Today’s passage: Acts 4:32-5:11

Helpful thoughts:

• Everything in this world is the Lord’s.  We are His stewards.
• There is no commandment for these believers to sell their possessions.  They did it willingly and in unity.
  • Barnabas serves as an example to set the stage for Ananias and Sapphira.
• Ananias and Sapphira did not sin by keeping part of the money.  They sinned in lying about how much they had received in order to impress people.

Questions to consider:

1. In what ways does it make sense for us as a church to have all things in common and to share with one another?  In this time, culture, economic environment, how could/should we replicate the spirit of the church in Jerusalem?
2. Who did Ananias and Sapphira sin against?  What did they do that was wrong?  What would have been their motivation?
3. God may not allow Christian’s who sin in this way to die like these did in Acts 5…but does that mean God doesn’t take sin as seriously as He used to?  In what way should this passage (Along with passages like 1 Corinthians 11:30-32 and 1 John 5:16) still work to cause us to have a holy fear and reverence of the holiness of God?  Did Jesus die that we might continue in sin (Romans 6:1)?

Today’s passage: Acts 4:23-31

Helpful thoughts:

• In the midst of so much change, these believers knew that one thing hadn’t changed.  God was sovereign, eternal, and in complete control.
  • The word they used for “Lord” refers to an absolute master.  They were taking comfort in God’s authority.
  • In their prayer, they quoted from Psalm 2.  Seeing how Christ had fulfilled prophecy assured them that everything they were going through was exactly according to God’s plan as well.
• The believers prayed for boldness to speak the word.  The result, the Spirit gave them boldness to speak the word.
  • These believers had just seen their brothers arrested for speaking the word…so they prayed for boldness.  Not for release from persecution, but boldness.

Questions to consider:

1. In what ways can the sovereignty, providence, and Lordship of God bring us comfort?
2. How was the moving and filling of the Spirit different this time than it was at Pentecost?  What didn’t need to happen this time?  How was it the same?  What was the end result of both instances?
3. There are so many things these believers could have prayed for.  What are some things you might have been prone to pray for if you were in their shoes before you would think to pray for boldness to continue to share the Gospel with others?  How can this apply to today?

Today’s passage: Acts 4:1-22

Helpful thoughts:

• 5,000 men could mean just as many women and however many children.  The church was growing quickly!
• Peter and John were set before the Jewish leaders for questioning not long after the night before Jesus’ crucifixion.  Peter’s response, by the grace of God, was far different.
• The Jewish leaders had every bit of evidence to believe in the miracle and to believe that Peter and John were disciples of Jesus.  They never even denied it.  They simply rejected Jesus.
  • Peter and John were put on trial and the Jewish leaders were found guilty.  But they refused to repent.

Questions to consider:

1. Why were Peter and John brought in before the rulers in the first place (Verse 2)?  What did the chief priests want more than to be pleasing to God?  What other desires do we have that can pull us away from valuing God most highly so that we obey Him?
2. What was the ruling of the court?  Why was that an impossibility for Peter and John to obey?  When does the government overstep their God-given authority?
3. Will winning an argument result in repentance and salvation?  Will all the evidence convince people into getting saved?  Why should this encourage you to share the Gospel without fear?  Has God commanded us to win arguments or something else?

Today’s passage: Acts 3:11-26

Helpful thoughts:

• The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament.  Peter reminded the crowd that the Servant was to be sent by their God.
• Imagine being told, “You killed the Author of life.”  Then remember, Christ died for our sins.  Our sin required His death.
• Peter communicated the truth of the bad news before he shared the good news.  Good people don’t need saving.

Questions to consider:

1. For these Jews who participated in the call for Jesus’ crucifixion, what would repentance look like?  What would they need to believe and acknowledge?  Whose sacrifice would they be trusting in for their forgiveness?  What would they now call Jesus?
2. Why is it necessary to know the truth of our condition before we desire to be saved?  Whose definition of “Good” is the one we are measured by as it relates to our standing before God?
3. Are there any people you think would be impossible to reach with the Gospel?  What had these people in Acts 3  just done?  What role does God have in accomplishing His will in seeing Jesus crucified for our sin and then saving some of the very people who participated?  How should this bring us to worship Him?

Today’s passage: Acts 3:1-10

Helpful thoughts:

• The “Ninth hour” is 3 p.m.  When you see hours written this way in Scripture, just count from 6 a.m.
  • The Jews had three daily times of prayer; 9 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m.
• This miracle, done in the name of Jesus, took immediate and whole effect.  No smoke and mirrors, no ushering of the healed back-stage…it was a real, open, observed by believers and unbelievers alike, miracle.
• The lame man expected to receive something (Verse 5), but it wasn’t a complete physical healing.  His faith is not what made him well.  His healing would serve to authenticate the message of the Apostle Peter in the next verses.

Questions to consider:

1. What are the differences between this healing and those “performed” by modern day “faith-healers?”  (Hint: the four characteristics of this healing were; 1.) It was not expected. 2.) It was done in the name of Jesus. 3.) It was instantaneous. 4.) It was complete.)
2. What impact did the healing have on the now formerly lame man?  What impact would his jumping and leaping and praising God have on the crowd who had been in a posture of prayer?  Was the healing itself the climax of the day or what was to come after it?
3. What is the ultimate healing we all need that far surpasses any physical healing we may desire?  What is Isaiah 53:5 actually talking about?  What problem did Christ’s death solve?

Today’s passage: Acts 2:42-47

Helpful thoughts:

• A helpful reminder, what we read in Acts is descriptive, not necessarily prescriptive.  If the first church in Jerusalem did something a certain way, it does not necessarily mandate that all other church do the same.  However, it’s worth asking what they did and why.  And, if another passage of Scripture does command the action, it is certainly instructive to see how the early church sought to obey the Lord.
• Teaching/learning, fellowship, breaking bread, prayers and sharing of resources were things everyone was part of.  The miraculous signs were not for everyone.  They authenticated the message of the Apostles as they laid the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20).
  • We could also observe, there was no apparent push for social reform in the government, only in themselves.  They knew who their King was.
• In the very beginning, the church was a family who loved those even outside the family and welcomed them in through their testimony and kindness.

Questions to consider:

1. Was there a law or rule that said these Christians had to get together everyday?  Why were they doing this?  How can this encourage us in our walk and in our relationships?
2. Does this passage ever say these first Christians ALL sold EVERYTHING they owned?  Or, are we told they shared with all from their own possessions as needs arose through their own desire to give?
3. Reading through this passage, what are some differences between the way these new Christians viewed their involvement with the church with the way many seem to view the church today?  How would those differences have brought them closer together?  How would those differences have aided the work of sharing the gospel with others, who were being added each day?

Today’s passage: Acts 2:14-41

Helpful thoughts:

• Peter’s method of pointing people to Christ was to show them the Scripture and to give eyewitness account.
• Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved!
  • The prophecy from Joel in verses 17-21 contains elements of the birth of the church and the second coming of Christ.  Mentions of these signs are indications for both events…not indications of what we should be seeing throughout the “last days”.
• Verse 38 does not require baptism as a prerequisite for salvation.  However, this passage does not excuse believers from ever needing to be baptized.
  • If a person repents, they will obey the lordship of Christ. They will be baptized.
  • No one was added to the church without being baptized.
  • Baptism is the God-given, God-commanded sign of repentance and conversion.  It is the way a person “goes forward” to profess their faith.  It is the evidence by which a church welcomes them into the body.

Questions to consider:

1. Are you familiar with Scriptures enough to share the gospel with others?  How would you share your testimony?  (Check this link for some helpful information!)
2. According to verses 39 and 41, how many souls were added to the church that day and why were they added?
3. What did these new believers repent of?  What had they done with the Christ that they were now no longer doing?  What were they now believing and doing in their repentance?  Can a person be saved without repentance?

Today’s passage: Acts 2:1-13

Helpful thoughts:

• The Day of Pentecost is the fiftieth day after Passover.  It was one of the three festivals per year for the Jewish people.  Every year at Pentecost, the Jewish people celebrated the first fruits of their harvest.
  • The Spirit was given to the church as a first-fruits, a guarantee of our full inheritance in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:5, Ephesians 1:11-14).
• Characteristics of tongues:
  • People who heard them could understand what they were saying in their own native language.
  • They were given as a sign as they marked the transition from Israel to the Church…from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.
  • And, they were given to convince those who were in unbelief (1 Corinthians 14:22).  Meaning, when tongues are being spoken, it is an indication that there is a LACK of belief present and that there would be people present who speak a different language who could hear and understand what was being spoken.
    • They are seen/heard here in Acts 2 as the Church begins to spread.
    • They are heard in Acts 10 to show that Gentiles are included in the Church.
    • They are heard in Acts 19 to confirm that Christ was the Messiah as John the Baptist had prophesied.
    • The Apostle Paul spoke different tongues as a missionary to the Gentile world (1 Corinthians 14:18), though it is never recorded specifically when this occurred.
• The mocking accusation of drunkenness was not a response to the Apostles acting erratically, because they weren’t.  It was a rejection of the truth they were hearing clearly in their own language.

Questions to consider:

1. Why was the celebration of the harvest such a great day for this event?  What was God indicating?
2. Were the Apostles trying to speak in tongues?  Were they waiting for tongues to happen and encouraging each other to try and have more faith to make it happen?  How are tongues in the Bible so much different than what so many people are trying to do today?
3. How do the mockers respond to what they are seeing and hearing?  Do amazing miraculous things convert people?  How does faith come to people (Romans 10:17, John 3:6-8)?