Every year, I have the tremendous privilege of recording a new season for PTM’s 5-Minute Bible Studies series. I study a book of Scripture, outline it, and divide the teaching into 52 five-minute videos. Then, each week, we walk through a portion of that book together, discovering and reminding ourselves how the transforming power of Scripture connects to our everyday lives, right here, right now.

I am excited, sad, and relieved (all simultaneously) to announce that we have just completed the final recording for our latest season on the Book of Acts! The first 9 episodes are available now, and we will continue to post a new one every Monday for the next year.

So why did we choose Acts? Last year, we studied the first half of Exodus, and the book of Acts is essentially the New Testament equivalent to Exodus. In Exodus, we see the beginning of the nation of Israel, by means of the Passover, with the shedding of blood that freed Israel from slavery in Egypt. Similarly, in Acts, we see the beginning of the church, which is the result of another Passover lamb, Jesus, and the shedding of his blood. Both books are stories of transitional historical beginnings.

But then, what else is there to say about choosing the book of Acts, other than it is just ridiculously exciting! Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are full of the excitement of the arrival of Jesus, and in Acts, we begin to see the exciting global results after his departure. The gospel explodes from Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria, and across the known world to Rome.

But Acts is much more than just a historical account. There are so many relevant reminders which comfort, convict, equip, and encourage us in our life of faith, right here, right now. Here are just a few:

1. Sermons are important.

A third of the content of Acts is sermons; you could title the book of Acts, “Preach the Gospel!” We should pay close attention to the apostles’ first sermons, because they are foundational models of how the gospel is to be proclaimed and explained. This is vital to understand as we participate in the work of evangelism.

But equally, we must remember to preach the gospel to ourselves. You are the most influential preacher in your life, because no one preaches the gospel more to you than you do. These early gospel-centered sermons in Acts should still be shaping how we think about other people, the world we live in, and, most importantly, who Jesus is and what he has provided for us.

Even though the book of Acts is filled with outward-facing, publicly proclaimed sermons, it reminds us that no one is more influential in your life than you are, because no one preaches to you more than you do. We never stop preaching sermons to ourselves. We are in a constant conversation with ourselves about God, others, ourselves, meaning and purpose, identity, and such.

The sermons you preach to yourself about you, God, and life are profoundly important because they form and shape the way you then respond to the things that God has put on your plate. You see, you are always preaching some worldview to yourself, some kind of “gospel,” if you will. The question is, in your private moment-by-moment sermons, what gospel are you preaching to you?

2. God uses unlikely messengers.

This is a constant throughout all of Scripture. The Bible is not a collection of stories of human heroes. No, the Bible is the story of a hero Redeemer who transforms weak and ordinary people by his powerful grace. But perhaps this is nowhere more evident than in the book of Acts.

In Acts, we see the rise of the ministries of Peter and Paul. Peter was so fearful that he denied that he knew Jesus, but he became the man who stood before the Sanhedrin and essentially said, “You can threaten to kill me, but I will not stop preaching the gospel” (see Acts 4:19-20). Then there was Paul, the least likely of the apostles. He had murderous hatred for the followers of Jesus, yet by grace he became the most eloquent spokesman of the gospel.

Whenever I read of Peter and Paul and the second opportunities they are given, I am confronted with the fact that God is infinitely more patient than I am. If it had been up to me, Peter would never have gotten a second chance, and Paul would not have gotten his first opportunity.

This should comfort us all, because none of us is able to follow his call independently. But this is the radical hope of this gospel of grace. No one measures up, but Jesus fully measured up to God’s holy standard, because God knew we never would.

3. Divine empowerment is needed and provided.

The reason we are all unlikely messengers is that we are wholly unqualified, in and of ourselves. We are incapable of doing the work of gospel proclamation without the grace of the gospel. And in Acts, we see the gift of the Spirit poured out on Jesus’ disciples.

Literally everything that happens in Acts is a direct fulfillment of these four transformational words: “You will receive power” (Acts 1:8). In this moment, we see the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus that he would be with his disciples always (Matthew 28:20).

But this is not just a promise for the early church apostles. It’s for you and me today. Wherever you are and to whatever God has called you, God never calls you to a task without giving you what you need to do it. He never sends you without going with you.

4. The church of Christ will not be stopped.

Enemies, persecution, or opposition will not thwart the ministry and mission of Jesus’ disciples. In fact, opposition is actually God’s tool for strengthening and propelling his church! As we read Acts, we are reassured that nothing will stop the march of God’s grace through the means of his church. The church is God’s mighty and unstoppable tool of change.

Acts is exciting because we see the disciples of Jesus obeying his commission to take the gospel to the nations. This is the mission of the church. And its message is Jesus Christ: crucified, risen, and ascended. The hope of the church is not institutional; it is personal, and it has a name: Jesus.

From around the globe we have now been gathered into the church, so its message and mission are ours, whether that involves carrying it to our children, our spouses, our neighbors, our fellow workers, our friends, or the nations of the world. Christ is our message because Christ, and Christ alone, is our hope.

The Ascension of Christ

We see each of these themes immediately within the first few verses of Acts. Let’s examine Acts 1:6-11, which records a vitally important piece of early church history:

“So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (ESV)

Jesus had assembled his disciples on the Mount of Olives; this was his final moment on earth, and he delivered a parting sermon. There is conviction, comfort, and a call in this sermon.

The question his disciples ask in response shows that they didn’t understand Jesus’s mission or their part in it! (They are still looking for Jesus to establish a physical kingdom on earth.) Jesus’ followers were neither qualified nor ready to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, but our Savior uses the most unlikely messengers.

Jesus, graciously, doesn’t answer their question. They wouldn’t have understood or been able to bear that burden. Instead, he uses it as an opportunity to tell them of the power they will receive for the work he has chosen them to do.

Then, when Jesus finishes speaking, the most amazing thing happens. A cloud of glory envelopes him, takes him out of the disciples’ sight, and lifts him to heaven.

This is much more than just a historical account. Everything recorded in Acts has relevance for us today. And here’s why this opening scene in the book is important.

You serve a risen Savior who is also an ascended and reigning King. Now sitting at the right hand of the Father, Jesus has managerial rule over God’s kingdom. He rules over all things, right now, not only for the sake of his Father’s glory but also on behalf of each of his redeemed people.

Jesus’s righteous reign is a present redemptive reality. His reign guarantees the delivery of everything for which he lived and died. His reign guarantees that nothing will impede God’s plan for his children. Jesus’s reign guarantees the final defeat of the enemy and the ushering in of his final kingdom of peace and righteousness.

As his child today, his reign is your hope. The book of Acts is a reminder to take heart, because he is reigning and has a plan that cannot be thwarted.

Do you need this encouragement in your life of faith today, as you are called to be a disciple of Christ, participate in the work of his church, and proclaim the gospel to the world? If so, then I encourage you to study Acts with me in PTM’s 5-Minute Bible Studies.

Every Monday, a new episode will be posted at PaulTripp.com/Acts, on our YouTube channel, or on our podcast network.

May God bless you, as you preach the gospel to yourself, to the church, to the world, the result of God’s grace as you study and connect the transforming power of Scripture to your everyday life, right here, right now.