Bible Study Acts

Acts Bible Study Amy A. Taylor BIBL 364- ACTS Professor Paul Brewster

Bible Study: Passage and Rationale Assignment Instructions Amy Taylor Bibl 364- ACTS Passage: Acts 2:42-47 Explanation: I selected this passage because I believe in the importance of the design of the church. To join in the excitement and joy of the first believers and be as passionate about sharing that Jesus is the Messiah. It is important to follow in their teaching of the Scriptures, to break bread, pray and share life together. I believe it is important to have daily discipline of worship with our Father and with His other children. I believe that we are to be excited about the giving of our tithes and offerings and selling what we have to help meet the needs of those who are poor- in the church and outside of the church. By doing this, the early church members shared everything they had and there wasn’t a need in amongst the people. More so in Acts 6, because the church was growing and the needs were greater, the Twelve told the church to assign 7 men to help with the distribution of food and help meet the needs so they could continue to preach and teach the Word of God. Once chosen, the disciples laid hands on them, prayed over them, and commissioned them to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ through meeting other people’s needs. Through these 7 men, we are shown the example that each member of the church has different gifts and responsibilities and one of those greatest responsibilities is meeting the physical needs of the poor. Prayer: God, please help me as I continue to serve you. Give me a servant’s heart. Give me a humble heart. When it is difficult to give, open my mind, heart, and wallet to serve those who are in need. Allow me to continue to be your hands and feet and serve the least of these. Give me JOY! Allow us as your children and disciples to be in harmony. May we not focus on the petty things but look to you as our example and bring others to You. May those that you have put in my path- see you! As I serve a bowl of food, may you be seen in my small action! As I speak to others, my they hear your words. As I walk from place to place, house to house, may they see your feet in action. God, I pray that you will bring passion and calling into other people’s lives as the physical and spiritual needs grows greater. May they accept the call to GO, serve and be the light to so many who are lost in darkness. Thank you for your Son being present in my life! Pour your Holy Spirit upon me- may He guide my eyes, my hands, my heart, and my feet. In your most Holy Name- Yahweh- Amen

The same fire (Holy Spirit) that met these people thousands of years ago, is the same Holy Spirit we have access to today. It is through the Holy Spirit and His power that we can overcome our fears and follow in the example of the early church. With boldness, we should be excited, without fear, be bold and in community with other believers, and share the example that was given to us- Jesus Christ- to those we are close too and to those who live afar. ___________________________ (1) Marvin Richardson, Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, vol 1 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887), 456-458

Participant Questions: Passage: Acts 2:42-47 Question 1: What is the scariest thing you have done in your life? Question 2: What is a fear that holds you down or back from doing something that you wouldn’t normally do? Question 3: How did the apostles teach or preach in the beginning of Acts 2? Question 4: How would you describe the modern church today? Or how would you describe the church you attend? Question 5: After reading Acts 2:42-47, what does being devoted to the apostles teaching, breaking bread and prayer mean to you? Question 6: If you are sharing life together with your church like the early Acts church, how has that impacted your life? Question 7: Are you studying the Scriptures with other believers? Are you breaking bread and sharing meals together with other believers? Are you in prayer with other believers? Are you meeting other people’s spiritual and physical needs? Question 8: According to Acts 2:43-45, the believers sold whatever they owed and collected their money to meet each person’s needs; where else in the New Testament did believers come together to sell what they owned to meet other people’s needs? Question 9: When you see someone begging at a street corner or someone comes up to you ask for food or money; what is your first thought? How do you respond? Question 10: How can you take Acts 2:42-47 and apply it to your corporate and individual fellowship?

Devoted What in your life has been the scariest thing you have ever done? What is a fear that holds you down or back from doing something that you wouldn’t normally do? When my husband, Tim, and I were first introduced to the idea of going to Nicaragua on a mission trip with our church, fear and excitement were the first two things that went through our minds. We were excited to go as husband and wife and serve, but we had no idea where Nicaragua was or even what would be asked of us on this trip. We had never been a mission trip together but thought it would be fun. So, we signed up regardless of the fear that we both were feeling. Our first trip to Nicaragua was anything but fun (well at least for me). As we served in an orphanage and malnourishment center, on the second day, I become violently sick with some type of stomach bug. For days, I laid in my bunk or by the toilet. I would just lay there and cry asking God why in the world He would allow me to come on a mission trip if all I was going to do was be sick. Tim was off doing mission team responsibilities. He was cleaning, repairing, playing with kids, etc.-I was throwing up. As the week was ending and I was feeling better, we decided to walk around our compound. As we talked about the week, Tim lit up as he talked about how God was changing him. The guarded, walls-up, protective shell of my husband was breaking down as the Holy Spirit was preparing him for what was to come next. As we walked, I shared with Tim my frustration about being sick the whole week, but during the quiet times alone, the Holy Spirit was also breaking my heart for what broke His. As we returned home to Michigan, we returned to our community group. We shared with the group about our trip and that during the trip we felt that the Holy Spirit was leading us to help Nicaragua, we just weren’t sure how. Every time, we shared, the more emotional we became about Nicaragua. Our community group continued to tell us that it was just emotions and eventually it would go away. However, every week, we returned with the same feelings. We couldn’t shake them. We knew God wanted us to do more in Nicaragua. During this time, we went to Cabela’s and the clothing my husband wanted to buy said Made in Nicaragua . Survivor, one of our favorite tv shows, was in Nicaragua that season. A shirt that I bought my husband at JCPenney, when I got home, my husband showed me that it was Made in Nicaragua . Before the mission trip, we had never seen anything with the word Nicaragua on it. Now, it was like God was purposely putting it in our path and in our hearts keeping the “stirring” going so we would be more intent to listen to what He was saying. Our community group agreed to pray alongside of us for one year about the direction God was calling us. Secretly, we were hoping that God was only going to call us to give financially and wasn’t calling us to move there and be missionaries. For a year, we prayed! We prayed as a community group. We prayed as husband and wife. We prayed as a family. We prayed individually. The next year, we had the privilege of leading our church mission team back to Nicaragua to work with the same missionaries we had a year previously. As the plane was descending into Nicaragua, Tim and I looked at each other, and with eyes filled with tears, we knew that was where God was calling us too. We committed right there and then that we would follow His calling and move to Nicaragua to be missionaries. The next year was a whirlwind. We spoke with

our community group, pastor, family members telling them we were moving to Nicaragua to be missionaries, but they already knew that God had called us. (We were secretly hoping someone would have said, “No”, but no one did). We took our two boys to Nicaragua to see what they thought. (We were secretly hoping they would have said, “No!”, but they didn’t). We raised our support in record time. We had said, “Yes” and God wasn’t wasting any time for us to change our minds. February 2012, the time had come. We boarded our plane with 12 suitcases, said our goodbyes, and took our seats on the plane. And then…..within a month of being in Nicaragua, the missionaries that we had decided to work with, well, it just wasn’t a fit. We were devastated. How could God have called us to Nicaragua and then stopped us dead in our tracks fear-stricken? How could we have said, “Yes” only for Him to say, “Wait”? Not knowing what to do, we contacted our community group and pastor. We shared with them what we were going through. (We were secretly hoping they would have told us to come back home). As the community group and our pastor prayed over us, the weight of devastation was lifted. God was already birthing a new vision for us in Nicaragua, and we just needed to remain in Him, and He would show us. Introducing Cristo Rey…..the first time we were introduced to Cristo Rey, my heart was broken into a million little pieces. I had never seen anything like this place in my entire life. The heat was unbearable. The smell was horrific as the nearby garbage dump burned. The children were dirty, had extended bellies, and starving. Houses were made of plastic milk cartons, pool liners, or cardboard. It was all too much! How could anyone live like this? How could God allow anyone to live like this? As we humbly served children bowls of food that day, behind my sunglasses, I wept. When we were devastated, lost, confused, heartbroken and not sure what to do next, God brought us Cristo Rey. He brought us Christ the King (literal translate). He brought us His Son in the words-Cristo Rey. We knew at that exact moment that we would be the hands and feet of Jesus and that we would share life together, no matter the circumstances, with the least of these in Cristo Rey. The believers studied what the apostles taught. They shared their lives together. They ate and prayed together. Everyone was amazed at what God was doing. They were amazed when the apostles performed many wonders and signs. All the believers were together. They shared everything they had. They sold property and other things they owned. They gave to anyone who needed something. Every day they met together in the temple courtyard. They ate meals together in their homes. Their hearts were glad and sincere. They praised God. They were respected by all the people. Every day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47 (NIRV) What does it mean to share life together? What does it mean to be in koinonia ? The new church in Acts chapter 2 gives us the example as to what it means to be in fellowship and to be the church.

missionaries, the leaders of our country? The Acts church followed in the footsteps of Jesus regarding prayer. Thousands of years later, the church should still be following in his footsteps. 4. The believers shared everything they had . Meeting the needs of the church and the poor was not a new concept to the New Testament church. It was a concept that was taught to them from the Torah. Deuteronomy 15:11 says: “ There will always be poor people in the land. So, I’m commanding you to give freely to those who are poor and needy in your land. Open your hands to them.” That same idea was carried on throughout the Old Testament. Solomon wrote 5x’s specifically about meeting the needs of others ( Proverbs 19:17 , 22:9, 11:24-25 , 28:27 , 3:27 ). When Jesus was on Earth, he not only met people’s spiritual needs; he also met their physical needs. All four of the Gospels tell of the story of the feeding of the 5000 when Jesus met their physical hunger. The books of Matthew and Mark tell the story of when Jesus met the physical hunger need of 4000. It was through meeting physical needs that His power was shown, and glory was given to His Father. As the new church was commissioned, Acts 2:45 says that they sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s needs were met. In Acts 4:32-33 , the church was united, and they didn’t claim ownership over their possession. They shared everything they had and not a person among them was needy. Acts 6:1-7 , the apostles assigned church members to oversee the feeding program to help feed the widows and poor. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth to tell them about the church in Macedonia ( 1 Corinthians 8 ) that even though they were poor, they were filled with joy to be able to give to help and share with the Lord’s people. Romans 12:9-21 , Paul addresses the Christian church in Rome expressing that they should share with the Lord’s people who are in need and welcome others into your home. Paul re-iterates Proverbs 25:21- 22 where he says that if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, bring him a drink. The church was focused on the needs of others and not building individual wealth. 5. The believers had community. They were a worshipping community . They had daily discipline of worship in the Temple. They were a close-knit community . Daily after worshipping in the Temple, they went to each other’s houses and shared a meal continuing their praise to God. They were a witnessing community . Daily their number grew, and God added to those who were saved. God gave us an example of a model community of what church is to be. The new church in Acts understood who God was, were filled with the Holy Spirit, received, and understood the apostle’s teachings, devoted to each other with fellowship, meeting needs, praying together, and worshipping together. So here are the questions you need to ask yourself: 1. Are you studying the Scriptures with other believers? Are you breaking bread and sharing meals together with other believers? Are you in honest, true prayer with and for other believers? Are you meeting other people’s spiritual and physical needs? 2. If you are sharing life together with your church like the early Act’s church, how has that impacted your life?

3. Is the church that you are attending following in the example of what the church in Acts 2:42-47 is? Why or why not? 4. How can you take Acts 2:42-47 and apply it to your corporate and individual fellowship? In Multiply , Francis Chan states, “The church is a group of redeemed people that live and serve together in such a way that their lives and communities are transformed.” Are we, the church, transforming lives in our communities? Are we going into our communities and abroad joyously sharing God’s story? Are we living our lives and serving in a way that non-believers will notice? Or are we just going to church? Are we just filling a pew or chair on Sunday morning? Our prayer for our church should be that we become more and more like the model church that God set before us in Acts 2:42-47. May we be filled with excitement to share about Jesus, may the Holy Spirit guide and lead us daily, may we meet together to share fellowship, may we meet the needs of other believers and also the needs of those who aren’t believers, may we spend quality time together praising God, may we be in prayer for each other and may we grow in ginōskō (an intimate knowledge so deep) with our Lord and may He add to our family of believers daily!