This week we were introduced to Simon (a.k.a. “Simon the Sorcerer” and “Simon Magus”), and according to Simon himself “Someone Great!” Although there is not a lot of information about Simon in the Bible, early church fathers wrote about him with enough detail that we are able to sketch his character and his beliefs and his…
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This week we focused on this brief, transitional passage that documents the first officially sanctioned persecution of Christ followers as well as what happened to Stephen’s body after his stoning (lynching) in chapter 7. We looked at the structure of Acts noting that chapters 1-7 and 13-28 follow a single-thread narrative, whereas chapters 8-12 traces…
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As we examined the “inconsistencies” between Stephen’s words and the Genesis/Exodus narratives, as well as manuscript differences between the Hebrew scriptures and the Septuagint, we saw how multiple sources lend credence to the historicity of the accounts as recorded. And the “inconsistencies” aren’t that inconsistent after all. >> Click to read this week’s passages in…
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We circled back to take a closer look at the first part of Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin. Although some see no point to Stephen’s sermon outside of developing his character to provide the backdrop for his murder, we discovered that Stephen was actually laying out a perfect defense of himself and an offense against…
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Guest Teacher: David Pikett This week we continued our verse-by-verse study in Acts. We looked into the historical and religious setting of first century Jerusalem. We learned that in addition to the Temple, there were numerous synagogues in and around the city. We discussed why there might be a need for these synagogues, who would…
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Guest Teacher: David Pikett. This week we continued our verse-by-verse study in Acts. We discussed how the church should respond to changes and growth. We also looked more closely at the words used to describe Stephen including pairs of terms such as “faith/grace & power” and “wonders & miracles/signs.” “Faith” comes from the Greek word…
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