What This Workbook Covers
The Launch of the Church is the study workbook at the heart of Resource Cluster 1. It walks through one of the most important and most misunderstood moments in Scripture: how the risen and exalted Christ poured out the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and launched the church into its mission to the world.
Rather than treating Pentecost as an isolated event, the workbook shows the unfolding sequence — promise, preparation, outpouring, and expansion — so that readers see the church not as an accident of history but as the deliberate work of Christ.
What You Will Study
Each lesson pairs careful reading of Scripture with clear explanation and questions for reflection or group discussion. Core themes include:
- Why the church had to wait. Why Jesus told the disciples to wait for the Spirit rather than begin immediately — explored in Why the Church Had to Wait.
- John 20 and Acts 2. How the risen Christ's breathing on the disciples and the public outpouring at Pentecost fit together as two connected moments — see John 20 and Pentecost.
- What actually happened at Pentecost. Wind, fire, tongues, and the launch of the church's witness — see What Happened at Pentecost?.
- Peter and the keys of the kingdom. How the gospel was progressively opened to Jerusalem, Samaria, and the Gentiles — see Peter, Pentecost, and the Keys.
- Tongues at Pentecost. Understanding the sign of tongues in Acts and how it differs from 1 Corinthians — see Tongues at Pentecost.
- Did the church begin in Matthew, John, or Acts? Locating the true beginning of the church — see Did the Church Begin in Matthew, John, or Acts?
- The church was not yet mature. Why Pentecost was the launch, not the finished form, of the church — see The Church at Pentecost Was Not Yet Mature.
Who It Is For
The workbook is written to serve several kinds of readers at once. Pastors and teachers can use it as the doctrinal foundation for a teaching series. Small groups and Sunday school classes can work through it week by week. Individuals can use it for careful personal study. It assumes no prior training — only a willingness to read Scripture closely — and every specialized term links to a plain, biblical definition in the glossary.
How to Use It With the Rest of RC1
The workbook is the spine of Resource Cluster 1, and it is designed to be used alongside the cluster's other resources:
- Use the articles to go deeper on any question the workbook raises.
- Use the leader sheets as a session-by-session teaching roadmap.
- Use the printable handouts for classroom reinforcement.
- Use the visual theology plates as teaching aids.
- Keep the glossary open for clear definitions of every key term.