6. Emphasis on prayer: The Greek words for prayer are used in the Gospel of Luke twenty-one times, as compared to Matthew’s nineteen, Mark’s twelve, and John’s zero times. This emphasis continues in Acts, where it appears twenty-five times. It appears that Luke observed the importance of prayer in the examples of Jesus and Paul wanted to impact his readers with the significance of this spiritual discipline in their lives.
7. Apostolic cross-centered preaching produces exponential growth: This emphasis is seen in passages such as Acts 2:23–37 (Peter at Pentecost); 3:13–15 (Peter in the temple); 4:10 (Peter before the Sanhedrin); 5:30–31 (the twelve before the Sanhedrin); 7:52 (Stephen before the Sanhedrin); 8:5 (Philip in Samaria); 8:32–35 (Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch); 10:39–40 (Peter to Cornelius); 13:26–31 (Paul at Pisidian Antioch); 17:2–3, 18 (Paul at Thessalonica); 17:30–32 (Paul at Athens); 25:19 (Paul before Festus); 26:22–23 (Paul before Festus and Agrippa); and 28:20, 23 (Paul before the Jewish leaders in Rome). In other words, whether in speech or in sermon, or whomever is speaking, the gospel proclaimed is the same: forgiveness of sins has been made possible by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (Horton 2001, 21).