05-03 18:48:55.478 2924-2924/com.example.farias.cores E/AndroidRuntime: FATAL EXCEPTION: main
                                                                        Process: com.example.farias.cores, PID: 2924
                                                                        java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{com.example.farias.cores/com.example.farias.cores.MainActivity}: java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke virtual method 'void android.app.ActionBar.setTitle(java.lang.CharSequence)' on a null object reference
                                                                            at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2416)
                                                                            at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2476)
                                                                            at android.app.ActivityThread.-wrap11(ActivityThread.java)
                                                                            at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1344)
                                                                            at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:102)
                                                                            at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:148)
                                                                            at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5417)
                                                                            at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
                                                                            at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:726)
                                                                            at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:616)
                                                                         Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke virtual method 'void android.app.ActionBar.setTitle(java.lang.CharSequence)' on a null object reference
                                                                            at com.example.farias.cores.MainActivity.onCreate(MainActivity.java:21)
                                                                            at android.app.Activity.performCreate(Activity.java:6237)
                                                                            at android.app.Instrumentation.callActivityOnCreate(Instrumentation.java:1107)
                                                                            at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2369)
                                                                            at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2476) 
                                                                            at android.app.ActivityThread.-wrap11(ActivityThread.java) 
                                                                            at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1344) 
                                                                            at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:102) 
                                                                            at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:148) 
                                                                            at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5417) 
                                                                            at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method) 
                                                                            at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:726) 
                                                                            at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:616) 
Alguém aqui sabe o motivo do erro ?
Código fonte completo:
MainActivity.class ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
package com.example.farias.cores;
import android.app.ActionBar;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.support.v7.app.AlertDialog;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.widget.SearchView;
import android.widget.TextView;
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        TextView texto = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.texto);
        texto.setTextAppearance(this, R.style.estilo);
    }
    @Override
        public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu (Menu menu) {
            // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
            getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_main, menu);
            MenuItem item = menu.findItem(R.id.search);
            SearchView sc = (SearchView) item.getActionView();
            sc.setOnQueryTextListener(onSearch());
            return true;
        }
    private SearchView.OnQueryTextListener onSearch() {
        return new SearchView.OnQueryTextListener(){
            @Override
            public boolean onQueryTextSubmit(String s) {
                AlertDialog.Builder al = new AlertDialog.Builder(getBaseContext());
                al.setTitle("Pesquisar");
                al.setMessage("Você digitou: " + s);
                al.show();
                return false;
            }
            @Override
            public boolean onQueryTextChange(String s) {
                return false;
            }
        };
    }
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
            int id = item.getItemId();
            //noinspection SimplifiableIfStatement
            if (id == R.id.search) {
                return true;
            }
            return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
        }
    }
activity_main.xml--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    tools:context="com.example.farias.cores.MainActivity">
    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Hello World!"
        style="@style/estilo"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
        android:layout_marginTop="135dp"
        android:id="@+id/texto" />
</RelativeLayout>
AndroidManifest.xml------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.example.farias.cores">
    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme">
        <activity android:name=".MainActivity"
            android:label="Pesquisar"
            android:theme="@style/AppTheme"
            android:value="splitActionBarWhenNarrow"
            >
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>
</manifest>
menu_main.xml---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    tools:context="com.example.farias.myapplication.MainActivity">
    <item
        android:id="@+id/search"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_search_black_24dp"
        android:title="Configurações"
        app:showAsAction="always"
        android:actionViewClass="android.widget.SearchView"
        />
</menu>
css.xml-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <style name="estilo">
        <item name="android:textSize">34sp</item>
        <item name="android:textColor">#3F51B5</item>
        <item name="android:textStyle">italic</item>
    </style>
</resources>
styles.xml-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<resources>
    <!-- Base application theme. -->
    <style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
        <!-- Customize your theme here. -->
        <item name="colorPrimary">@color/colorPrimary</item>
        <item name="colorPrimaryDark">@color/colorPrimaryDark</item>
        <item name="colorAccent">@color/colorAccent</item>
    </style>
</resources>
Lembrando que eu criei uma activity vazia e implementei o menu manualmente. Que puder me ajudar fico muito grato 