How the Church Started

Your Chapter in a Story That's Been Going for 2,000 Years

What if the Book of Acts isn't just ancient history? What if it's an invitation to write your own chapter?

John Harding opened this Crowd Church series with an overview of the Book of Acts - sometimes called the Acts of the Apostles. Rather than treating it as a dusty historical record, John presented Acts as a model for what normal Christian life should look like. The same invitation extended to those first disciples is extended to us: to continue the advancement of the kingdom of God through to the ends of the earth.

Part Two of an Unfinished Story

Acts was written by Luke, the same person who wrote the Gospel of Luke. John explained how these two books fit together:

"If the four gospels recorded the life and work of Jesus, then Acts is recording the life and work of Jesus, continued through the church by the power of the Holy Spirit."

The Gospels end with Jesus ascending into heaven and the disciples beginning a wait - waiting for the Holy Spirit. They'd been commissioned to preach the gospel, make disciples, and be witnesses. First in Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, then finally to the ends of the earth.

But they couldn't do any of that on their own. They needed the power of the promised Holy Spirit to equip and empower them to replicate and imitate the words, works, and wonders of Jesus.

A Whirlwind Tour

John walked through the entire Book of Acts as one single story. Here's how it unfolds:

It begins with the disciples huddled together, waiting for the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. Chapter two - Pentecost. Fifty days after Jesus' death, the church is born. The Spirit takes those frightened disciples out of hiding and transforms them into powerful public witnesses. Peter preaches on the streets. Three thousand respond. The earliest church is born.

Chapter three onwards - Peter and John heal a crippled beggar in Jesus' name. They're continuing the works of Jesus, but as with Jesus, this gets them into trouble with the religious authorities.

Through the early chapters, we see how the earliest church existed together: how they prayed together, sold their possessions, cared for the poor and needy. More miracles bring more persecution. The whole thing is growing. They're sort of making it up as they go along, creating leadership structures to multiply their kingdom work.

Chapter seven - Stephen is arrested and stands trial. He connects his own story with the whole sweep of biblical history from Abraham to Moses. The religious leaders have Stephen killed. He becomes the first martyr.

Chapter eight marks a pivot point. Great persecution scatters Christians from Jerusalem. Now, Jesus had commanded them to go and take the gospel from Jerusalem into Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. But they'd got stuck in Jerusalem. The persecution scatters them - and that only serves to advance the church into new territories.

From chapter nine, the gospel starts spreading into non-Jewish areas. Saul, a highly educated and highly religious Jew whose job was to chase after and kill Christians, encounters Jesus on the road to Damascus. His life is transformed. His name changes to Paul.

From chapter thirteen onwards, it's Paul travelling around preaching the gospel, planting churches in Cyprus, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe - from Israel through to Turkey, Syria, Greece. Along the way there are miracles, healings, incredible success. But also conflicts - both internal (how should Jewish and non-Jewish followers of Jesus integrate?) and external (chapter sixteen, Paul is beaten and ends up in prison).

As Paul starts new churches in new places, he later writes letters to those churches. That's what the epistles are. When you read Ephesians or Corinthians, John noted, it's worth going back into Acts and looking at the history of that church.

The book ends with Paul under house arrest in Rome, awaiting trial - using that time to write letters to the churches. Those are what we call the prison epistles: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon.

More Than a History Book

Luke records this history covering around thirty years - from Jesus' death to just before the temple destruction in 70 AD. John explained one theory about why Luke wrote both his Gospel and Acts:

"We think that his motivation and purpose in writing both a gospel and then the Book of Acts was to create a legal defense for Paul awaiting trial in Rome."

The Romans defined which religions were legal and which were illegal. Judaism was legal. The Jewish authorities wanted to show that Christianity was new and distinct from Judaism - therefore illegal. Acts demonstrates how Christianity is rooted in Judaism and should be considered a legal religion.

That's why there are so many speeches in the book - about a quarter of Acts is speeches. And there are lots of verifiable historical details, like Gallio as proconsul of Achaia in 52 AD, and Felix in 58 AD.

But John's main point was this:

"Acts is far more than a history book. The purpose of Acts is to model to us what normal Christian life should look like."

He continued:

"In the same way the apostles in Acts were invited to imitate and replicate the words and the works and the wonders of Jesus through the power of the spirit. We too are invited into that story. To continue the advancement of the kingdom of God through to the ends of the earth. It's our story."

Themes to Watch For

John highlighted several threads that run through Acts - things to look out for and learn from as the series continues.

Our need for the Holy Spirit

The first disciples were baptised with the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter two. The Holy Spirit - who is God - empowered them for mission, for witness, and gifted them in supernatural ways. Throughout Acts, as new churches were established, new believers also experienced that same baptism in the Spirit. They were invited into that experience, into that story.

"That is very much the history of the church over the past 2000 years. The church continues to grow, it continues to expand throughout the world as people continue to experience the power of the spirit at work in their lives."

How to be church

What does the church look like? What does it do? John highlighted some key features from Acts:

They were a church without buildings. They met in smaller groups in homes - to worship together, break bread together, eat meals together, pray together, listen to the apostles' teaching. Sometimes they gathered in larger public spaces like the temple courts or a lecture hall.

There's something incredibly innovative about the church in Acts as it grows and responds and adapts and expands.

Interestingly, they were not trying to build church. John quoted Jesus: "I will build my church." So what we see in Acts is that they were being witnesses. They were sharing the gospel. They were inviting people into relationship with Jesus.

"Witness and discipleship - they were making disciples. That was their job. They were forming those converts into disciples. People who increasingly lived like Jesus."

John shared a phrase from a friend: "As we make disciples, Jesus builds his church."

Building the Kingdom

They were building something bigger than church. They were building the kingdom of God - ushering in the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of light, to earth.

John saw this happening in two main ways throughout Acts:

"Throughout Acts, number one, they were radically caring for the poor. They were meeting the needs of the poor. And number two, they were breaking down racial ethnic barriers to form one new integrated family and body."

He applied this directly:

"It seems to me that if ever there was a time for the church to really be the church and to build the kingdom and to step up and to care for those in need - to step up and prioritise being this relationally, radically integrated, ethnically diverse body."

Your Chapter

The Book of Acts ends in chapter twenty-eight with Paul in Rome. But John made clear that's not really the end:

"Each and every generation is invited into that story to write its own chapter. To play our part in seeing the gospel of Jesus advancing from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria to the ends of the earth. As we make disciples, as we experience the power of the spirit, as we advance the kingdom by meeting the needs of those who are poor, and as we work to build a racially, ethnically integrated family, of which Christ is the head."

Conversation Street

"What stood out to you from John's overview?"

Sharon was struck by the historical grounding of Acts. "The Bible is talking to every aspect of life and is rooted in reality, not in just fairy stories." She'd looked up the figures John mentioned - Gallio and Felix - and found external historical sources confirming their existence. Roman historian Tacitus wrote about Felix. The Delphi inscriptions mention Gallio in a letter from Emperor Claudius.

Matt was intrigued by the theory that Acts was written as a legal defence for Paul. "I had not heard that before."

"What about community and purpose?"

Miriam wrote in the comments that John's talk spoke to her about "finding comfort in having a purpose and to have a community spirit in my church."

Sharon picked up on this: "God actually gives us a purpose. We are designed for a purpose. And that's something that's bigger than ourselves. So many people today are purposeless or there's this feeling that you have to create your own purpose. In some ways that can be quite nice, but in other ways it's a very big burden. But to know that you've been actually created for something and that God's gonna help you to do that - you're not just left floundering on your own."

Matt noted how community consistently shows up in research about what draws people to church: "One of the things that consistently shows up is the sense of church community. That ability of people to gather around each other. They're not perfect people. They are gonna screw up. But fundamentally, the heart of this community of people has always been quite astounding."

"The early church wasn't trying to build church?"

Matt found this significant - how the early church just met in homes, broke bread together, prayed together, did life together. "It wasn't a building with walls, it was just a relationship with a whole group of people. It was a community aspect of it. And that's what really captured people."

Sharon added: "In the book of Luke, it's about what Jesus did when he was here in his physical body. But then Acts is about what Jesus still did, but through his body, which is now made up of all the people who follow him. We're not just meant to be on our own, doing our own thing. Each person's got a part to play."

"What does 'making disciples' mean?"

Sharon explained that Jesus had followers who were learning from his words and actions. "We are disciples of Jesus. We are learning from his words that we read in the Bible. We learn from the Holy Spirit who has been sent to us. And the idea is that then we train other people to do the same."

Matt connected this to familiar concepts: "In the business world, we use phrases like coaching or mentoring. It's the same sort of thing. That's all discipleship is - you have done this, can you tell me how you did it? Can I learn from you so I don't have to spend years making all the mistakes you've made?"

The difference, they noted, is depth. Christian discipleship involves vulnerability and trust in ways that professional mentoring often doesn't. "If you want to grow, there's something you're gonna have to get your head around - vulnerability."

"What about persecution?"

This theme threads through Acts - when good things start happening, persecution follows. Sharon acknowledged: "I can't say I'm a big fan of that." But she noted how persecution actually spread the message around the world. "Christians who are persecuted in modern day, in many different countries around the world - the Holy Spirit is drawing really close to them. On the inside there's this strength and this power that comes from the Holy Spirit to deal with those situations."

Your Next Step This Week

Here are practical ways to respond to John's overview:

1. See yourself in the story - Acts isn't just ancient history. You're invited to write your own chapter. What might that look like for you?

2. Prioritise community - The early church did life together. Is there a way you could deepen your connections with other Christians this week?

3. Think about discipleship - Who has helped you grow in faith? Is there someone you could help in the same way?

4. Notice needs around you - The early church was radically caring for the poor. What needs exist in your community?

5. Ask for the Holy Spirit - The disciples couldn't do any of it without the Spirit's power. Neither can we. Ask for that empowering.

An Invitation That Still Stands

John left us with a vision that spans two thousand years and counting. The same Spirit that transformed frightened disciples into powerful witnesses is still at work. The same invitation to participate in God's kingdom is still open.

As John put it: "Each and every generation is invited into that story to write its own chapter."

The Book of Acts didn't end in chapter twenty-eight. It's still being written.

What will your chapter look like?