Acts

The Book of Acts

John O’Dell was an instructor of Biblical Greek at Chafer Theological Seminary (CTS) in Orange, CA. He has a B.A. in Religious Studies from CSULB and an M.B.S. in Biblical Studies from CTS.

Besides teaching languages at the seminary level, John has been involved with adult Christian education at various local churches for over 25 years. He currently teaches an adult Sunday school class at the Evangelical Free Church in Huntington Beach where he is a member. John and his family reside in Fountain Valley, California.

The book of Acts emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit. The book begins with Jesus' promised gift of the Holy Spirit, which is fulfilled in reference to the Jews, Samaritans and then for the Gentiles. Luke succeeds in showing that Jesus was a world Messiah and not just another prophet. The message of Jesus was not limited to Israel but extended to the Gentiles as well. The growth of the church, as recorded in the book of Acts, shows how God's divine plan moved from Jesus' redemptive work on the cross, which reconciled Jews and Gentiles together into one body, outward from Jerusalem into the whole world.

We will look at how a small group of Jewish believers in First Century Jerusalem has grown into a church that 2.1 billion people worldwide claim as their faith. Following Peter's sermon at Pentecost, the disciples faced persecution from both Jews and Gentiles as they took the message of the Gospel into the world. They also ran into theological heresies that challenged the truth of the Biblical message of God's revelation. The class will trace how the growth of the church, its rituals, beliefs, and practices took place after the book of Acts and the death of the original Apostles. We will look at the great doctrinal controversies, the men and women who have played major roles in church history and how our modern Christian denominations began.

Recommended text book is: The Story of Christianity (one-volume edition) by Justo L. Gonzalez, and Chronological and Background Charts of Church History by Robert C. Walton, available on Christianbook.com and Amazon.com.

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