Formation AND Growth OF THE Church( ACTS ) PDF

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FORMATION AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH( Apostolic Age ) Reasons why St Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles Preparing for the Christian mission Showing the story of a Spirit-guided community and a Spirit-guided spread of the Word of God. To show the universality of the church. To manifests Peter’s strong...

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FORMATION AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH ( Apostolic Age ) Reasons why St Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles 1. Preparing for the Christian mission 2. Showing the story of a Spirit-guided community and a Spirit-guided spread of the Word of God. 3. To show the universality of the church. 4. To manifests Peter’s strong leadership and supreme power over the whole church. 5. To emphasized that the church was organized and strongly united under the rule of the Apostles. 6. The church acquired a distinctive liturgical life Acts of the Apostles in a Nutshell I. Ascension( Acts 1:6-13) Forty days after Christ’s resurrection came the ascension of Christ into heaven with a promise sending the Holy Spirit. For nine days, Christ’s Apostles with Mary, women disciples and his cousins were gathered in an upper room in the city of Jerusalem. They prayed and fasted, waiting for the Holy Spirit to come. II. The Descent of the Holy Spirit( Acts2: 1-12) The promise of Christ was fulfilled on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came like a strong wind and tongues of fire parted and rested on each of the apostles. The were filled with joy and their minds were illumined. They began to speak in different languages and with a new and surging strength they started to proclaim Christ and the Good News of salvation. III. The First converts ( Acts 2: 14-41 ) Outside the house where the apostles gathered, a crowd of devout men gathered from every nation for the Jewish feast of Pentecost, an ancient harvest celebration. They spoke in many different languages but heard the message of Christianity in his own tongue. So powerful was the kerygmatic speech of Peter that three thousand persons embraced Christianity and were baptized in Christ. IV. The First Christian Community ( Acts 2:42-47;4:32-35 ) In the city of Jerusalem, the first Christian community was formed. The members of the community were of one mind and heart. Its life centered on the teachings of the apostles, breaking of the bread(Eucharist), distribution of goods according to one’s needs and daily attendance at the temple and synagogue prayer service. But they held their own meetings in private places or houses set apart from Jewish places of worship where the Eucharist was held every Sunday. The apostles continued to work numerous miracles, healing in the name of Christ and preached his message of salvation. Many recognized in them God’s power and were converted.

V. The Appointment of Seven Deacons (Acts 6: 1-7) The growing number of converts resulted to a conflict between the Hellenist and Hebrews. The former complained that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. So, the apostles called together the community to choose seven reputable men, filled with spirit and wisdom to distribute alms. They were presented to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them. The names of the seven assistants or deacons were: Stephen, man filled with faith and Holy Spirit,Prochorus,Nicanor,timon,Parmenas and Nicolas of Antioch. With their assistance, God’s word continued to spread and more converts were added to their number. VI. Stephen, the First Martyr( Acts 7 ) Stephen, one of the seven deacons, was accused of blasphemy against God and Moses. His speech pointed to Israel’s reaction to God’s chosen leaders and their rejection and persecution of them. He also stressed that Jesus Christ is above Moses, and temple ownership and following the Mosaic law served only as means of salvation. He was stoned to death in 36AD. VII. Christianity begins to spread( Acts 8:1-40) The initial persecution of the church in Jerusalem and the dispersal of Jewish Christians throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria resulted to the spreading of the seeds of Christian message. Philip, one of the seven deacons, preached the gospel to the coastal zone of Palestine and Samaria. There he converted an Ethiopian court official whose home in Caesarea, became one of the centers of the new emerging faith. He was the apostles’ first pagan convert to Christianity. Others travelled as far as, Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch telling the message. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called as christians VIII. The conversion of Paul ( Acts 9:1-30 ) Paul (Saul) of Tarsus, a pupil of Gamaliel, accepted the task of crushing the Christian movement as the seed of doctrinal separation from Judaism. He witnessed the stoning of Stephen, and was commissioned by the Sanhedrin to go to Damascus to arrest Christians there. while on his journey, however, he was suddenly converted to the faith by a miraculous experience which made him temporarily blind. ( Acts 9: 3-6 ) Ananias, a devout disciple in Damascus, cured him of blindness and baptized him. From then on, with his new name Paul, he started to preach the new faith beginning in Damascus. Barnabas introduced Paul to the apostles and reported his conversion. In three spectacular journeys which carried him throughout the Mediterranean areas, Paul labored to bring not only Jews but Gentiles into the kingdom of Christ. Called by Christ to minister especially to non-Jews, he is known as the apostle to the gentiles. His letters or epistles teaching and encouraging the Christian communities Which he founded or visited, are part of the inspired writings of Sacred Scripture.

IX. The Conversion of Cornelius (Acts 10) Peter was at the of Jaffa around 40 A.D. when Christ revealed to him in a vision that the old Mosaic law was abolished and that the pagans could be purified. Soon, afterward, Peter received into the church the Roman centurion Cornelius of Caesarea, and his whole family, without requiring them to observe the ancient Jewish customs as a condition of admittance. The community of Jewish Christians resented Peter’s action. Peter had to explain and insist that he acted on the orders of Christ himself. The members of the community obediently accepted his explanation, but the issue was by no means ended. X. The Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15 ) There was a great and rapid influx of Gentile converts into the church. This created a serious threat for Jewish Christians in Antioch to preserve the rites and customs of the Mosaic law. For the Jewish Christians the baptism of the Gentile converts must be accompanied by circumcision and observance of the law of Moses. The conflict resulted to bitter disagreements between the two groups of Christians, a threat to the unity of believers. And so, to settle the issue the apostles and elders convoked a council in Jerusalem to discuss the matter. This first council of the church met around 49.A.D. Exercising the power to make decisions under the divine guidance, Peter and the council members, after hearing the brilliant and inspiring discourses of St. Paul, St. Barnabas and St. James decided to exempt the gentile converts to Christianity from observing Judaic conventions.

PAUL'S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY MAP The First Missionary Journey (Acts 13-14) takes Paul from Antioch to Cyprus then southern Asia Minor (Anatolia), and back to Antioch. Barnabas and John Mark are with him. In Cyprus, Paul rebukes Elymas, the magician (Acts 13:8-12) who was criticizing their teachings. They sail to Perga in Pamphylia. John Mark leaves them and returns to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas go on to Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they go into to the synagogue and preach Jesus and the Gospel. Both the Jews and the Gentiles invite them to talk more next Sabbath day and at that time almost the whole city gathers. This upsets some Jews who speak against them. Paul then announces a change in his Evangelical Mission which from then on would be mainly to the Gentiles (Acts 13:13-48). Paul cures the cripple to convince the people that the divine power works through his word. But they were misunderstood as gods. They appointed presbyters in their own community since they are travelling missionaries.

PAUL'S SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY MAP Paul and his companion Barnabas left for the Second Missionary Journey from Jerusalem, in late Autumn 49 AD, after the meeting of the Council of Jerusalem where the circumcision question was debated. They stopped in Antioch where they had a sharp argument about taking John Mark with them on their trips, as in the previous trip he had left them and gone home. Unable to resolve the dispute, Paul and Barnabas decided to separate; Barnabas took John Mark with him, while Silas joined Paul. Paul and Silas initially visited Tarsus (Paul's birthplace), Derbe and Lystra. In Lystra, they met a disciple named Timothy, who was well-spoken of by the Christians who were at Lystra and Iconium, and decided to take him with them. Meanwhile, the number of believers kept growing daily (Acts 16:5).

In Philippi, they met a woman named Lydia, a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God and welcomed them in her house, and then Paul cast a spirit of divination out of a slave girl. Her masters were upset about the loss of income her soothsaying provided (Acts 16:16-24), so they turned the city against the missionaries, and Paul and Silas were put in jail. After a miraculous earthquake, the gates of the prison fell apart and Paul and Silas could have escaped but remained; this event led to the conversion of the jailor (Acts 16:25-40). They continued traveling, going by Berea and then to Athens where Paul preached to the Jews and to the believing Greeks in the synagogue and to the Greek intellectuals and philosophers in the Areopagus/Mars' Hill. Around 50-52 AD, Paul spent a year and a half in Corinth. In Corinth, Paul met Priscilla and Aquila who became believers and helped Paul through his other missionary journeys. The couple followed Paul and his companions to Ephesus, and stayed there to start a Church. In 52 AD, Paul and Silas sailed to Caesarea to greet the Church there and then traveled north to Antioch where they stayed for about a year before leaving again on their third missionary journey. The Paul's Second Missionary Journey Map outlines his Second Evangelical Mission itinerary.

PAUL'S THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY MAP Paul began his Third Missionary Journey by traveling all around the region of Galatia and Phrygia to strengthen, teach and rebuke the Christian believers. Paul then traveled to Ephesus and stayed there for nearly three years. In Ephesus he performed miracles, healed people and cast out demons by the power of God, he preached and taught the Gospel of Christ (Acts 19:11-12). Even sorcerers turned from their evil practices and repented upon witnessing the power of God (Acts 19:17-20). Paul eventually found himself in grave danger from worshipers of the pagan goddess Artemis (also known as "Diana of the Ephesians"), and those who were in the business of supplying them (Acts 19:24-27). Paul left the city after an attack from a local silversmith resulted in a proArtemis riot in which most of the city was involved. (Acts 19:28-41). Paul went through Macedonia into Achaea and while awaiting to sail for Syria, he discovered another plot against him, so he instead returned through Macedonia (Acts 20:3). Paul and his companions visited other cities on their way back to Jerusalem such as Philippi, Troas, Miletus, Rhodes, and Tyre. At Miletus the church elders from Ephesus came up to meet with him for the last time (Acts 20:17-38). Paul finished his trip with a stop in Caesarea where he and his companions stayed with Philip the Evangelist before finally arriving at Jerusalem (Acts 21:8-10 - 21:15). The Paul's Third Missionary Journey Map outlines his Third Evangelical Mission itinerary.

PAUL'S JOURNEY TO ROME MAP The circumstances of Paul's Voyage to Rome were far different than for his earlier travels. Before, he was a free man; this time, he was a prisoner of the Romans (Acts 21:27-26:32). The Journey to Rome began in early fall of about 60 AD and ended the following spring of about 61 AD after a shipwreck near Malta. The entire voyage is recorded in Acts chapters 27 and 28. After Paul's arrival in Jerusalem at the end of his Third Missionary Journey, he became involved in a serious conflict with some "Asian Jews". The conflict eventually led to Paul's arrest by the Romans and imprisonment in Caesarea for two years. Finally, Paul sailed for Rome where Paul was to stand trial for his alleged crimes. Acts states that Paul preached in Rome for two years while awaiting trial. The Paul's Voyage to Rome Map outlines his Final Journey....