The primary theme of the four Gospels and the book of Acts declare that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. This theme lays a foundation within Luke-Acts upon which the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is built. The secondary theme of the book of Acts is the testimony of the apostles under the anointing of the Holy Spirit to take the Gospel to the nations. The secondary theme reveals through these eyewitnesses that Jesus, the Saviour of the world, must be preached to all nations. This secondary theme serves as the framework of this Gospel. Thus, the book of Acts can be outlined based upon the way the Gospel of Jesus began to be preached, first at Jerusalem, then Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. The third theme found within Luke is a supporting theme that calls us to take up our cross and follow Him, and all those who follow Him will suffer persecution as their Saviour suffered; for this is the message of the Cross, which gives muscle, or power, to the proclamation of Jesus Christ. A third theme that Luke weaves within his Gospel and the book of Acts is a responsive, or imperative theme calling its readers to follow Jesus Christ, although they will suffer persecution as their Saviour suffered on the Cross. In Luke-Acts the crucified life is seen in our obedience to Jesus’ final commission to become witnesses of Him beginning where we are at unto the uttermost parts of the earth; for the plan of fulfilling this final command of Jesus Christ is laid out in Luke-Acts. This work best reflects the office and ministry of the apostle and prophet in the five-fold ministry; for this message of the Cross is what gives muscle, or power, to the proclamation of Jesus Christ. The book of Acts reveals how we serve the Lord by fulfilling the office and ministry of the apostle, which is one of the five-fold offices of the New Testament Church. The Importance of the Message of the Book of Acts in Church History - The book of Acts is one of the most amazing records of mankind ever written. One commentator describes it as the incredible story of how God used such unlikely people to overcome such enormous obstacles using such simple means to achieve such astounding results. The impact of the early Church shook the known world of its time. J. B. Phillips says that in no comparable period of human history has “any small body of ordinary people so moved the world that their enemies could say, with tears of rage in their eyes, that these men ‘have turned the world upside down!’” This book serves as a master plan for any ministry to follow in achieving world evangelism. It also serves as a bridge between the testimonies of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ found in the Gospels and the ministry of the Holy Spirit of sanctification for the believer found in the Epistles. It is priceless in the fact that it is the only record that we have of the birth and beginning of the early Church in Jerusalem during its first thirty years. This record provides us the historical context in which the New Testament epistles were written. The book of Acts also helps us to understand how the message of salvation made its transition from a Jewish culture into a universal message for all of mankind. We know from the testimony of Peter in Acts that this transition did not come easy. As a result of the Gospel being made available to all people, it provides us with the divine pattern of church order and growth and ministry that all people are to follow if we want God to work in our midst as we share the Gospel to a lost and dying world. Why did God choose to record the missionary efforts of Paul the apostle to a greater degree than that of the other apostles of Jesus Christ, for they also went out and performed mighty signs and wonders in His name? Early church history tells us that they went to Alexandria and as far as India. Perhaps it is because Paul’s life was the most faithful testimony of the grace of God and of the endurance and commitment to fulfill the Great Commission; or, perhaps because Western Civilization was built upon Christianity from the region that Paul ministered, whose faith and work laid the foundation for the Christian faith of this great civilization upon which we live today. Although the work of other apostles seems to find itself in the ancient past, Paul’s efforts forever changed the face of Europe, which eventually embraced Christianity and carried the Gospel into our modern world. The development of Europe based upon Judeo-Christian beliefs became the foundation of what is called today “Western Civilization.” This civilization has forever changed the face of societies around the world.