The “ABCs” of Acts
When I was a student at Lipscomb University back in the mid 90s, Dr. Gerald Fulks, one of the Finance/Economics professors (and an Elder at Bellevue Church of Christ), taught a class every semester on personal evangelism. During that class, he made the argument that it was essential to have a good recollection of the main ideas of the book of Acts when attempting to teach someone God’s plan of salvation.
In keeping with this, Dr. Fulks presented the concept of the ABC Outline as a tool for remembering the key points of each chapter. It works by matching the sequence of the alphabet with the sequence of each chapter (i.e. Chapter 1 = A, Chapter 2 = B, and so on). For each chapter, we were encouraged to come up with a keyword that captures the main idea, and also begins with the designated letter.
This has been a powerful tool for me, and is something that I have shared with a number of classes through the years. I’ve always challenged my students to come up with their own keywords, and the following chart contains some of the best from these classes and from my original notes at Lipscomb. I hope this is something you can use, and please let me know if you have any good ideas for alternative keywords.
The Acts ABC Outline
Chapter – (Letter) Keywords
*Description
Chapter 1 – (A) Ascension
*Christ ascended to heaven
Chapter 2 – (B) Birth (of the church), Beginning, Baptized
*Beginning of the church at Pentecost
*3000 were baptized
Chapter 3 – (C) Cripple (cure)
*Peter and John heal the lame man at the gate
Chapter 4 – (D) Dungeon
*High Priest placed Peter and John in Prison
Chapter 5 – (E) Evil (enters the church)
*Annanias and Sapphira
Chapter 6 – (F) Feed the Families, False Witnesses, Face (of an angel)
*Feeding of the Grecian widows (7 deacons)
*False witnesses were called against Stephen
*Stephen’s face appeared as the face of an angel
Chapter 7 – (G) Glory of God
*Stephen saw the Glory of God (heaven)
Chapter 8 – (H) Havok, Holy Spirit, Humiliation, Hear
*Saul persecutes the church
*Holy Spirit comes to the Samaritans
*Simon is humiliated
*Eunuch hears the word of Jesus from Philip
Chapter 9 – (I) I AM, Instrument, Inauguration
*Saul’s conversion (Christ says “I am Jesus”)
*Saul was to be God’s instrument to the Gentiles
*Saul’s inauguration to apostleship
Chapter 10 – (J) Joppa (Journey to), Justice
*Conversion of Cornelius (Peter in Joppa)
*Justice to the Gentiles
Chapter 11 – (K) Kinsmen
*Peter defends his actions to his Jewish brothers
Chapter 12 – (L) Life – 1, Life – 2, Loosen
*Herod kills James the apostle
*Herod’s life is taken by the angel of the Lord
*Angel loosened the chains of Peter
Chapter 13 – (M) Missionary
*Paul’s first missionary journey
Chapter 14 – (N) New Organization
*Established elders
Chapter 15 – (O) Opposed – 1, Opposed – 2
*Opposing of false teachers (end of 1st MJ)
*Opposing of Barnabas (beg of 2nd MJ)
Chapter 16 – (P) Purple, Philippi
*Conversion of Lydia
*Conversion of Philippian jailer
Chapter 17 – (Q) Quest (for knowledge)
*Athens – Alter to unknown god
Chapter 18 – (R) Rome
*Aquilla and Pricilla chased out of Rome
Chapter 19 – (S) Silversmith
*Diana – goddess of the Ephesians
Chapter 20 – (T) Troas, Tragic
*Tarried 7 days to break bread with church
*Death of Eutucus – False teachers enter the church
Chapter 21 – (U) Uninformed
*Paul accused of bringing Gentile into the temple
Chapter 22 – (V) Victory
*Paul recounts his conversion
Chapter 23 – (W) Wisdom
*Conspiracy to kill Paul – foiled by commander
Chapter 24 – (X) FeliX
*Paul appears before Felix
Chapter 25 – (Y) Yield
*Paul would not Yield to be tried in Jerusalem, but instead appealed to Caesar.
Chapters 26-28 – (Z) Z-end of the book