Acts

“Having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, Jesus has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.” Luke carefully recorded Peter’s first sermon after Jesus ascended to heaven. There, before everyone’s eyes, was the outpouring of the blessings of the New Covenant! Jesus had completed his mission on earth, and now his people would take this good news to the whole world.

In the previous study of Luke’s Gospel, students learned that the physician Luke carefully researched and wrote his book so Theophilus would have certainty about the things he’d been taught. Your teens are at the age where they are forming their own opinions about the things they have been taught. Over 13 lessons, they will see how Jesus continued his ministry through his people, the Church. They will trace the New Covenant realities through the stories of the early church, and see that God’s Word is powerful and unstoppable despite persecution—and perhaps because of it.

In the four Old Testament studies of G2R God’s Promises, students traced the unfolding of God’s amazing promises from Genesis through Malachi. They learned that when Adam and Eve hid in shame that God promised a Savior who would defeat Satan and sin, restoring his people to himself. They saw how God made covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David, revealing more of his redemptive plan. They learned how terribly God’s people failed to keep the covenant. And they grasped God’s mercy and patience.

Now we come to this action-packed book of the New Covenant. God is keeping his promises to bless the nations! Even if your students are familiar with Acts, studying it in light of the fulfillment of covenant promises will be new to them.

Here’s a glance at the 13 sessions:

• Sessions 1–6: The continuing ministry of Jesus (Acts 1–7) — Jesus ascended to heaven and poured out the Holy Spirit on his Church
• Sessions 7–9: Scattered by persecution, the gospel spreads (Acts 8–17) — The apostles took the good news beyond Jerusalem; Jesus transformed Saul from a Christ hater to a Christ lover
• Sessions 10–13: Paul defended the gospel (Acts 18–28) — Paul eagerly used every opportunity to tell about his living Savior; Luke showed how the New Covenant extends to all nations

Remember the purpose of this course: G2R God’s Promises traces the covenant story from Genesis to Revelation. This is a different focus than G2R Bible Survey, the foundational course for preteens and younger teens, an exciting journey through every book of the Bible:

• G2R Bible Survey focuses on the who, what, where, and when of God’s plan.
• G2R God’s Promises zeroes in on the why and how.