This week, we continued our study of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch by investigating what we know (and don’t know) about the eunuch: where he came from, what his place was in society, how he traveled, and why someone from so far away would have made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. We also imagined the story...

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This week, we began our study of a very familiar story about Philip the Evangelist and an official from Ethiopia (modern-day Sudan). We discussed God’s amazing timing in bringing these two men together at the perfect moment. We examined a variety of passages to determine whether the terms “angel” and “spirit” were interchangeable in this...

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This week, we finished up our study of the interaction between the apostles and Simon Magus. For real. We zoomed in on the final verses of the narrative where Peter apparently ‘curses’ Simon for his attempt to purchase the ability to bestow the Holy Spirit. We discussed the difference between “believing” and faith that leads...

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This week we continued our discussion about Simon the magician and his desire to purchase the ability to bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit (which cannot be purchased). We were reminded that Jesus’ parable of the sower provides a way to understand the difference between an authentic conversion experience and one that has no roots,...

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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 observed how the stepped-up persecution of Christians in Jerusalem served as a catalyst for the spread of the good news throughout Judea and into Samaria thus fulfilling part of Jesus’ prophecy in Acts 1:8. We focused in on the first non-Judean “missionary journey” post-Resurrection: Philip’s ministry in Samaria. We concluded that this was...

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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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This week we finally finished our deep dive into Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 and witnessed his stoning (or lynching, depending on how you look at it). We discussed Stephen’s vision that he had prior to his stoning and the specific title he used for Jesus: Son of Man.  We observed the people take the law...

The post Acts 7:54-8:1a ~ Stephen: The First Christian Martyr appeared first on Bible Study Rocks™.

This week we got back to where we had left off with the “peroratio” (i.e., conclusion) of Stephen’s speech in Acts 7. It’s at this point the reason for his rehashing the history of Israel becomes crystal clear: Stephen has been building a case not merely to proclaim his innocence, but also to prove the...

The post Acts 7:51-56 ~ Who’s Really on Trial Here? appeared first on Bible Study Rocks™.

This week we continued our detour exploring questions about the purpose and origin of the temple. We did a cursory overview of temple history and discussed a number of Scripture passages for the purpose of better understanding whether the temple was something God desired or not. We have been looking into the possibility that God...

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