Week 3

 
 

STudy Questions

  1. According to Acts 7:25, when Moses killed that Egyptian, he thought the Israelites would rally around him as their deliverer.  Instead, his actions landed him forty years of exile.  Can you think of a time you got ahead of God on something and made a mess of things?  Or maybe of a time you knew what God wanted to do; but, rather than waiting on His timing and anointing, you tried to do it in your own strength?  Why is it so easy to jump ahead of God?  Why, when we know better, do we still sometimes try to accomplish God’s will in our own strength?

  2. If Moses was anything like most of us, he was probably hurt when the Israelites initially rejected him as a leader (see Acts 7:25-29, 35).  Sadly, many people today walk around carrying hurts from their past.  Are you one of them?  Do you have a testimony you’d be willing to share about a time God healed you from the power and pain of a past rejection?  Do you have old hurts or rejections that are still dogging you that you would be willing to share with your small group and allow them to begin to pray for and help you with?

  3. Stephen prayed for the Lord to forgive his persecutors WHILE THEY WERE STONING HIM TO DEATH.  On a scale from 1-10 with 1 being lowest, how would you rate your quickness to forgive people who hurt you?  Is there anyone in your life you need to forgive right now, even possibly for something that happened long ago?  How would you counsel someone who came to you expressing difficulty forgiving and asking for your help?

  4. I love the understanding of evangelism as simply gossiping about Jesus.  How often do you find yourself talking about the Lord to those who don’t yet know him?  What are some practical ways you could grow in that area?  Take some time in your small group to pray for the Holy Spirit to help each of you gossip about the Lord (share about His goodness and working in your life) with greater regularity.

  5. These first nine chapters of Acts record LOTS of instances of the miraculous activity of the Holy Spirit among His people (Acts 1:5; 2:4-11, 41, 43, 47; 3:7,16; 4:8, 13, 31, 32-33; 5:5, 10, 12-16, 18-19, 23, 41-42; 6:7, 8, 10; 7:55-56, 60; 8:4, 6-7, 12-13, 15-17, 23, 26, 29, 36-40; 9:3-8, 10-16, 18, 31, 33-35, 40-42).  Those early Christians rejoiced when they were flogged unjustly and continued to share the gospel boldly everywhere they went, even after having been driven from their homes.  They were filled with and attentive to the Holy Spirit and were constantly talking to lost people about the Lord Jesus Christ.  Do you believe that, if we were committed to live with that same abandonment to the Lord and commitment to the gospel, we might see similar mighty works of God in our day?  Would you consider as a small group, to commit together to pray that prayer from Acts 4:29-30 every day?

  6. Were you surprised to read that, after appearing to Saul on the Damascus Road, the Lord left him completely blind for three days before sending Ananias to him?  What, if anything, does that reveal to you about God?  The Jews in Damascus were astonished at the sudden changes in Saul following his encounter with Jesus.  What are some of the most profound ways Jesus has changed you since you first came to know Him?  What changes happened instantly?  What changes happened more gradually over time?  What are some things you’re still asking Him to change?

  7. Barnabas played a crucial role in Saul’s life and development as a Christian, loving and befriending him when no one else would.  Who are some of the key people who have loved or encouraged or befriended or instructed you in your walk with Christ?  Is there someone you could play that crucial role for now? 

For Further Consideration:

Notice that when Stephen opens his defense before the Sanhedrin in Acts 7:2, he begins by referring to the people before him respectfully as, “Brothers and fathers” and he clearly tries to use the history of the Jewish people to establish a point of unity and connection with them.  That’s definitely an approach worth emulating when you talk to others about the Lord.  Whatever differences we may have with those who don’t yet follow Jesus, we share with them a common humanity – and likely several other things, as well.  Acknowledging what we have in common may help to lower their defenses when it comes time to address what separates us in the Lord.  Many Christians are reticent to share their faith because they’ve seen examples or heard stories of other Christians approaching the lost in ways that come across as antagonistic or even belligerent, but that need not be the case. 

 

Question 1 – When’s the last time you tried to talk to a non-Christian about the Lord?  Was there a time in your life when you did that more regularly than you do now?  If so, what do you think changed?  What sorts of things (if any) may make you hesitant to share Jesus with people?  Take some time with your small group to pray for each other to grow in boldness and wisdom in sharing your faith with others.

 

In Acts 7:9-10, Stephen recalls briefly the story of Joseph.  He notes that Joseph endured great hardship, yet also says, “But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles.”  Please don’t miss that God was present with Joseph in the midst of his terrible trials and ordeals – years spent as a slave and later as a prisoner.  Stephen then says God “gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh,” and it’s worth noting that God did that through the power and working of the Holy Spirit.  It doesn’t tell you that here in Acts 7; but in Genesis 41:38, after Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, Pharaoh asks regarding Joseph, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”

 

Question 2 – Does it bother you at all that God allowed Joseph to endure years of dislocation, slavery, and unjust imprisonment?  Why or why not?  Since God was with Joseph during all those trials, why didn’t He rescue him sooner?  Or better yet, why didn’t He prevent them altogether?  What does that reality suggest regarding your own times of hardship or trial?

 

According to Stephen, as God was leading the Israelites through the desert, “they rejected Him and, in their hearts, turned back to Egypt” (Acts 7:39).  It’s worth taking some time to consider the sober reality that you can turn away in your heart, even if your feet never switch directions.  In fact, people usually turn away in their hearts before their turn manifests itself in outward action. It happens in marriages when a spouse leaves emotionally long before leaving physically.  It happens in families when a child turns in his heart from his parents’ values before ever openly acting on the change.  And sadly, it happens with some Christians who continue going through the motions of faith (attending church and the like) even while their love and zeal for God continues to fade.  In the Bible, the Lord refers to such people as those who “honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me” (Matthew 15:8).  

 

Question 3 – Often people will begin to turn away in their hearts without even realizing it.  What are some practical things you can do to protect yourself from that happening to you?

 

In Acts 7:41, Stephen speaks of the Israelites holding “a celebration in honor of what their hands had made.”  In that case, the idolatrous nature of what they were doing was obvious – they were worshiping an actual idol!  And yet so often in our culture we also honor and celebrate “what our hands have made.” 

 

Question 4 – How can you distinguish between when your celebration of your work or your accomplishments are appropriate and when they’ve crossed the line into idolatry? 

 

In Acts 7:51, Stephen calls his listeners “stiff-necked” and “uncircumcised” in heart and ears, and adds “You always resist the Holy Spirit!”  The Holy Spirit, by His very nature, is always around and always engaged in doing the Father’s business – and to resist or even simply to ignore Him is a very big deal.  When the people responded to Stephen in violent fury, it was the Holy Spirit who opened his eyes to allow him to look directly into heaven and see the Lord Jesus standing there waiting for him (see v. 55). 

 

Question 5 – What does it mean to be “uncircumcised” in heart and ears?  On a scale from 1-10 with 1 being lowest, how would you rate your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit?  What are some practical things you could do to grow in that area? 

 

Acts 8:9-24 is largely occupied with a man named Simon, who had been a prominent sorcerer in the Samaritan city where Philip was ministering.  When he tried to pay Peter for the ability to see people baptized in the Holy Spirit, Peter rebuked him sharply, saying in part: “For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin” (8:23).  Now based on Simon’s offense – trying to pay money for the grace and power of God – Peter’s comment about Simon being full of “bitterness” (literally in the bile or the gall of bitterness) seems odd.  But notice Peter’s language: “I see that you are full of bitterness.”  The clear indication is that the Holy Spirit was giving Peter divine discernment into what was really going on in Simon’s heart.  In fact, in I Corinthians 12:10, the discerning of spirits is included among a list of the manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

 

Question 6 – Take some time to read over the manifestations of the Holy Spirit listed in I Corinthians 12:7-11.  Which of these have you experienced in your own life?  Can you give some examples? 

 

In Acts 9:2, Luke refers to Christians as those “who belonged to the Way.”  This term, then, was clearly a way the early followers of Jesus identified themselves.  Interestingly, a “way” is a path along which one walks.  In other words, the earliest believers identified themselves by how they lived (the “way” in which they walked daily, the “way” in which they conducted themselves) rather than simply by what they believed theologically. 

 

Question 7 – Do you think contemporary American Christians place too much, too little, or about the right amount of emphasis on how they live and walk and conduct themselves day by day?  Please explain why you believe that to be the case.