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Luke’s link to the former book suggests Acts is the continuation of all that Jesus began to do and to teach (v.1). The focus on the role of the Holy Spirit (vv.2, 5, 8) provides the means by which Jesus' ministry is continued in the life of the Christian community.
Even the presence and teaching of the risen Lord fail to move the disciples out of their old ideas about the kingdom of God (vv.3, 6). They still think in terms of the restoration of Israel. Jesus' response (vv.7-8) points them to the promise of the Spirit who will inaugurate a new order of being, a new kingdom, which will include not only Israel (Jerusalem, Judea) but also apostate “half Jews” (Samaria) and even Gentiles (the end of the earth). The disciples will experience the reality (power) of this new order of being when the Holy Spirit comes upon them and will manifest (witness to) this new life in the world.
The Ascension (1:9-11) is the next to last event in Jesus' incarnation. The final event is the gift of the Holy Spirit, which extends the Incarnation throughout ongoing history until the final consummation. Paul stresses this reality with the image of the church as the body of Christ.