acts 9-15 term 4 2020 - members · generous and prayerful. (see acts 10:22). although he was devout...

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Bible Study Guide

Term 4 2020

Bible Study Guide

Term 4 2020

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Study 1: Acts 9:32-43

Welcome back to the adventure story that is the book of Acts! In this section of

Acts (9:32-15:35) we will see the gospel message spread out to new places and

new audiences - with accompanying controversy.

Recap the story so far

1. Divide up the following key verses between your group. Look up the context

of each quote to work out who is speaking and what’s going on. Report back

to the group to recall some key moments in the story so far.

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Passage Who is speaking?

What is going on?

Acts 1:8: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”

NB this verse is an important summary of the whole of Acts!

Acts 2:7-8: “… how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?”

Acts 3:16: “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was

made strong…”

Acts 8:1: “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria”

Acts 9:4: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

Acts 9:31 “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a tie of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers”

Read Acts 9:32-35

2. Why did Peter go to Lydda? What do you think he wanted to achieve?

He seems to have been travelling around to visit and encourage Christians. Compare how he’d been sent to make contact with new believers in Samaria in 8.14. Not really a missionary project, and yet missional progress is made!

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3. Aeneas was presumably a believer and member of the church at Lydda.

What do you make of the fact that he had not been healed already?

It seems that healing was not a widespread thing but a particular privilege of the apostles such as Peter. Miraculous healing wasn’t an expectation of every Christian all the time.

4. How does Peter achieve this healing?

5. Why would Aeneas be told to “make your bed” (ESV) or “roll up your mat”

(NIV)?

Shows the permanence of this healing – this man used to spend all day in bed, but no more Maybe Peter or Luke are recalling Jesus’ dealing with the forgiven paralytic in Mark 2:9? But the Greek wording is actually not as similar as the NIV implies.

Read Acts 9:36-42

6. How does Peter achieve this healing?

7. What are we told about Tabitha/Dorcas? Why would Luke have bothered to

tell us both of her names?

Tabitha, is Aramaic, meaning “gazelle”. Dorcas is the Greek equivalent. Does Luke give the Aramaic version of the name to help us see a similarity with the incident where Jesus used a very similar Aramaic word in Mark 5, mentioned below?

8. Read Mark 5:37-43. Can you see some similarities? What do you make of

them?

The apostles, empowered by the Holy Spirit, are continuing Jesus’ work on earth while Jesus is now reigning in heaven. The in-breaking of God’s kingdom continues!

Consider the two episodes together

9. What’s the impact of each healing on the surrounding community?

10. How do we see Acts 1:8 being fulfilled here?

This healing, done by the “power from on high” (the name of Jesus), is a vehicle for Peter’s witness to the surrounding residents, who are led to put their faith in Jesus.

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Notes and Prayer Points

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Warmer question:

1. When have you felt separated from people because of cultural or racial

differences? How did that affect your communication with each other?

Acts 10 tells us about one of the great turning points in the history of the church.

Read Acts 10:1-8

2. What can you find out about the town of Caesarea, centurions and the

Italian Regiment? Locate Caesarea on a map. What might be a modern

equivalent of a centurion?

Caesarea was a Roman town on the coast north of Joppa and named after Augustus Caesar. It was the HQ for the Roman forces of occupation. A centurion commanded a military unit of about 100 men. The Roman Legion (about 6,000 men) was divided into ten regiments. This one was the “Italian”. A centurion commanded about a sixth of a regiment. Centurions were carefully selected and the ones mentioned in the New Testament appear to have had noble qualities (see Luke 7:1-10). The nearest equivalent in the Australian army would be a company sergeant major or senior warrant officer.

3. What are we told about Cornelius’ background?

He was a God fearer. The term is used of one who is not a full Jewish proselyte but who believed in one God and respected the moral and ethical teaching of the Jews. He was kind, generous and prayerful. (See Acts 10:22). Although he was devout Cornelius needed to hear the way of salvation from a human messenger.

4. How did God prepare Cornelius to meet Peter?

The angel spoke to him in a vision. Peter was staying close by at Joppa with Simon the tanner so he could send three of his men to him. Joppa is 38 miles from Jerusalem and the main seaport of Judea. Today it is known as Jaffa and is a suburb of Tel Aviv.

Read Acts 10:9-23

5. What Jewish cultural practices did Peter have to overcome to minister to

Cornelius? See Leviticus 11.

Jesus had already laid the groundwork for setting aside the laws of clean and unclean food (Matt 15:11). Peter invited the men to stay overnight as his guests so was taking the first step towards accepting gentiles.

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Read Acts 10:23b-48

6. How did Peter explain the gospel to Cornelius and his relatives and friends?

Write down the main points of what he said (verses 34-43).

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

7. What outward signs did the Lord give to show that Cornelius’ conversion

was genuine? (verses 44-48).

8. What new lessons did Peter learn from this? Why was his encounter with

Cornelius so significant for the early church?

It was the beginning of outreach to gentiles and was the continuation of the fulfilment of Jesus’ command in Acts 1:8.

Pray and ask the Lord to help us be more open and flexible to the changes he

desires to bring about in our lives, and to enable us to share the gospel with

people of other cultures when the opportunity arises.

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Notes & Prayer Points

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Warmer question

1. Have you ever been criticised for doing what you believed to be right? What

was that like for you?

In this chapter we see how the church is progressing from a Jewish church to a

Jewish-Gentile fellowship.

Read Acts 11:1-18

2. What was the reaction from the religious leaders in Jerusalem when they

heard that Cornelius and his household had come to believe in Jesus? Why

do you think they reacted like this? Explain their change of heart.

3. Peter says: “Who was I to think that I could oppose God” (11:17). What

signs of new life in Christ had Peter witnessed in Cornelius’ house? What

evidence of conversion should we see in the lives of new believers today?

See 2 Cor. 5:17.

Read Acts 11:19-26

Antioch, about 12000km north of Jerusalem, and now part of southern Turkey,

was the third largest urban centre of the Roman empire (after Rome and

Alexandria) with between 100,000 and 600,000 residents. Rome granted it the

status of a “free city” so that it mostly governed itself. It was known for its

cultural and religious diversity including a significant Jewish element. The

church in Antioch is very significant in the next few chapters of Acts.

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4. As a result of the persecution after the death of Stephen (Acts 7:59-60 and

8:1), the gospel is rapidly spreading to the Gentiles (sometimes called

Greeks). How did the main church in Jerusalem respond to this?

5. Barnabas has been mentioned earlier – read Acts 4:36-37 and 9:26-27.

a. How would you summarise him as a character?

b. What are his previous dealings with Saul/Paul? How did he nurture

him in the faith?

6. Barnabas works hard to find Saul and bring him to Antioch to help in the

ministry. Why would he have seen Saul as such a valuable partner?

Read Acts 11:27-30

7. How did the new Christians respond to the famine? What should be the

relationship between faith and good deeds for us today?

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Consider the whole of today’s chapter

8. How would you describe the church at Antioch in one sentence?

9. What can we do, as individuals and as a church, to grow in relating to

people of other cultures, races and faiths?

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Warmer question

1. Have you had a dream that you thought was real? Or a real experience that

you thought was a dream?

As the flourishing church in Antioch dispatch their famine-relief gift (11:29-30),

we see what was happening in Jerusalem under the rule of king Herod.

Several different Herods ruled in Palestine in the first century. This one was

Herod Agrippa the elder. By AD41 he was ruling Judea, Galilee and several

neighbouring provinces. All the Herods were viewed with some degree of

mistrust by the Judeans because of their mixed ethnicity, and were therefore

anxious to please their constituents and stay on the throne.

Read Acts 12:1-11

2. Without looking at your Bible, re-tell this story from memory while a partner

looks at the Bible text. (Or write your version down and compare it with the

Bible afterwards). What details did you leave out? Why might Luke have

thought those details were important?

You might like to get just one volunteer to re-tell the story while the rest of the group look at the text. Or divide the group into pairs. The “missed details” that come up here might answer the following questions, which you can then skip.

3. Who was responsible for Peter’s imprisonment and forthcoming death?

Not just Herod but also the Jewish population of Jerusalem in general – v3, v11b

4. What were the rest of the believers doing while Peter was imprisoned?

They weren’t giving up, or writing letters of protest, or planning how to storm the jail… But below we will discuss what they had in mind as they prayed…

5. Does this story teach us to expect Christians will always be rescued from

imprisonment and execution?

Point out verse 2. James’ death was even foretold by Jesus Mark 10:39. “That James should die while Peter should escape is a mystery of divine providence which has been repeated countless times in the history of the people of God. By faith, says the writer to the Hebrews, some “escaped the edge of the sword”; by faith others “were killed with the sword” (Heb. 11:34, 37).” – FF Bruce 1988.

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Read Acts 12:12-17

6. Repeat the re-telling exercise above. What details did Luke include that you

forgot? Why might he have included those details?

Interesting to note the servant girl’s name is given. This suggests Luke wants to highlight her character, as the next questions will unpack. If the discussion here answers the following questions, skip the questions.

7. How did Rhoda know it was Peter at the door? (Look carefully!)

She recognized his voice. This implies she didn’t actually see him!

8. The other believers had been praying for Peter (verses 5,12). But when he

turns up at the door they don’t believe it’s him! What does this suggest about

their prayers? Is there a lesson here for us?

Perhaps they were hoping their prayers would lead to Herod having a change of mind, or Peter being acquitted in a public trial before his execution. Although there had been a miraculous jail-break in Acts 5, their surprise suggests they weren’t expecting it to happen here Are we sometimes like this – praying for a situation but being unprepared for God to answer our prayers in powerful ways??

9. The “bumbling servant” was a common character in ancient Greek

comedies. How is this pattern reversed here? Who is the model believer in

this story?

It’s a story of the “bumbling prayer group”! While Peter is banging away on the door, the group that is praying for Peter’s rescue shoo away the lowly servant girl who is faithfully and accurately reporting God’s miraculous answer to their prayers! Rhoda is presented as a model believer. There are parallels between Rhoda and the women who first declare Jesus’ resurrection in Luke 24:10ff. The women at the tomb believe and act without having seen the risen Jesus, and their testimony is rejected by those with greater social authority, who don’t believe until they see with their own eyes. Cf 20:29 “blessed are those that believe without seeing me”.

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“It must be his angel” (v15) is tricky. “Angel” and “spirit/ghost” were closely

related concepts (eg in Acts 23:9), and some popular Jewish traditions taught

that the righteous became like angels after death. The idea that each person

has an individual guardian angel doesn’t have any real biblical basis.

The James referred to in v17 is clearly not the brother of John, who had been

executed in v2, but probably the James mentioned in Acts 15.

Read Acts 12:18-24

10. Luke presents Herod’s death as the work of “the angel of the Lord”. The

angel of the Lord was also mentioned earlier in the chapter. How do the two

cases compare?

V7 the angel of the Lord was the one who brought Peter out of jail.

11. The angel of the Lord is frequently referred to in the Old Testament. What is

the function of the angel of the Lord in the following passages:

a. Isaiah 37:33-36

b. Psalm 34:4-7

12. With this background in view, what is Acts 12 showing us about

a. Herod

Though a Jewish king he’s actually an enemy of the true people of God

b. Peter and the other Christians

They are the true people of God whom he rescues

Consider the chapter overall

13. In this passage, what are the mistakes for us to avoid, and the examples for

us to follow?

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Study 5: Acts 12:25 – 13:12

Read Acts 12:25 – 13:3

1. Barnabas and Saul return from Jerusalem to Antioch. What “mission” had

they been on? (Look back at 11:27-30)

2. Look carefully at the names of the prophets and teachers in Antioch. Can

you spot any clues about their background?

Simeon and Manaen were Jewish names. But Lucius and Niger were Roman names. Niger is the Latin for “dark complexion” (unlike 20th century use, it was a perfectly respectable name). Lucius was from Cyrene in Northern Africa, and might have been one of those who first brought the gospel to Antioch (Acts 11:20). The leaders of this church come from all sorts of ethnic and social backgrounds including one with royal connections and one who was chief persecutor of Christians!

The mention of “fasting” here makes us wonder about the relevance of that

practice for today. Jesus, speaking in his Jewish context, addressed the topic

of fasting on various occasions. But outside the gospels, fasting is mentioned

only twice in all the rest of the New Testament – here and the following chapter.

3. Read Acts 14:23. What are the common elements in these two situations

where fasting is mentioned?

4. There are many places in Acts where gospel workers are commissioned and

prayed for, but fasting is not mentioned (eg Acts 1.24, 6.6, 13.3, 14.23).

What conclusions might we draw about the place of fasting for Christians

today? Is it required, necessary, wrong, or something else?

“The early church seems to have practiced prayer universally, and sometimes fasted, in seeking the will of God… These two accounts of prayer and fasting in the book of Acts record that fasting took place, but nothing in the text indicates that Luke intended that fasting become normative. These texts record some actions of the early church, but do not place obligation on the universal church… fasting, as practiced by the early church in Acts, is an accessory to prayer, and not found apart from prayer” – SH Matthews, Christian Fasting: Biblical and Evangelical Perspectives, 2015, p.98

Matthews’ book concludes that various Christians over the ages have found fasting to be useful in various ways, but there’s no biblical basis for seeing it as an essential part of Christian practice.

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5. The church at Antioch was blessed with a bunch of gifted leaders, who no

doubt did valuable ministry at Antioch. Yet God called for two of them to be

sent out on a mission to other areas. Are there times when we are tempted

to hold on to resources for our local church that God might want to be used

elsewhere?

“Sent on their way by the Holy Spirit”, Paul, Barnabas and John Mark begin

what has become known as “the first missionary journey” which continues until

they return to Antioch at the end of chapter 14. See the map on following page.

Read Acts 13:4-12

6. When they arrived in the various towns on Cyprus, where did Paul and

Barnabas first present their message? Why would they have done this? Obviously those meeting in synagogues already knew the old testament back-story of Jesus so they were “easy targets” from a practical point of view. But the fact that the Antioch church sent famine relief to Judea specifically (11.29) even though their church had been planted by people from Cyprus and Cyrene (11.20) suggests they saw those of the Jewish faith as deserving some sort of priority. It’s worth noting that these synagogues would have included converts and God-fearers as well as ethnic Jews.

7. In Paphos they encounter a character named “Bar Jesus”. What are we told

about him? The name Bariesou (rendered Bar-Jesus in English) probably meant “son of Joshua[=Jesus]” (his father’s name). But as the conflict escalates, Paul points out he is functioning not as a son/follower of Jesus but of the devil.

“Jewish magicians were reputed to be among the best in the Roman Empire (though forbidden in Scripture and mistrusted among pious Jews). … the proconsul probably sees Bar-Jesus as a useful prophetic adviser from a “Jewish” perspective.” – Keener 2014 p.358

8. What process led to the Roman proconsul believing the word of God?

9. How do you feel about Paul’s response to Bar-Jesus? Should we use this

approach when we encounter opponents of the gospel? Why or why not?

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10. In this section, what response to the gospel of Jesus do we see from

a. Jewish people

b. Gentiles?

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Pis

idia

n

Start here

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Paul and Barnabas are travelling in what is now Turkey. (John left them in

Paphos and we aren’t told the reason. Paul was not pleased that he left them

(Acts 15:37-38) but John later travelled and worked with Barnabas).

Pisidian Antioch (different to the Antioch they had set out from originally – see

map on earlier page) was a Roman colony with a large Jewish population. The

synagogue would have included God-fearers as well as ethnic Jews. Paul’s

practice was to begin his preaching in the local synagogue, where it was

customary for travelling Rabbis to be invited to speak.

Read Acts 13:13-41

1. In verses 16-22, what key events from the Old Testament does Paul

emphasise? What was the reason for going back over these events?

The escape from Egypt, 40 years in the desert, the land of Canaan, the judges, prophets and kings, especially David.

2. In verses 23-37 Paul talks about Jesus. What does he emphasise?

John the Baptist, condemnation and execution of Jesus, resurrection, the eye witnesses and his ascension.

3. In verses 38-41 Paul reaches his main point of exhortation. What is the

big take-home idea of his talk? What does he want his hearers to take

hold of?

4. Why do you think Paul chose to finish with a quotation from Hab. 1:5?

5. How does Paul’s message show sensitivity to his audience and the

context he is in? In what relationships and situations do we need this

same sensitivity?

For much of his sermon Paul reminded them of their own history and quoted key passages from the Old Testament, knowing that they would be familiar with it.

6. List the different responses to the gospel that you see in this chapter

(13:7-8; 42-48). How did Paul respond to those who rejected the gospel?

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(vv 46 and 51). What does this tell you about Paul’s missionary

strategy?

7. Can you think of a time when you or someone you know was “filled with

joy and with the Holy Spirit” (v 52)? Maybe you could tell the group about

it.

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Read Acts 14:1-7

1. Locate the towns of Iconium, Lystra and Derbe on the map provided earlier.

Describe the ministry of Paul and Barnabas in Iconium and its results. Why

did they move on to Lystra and Derbe?

Read Acts 14:8-20

2. After you have read this story, turn it into a play. Choose people for Paul,

Barnabas, the lame man, the crowd, the priest of Zeus and Jews from

Antioch. Give the actors time to learn their parts then ask them stand up

and re-enact this scene. Try to feel the emotions in this story.

3. Notice how Paul explained the gospel to the people of Lystra – he didn’t

quote from the Old Testament but rather spoke about the God of creation

(14:15-17). Why would this be?

The people of Lystra were gentiles, or Greeks, and worshipped a multitude of gods. They didn’t know the Jewish scriptures. Zeus was the patron god of Lystra and his temple was there. Barnabas was identified as Zeus, perhaps because his appearance was more imposing, and Paul was identified as the god Hermes because he was the main speaker.

4. Based on how Paul and Barnabas responded to being seen as gods, how

can we respond if this happens to us or when we are tempted to take credit

for what God has done?

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5. Timothy grew up in the city of Lystra. See Acts 16:1-2 and 2 Tim. 3:10-11.

What effect do you think these events would have had on him?

Read Acts 14:21-28

6. There is no account of Paul’s ministry in Derbe except that they won a large

number of disciples. They then turned around and returned to Antioch

through Lystra and Iconium. What did they emphasise to the young converts

in each town along the way?

7. From there they returned to Antioch in Syria, having completed their first

missionary journey. From what you have read in chapters 13 and 14 can

you name the key elements in Paul’s missionary strategy (that is, why did he

do what he did)?

He shared the work with others, such as Barnabas and John; later with many others.

He stayed in each town long enough to preach the gospel and for people to make a decision. If there was considerable opposition he moved on to the next place.

He followed God’s leading.

His emphasis was on ministry to non-Jews or gentiles.

He used God’s word as the basis of his preaching.

He explained who Jesus was and the meaning of his life, death and resurrection.

He returned to each town to strengthen the young converts and teach them.

He supported his preaching by works of compassion and sometimes miracles.

He adapted his message to suit his audience so that they could understand more clearly.

He reported back to his home church in Antioch.

8. What can we learn from these strategies in communicating the gospel

today?

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Read Acts 15:1-2

1. For the third time, the church in Antioch sends out Paul and Barnabas on a

mission (see 11.27-30 and 13:2-3). What is the purpose of this journey?

They’re going to head office to get this controversy sorted out! The fact that they go to see “the apostles and elders” about this matter shows that the “certain people” from Judea didn’t have clear apostolic authority. Cf v24 – “without our authorization”.

Read Acts 15:3-5

2. Paul and Barnabas report how Gentiles have been turning to Christ. How do

various groups react differently to this news?

Although believers along the way are “very glad” v3, those in Jerusalem who “belonged to the party of the Pharisees” are concerned that this faith must be followed up with proper Jewish practice including circumcision.

Get the group to think about these people who are believers in Jesus and come from a Pharisaic background. The Pharisees, unlike Sadducees, believed in the resurrection so Jesus’ resurrection was easier for them to accept. But they seem to have held on to their concern for strict application of the Jewish law, which becomes an issue here.

3. Look back at Acts 11:1-2 and 11:15-18. How is this situation similar and

different to the controversy back then?

The objection back in ch11 was “you ate with uncircumcised men” – that Peter shouldn’t have been having close contact with Gentiles. Here, it’s not engagement or inclusion of Gentiles per se that’s at stake – it’s what should be expected of them once they join the church. The objectors didn’t want to keep the Gentiles out – they wanted them to be included in the right way, which they believed meant taking on all the Jewish distinctives.

Read Acts 15:6-11

4. How does Peter draw on his own previous experience in answering the

objection of the Pharisee-Christians? What is the main point of his

argument?

The bestowal of the Holy Spirit (on Cornelius) showed God’s acceptance of Gentiles who hadn’t been circumcised – surely to add more requirements is to disagree with the Spirit?

5. The Old Testament frequently refers to God’s laws as a blessing to be

treasured. In what sense can Peter describe it as a “yoke”?

The problem wasn’t that the law was too heavy in itself, but God’s people were too sinful to follow it faithfully.

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6. One of the main concerns of the Mosaic law was purity. According to Peter,

how are Jews and Gentiles actually purified?

End of v9 is significant – “he purified their hearts by faith”. And notably it works the same for everyone – Gentiles and Jews alike are accepted and saved by faith, “through the grace[gift] of our Lord Jesus” (v11).

Read Acts 15:12-21

7. How does James support Peter’s argument? What do you think is the most

important part of the quote from Amos 9?

Help the group to notice “the Gentiles who are called by my name” in v17 – ie, they bear the name of the Lord but without being subsumed into the house of David.

8. James doesn’t want to make it difficult for the Gentile Christians, or to

require them to be circumcised, but then he turns around and tells them to

abstain from certain things! What do you make of this? Shouldn’t Peter’s

objections apply to James’ rules also?!

Let the group grapple with this for a bit. It’s worth noting that the specific directives here are very similar to the rules in Leviticus 17-18 given for Gentiles who live amongst the Jewish community. In this time when the Christian movement was predominantly Jewish, for Gentile Christians to live with no regard to Jewish sensibilities would have created real problems for fellowship. So it seems James’ directions are aimed at creating peace in mixed communities. They certainly don’t get treated as a “new law” by which to justify yourself or to exclude people.

Verse 21 is tricky. It probably means “the Jewish laws are very influential so that’s why you need to find a way to not offend those who follow them”.

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Read Acts 15:22-35

9. How would you describe the tone of this letter?

10. What has been the end result of the trouble that was stirred up at Antioch by

the visitors from Judea?

11. In what ways might we fall into similar errors as those Pharisaic Judean

Christians? Are there ways in which we might expect to people to become

‘genuine Christians’ they need to become just like us? How can we avoid

this error?

Series Conclusion

12. To finish the series, look back over chapters 9-15. Which passage has

impacted you the most, and why? How have you been motivated to live

differently as a result of these studies?

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acts 9-15 term 4 2020 - members · generous and prayerful. (see acts 10:22). although he was devout...

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