One of the most important themes in Acts is leadership. Throughout the book of Acts, there are two

On the road to Damascus the Lord intervenes in Saul’s life (Acts 9: 3-6) and he is genuinely converted during that encounter with the Lord Jesus. Under the ministry of Ananias (a disciple) he was also healed and filled with the Holy Spirit. Saul now known as Paul from that moment on immediately began preaching Christ in the synagogues of Damascus. Paul’s preaching was very convincing and disturbing to the Damascus Jews to the point where they desired to kill him. Therefore, the other Christian disciples assisted him in his escape by night (Acts 9:22-25) that he may escape to Arabia. Paul’s missionary Journeys were defining actions of him, he usually set foot with other companions and he endured hardships on these voyages. He was imprisoned, lashed and stoned several times and almost murdered once (2 Cor. 11:24-27).

St. Paul, other known as Saul, never actually lived the life any of us would hope for. As a young child Saul learned to work with his own hands and create tents. Before his conversion to Christianity, he went out and arrested those who believed in Christ. While he was out arresting many, he also persecuted some of the Christians. Also, Saul was one person who approved the stoning of Stephen. Lastly, God appeared to him and he had a conversion of heart.

The book of Acts brings out Paul as one of the most phenomenal apostles in the times post the death of Jesus. The documentation of Paul’s gospel begins with a mission by the leaders of the Antioch church who were instructed by the Holy Spirit to separate Barnabas and Saul from the Mission they were being sent on. During that period Saul was involved in the persecution and killing of believers of Christ and the instruction was a difficult trivia to the Christians due to the History associated with Saul. The conversion of Saul from a persecutor of Christians to an apostle spreading the Gospel is also a manifestation of the Holy Spirit (Keener & Craig,

Statement # 1(From The Cradle, The Cross, and The Crown Chapter 8, Loc 10638 of 28382, 1st Paragraph) “There are several significant human agents, but there is one, and only one, major divine agent underlying the entire plot of the book of Acts: the Holy Spirit. For this reason, rather than identifying the book as presenting the “Acts of the Apostles,” it may be more accurate to say that at its heart are the “Acts of the Holy Spirit.” I believe that the book of Acts is a great depiction of how the Holy Spirit can and will move through dedicated people. Without the Holy Spirit, Paul and all the great men in the book of Acts are just great men.

Saint Paul, originally named Saul, was a crucial part in the development of Christianity. Paul, who was born in Tarsus, Cilicia, grew up Jewish and was trained as a rabbi (Adcock). Paul eventually converted to Christianity, but before he did, the future of the religion was looking very slim. Rome had made it illegal to practice Christianity. Paul was a pious Jew, so his conversion to Christianity surprised many of his followers. They viewed him with much suspicion and treated him with hostility. Paul was dedicated to his new life and made it his mission to spread Christianity throughout the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and eventually to Rome itself. Paul made two separate journeys throughout the Mediterranean. He preached about the message of Jesus to many and sent his letters to the people he had not visited. Paul saw that his new faith had a message for everything and everyone. By converting to Christianity, St. Paul has saved Christianity from extinction, has written crucial letters about his faith, has preached to hundreds of people, has spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire, has caused

Because of his bold testimony of Jesus, Saul the persecutor became Paul the persecuted. Those who rejected his message of salvation through Jesus Christ tried to stop and harm him. In one city, he was stoned and left for dead. But God spared him. Through trials and beatings and imprisonments, he kept on preaching Christ.

While on his journey to Damascus, Saul was blinded by a light, heard a voice, was converted to

In this text it says, “For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!” This connects to the main idea because even when Paul was on house arrest in Rome he still acted boldly by proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. It is not easy to preach the word of God in places where he is hated. There needs to be lots of boldness,

He is generally considered one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age. In the mid-30s to the mid-50s, he found many of the churches in Asia Minor and Europe that are still standing today. Paul used his status as both a Jew and a Roman citizen to advantage because the roman citizens were highly protected and if they were harmed then it is considered a huge act of crime. So in his ministry he directed to both Jewish and Roman audiences because he is the same as his audience and he is also an inspiration to people who believe in god. According to writings in the New Testament Paul, who was known as Saul early on, was dedicated to the persecution of the early disciples of Jesus in the area of

Saul fell to the ground as he heard a voice question him: Saul, Saul why do you persecute me (Acts 9:1-4). The voice of Jesus was heard (but He was not seen) whom Saul persecuted; and Saul stood up as a blind man who had been given explicit and impending instructions from God (Acts 9:6-8). God chose Saul to proclaim His name to the Gentiles, their kings, and to the people of Israel and to show Saul how much he must suffer for Jesus’ name (Acts 9:15-16). God commanded Ananias to lay hands on Saul to restore his vision, and be filled with the Holy Spirit, then scales fell from Saul’s eyes and he could see again (Acts 9: 10-12,

In grasping this text within the biblical audience, we see that Peter was faced with a situation in the community between the Grecians and the Hebrews. The Greek speaking Christians complained that their widows were not being treated as fairly as the Hebrew. Part of the problem was church growth, language barriers and cultural tension. In realizing this, Peter knew that a process was needed to address this situation so that the gospel could continue to be spread. Peter and the apostles anointed seven Greek speaking men of good report to take care of these responsibilities (Acts 6:3). Though it was important to take care of the church body, it was more important to remove distractions from the

Once Paul graduated, he became a very zealous religious Jew. The aim of Paul’s trade was to see the church persecuted. In Acts 7:58-83, readers are reminded that Paul was present when Stephen was stoned and killed. Saul carried a warrant from the High Priest so he could go against the people of the early Christian church (Acts 26:10-11). Paul might have been a Roman citizen, but he was cultured in the Greek way of doing things. This can be found in Acts 17:28. Paul knew the mindset of many Greek thoughts and sayings in his time.

Paul was born as Saul of Tarsus. He was both a Jew and a Roman citizen. He became a prosecutor of those who follow Jesus and accepted him as their Lord and King. Saul was not trying to being mean by doing this. He thought of it as just working against an enemy of his own Jewish faith. One day he was on the way to Damascus and a bright heavenly light came down from above and blinded him. He was struck to the ground and a voice called out to him saying “Saul, why do you persecute me?” He responded by saying “Who are you, Lord? Lord, what will you have me do?” The voice identified itself as “Jesus whom you persecute”. Jesus told Saul to continue to Damascus where he would be given

In order for us to truly understand how drastic the change in Paul’s life was, let’s look at the kind of person he was when he was Saul. We know that Saul was a Jew and a Roman, and while that was a rare thing, it also wasn’t completely unheard of. As we know, being a Roman citizen conferred certain rights of

However, Paul and Peter were the only two dominant forces in the book of Acts functioning as apostles. The gifts of the spirit however—weren’t limited to the apostles as we can clearly see the functioning of the gifts in those that started out in the Upper Room in Acts 2.