Acts 14 to 16

PLACE: city of Iconium/Lystra, Derbe
WHO: Paul and Barnabas, Peter, Timothy
WHAT: As they fled for their lives, they were spreading the gospel in the cities and towns they stayed in. Acts is a beautiful recollection of how the new testament church was established, and it has become the blueprint for us today as to how christians should 'do church' today…(besides that we ARE the church).
Small groups gathered on a regular basis in a believers house, praying, encouraging each other and reading the Word of God. They studied the old testament as was given to Moses on the mountain. 
After Jesus was resurrected and ascended to heaven there were no documents to tell them what to do or how. The only one clear instruction was given: "..Go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.."(Matt28:18). The Holy Spirit led them to figure it out as they went along. 

Discussion: Acts 14

Healing of the crippled man: what stood out from scripture is the fact that this man's faith was noticeable (Acts14:9): "He was listening as Paul preached, and Paul noticed him and realized he had faith to be healed".

The group discussed the measure of faith that was dealt to everyone of us. Some have more faith than others, but the awesomeness of God is shown in the fact that He SEES our faith..even if it is small as a musterdseed…He can work with it. 

The 'worship' of the crowd was incorrectly directed to Paul and Barnabas…the lesson we took: in life often our worship is misdirected.

Their worship was also very short lived, cause in the next paragraph the same people were stirred into a murderous mob that stoned Paul. The lesson: let our worship be directed to God, and rooted in Him…not to be swayed by other's opinions.

Acts 14 v16 - 17: "God never left himself without a witness. there were always his reminders, the kind things He did such as sending you rain and good crops and giving you food and gladness" :

This verse reminds us of the whole issue concerning evangelism...what if people die before they've heard this good news? Isn't that unfair? Romans 10:14 says: "But how shall they ask him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about him, unless someone tells them? And how will anyone GO and tell them unless someone sends him? That is what the Scriptures are talking about when they say, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Gospel of peace with God and bring glad tidings of good things'.  
We do not have to 'worry' that our God is unjust. Our God is just and faithful...He never leaves himself without a witness says verse 17. The earth and everything in it will testify to His greatness.

We are reminded that God's Word is our daily bread. Just as God gave manna to the Israelites in the desert, so His word feeds our spirit. 'Man cannot live by bread alone'… Stay in it, to receive more of Him.

14v22: " They encouraged them to continue in the faith in spite of all the persecution, reminding them that they must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations".

Discussion: This life will not be easy. We learn to become more like Jesus through what we suffer in and for His name.

We also discussed the issue of miracles and how today we don't even recognise the miracles in our lives…or we forget very quickly what the Lord has done for us. Miracles aren't necessarily breaking news or making headlines. They are sometimes witnessed by one soul in the ordinary flow of your day. 
Open our eyes Lord, to see those miracles you have stored up to grow our faith, and to bring glory to your Name.

Discussion: ACTS 15:

The whole issue of salvation being offered to the Gentiles are being discussed here. New concept for even the Peters and the Pauls of the early church…the leaders. 

"God, who knows men's hearts, confirmed the fact that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he gave him to us (Jews). He made no distinction between them and us, for he cleansed their lives through faith, just as he did ours."This is Peter speaking.

There  is no need for gentiles to adhere to Jewish custom, i.e. being circumcised and keeping all the 600 and what Jewish laws. God made it clear that the New testament is a fulfilment of the Old testament, not a replacement. With the coming of Christ we don't have to be circumcised like the Jews.NO - instead Our HEARTS must be circumcised.

The question was asked why then was Timothy circumcised in ACTS 16?

Our discussion made us believe that his circumcision would make him more acceptable to the people he was going to preach to…the pharisees. 

Returning to ACTS 15: It seems that the disagreement between Paul and Silas took them in different directions. 

We were surprised to see that even in those days, leaders of the church had  disagreements… We mentioned that the church are divided even today because of what starts out as 'small' disagreements. Seems negative…..

but then Deon mentioned that perhaps the Lord uses our disagreements to spread His Word. We love to huddle together for our own comfort and our own enjoyment. God has His own agenda…to get people saved!No soul to be lost....no time to loose! If that means using our differences...THAT is how God can turn even our weakness into His strength. HIS purposes...not ours.

Discussion: ACTS 16

Issue of the chapter starting off in 3rd person, and then in verse 11 switching to 1st person was made clear by the comments from Kerion's bible. Book of Acts was written by Luke. He didn't travel with Paul for the first 16 chapters, only relayed the happenings as was told him by Paul and the others. From verse 11 Luke joined Paul on the journey.

The Jailer's conversion:

Paul and Silas' miraculously escaped from jail through an earthquake ….they were worshipping God singing hymns.

AGAIN the power of worship is made clear in this instance!

The jailer received salvation because of their worship and obedience. 

May we truly worship God and release the power of God through our songs of praise this week!

Happy reading for you all: May God reveal Himself to you anew as you study chapters 17 - 19