The "Book of Acts" is the second book written by Luke, the first one being the Book of Luke, the third book of the Gospel. One of Luke's main reason for writing was to show that nothing could keep the Christian message from spreading everywhere.
"Acts" is the fifth book of the New Testament. It has 28 chapters. The "good news" or message implies all about Jesus - from his coming to earth, his teachings & the miracles, his death and resurrection, to his ascencion. In a nutshell the Book of Acts includes the following: The spreading of the "good news" in Jerusalem ; The "good news" in Judea and Samaria; The first journey of Paul to tell the "good news"; An important decision in Jerusalem; The second journey of Paul to tell the "good news"; The third journey of Paul to tell the "good news"; Paul is arrested in Jerusalem; Paul is taken to Caesarea; and Paul is taken to Rome.
Luke continues the story about Jesus by describing the struggles the disciples faced and experience as the tried to obey the command of Jesus by spreading the "good news." Before Jesus ascended to heaven he comanded his disciples to tell everyone about him in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and everywhere.
The man who did most in spreading the faith was a man named Paul, originally named Saul before his conversion to Christianity. Much of the book tells about Paul's preaching the "good news" among the Gentiles in many places including Malta and then Rome, at that time the world's most important city.
Many different countries are mentioned in the Book of Acts. After Jesus ascended into heaven, one of the big problems for his followers was deciding who could belong to God's people. Since Jesus and his first followers were Jews, it was natural for his disciples to assume that his message was only for the Jews. But in the Book of Acts, the Holy Spirit is always present to show that Jesus came to save both the Jews and the Gentiles, and that God wants followers from everywhere – every nation and race to be part of his people.
The first conflict between the Jews and the Christians brewed when some of the Jewish religious leaders rejected the "good news" or message about Jesus. An even more serious problems for the early church happened because the disciples at first failed to understand that anyone could become a followers of Jesus, not just the Jews. The climate of ministry began to change when Philip dared to take the message to the Samaritans who are non-Jews, and then Peter also went to the home of Cornelius, a captain in the Roman army.
In the end, after Peter's report to the church in Jerusalem and discussions among them about the issue of who could become followers of Jesus Christ, everyone agreed that the Spirit of God is leading them to reach out the "good news" of Jesus not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles.