Acts Of Apostles

Peter, one of the most important disciples in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, is portrayed as Jesus’ acquaintance and pupil; as well as one of Jesus’ most important followers. Both of the Gospels seem to portray Peter in similar ways, yet they draw different images of the disciple. In the Gospel of Matthew, Peter has a much larger appearance in the teachings of Jesus and becomes more significant to Jesus throughout the Christian doctrine. However, in Mark, the author portrays Peter as a much lesser character in the life of Jesus and even leaves Peter out of some of the stories till the end of the book. Each Gospel portrays a slightly different picture of Peter’s personality and role.

Jesus’ departure also created anxiety and questions amongst the apostles (Pentecost, 1981). Thus, in the narrative of John 13:36-14:31, Jesus lovingly admonishes the apostles with the command of “Let not your heart be troubled” (Wiersbe, 2007). As a consequence of this command, Jesus promised the apostles a place in heaven along with Christ’s return (John 14:3), assurance that Christ was the way to the Father (John 14:6), and a permanent, indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16; Acts 13:52) who would be the apostle’s teacher (Luke 12:12) in Jesus’ absence (Gromacki, 1978). Most profound is the fact that with Jesus’ ascension into heaven, the apostles would benefit in Jesus’ absence (John 14:9) with greater spiritual power (Pentecost, 1981). Additionally, Jesus also revealed the divine essence of the Godhead (John 14:9) while further defining the true essence of Christianity, “Ye in me, I in you” (Gromacki, 1978).

Acts of the Apostles chronicles the rapid advancement of the Gospel by way of the gift of the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles: The Charismatic Community in Mission” takes into account the narratives succeeding Pentecost including Spirit Baptisms from Samaria to Ephesus (Acts

The book of Acts is known as 'the birth of the church'. Acts recounts the story of

Jesus tells of how the lord will send a messenger to prepare the way for the second coming. He also explained the importance of tithing and how we will receive blessings.

Copy and paste the down arrow ( ) into boxes to show that a unit of material is continuing.Copy and paste the left arrow ( ) into boxes to show where a unit of material ends.

Paul was a faithful apostle, strong leader, and one of the most important figures in the New Testament. Before his conversion, he was known as Saul, and he was a Pharisee. He severely persecuted followers of Jesus in the area of Jerusalem. His conversion was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians. After he repented and was baptized, he began preaching to all who needed to hear God's word. He spread the gospel to others, was empowered by the Holy Spirit in his actions and words, and had persistent faith through difficulties.

He preached about Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ Jesus that died on the cross and now sits above all authority and power.

They had enjoyed a time of fellowship with Jesus and teaching from Him. But He was now preparing them to understand that he was going to leave them. This was one of the factors that were going to turn these believers world upside down and bring and opportunity to turn the world upside down. Because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is

The Holy Spirit had an immeasurable impact on believers and nonbelievers in the book of Acts. He brought about significant conversions of nonbelievers throughout the text, including the conversions of Saul of Tarsus and the 3000 that heard Peter preach. The Holy Spirit used conviction, repentance, and baptism for conversion in the lives of many non-believers. In the case of Saul the prosecutor, Acts 9:1-30, the Holy Spirit spoke to him while in the midst of his Christian prosecution with instructions to follow His command. Saul was eventually converted, preaching the Gospel with boldness through the Holy Spirit (Woods, 1). Likewise, the 3000 who gave ear to Peter’s speech in Acts 2:22-41 were convicted, led to repentance, and baptized. Immediately following their conviction, their hearts sought repentance and right standing with God. Afterwards, they were fully adopted in to the faith and devoted to the ministry according to verses 42-44 (Woods, 1).

The teachings of Jesus focused primarily on the "the kingdom of God" and were usually relayed through parables drawing on familiar images from agricultural life. He rebuked the hypocrisy of some Jewish leaders and taught the importance of love and kindness, even to one's enemies. Jesus' popularity grew quickly, but so did opposition from local leaders. Roman rulers were uncomfortable with the common perception that he was the Messiah who would liberate the Jews from Roman rule, while Jewish leaders were disquieted by Jesus' shocking interpretations of Jewish law, his power with the people, and the rumor that he had been alluding to his own divinity. In the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly suggests to his disciples his end is near, but they do not fully understand or accept the idea. The clearest expression of this is at the "Last Supper," which took place on the night before his death. All four Gospels record that Jesus shared bread and wine with his disciples, asking them to "do this in remembrance of me." Christians celebrate this event in the sacrament of the Eucharist, or Communion. On this evening Jesus also predicts that one of them will betray him, which is met with astonishment and denial. But that very night, Jesus' fate was sealed when Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples and possibly the group's treasurer, led Roman soldiers to Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. As they arrested Jesus, the ever-colorful Peter defended his master with a sword, slicing off

The New Testament is characterized by the existence of imperative Biblical figures, with the likes of Jesus Christ, the Apostles, among many others. Peter was among Jesus’ first disciples. From his turning point, as manifested in the book of John 21, to his progress as a dedicated leader as manifested in Acts, to his final emergence as a co-elder as manifested in the Epistles of 1st and 2nd Peter, Peter exhibited traits of a transformational and charismatic biblical figure (Neil & William 409).

It was on Easter Sunday that Jesus told the Apostles that God sent him to save us from our sins, so then Jesus sent the Apostles. This is when the gift of priesthood was granted to the Apostles. We cannot just simply tell God that we are sorry and leave it at that. Yes, God does want us to confess our sins to him directly, but there is a reason he gave the Apostles the power to forgive sins as well. He understands that we need to confess our sins aloud to another person. When he gave the Apostles this power, he did not give them the power to read our minds. This means that the only other way to know our confessions is to hear them. God also gave priests the power to forgive sins, meaning that he wants us to confess to a priest who addresses

Short summary: Jesus was taken up into Heaven (in the clouds). Jesus giving his apostles instruction before his ascension of God’s promise. Jesus said, “You will receive the Spirit and be my witness.” The believers cast lots to replace Judas, Matthias was chosen to replace Judas.

Each of the four Gospels contains points in ecclesiology. In the Great Commission, Jesus’ last instruction to the Apostles is to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching people (Matthew 28:19-20). For Jesus’ mission to continue and for his Church to grow, discipleship is necessary. Discipleship is a prominent theme in all four Gospels, for purposes of this essay, only the Gospels of John and Luke-Acts will be analyzed. The similarities regarding discipleship in these Gospels include images of the net and fishing, and the sheep/shepherd/sheepfold. The differences include the preparing of the Twelve to carry on Jesus' ministry in Luke, and service to the community and passing of authority in John's Gospel.