Thoughts on Study Questions from Acts Ch 9 from 12/9

My Sunday school class/Life Group is studying the book of Acts. I posted these questions this Monday and encouraged you to jot your thoughts down.

It's Wednesday. This post consists of some comments from the class discussion.

If you’d like a PDF file of the questions, email me at crd.author@gmail.com

Chapter 9:1-9

What is Saul's verbal response to the heavenly voice?

"Who are you, Lord?" None of the translations we checked had "Lord" as the same word as YHVH (Yahweh).

We thought that the use of the generic Lord might have represented Saul's struggle against his conscience at this point in his persecution of Christians.

Compare what happened to Saul with what happened to his traveling companions. What did they hear? 

Heard noise (thunder/voice)

Did not see anyone

How did they react?

Were speechless and astonished confused, scared, in awe

What are the last things Saul's companions are recorded as doing?
They lead Saul--who is without sight for three days--to Damascus, apparently drop him off somewhere, and leave

Vv10-19

Put yourself in Ananias's place. How does his reaction compare to what you think yours might have been?
The discussion focused on Ananias's response. 
He was doubtful but obedient.
His response was much like Jonah's initial response to God's call
We wondered what happened to Saul's companions. 
Here's one answer to what he/she might have done.
I would have argued with God longer than Ananias did!

What does God tell Ananias to say to Saul?

That he was going to 

• preach to the Gentiles
• suffer

Since Saul knew all the prophetic Scripture, it is likely that this would not surprise him.

What does Ananias actually tell Saul?
He will regain his sight.
He will be filled with the Holy Spirit.

What does Saul do? Explain why he did each thing he did.
He was baptized. This was the common practice among early Christian converts because it was a public statement of faith.
He ate. He was hungry after three days of fasting.
He went to the synagogue with Christians. This would have taken courage on Saul's part since his reason for being in Damascus was to arrest and persecute those people.
A question stumped us.
Who was Judas, owner of the house Paul stayed in while blinded?
We decided that he must have been a believer and that his faith was enormous since he allowed the chief persecutor of Christians to stay in his home. However, I couldn't find any information via search engines.

 We got this far this week. 

Vv19-31

How do you think the "disciples" in Damascus felt about Saul's attending their meetings?

Saul almost immediately begins to do what?

What questions do the people have?

In v22 Saul is described as proving that Jesus was Messiah. Why did he not see this before?

How do we know that the shoe is on the other foot now for Saul?

How does Saul avoid the Jews?

Reaction to Saul in Jerusalem is different than it was in Damascus. Why do you think that was?

Who appears (for the second time) to help?

What does Barnabas do to help the people overcome their fear?

Saul seems to infuriate all Jews equally. Who tries to kill him this time? Where does he end up after this "close call"?

After Saul's extreme persecution, what does his conversion lead to?

Compare the fear at the first of Chapter 9 to the fear at the end.

Vv32-42

The story returns to which apostle? What's he been doing?

This miracle is similar to which previous miracle?

Where did this occur?

What do you think v35 means?

Tabitha (Dorcas) is the first positive woman role model presented in Acts—what was her claim to fame?

What has happened to Dorcas? What do the people of Joppa do about it?

They ask Peter to come "at once," but when he arrives, what do they do?

How does Peter address the need?

What results from this miracle?

Why might some confusion have arisen from Peter's choice of residence in Joppa?

Chapter 10

Vv1-8

Who is Cornelius? What do we know about him?

What is significant about the time of day of Cornelius' vision?

Why do you think God sent an angel and not just a voice?

9-23a

Why do you think Peter went up on the roof to pray?

What is significant about Peter’s physical state during his prayer?

What is Peter doing when he sees his vision?

What comes from heaven?

Describe the vision.

What does the voice say to do? What is Peter's response? [see Leviticus 11]

How does the voice respond to Peter?

What significance do you think there is to Peter seeing the vision 3 times?

What is Peter's mental state after the third vision?

Who shows up? Are they invited in?

Why aren’t they invited in?

Why does Peter go down off the roof?

What does Peter do when he gets down?

23b-33

When do they head to Caesarea? What is implied by this?

What is Cornelius doing?

How does this show the depth of Cornelius' faith?

Why would Cornelius "fall at [Peter's] feet"?

How does Peter respond to this act of Cornelius?

What does Peter do then?

How does he explain this non-Jewish action?

What is Peter's question to the group?

Cornelius' answer is straight-forward. He adds one thing, what? Why do you think he adds this?

34-48

How does Peter's sermon here differ from his previous sermons?

What happens before the end of the sermon?

Who came with Peter? What is their reaction?

What is Peter's reaction?

How does Peter’s reaction fit into Jesus command of Acts 1?

Chapter 11

1-18

When Peter returns to Jerusalem, he is on the hot seat. Why?

Describe a possible parallel situation that might happen in our church in this century.

Compare Peter's account to the brothers in Jerusalem to Luke's account in Chapter 10. What is different?

Why do you think that it’s different?

What happens to the objections of the Jerusalem believers?

19-26

How does the church get its start in Antioch?

Who might these “evangelists” be?

Who is given "first shot" at the Gospel by the evangelists?

Who are "the Greeks"?

What is the secret of the evangelist's success?

Why is Barnabas sent to Antioch?

What is the effect of his visit?

Where else does he go? Why?

How long do Saul and Barnabas "pastor" the church at Antioch?

What significant terminology arises from this church?

27-30

Who is Agabus?

What does he do?

About what year is this?

What is the Antioch church response to this?

In Jesus time, Jews were looking for a wrong type of Messiah rather than the One God provided in Jesus.

If you are interested in Messianic prophecies, my blog December 26 is a "fill in the blanks" table for 37 messianic prophecies. On December 27, the blog post provides the answers.

Feel free to spread the word about this.

This week's Expressions of Faith is Immanuel (Revised)

Follow me on Twitter: @CRDowningAuthor and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CRDowningAuthor

My website is: www.crdowning.com

I'd appreciate your feedback on Blogger!