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Notes for my weekly Bible Study group.
Resources

Overview

  • Paul and Silas traveled through two cities: Amphipolis and Apollonia. Paul was dependent on the Holy Spirit’s prompting to minister and didn’t sense the Spirit moving in Amphipolis and Apollonia so they didn’t stop to minister.
  • When they reached Thessalonica Paul and his partners found women praying to God by the river and shared the gospel with them.
  • Paul met with Jewish leaders for three weeks to discuss scripture.  Paul explained how Jesus (the Messiah) had to suffer and rise from the dead.
  • Paul and his colleagues were staying at Jason’s house. The Jews becames jealous and started looking for Paul, Silas, and Timothy. When they couldn’t find thm they dragged Jason out in front of the mob and yelled at him about what Paul and his friends were doing. The crowd accused Paul and his friends of undermining Caesar’s authority by claiming Jesus was the rightful king. Jason and others are imprisoned until the city officials took “a security bond” (bribe) from Jason and the others, enabling them to be released. This bribe/agreement ensured that Paul would never be allowed back in Thessalonica.
  • Paul and his colleagues moved on from Thessalonica to Berea.  The people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and listened eagerly to Paul’s message.  Many Jews in Thessalonica realized Paul and his colleagues had gone to Berea so they planned to go there and cause trouble for Paul.  The people in Berea that had become believers decide to help Paul and send him to the coast before the troublemakers from Thessalonica could arrive. They later send Silas and Timothy to join Paul on the coast.
  • Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens. While Paul was waiting for them he was bothered by all the idols he saw in the city. Paul went daily went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there. He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers om Berea. The philosophers were curious about Paul’s preaching and took him to the high council of Berea. Paul told the high council that he noticed an altar with an inscription “To an Unknown God”.  Paul explains that this “unknown” God is the same God he had been talking about. A few members of the high council were interested in Paul’s discussion and became believers in Christ.

Summary

  • In just three short weeks, Paul persuaded people in Thessalonica to follow Jesus. The new believers encountered persecution but they did not allow their persecution to convince them to abandon Jesus. Their perseverance and their modeling after Paul became an example to others in the region, leading even more people to Jesus.
  • Paul reasoned, explained, and showed that Jesus was the Messiah, enablng them to be persuaded to follow Jesus.

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Notes for my weekly Bible Study group.
Resources

Overview

In Acts 16 God uses Lydia so that her whole family can come to faith. Everything thst happens in Acts 16 is because of God’s timing:

  • Paul being prevented from entering Asia because it was more important to go to Macedonia
  • Paul meeting Timothy
  • Paul meeting Lydia who leads her entire household to become followers of Jesus Christ
  • Paul exorcising the slave-girl
  • Paul leading prayer among the prisoners
  • Paul baptizing the prison guard
  • Paul and Silas being set free by the magistrates

Summary

 

  • Paul journeyed to Derbe and Lystra, going north from Jerusalem, and met Timothy, a young man in his late teens or early twenties with a Greek father and Jewish mother. Paul described Timothy as a “true son in the faith”.
  • Timothy becomes Paul’s student and trusted colleague. Timothy eventually takes Silas’s place as Paul’s missionary partner. Paul circumcises Timothy and takes him to meet the Jerusalem Council. Timothy’s circumcision gave him “full access to the synagogues because the Jews thought he hadn’t abandoned his Jewish roots.
  • Paul, Silas, and Timothy continued to travel, sharing the Jerusalem Council’s decisions and strengthening churches in both faith and new converts.
  • Paul’s planned to preach in Asia but the Holy Spirit prevented him from going there and Bithynia (northwest Turkey).
  • Paul was given a vision to preach in Macedonia while he was in Troas (an ancient Greek city near the northern tip of Turkey’s western coast). Macedonia was a province of Greece and located on the mainland. Macedonia was the next step for “taking the Gospel from Asia into Europe.”
  • Paul, Silas, and Timothy then set out for Macedonia. Paul and his companions knew nothing about Macedonia or the city of Philippi but journeyed there anyway under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
  • While in Philippi Paul and his colleagues wanted to pray on the Sabbath. Unfortunately they were unable to find a place to worship because there were no synagogues in the city because there were fewer than ten Jewish men in the city.  Paul and his colleagues went down to the river and spoke with a group of women, including Lydia, a Gentile from Thyatira (an ancient city in Asia). Lydia and her household embraced the gospel and were then baptized.
  • Paul and his companions stayed at Lydia’s house following her baptism.
  • Lydia opened her home to Paul and his colleagues but also to the entire church in Philippi.
  • Paul and Silas meet a slave-girl who can predict the future.  Paul realizes she was possesed by a demon, giving her the power of divination. She was using these powers to earn her owners money through fortune-telling. Paul exorcises the demon, removing this power from her.
  • The slave-girl’s owners were furious and seized Paul and Silas to face the authorities. The slave-girl’s owners complained to the magistrates that Paul and Silas were promoting customs that were illegal for Romans and Jewish people to practice.  The magistrates order Paul and Silas to be stripped, beaten with rods (flogged), and thrown into prison.
  • Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying when an earthquake occurs, shaking the prison’s foundations and causing all of the prison doors to fly open and the prisoner’s chains to fall off. The guard is convinced the prisoners had all escaped and plans to commit suicide. Paul assures him that no one escaped even though they could have easily done so. The guard is so impressed that he accepts Jesus and is baptised. 
  • The next day the magistrates try to set Paul and Silas free but Paul insisted the magistrates come free them on their own instead of sending guards to do so.  The magistrates come and free Paul and Silas. 
  •   Paul and Silas return to Lydia’s house to pray with their brothers and sisters prior to leaving for another town.

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Notes for my weekly Bible Study group.
Resources

Summary

  • In Acts 15, the authority of sharing the gospel comes into question when Gentiles were converted to follow Jesus.
  • A group of men from Judea (known as Judaizers) were teaching that  circumcision was required to be saved. They also wanted Christianity to become a sect of Judaism (they wanted Gentile believers to become Jewish proselytes). Paul and Barnabas are called to meet with other Christian leaders in Jerusalem to discuss making circumcision a requirement for faith in Jesus. This would be like trying to re-stitch the veil in the temple after it had been torn in two. Jesus removed the barriers but the Judaizers wanted to put them back up.
  • A group of Christian leaders (the Jerusalem Council) are identified to decide if circumcision should be required and if Jewish laws should be applied to Christians. The issues are debated until Peter reminds everyone that God called him to deliver the gospel to the Gentiles. God gave Gentlie believers the Holy Spirit. Peter explains how God makes no distinction between Jews and Gentiles and questions why they were trying to put an extra yoke on the Gentile believers.
  • James (Jesus’ half brother) suggests that circumcision shouldn’t be required and proposes variables that they should abstain “from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from blood.” The Jerusalem Council agrees with James’ proposals.
  • The decision unites the church, preventing it from being split by disagreements.
  • The decision creates a united approach to how the church could witness to the lost.
  • The sharing of the decision blesses the churches and the believers who receive it.
  • The decisions are shared in a letter to Antioch, and the believers there rejoice because of its encouragement.
  • Messengers take the decision back to the brothers in Jerusalem, while Paul and Barnabas, among others, remain in Antioch to continue preaching the message of Christ.
  • Paul and Barnabas plan to return to the places they had previously preached to check on how the new converts are doing. Barnabas wants John Mark to accompany them, but Paul objects because John Mark had left them one time before.  This causes such a disagreement between Barnabas and Paul that they part company. Barnabas takes John Mark to Cyprus while Paul takes Silas to  Syria and Cilicia.

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  • Intermission:
    • Gospels are biographies and we can learn from them
    • Spritual Disciplines (“practies of Jesus”) – how we follow Jesus
      • Bible Reading
      • Prayer
      • Sabbath
    • Disciplne: any activity that enables me to eventually do something that I cannot yet do.
    • Jesus doesn’t command us to do any of His practices, He just does them and says “follow me”.
  • Part 3: 4 Practices to Unhurry Your Life
    • Boredom doesn’t exist anymore
      • We have access to everything but lost opportunitiies to pray or be aware.
      • Is it really necessary to check the news, watch a video, or do something else at this moment? When are we ever alone wewith our thoughts?
      • We’re losing our abiilty to be present – it’s an epidemic of distraction
      • The noise of the modern world drowns out God. We are disctracting ourselves into spiritual obivion.
    • Silence and Solitude
      • Jesus was led into the widerness becausde it was a place of strength.
      • Jesus frequently went to His quiet place to pray. It was His source of strength. His quiest place was His top priority.
      • Jesus frequently stayed up all night praying since it was the only time He could have time alone with His father – it was more important than sleep.
      • THe busier and more in demand Jesus became, the more He withdrew to His quiest places to pray – this is the opposite of what we usually do.
      • If Jesus needed time in a quiet place why wouldn’t we?
      • Why do we always need the radio on or podcasts/music? Are we using external noise to drown out internal noise? Some of us are trapped in the unhealthy patterns of our own minds.
      • Silence is silencing external and internal noise.
      • Solitude is enagegment, isolation is escape
      • Solituide is setting aside time to feed, water, and nuture your sould.
      • Silence & Solitude are the most important – we must set aside for our relationship with God
      • Take an hour a day to enjoy God.
      • Be careful not to priritize the urgent over the important.
      • When we spend time in silence and solitude with God our failures fail to take us over
    • Sabbath
      • “In the torment of the insufficiency of everything attainable, we learn that ultimately in this world there is no finished symphony” – Karl Rahner, 20th century Catholic theologian
      • Desire is infiite but we are finaite – result is restlessness. We liove with chronically unsatisifed desires.
        • the “God-shaped hole”problem
        • We are made to live with God – nothing less will ever satisfy us
        • “Öur heart is restless until it rests in You”
        • “Twin Gods os accumulation and accomplishment”
        • Social media exasperates the issue (meme: apple in a mirror with a bite taken out of it)
      • Sabbath is the mitigation – it means “to stop”
        • Most marketing focuses on rest or Sabbath – take a day of your week to slow down and breathe
      • Work hard to rest well
      • “People who keep the Sabbath live all seven days differently”
      • The Sabbath was made for man, man wasn’t made for the Sabbath.
      • When God created the earth the 7th day was His Sabbath.
      • “if you go against the grain of the universe you get splinters”
      • “The Sabbath is an invitation to enter delight. The Sabbath is the best day of our lives. A full day of delight and joy is more than most people can bear in a lifetime, let alone a week”

Intentions for Silence/solitude and Sabbath:

  • Lawrence: intentionally talk to God more. Ask others to pray to ask God to reveal things to him. Will also go to church once a month. If Joy’s not going he’ll go with Angela.
  • Kelly: will spend more time daily with himself and God in silence with no distractions.
  • Joy: be intentional about the Sabbath. Set boundaries to not do things.
  • Angie: interested in Shabbat (to stop). Stop and take time to slow down and see what. God has for her in that moment on a daily basis and take joy in it.
  • Kim: spend more time to intentionally honor the Sabbath by stopping her activities and enjoying the silence and solitude on a weekly basis.
  • John: stop constantly listening to music and podcasts so much to spend more time in silence, enjoy the silence and spend more time praying in that silence. Prioritize my Bible studies to be the first thing I do when I get out of bed.  Try to spend more time with an analog Bible than doing everything on my phone.

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Notes for my weekly Bible Study group.
Resources

Summary

  • NOTE: There is a lot of confusion around when Saul becomes Paul. Paul was on a mission to spread the gospel among the Gentiles who spoke Latin anf Greek. Paul adopted his Roman name (Paul) because the name Saul had a ludicrous meaning in Greek (roughly translated it means “little fellow”).
  • In Acts 13, the focus shifts to Paul. Acts 28:30–31 tells us once Paul was taken to Rome, he spent two years in his own rented house, welcoming all who visited him, and boldly teaching them about Jesus Christ. This was how Paul lived throughout his years of ministry. A quick review of Acts 13 reveals Paul preached in Antioch in Syria, where he and Barnabas were commissioned for this first missionary journey. They visited Paphos on the island of Cypress. Paul and Barnabas continued on to Perga, where John Mark left them. They traveled to Antioch in Pisidia, where Paul gave his first sermon.
  • Acts 14 covers the conclusion of Paul’s first missionary journey.
  • Paul and Barnabas moved on to Iconium. Iconium was a “cultural melting pot” of the native communities: Phrygians, Greeks, Jews, and Roman colonists.  Paul and Barnabas followed the pattern of speaking first in the synagogue, where many Jews and Greeks believed. The Jews who refused to believe turned the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas. When someone doesn’t like what you do or who you are, they just start stirring the pot. But Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly about Christ, who granted that signs and wonders be performed through them.
  • The people in the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. Because the division was so bad, people wanted to stone Paul and Barnabas. But Paul and his companions found out and fled to Lystra and Derbe where they kept evangelizing.
  • As they evangelized in Lystra, they encountered more resistance. Paul saw a man who was lame from birth but had faith, Paul tells the man to stand up, healing him. The crowds thought Paul and Barnabas were the gods Hermes and Zeus and feared that their town would be wiped out. According to ancient folklore, Zeus and Hermes visited Lystra asking for food and lodging but were refused. In response, Zeus and Hermes caused a flood to drown everyone who had been unwilling to help them.
  • Barnabas and Paul tore their robes and told the the men of Lystra who they were and why they were there. Barnabas and Paul urged them to turn away from their “worthless things to the living God”.  Paul and Barnabas barely escape the crowd trying to kill them.
  • The Jews from Iconium chase and catch them in Lystra. They stone Paul and drag him outside the city, thinking they had killed him. Paul was probably killed when they stoned him because stoning usually involved throwing someone into a pit and dropping large rocks upon them.
  • When the disciples find Paul, he gets up and walks into town (this implies to me that the Lord ressurected Paul so he could continue his work).
  • The next day they leave for Derbe – Paul continues his work despite being persecuted for it.
  • They evangelized in Derbe, then returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. Paul and Barnabas report on everything that happened and explained how God “had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles”.

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Notes for my weekly Bible Study group.
Resources

Summary

  • Jesus said he did not come to eradicate the Law, but fulfill it.
    Acts is the product of that fulfillment
  • Paul’s First Missionary: Jerusalem
  • The church started in Jerusalem
    Then to Judea and Samaria
    Then to the ends of the Earth.
  • More than 40 cities are mentioned in the book of Acts
  • If you spend time with Jesus, you’ll spend time spreading the gospel. If you’re not spreading the gospel, you’re not spending enough time with Jesus.
  • Acts 13 & 14 covers 6 cities. Thousands of miles – on FOOT, and by boat
  • Barnabas and Saul were sent out
    At this point, Barnabas is listed first

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Notes for the weekly discussion with my Bible Study group.

Resources

Summary

  • Acts 12 reflects Psalm 34:15–16. The Lord watches over those who do right and hears their cries. The Lord ignores those who do evil and will erase their memory from the earth.
  • King Herod attacks the church and kills James, the brother of John, making James was the first of the apostles to be martyred. The Jews are happy with this so Herod also has Peter arrested. The church prays for Peter while he is in prison.
  • Peter’s execution is scheduled for the next day. An angel of the Lord appears and tells to follow him. When Peter arises the chains fall off Peter’s wrists.  Peter and the angel walked out of the prison, past the guards, and then stood by as the iron gate opened by itself. When they got to the street, the angel left.
  • Peter realizes that God saved him and goes to Mary’s house.  The people praying there are shocked and thankful to see him.
  • The next day Herod discovers Peter escaped and has Peter’s guards executed.
  • Herod goes to Caesarea to give a speech about two cities that are causing him trouble (Tyre and Sidon).  The people attending the speech people cry out that Herod is a god, not a man. An angel then strikes Herod down with an infection because he kept the glory for himself instead of giving the glory to God (as mentioned in Isaiah 42:8).
  • God’s message and the good news about the gospel continues to spread. Peter’s life was saved to go on and continue in ministry.
  • At the end of Acts 12, the story of Acts transitions from the preaching and evangelism of the apostles to the missionary journeys of Paul.

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Notes for the weekly discussion with my Bible Study group.

Resources

Summary

  • In Acts 10, the Holy Spirit poured Himself out on Cornelius and Cornelius’s whole household. It was the first Gentile Pentecost. Jewish leaders were unhappy about Peter fraternizing with the Gentiles.
  • Peter explained his entire story, including how the Holy Spirit baptized the Gentiles.
  • After hearing Peter’s story, the Jewish believers praised God for granting eternal life to the Gentiles. The Jews recognized the Messiah was also for the Gentiles as was prophesied in Isaiah 41:1, 6; 49:6.
  • The gospel began to spread into Gentile communities in Antioch through two nameless men from Cyprus and Cyrene. Barnabas and Saul, who we now know as Paul, encouraged and taught the new church in Antioch for the next year.
  • The church in Antioch called themselves Christians. This was the first time this term was ever used.

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As much as I love open source projects, I will no longer be using Known as my blog engine. Known was a fantastic tool for learning about the IndieWeb, but it was very buggy (especially the plugins). Today I tried to upgrade to the latest version and thanks to some undocumented dependencies my entire site was trashed. How annoying.

That’s it, I’m done. I’ve moved to WordPress and I’m in the process of rebuilding everything.

Stay tuned.

Addendum

Costco is also like some open source projects: only useful if your time has no value. I despise Costco – it’s like being at Disneyworld except there are no rides

Kelowna, BC