I’m planning on covering a lot of ground this week (and hopefully getting everyone out in time for second service too!). Have you ever wondered what happened to Paul after Acts 28? Have you heard of his second imprisonment in Rome, an uncomfortable jail cell instead of the house arrest recorded in Acts 28? The Bible is silent about such matters, but history is not (well, not quite). So, here’s the plan:

• Discuss what may have/probably did happen to Paul after Acts 28
• Give a brief overview of church history from 70 A.D. or so until today (yikes!  That’s a lot of ground)
• Discuss the state of the church today (with a focus on the persecuted church) and where we (believers) are in the world today

In light of the state of the church, I’ve really been pondering persecution for the sake of the Name lately. Acts records many examples of this, and we hear about our persecuted brothers and sisters that are suffering around the world for the sake of Christ. In the US, however, we seem to be relatively immune to such persecutions. I’d like to spend a sizable portion of our time looking at Jesus words to his disciples on this topic as recorded in John 14-17 shortly before He was crucified. I urge everyone to spend some time really processing the words of Christ. Here are a few things to think about while reading:

• What exactly does Jesus teach about persecutions?  (look for specific passages)
• Why don’t we face this kind of persecution regularly here in the US?
• Should we be looking for it (i.e. trying to make it happen)?
• Are we living the rule or the exception to the rule (regarding persecution)?  How should your answer to that question inform your worldview?

See you Sunday! Also, bonus points if you read I & II Timothy. These were probably written during Paul’s stay(s) in Rome and give some insight about what was happening at the time.

For those of you that like looking at pictures of the places in Acts (and other biblical places too) that we’ve been studying, you can check out this web site. This is a collection of thousands of pictures that one of my Bethel profs has put together with pictures from Israel, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. It’s pretty cool and also has some good information about all the places/pictures. For an added bonus, click here.

I’m one of those weirdos who likes to pick up a book and read the last chapter, just to find out how the story ends. I don’t quite know why I do this, other than because I can. Contrary to my actions, however, I do believe this is bad practice for a couple reasons. One, it divorces the ending from any sort of context. I can read that Sally and Bob end up living happily ever after and that the evil Dr. Sallybob perishes in a fiery inferno, but I have no idea how they got there, and I have no way of appreciating the outcome. Two, I believe that skipping to the ending robs the story of its unfolding power. It shows that I’m more concerned with how the story ends than I am with what the author wanted to convey. And, on a more personal note, it shows that I just am not good at waiting – I want to know now!

The Bible is not just another novel on the shelf, but we often jump to the end of books like Acts without appreciating the story as it unfolds. I know its been tedious at times (how many towns has he been to, and why do I have to know all their names?), but we’re finally at the end of the book. And speaking as a chronic ending-jumper, I’m enjoying it much better now that I’ve walked through the whole story! So, here’s some things to chew on for Sunday:

1.) Compared to the rest of Acts, do we see in chapter 28 anything different in Paul’s behavior? In the Gentiles’ behavior? In the Jews’ behavior? Or is it pretty much the same?

2.) One of Paul’s main goals has been reached: he has made it to Rome. Why is this important?

3.) Why did Paul quote Isaiah 6:9,10 to the Roman Jews?

4.) What is your understanding of the kingdom of God (28:23, 31) and your place in it?

I’ll see you guys on Sunday . . . I’m looking forward to studying the last chapter in the correct sequential order – at the end!

Acts 27 makes a great bedtime story to read to kids. If veggie-tales hasn’t found this chapter yet, they should!

So we come to the hard question- (1) Why is Acts 27 in the Bible?

Here are some easier questions:
(2) Throughout Acts, when do we see Paul receiving a message from the Lord (e.g. 27:23)?
(3) How would others describe you in “storms”? How would you describe Paul?

Bring your sailor costume, or your centurion garb. . . we might have to act this one out on Sunday!

Jesus boldly declared, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Paul’s whole defense before Festus, Agrippa, and Bernice hinged on his hope in the resurrection from the dead (of both the Christ and human beings). He boldly declared that Jesus was “…the first to rise from the dead…” In Romans 4:24, he says that “It [righteousness] will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord…” In Romans 10:9 Paul declares that to be saved, we must believe that God raised Him [Jesus] from the dead.

And the passage that perhaps best describes Paul’s thoughts on the resurrection is found in I Corinthians 15:12-28. In it Paul contends that if there is no resurrection from the dead, then Christ was not raised. If Christ was not raised, then our faith is futile, is in vain, and we are still in our sins. Do you feel the enormous weight of these words? Do you feel the weightiness of the resurrection today?

I, for one, have been very impressed by the seriousness of a belief and hope in the resurrection from the dead as I have pondered these verses and thoughts over the last week. This brings me to the question that Paul asked of his crowd in Acts 26, “Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God rasies the dead?” There are so many people today who are keen on calling themselves Christians, who “believe in God”, and who are “spiritual”. In general, do you find that such people truly believe in the resurrection of Christ from the dead? How about our resurrection? If so, how does that work with so many incorrect ideas about Christ that many worldly “Christians” have (i.e. that Jesus doesn’t care what we do or how we live our lives and accepts and saves everyone)? What are some effective strategies to working with this worldview? How about a worldview that doesn’t accept a resurrection from the dead?

In Acts 26 (click here for text), we see Paul making his defense before Agrippa, Festus’ response, and Agrippa’s response. Take some time to think about the following:

• Look through chapters 24 & 25 and identify the charges that the Jews bring against Paul.
• As you read chapter 26, does Paul really address these charges? If you were Festus or Agrippa, would you feel that he had cleared himself of the charges against him? Why/why not?
• Acts 9 and 22 each record Paul’s Damascus road experience, but each does it in a different manner. Why do Luke/Paul relate each one differently?
• Paul makes mention that he says nothing different than what Moses and the Prophets said would happen. Where did they discuss this? (c.f. Gen. 3:15, Ps. 16:10, Is. 9:2, 42:16, 52:13-53:12)
• Paul takes even this opportunity to testify to the Truth of the gospel and of Jesus Christ. In what specific ways can you make the most of every opportunity to testify to Christ?

Feel free to post any questions/comments about this. Have a great week & walk worthy of the calling you’ve received!

In Acts 25, Festus is relating his experience with Paul and the Jewish leaders to his good buddy King Agrippa, and he’s telling the king how surprised he was at the nature of the charges thrown at Paul. He was expecting something serious – maybe he was the leader of a rebel group, or maybe he had tried to assassinate someone. All he heard, though, were some “points of dispute” concerning their religion, and some stuff “about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.”

In each person’s frame of reference, Jesus occupied a different role. To Festus, Jesus was an unknown, inconsequential figure who had something to do with the situation he was called upon to judge, but had nothing to do with him. To the Jewish leaders, Jesus was a source of controversy, threatening their religion and way of life. To them, Jesus was reason enough to kill. To Paul, Jesus was everything – the One who had changed his life, the One who had appeared to him and given him a mission, the One whom he wanted to know more than anything.

How does Jesus appear today? I’d love to hear from you on this one, because I don’t rub shoulders with many people whose viewpoint of Jesus is different than mine.

For further discussion: How do these different viewpoints affect how we live and talk and interact? Check out I Peter 3:13-17 . . . I think it’s applicable to this discussion.

One of the common accusations directed at Paul and Christ concerned the temple. Tertullus told governor Felix that Paul tried to “profane the temple.” Two witnesses told Caiaphas that Christ said He would “destroy the temple” (and rebuild it in three days).

I notice a great deal of irony in these accusations, if we pause to consider the nature of “the temple of God” under the new covenant. I Corinthians 3:16 asks, don’t you know that “you (plural) are the temple of God?” We, God’s people, are His temple under the new covenant – the place where God’s presence dwells.

The irony? Paul was in Jerusalem to bring Jewish believers a gift from the Gentiles, which I think was so important to him because it represented the unity of the early church. Paul was attempting to unify, build up, and strengthen the “temple of God,” the church of God. Yet for those who could only see the physical temple, Paul was a “profaner” of the temple, (for they assumed he had brought Trophimus, the Gentile, into the Jew’s temple).

And Christ: In receiving the sentence of execution for the “blasphemy” of wanting to “destroy the (physical) temple,” the ironic twist is that at that very moment, Christ laid the foundation for and began to build the temple not made with hands. See I Peter 2, for explanations of Christ, the chief cornerstone, and we, the living stones who comprise this holy house of God.

Both Paul and Jesus were accused of threatening the (physical) temple. Both found themselves in that situation only out of a desire to build up the (new) temple. In the midst of irony, God shows us His “foolishness” that is wiser than man’s wisdom.