discernment and the work of the Spirit.
Throughout Acts, God’s sovereignty is unmistakable. Imprisonments lead to witness, opposition opens new regions, and hardship advances the mission rather than halting it. The message spreads not through ease, but through faithful obedience under pressure.
The book ends without a traditional conclusion. Paul reaches Rome and continues preaching under guard, symbolizing that the story of the gospel is ongoing. Acts closes with movement rather than resolution, reminding readers that the mission of the church did not end with the apostles—it continues through every generation.
The Book of Acts reveals a living faith empowered by God, carried by ordinary people, and unstoppable in purpose. It calls believers to witness boldly, live faithfully, and trust God as His work advances through history.
Acts 20:2
And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece,
Acts 20:20
And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,
Acts 20:21
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 20:22
And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
Acts 20:23
Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
Acts 20:24
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Acts 20:25
And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
Acts 20:26
Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
Acts 20:27
For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Acts 20:28
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Acts 20:29
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Acts 20:3
And there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia.
Acts 20:30
Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Acts 20:31
Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
Acts 20:32
And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
Acts 20:33
I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel.
Acts 20:34
Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
Acts 20:35
I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Acts 20:36
And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all.
Acts 20:37
And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him,
Acts 20:38
Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.
Acts 20:4
And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.
Acts 20:5
These going before tarried for us at Troas.
Acts 20:6
And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.
Acts 20:7
And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
Acts 20:8
And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.
Acts 20:9
And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.
Acts 21:1
And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara:
Acts 21:10
And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.