Pastor John Wright

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May 31, 2005

Beginning Acts

We are beginning as a congregation, house Bible studies for prayer, support, reading of Scripture, and encouragement to engage in the corporeal works of Mercy. I'm going to try to provide some "starting points" for the groups to help the discussion that takes place. Of course, on-line discussion is good as well!

Acts 1:1-11

Think about how the story of "American history" was told you in your public school education. Why did they tell you the story? Why that way? Who were its heroes? Its villains? How did this history attempt to form you into what type of persons?

Acts tells the story of the church that we, as Christians, must still find ourselves within -- extending the story into history. The Acts of the Apostles is not over, but continuing -- your meeting will be an extension of the story. It therefore needs to be read "within", not as an observer looking at a boa constrictor in a zoo like Dudley Dursley (that's for Tasha, my first Harry Potter reference on my blog -- she has been pushing me to including Harry Potter reference). As we read, how do we hear the story? With whom do we identify? Who is its "heroes" and "villains"? Into what type of people is the Spirit trying to form us in the reading of this text?

The passage itself is divided into two sections: vv. 1-5, a prologue to the whole book, and transition from the Gospels to the time of the church; and vv. 6-11, the ascension.

Vv. 1-5: Theophilus means "Lover of God". It could have been a real person, but it forces the reader to identify themselves as "a lover of God" as one reads. Why does the book begin by reminding "Theophilus" of what has gone before? What does the book point to as significant in the life of Jesus of Nazareth? Why the importance of the life of the Apostles with the risen Jesus following his crucifixion and resurrection?

Vv. 6-11. Does Jesus ever answer the question of the disciples? How? What is the relationship between the "restoration of Israel" and the "giving of the Holy Spirit"? How does Jesus' charge to the apostles relate to his immediate ascension? How do the "two men" refer to the "restoration of Israel" as well? Moreover, how does this set the agenda for our lives together? What is the mission of the church today in relationship to the charge of Jesus, the promise of the Spirit, the restoration of Israel, and the return of Christ?

I hope this is enough to get your started. I'm going to have to learn exactly what is best for you -- so please, give me feedback as this all develops!

Posted by johnwright at May 31, 2005 11:13 AM

Comments

Good for me... ...so that some of us outside SD (ie KC, Mo) can get in on the action! :)

Posted by: Robert Nowlin at June 1, 2005 2:38 PM

Just wanted to report back here on the blog about how our session went on Tuesday night.

In attendance were:

Eric Lee (myself)
Tiana Reinhardt
Jeff Tullefson
Sara Cochran
Josh Gubser
Alison Meyerkord
Don Ketchum
Dave Albert
David Overholt
Kelly Tirrill

I almost forgot to pray at the beginning, but I managed to remember.

People were pretty intuitive as to what you were getting at with asking who were the heroes. At first they named something like "people who fit into the ideal types of America," but I wanted specifics, so I started prodding, century-by-century. War heroes were mainly the ones chosen, but by the 20th century, it was mainly inventors (hence the industrial revolution), and after WWII in which they named some "heroes," nobody could really name anybody anymore. Pop icons were the only thing they could think of at this point.

The enemies of America were Communists, and the great "other" as defined by the "War on Terrorism." I even got them to admit that America started out initially with an enemy: Britain. Some even named Tea, and rightly so -- why else would they throw so much of it in the harbour in Boston? :)

Getting to Acts, we identified the disciples and Jesus as heroes, of course, but for entirely different reasons. The "heroes", more accurately, the Saints here are chosen because of their obedience to the Father, first taking our example from Jesus' most perfect obedience to the Father.

Josh Gubser chimed in with the Jewish idea of what was expected to be the Messiah and why Jesus was rejected and why the disciples asked certain questions of Jesus, but Jesus ultimately told them that it is not for them to know and to just go out and be witnesses unto the ends of the earth. Just go, and do.

Most people chimed in, but Tiana brought to my attention later that it would be good for the moderator to take note of those not saying much and to actively engage them to see if they have any ideas/contributions that they're holding back.

We decided to meet again at our place next Wednesday for next week's meeting, although Tiana and I will be gone.

Posted by: Eric Lee at June 3, 2005 1:07 PM