Stories from Acts 1-2

Acts 1-2 God made this world beautiful and good. He told humanity to look after his world and to reflect his glory. But we rejected God and made a mess of his world. As a result God pronounced a curse on the world and the judgment of death on all people. But he also promised to send a Saviour who would re-establish God rule and put things right. Hundreds of years later Jesus came into God’s world as God’s promised Saviour and King. Again we rejected God by killing Jesus on the cross. But three days later God raised Jesus from the dead. For forty days Jesus appeared again and again to his followers, proving that he was truly alive. One day he was eating with them when he said, ‘Wait in Jerusalem until the Father baptizes you with the Holy Spirit. You will receive power when the Spirit comes. And youwill be my witnesses in Jerusalem, the surrounding regions of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ Then Jesus was taken up into heaven on a cloud. Two white-robed men appeared out of nowhere and told the disciples that one day Jesus would return in the same way he had left. The followers of Jesus returned to Jerusalem and were constantly united in prayer. They chose Matthias to be one of the twelve ‘apostles’ or ‘sent ones’. He replaced Judas who had betrayed Jesus. They chose Matthias by casting lots. On the Jewish festival of Pentecost the believers were meeting together. Suddenly a mighty wind filled the house. Tongues of flame settled over each person. Everyone was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages. Devout Jews from many different nations had come to Jerusalem for the festival. When they heard all the noise they ran to see what was happening. They were amazed: ‘How come these northerners are speaking about the wonderful things God has done in our own native languages?’ But other people laughed and said they were just drunk. Peter stepped forward. ‘Listen up,’ he shouted. ‘We’re not drunk – it’s only nine o’clock in the morning!’ ‘What is happening now was predicted by the prophets long ago. They said God’s Spirit would be poured out on all people, men and women alike. The young would see visions. The old would dream dreams. God said he would perform terrifying wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below. But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. ‘Listen. God endorsed Jesus by doing powerful miracles through him as you all know. It was God’s plan that Jesus would be betrayed and that you would kill him on the cross. But God raised him from the dead just as King David predicted long ago. We are all witnesses of this. God has honoured Jesus in heaven and poured out the Spirit just as he promised. So let everyone know: God has made Jesus, whom you crucified, Lord and Saviour.’ The people listening were pierced to their hearts by Peter’s words. ‘What must we do?’ they asked. Peter replied, ‘Turn from your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus to show you have received forgiveness. Then you, too, will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Save yourselves from this corrupt culture.’ And so about 3,000 people believed and were baptized. All the believers were devoted to the teaching of the apostles. They were devoted to the community of believers. They were devoted to breaking break together. And they were devoted to prayer. They had a deep sense of awe. The apostles performed miraculous signs. They praised God all the time. They worshipped in the temple and had the respect of the people. They shared their possessions. Every day they broke bread together in their homes. And they shared meals with great joy and generosity. Every day new people were saved and added to the community. Dialogue Questions • What do you find surprising in the story? • How would you have reacted if you had heard the followers of Jesus speaking in different languages? • What do we learn about God in this story? • How are we like the people in the story? • What was important to the first community of Jesus? What task had Jesus given them? • What was the message of Peter? How would his message be in our neighbourhood? • Why do you think they devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles, to the community of believers, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer? • What links are there to our stories? • What links are there to our story as a community together? • How does the story challenge or encourage us? • How can we be the witnesses of Jesus in our neighbourhood? • What do we need to be the witnesses of Jesus in our neighbourhood? Acts 3-4 Who can remember the story from last time? One afternoon Peter and John, two of the apostles, went to the temple in Jerusalem. A lame man was being carried to the temple gate were each day he used to beg for money. Peter and John looked at him intently. ‘Look at us,’ said Peter. The lame looked at them eagerly because he thought they were going to give him some money. ‘I don’t have any silver or gold,’ said Peter. ‘But I’ll give you what I do have: in the name of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, get up and walk.’ Peter took the man by the hand and helped him up. As he did so, the man’s legs were instantly healed. He jumped up, stood on his feet and began to walk. Then he went into the temple, leaping about and praising God. Everyone saw him and realised he was the beggar they had often seen at the gate. So they were astounded. They gathered round the man who was now hold tightly to Peter and John. Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd: ‘Why are you so surprised? The God of our ancestors has done this to bring glory to his servant Jesus. ‘This is the same Jesus you handed over to the Romans. You condemned the innocent one. You killed the author of life. But God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. Turn back to God and he will wipe away your sins. One day Jesus will come again and restore everything. ‘Jesus is the Prophet promised by Moses. Moses warned that anyone who does not listen to God’s Prophet will be completely cut off from God. All the prophets spoke about what is happening today. You are the children of God’s covenant people and so Jesus came first to bless you by turning you away from your evil ways.’ While Peter and John were speaking, the temple guard arrived. The temple leaders were disturbed because Peter and John had said Jesus had risen from the dead. Peter and John were put in prison over night. But many people believed so the total number of believers reached around 5,000 adult men. The next day Peter and John were brought before the Jewish council. ‘In whose name have you done this?’ they asked. Peter was filled the Holy Spirit. He said, ‘Are we on trial for doing a good deed to a crippled man? He was healed in the name in Jesus, the man you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead. God has given no other name by which we must be saved.’ The council were amazed by the boldness of Peter and John because they could see they were uneducated men. They could see they were men who had been with Jesus. No one could argue with the healing so they simply told Peter and John to stop teaching. Peter said, ‘Do you really think we should obey men rather than God? We can’t stop telling people about Jesus.’ The council threatened some more, but let them go. Peter and John went back to the other believers and told them everything. Then they prayed together. ‘Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, you predicted and planned that people would unite against Jesus, your servant. Now hear their threats against us, your servants. Give us great boldness to speak as you continue to perform miraculous signs.’ As they prayed, the whole building shook and they were filled with the Holy Spirit so that they proclaimed the word of God with boldness. Dialogue Questions • What do you find surprising in the story? • Who do you identify with in the story? How are we like the people in the story? • What parallels are there to the previous story in Acts? • What do we learn about people in this story? • What do we learn about God in this story? • What was the message of Peter? How would his message be in our neighbourhood? • What can we learn from the prayer of the Christian community? • Are there any links to our stories? When have you faced a similar challenge? • How does the story challenge or encourage us? • How does this story help us understand what it mean to walk in God’s ways? • When might you tell this story to a Christian? • When might you tell this story to an unbeliever?

Story-telling was built into the fabric of thier lives

STORY

Tim Chester, September 2008

The Bible is a story and much of it is made up of stories. If you asked an ancient Israelite about

God they would have told you the story of the exodus. Story-telling was built into the fabric of

their lives (e.g. Joshua 4:4-7). Jesus taught using stories and many of the speeches in Acts are

in the form of story. Moreover people engage and learn well through stories – especially nonbook

people. If we are to allow the genres of Scripture to shape our teaching then stories will

be a significant part of our communication. See also Deuteronomy 1-4; Joshua 4:21-22; Psalm

78:1-4; Mark 4:1, 2, 34; John 20:30-31; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11; 2 Peter 1:16.

‘Storying’ can be used in a variety of contexts.

Ad Hoc Evangelism

It can be used in ad hoc in evangelism. For example, the story of Zacchaeus could be told in a

conversation about corruption. John Drane proposes the importance of using three kinds of

stories in evangelism: God’s story; individual Bible stories; and personal stories.1

Systematic Evangelism

Stories can also be used systematically in evangelism. ‘Chronological Bible storying’ is a

growing model used in mission around the world. It identifies bridges and barriers to belief

within a culture and then identifies an appropriate ‘story set’ to connect with the bridges and

address the barriers. ‘Each story lesson model must be crafted for addressing worldview

issues in culturally acceptable methods to the end that biblical truths speak clearly to a

particular group of listeners.’2 In this context, it is common for storytellers not to anticipate

the future of the story as they go along, specially not talking about Jesus until we reach Jesus

in the story.

Ad Hoc Pastoral Care and Discipleship

Stories can be used informally in pastoral care and discipleship.

Systematic Training and Leadership Development

People also create ‘story sets’ discipleship and leadership training. In a North African Muslimdominated

country, seventeen young men (many of whom could barely read and write and

some not at all) underwent a two-year leader training program using chronological Bible

storying. At the end of two years, students mastered approximately 135 biblical stories in their

correct chronological order, spanning Genesis to Revelation. They were able to tell the stories,

compose from one to five songs for each story and enact dramas about each of the stories. A

seminary professor gave them a six-hour oral exam. They demonstrated the ability to answer

questions about both the facts and theology of the stories and showed an excellent grasp of

the gospel message, the nature of God and their new life in Christ. The students quickly and

skilfully referred to the stories to answer a variety of theological questions.

Bible Teaching

Story can also be used as one way of teaching the Bible in the context of a church gathering,

especially the seventy percent of the Bible that is narrative.

Oral Culture

Scholars estimate literacy in Israel and Greece in the New Testament era was three to twelve

1 John Drane, Faith in a Changing Culture, Zondervan, 1997.

2 J. O. Terry, Basic Bible Storying, Church Starting Network, 2006, 3.

2

percent, most likely around five percent. By 1750 only ten percent of world population was

literate. Today fifty percent of USA’s population prefer a non-literate approach to learning and

decision-making. Half of these are illiterate.3 People are now talking of a growing ‘secondary

oral culture’ tied to electronic media. People may have learned to read, but get most of the

important information in their lives through stories via radio, TV, cinema and the internet.

 Primary Oral Communicators

People who cannot read or write and depend entirely on oral and visual media.

 Functional Non-Literates

People who have some reading and writing ability but, due to their limited literacy and

education, rely mainly on orality to function in everyday life.

(‘The danger for literate Bible teachers is to assume that because functional non-literates

can read some that they can learn well from written materials or from oral materials that

are organised in literate prepositional manner.’)

 Semi-Literates

People who can function as literates in their society, but are unable profitably to handle

texts and are uncomfortable analysing text or listing propositions.

 Literates

People who can read a recent Bible translation, gain understanding, make notes and

organise ideas.

 Highly Literates

People who have above average literacy skills through advanced study.

(‘In my own experience I have found that many leaders who are highly literate and have

received advanced theological training have great difficulty in communicating to those of

lesser literacy.’)4

Oral learners can handle most thoughts, ideas, concepts, principles or teaching that a literate

can handle, if it is properly clothed within a story. Literate learners often want to reduce a

story to its ‘gist’ or ‘core message’.

What are these?

  

Oral learners tend to name geometric patterns by what they resemble: plate, box, tray, piece

of pie. Those with even a small amount of education name them as circle, square, triangle – all

learned conceptual ideas.

Which of these is the odd one out?

A ‘group of tools’ is conceptual thinking. An oral learner thinks in situational terms of the

context in which the objects are used. A 25-year-old illiterate peasant said: ‘They’re all alike.

The saw will saw the log and the hatchet will chop it into small pieces. If one of these has to

go, I’d throw out the hatchet. It doesn’t do as good a job as a saw.’ Told that the hammer, saw

and hatchet are all tools, he discounts the categorical class and persists in situational thinking:

‘Yes, but even if we have tools, we still need wood – otherwise we can’t build anything’.5

3 Mark Snowden, ‘Orality: The Next Wave of Mission Advance,’ Mission Frontiers, Jan-Feb 2004.

4 From J. O. Terry, Basic Bible Storying, 19-20.

5 From Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy, Routledge, 1982.

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‘Illiterates have difficulty in articulate self-analysis. Self analysis … calls for isolation of the

self… A 38 year old man, illiterate, from a mountain pasture camp was asked “What sort of a

person are you, what’s your character like, what are your good qualities and short comings?

How would you describe yourself? “I came here from Uch-Kurgan, I was very poor, and now I

am married and have children”… Oral communication unites people in groups. Writing and

reading are solitary activities that throw the psyche back on itself.’6

Oral and Literate Learners Compared 7

Oral Learners Literate Learners

Knowledge source: nature, kinship,

community, elders.

Knowledge source: teachers, printed page,

multimedia.

Enjoys learning in group or community

through participation

Prefers learning quietly as individual in

isolation

Learns best through stories Prefers summaries, lists, principles

Stores truth in remembered stories and

proverbs

Stores truth in written abstracts and

principles

Reasons intuitively Reasons analytically, logically

Enjoys and comfortable with repetition Avoids redundancy and repetition

Relational, genealogical Factual, historical

Holistic (whole is more important than parts) Segmented (deconstructed parts are of

value)

Creative reconstruction of stories and events

in sharing

Verbatim memory and written factual

accounts for sharing

Some characteristics of oral communication:

 simple additions of information (lots of ‘ands’) rather than subordinate or hierarchical

ordering (‘when’, ‘thus’, ‘which’ and so on)

 formulaic phrases (‘the beautiful princess’, ‘the sturdy oak’)

 repetition (because you cannot read back over oral communication)

 concrete information and stories rather than abstract ideas or principles

 empathetic and participatory rather than objective and distanced

Orality and the Biblical Word

Susan Niditch suggests Israelite culture was neither exclusively oral, nor exclusively literate.

Both approaches influenced the writers of the Hebrew Bible.8 Walter Ong says: ‘Writing from

the beginning did not reduce orality but enhanced it, making it possible to organize the

“principles” or constituents of orality into a scientific “art”, a sequentially ordered body of

6 Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy, 54, 68.

7 J. O. Terry, Basic Bible Storying, 22.

8 Susan Niditch, Oral World and Written Word: Orality and Literacy in Ancient Israel, Westminster/John

Knox Press, 1996.

4

explanation that showed how and why oratory achieved and could be made to achieve its

various specific effects.’9

The Bible itself is clearly a written artefact. But most of the teaching described in the Bible is

non-literate in form. Consider how Jesus could have taught: expounding the Hebrews

Scriptures, offering philosophical reflections and so on. Yet Matthew tells us: ‘Jesus spoke all

these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a

parable’ (Matthew 13:34 NLT). ‘Jesus used stories all the time … These parables were not good

illustrations to punctuate his points. The stories themselves revealed the hidden mysteries of

God.’10 Walter Ong says:

The Bible is read aloud at liturgical services. For God is thought of always as ‘speaking’

to human beings, not as writing to them. The orality of the mindset in the Biblical text,

even in its epistolary sections, is overwhelming. The Hebrew dabar, which means

word, means also event and thus refers directly to the spoken word. The spoken word

is always an event, a movement in time, completely lacking in the thing-like repose of

the written or printed word. In Trinitarian theology the Second Person of the Godhead

is the Word and the human analogue for the Word here is not the human written

word but the human spoken word. God the Father ‘speaks’ to his Son: he does not

inscribe him. Jesus, the Word of God, left nothing in writing, though he could read and

write (Luke 4:16). ‘Faith comes through hearing’, we read in the Letter to the Romans

(10:17). ‘The letter kills, the spirit [breath, on which rides the spoken word] gives life’

(2 Corinthians 3:6).11

Most people in the early church were illiterate and most Christians did not have direct access

to the Bible. The Bible was heard, recalled and retold.

Today much of our teaching in church is literate in its orientation (sermons, biblical studies).

For non-literate people oral learners even an interactive Bible study can be intimidating. It

feels like an English comprehension exercise. We are invited to examine a text and answers

text-based questions. Directions that lead about from the text (perhaps towards concrete

application) are frowned upon. Even where the process is no longer intimidating, it does not

feel reproducible by non-literate people. Storytelling offers a way of teaching the Bible in a

biblical way that does not rely on appropriating the text of the Bible as a text.

Stories and Communication

We evaluate facts from a distance. Stories draw us in, inviting us to empathise, to participate.

People can argue doctrine and theology. They can even sit with arms crossed listening

to someone’s convincing reasons why they should believe. But when powerful stories

begin to be told, and when a person can identify with another person’s journey, the

arms drop, the defensiveness wanes, and a receptive ear is gained. Faith has become

personal … A sermon tells people what to think. A story forces people to do the

thinking for themselves. It can feel dangerous because it allows for interpretation. But

one of the adjectives used to describe the Holy Spirit is ‘counsellor’. Do we trust our

people and the Holy Spirit enough to allow them to think for themselves? Can we

leave something open-ended, knowing the conclusions might not come until later that

9 Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy, 1982, 9.

10 Mark Miller, Experiential Storytelling: (Re)Discovering Narrative to Communicate God’s Message,

Zondervan, 2003, 39.

11 Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy, 1982, 74.

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day, week, month, or year? Can we allow people to own the stories? Or do we do all

of the interpreting and leave nothing to the imagination? My belief is that when a

story becomes personal and people begin to become unsettled and challenged by it,

then they have been touched in a place where facts fear to tread. It is a place so

personal that it can spark an inner transformation. (Mark Millar )12

Jesus’ stories contained no references to the law of Moses. In his parables he didn’t

seek to explain the words of previous prophets or teachers. There was often no

reference to Yahweh. What kind of biblical teaching was this! … Jesus’ teaching

ministry was purposefully cryptic, allowing those who sought answers, rather than

those who ‘had all the answers,’ to access the surprising truth of grace … Some would

openly dismiss them as silly children’s stories (particularly the Pharisees and scribes),

others … would be so intrigued that they would have to enquire further. And as Jesus

had already told his disciples earlier, it was this kind of genuine enquiry he was

seeking to evoke (Matt. 7:7). In our attempts to make the Gospel clear, we have often

squeezed all the life out of it. Jesus’ parables were intriguing, open to interpretation,

playful, interesting. (Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch)13

Jesus often taught through stories, particularly parables. Jesus intended them to

challenge the existing Jewish worldview and to provide an alternative picture of

reality that Jesus called ‘the kingdom of God’ … Stories are, actually, peculiarly good at

modifying or subverting other stories and their worldviews. Where head-on attack

would certainly fail, the parable hides the wisdom of the serpent behind the

innocence of the dove, gaining entrance and favour which can then be used to change

assumptions which the hearer would otherwise keep hidden away for safety. (Tom

Wright)14

In other words, we should not evaluate the effectiveness of storytelling simply in terms of

whether people are able to articulate principles they have learnt at the end of a session. That

is not how stories work. They create new perspectives, new values, new sympathies. They

implicate us.

Telling a Good Story

Know the Story: You must know the story inside and out. Be careful you do not edit too much

so the story loses its integrity.

Know your Audience: ‘This missional mind-set places the priority on the hearer, not the teller.

Listen with the ears of those who hear you.’15

Simplify the Story:

 limit proper nouns (names) – people will not retain a lot of names so, for example refer to

‘a town’ rather than ‘Capernaum’

 consider formulaic references to characters (e.g. Pharaoh the King of Egypt, John the

desert preacher)

 limit statistics and technical details

12 Mark Miller, Experiential Storytelling, 37, 41.

13 Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st

Century, Hendrickson, 2003, 100.

14 N.T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God, SPCK, 1996, 40.

15 Mark Miller, Experiential Storytelling, 45.

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Remember you want people to be able to retell the story for themselves.

Tell the Story (Don’t Preach): ‘What is very important to remember is that listeners prefer

each story to be continuous and uninterrupted from start to finish … Oral learners prefer and

respond better to stories that are delivered without inserted comment or pauses to teach

which interrupt the narrative.’16

Other Pointers

 Action words (verbs) move the story forward. Descriptions (adjectives) give vividness.

Conversation (dialogue) delivers drama.

 Don’t jump ahead (and give away the climax or punch line).

 Anticipate the way listeners will identify with the story.

 Use the conflict or problems in the story to hold interest.

 What kind of conflict arises in the story? Individuals vs. God? Individual vs. Satan?

Individual vs. Other Individual(s)? Individual vs. Nature? Individual vs. Society? Individual

vs. Himself? God vs. Satan? What are some contemporary ways we see this conflict?

 Identify and highlight repetition in the story.

 Experiment with variations in delivery: pitch, speed, pauses, volume.

 Bridge from previous stories and consider ending with a ‘teaser’ for the following story.

 Avoid language that makes us distant from the story (e.g. ‘We see in the text …’

‘Commentators tell us that …’ ‘There are three possible interpretations of …’ ‘In verse 9

…’)

 Respect the storytelling conventions of the culture. Think about how significant, true or

religious stories are introduced in the culture. (‘This is part of the story of God’).

 ‘Take a deep breath and begin. “Now here is the story from God’s word” … At the

conclusion of the story, close with the words, “And that is the end of the story from God’s

Word.”’ 17

Storytelling Options

1. A Creative Retelling

 Another perspective. From whose point of view do we view the story? Could you tell the

story from another point of view? (E.g. someone in the crowd, the person who is healed.)

 Another setting. What is the setting of the story? Would it be more compelling to use a

new, contemporary setting?

Creative retellings can be powerful, but they have two weaknesses:

 They take you away from the biblical text so combine them with a reading of the Bible.

 They detract from reproducibility – they make it harder for someone else to retell the

story.

2. A Contextual Retelling

Give the story significance (interpret the story) by telling in a wider context. Set it in the

context of the Bible story as a whole with a few short lines before and/or after. For example:

God made a world of plenty and provision. He provided fruit of every kind for

humanity. But humanity rejected God. Human greed has made the world a place of

scarcity and hunger. Did God leave it like that? No, he sent his own Son, Jesus, on a

rescue mission. On one occasion Jesus spent the whole day teaching 5,000 people …

16 J. O. Terry, Basic Bible Storying, 9.

17 J. O. Terry, Basic Bible Storying, 83.

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What Jesus did was a picture of God’s coming new world – a world without hunger or

pain. Jesus invites us all to join in God’s great coming feast.

Or bring the story up to date by seeing how the same struggles or themes continue in your

own setting. In other words, integrate the Bible story with our stories by adding your story or

our story as the next ‘chapter’.

Or consider starting with an introduction that sets the audience up to look for meaning(s) in

the story. (Have you ever been afraid? What did you do? Imagine you were facing a den of

hungry lions.)

3. Recall, Retell, Review

Rewrite the story. Keep close to the details in the biblical text. But consider:

 simplifying the story (removing details and names of less significant people and places)

 highlighting repetition, turning points, tension and eventual resolution

If you can, memorize the story so you can retell it without missing any key points.

After you have told the story:

Recall Ask people When? Where? Who? What? Why? How? This helps people to recall the

story. It also allows you to explain cultural and textual issues (traditional exegesis and

exposition).

Retell Encourage people to retell the story. You could invite someone to retell the story with

help from the group. You could invite people to tell the story in pairs, taking it in

turns to tell a line of the story.

Review Ask some ‘dialogue’ questions to review what we see in the story and how it

implicates us.

When you are telling a story as part of a story set or Bible book begin each session by

reviewing the previous story or stories: ‘Who can remember the story we did last time?’

Dialogue Questions

‘Recall’ questions will generally have a limited right answers (‘What did he do next?’ ‘Where

did this happen?’) . Dialogue questions should be open questions that encourage discussion.

They should invite people to interact with the story (rather than pushing them towards

predetermined answers or principles). You should come up with some dialogue questions that

are specific for each story. But here are some generic ones that can be used for many stories.

 What questions do you have about the story?

 What do you like or dislike in the story?

 How do you think they felt?

 How would you have reacted?

 What do we learn about God in this story?

 What do we learn about human beings in this story?

 Can you see any similarities with other parts of the Bible story?

 Is there anything in this story that points to Jesus or shows our need for Jesus?

 Are there any links to our stories? When have you faced a similar challenge?

 How are we like the people in the story?

 How does the story challenge or encourage you?

 How does this story help us understand what it mean to walk in God’s ways?

 When might you tell this story to a Christian?

 When might you tell this story to an unbeliever?

INTRODUCING ACTS

INTRODUCING ACTS

Tim Chester, September 2008

QI (Quite Interesting)

‘Acts is about as long as a single-volume book in the ancient world could be which in today’s

terms is about the length and shape of a roll of kitchen paper.’ (Green, 13)1

There are a number of clues in the way Luke has compiled the book of Acts that point to the

lessons he wants us to see in the story of the early Christians.

#1: To the ends of the earth

Jesus said: ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my

witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ (Acts 1:8)

This gives a fourfold structure to the book:

 the giving of power (1-2)

 witness in Jerusalem (3-7)

 witness in Judea and Samaria (8-9)

 witness to the ends of the earth (10-28)

Judea and Samaria are significantly because they represent the two halves of Solomon’s

kingdom that were ripped apart after his death. Their reunification is promised in Ezekiel 37.

Psalm 98:3 says the LORD ‘has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;

all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.’ The OT expected God to bless in

Israel in such a way that blessing would come to all the nations.

The movement of Acts contrasts with the movement of Luke’s Gospel:

Gospel: Galilee to Samaria to Jerusalem

Acts: Jerusalem to Samaria and Galilee to the ends of the earth

Gospel: vertical inclusion – up and down the social structures

Acts: horizontal inclusion – out to the ends of the earth

#2: The spread of the word of God

Acts is also peppered with summary formulae about the word of God spreading: 2:41-47; 6:7;

9:31; 12:24; 16:5; 19:20. For example: ‘And the Lord added to their number daily those who

were being saved’ (Acts 2:47). ‘So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in

Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.’

(Acts 6:7) Chris Green suggests they form another structure within the book (20):

 1:1-2:47. The first Christians

 3:1-6:7. The first Christians in Jerusalem

 6:8-9:31. The first partly Jewish Christians (the Samaritans and a Eunuch)

 9:32-12:24 The first non Jewish Christians

 12:25-16:5 The encounter with the wider non-Christian world

 16:6-19:20 More acceptance, more resistance.

1 References are to Chris Green, The Word of His Grace: A Guide to Teaching and Preaching from Acts, IVP, 2005

and Ben Witherington III, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, Eerdmans, 1998.

2

Within some of these sections, too, there is an emphasis on growth (from Green, 56):

3:1-10 Healing Peter (accompanied by John)

heals one man

5:12-16 Healing and preaching The apostles

(plural) heal many

3:11-26 Preaching Many believe (4:4) ‘More and more’ believe (5:14) Crowds

gather (5:16)

4:1-4 Peter and John are arrested 5:17-21a The apostles are arrested and

miraculously released.

4:5-22 Informal hearing

Testimony

Released with a command (4:18)

5:21b-41 Formal trial

Testimony

Released after sentence (5:40)

4:23-31 Prayer for more boldness is answered 5:42 Prayer for more boldness is answered,

which increases the scope of their

ministry (5:42).

4:32-5:11 Money and Stewardship

Barnabas, Ananias and Sapphira bring

money to the apostles’ feet.

6:1-6 Money and stewardship

The apostles delegate the increasing

workload to the Seven.

6:7 Conclusion

#3: To the Jew first and then to the Gentile

The movement in Acts is to the Jew first and then to the Gentile (Witherington, 72). This

reflects the movement Paul himself identified in Romans 1:16: ‘I am not ashamed of the

gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the

Jew, then for the Gentile.’ We see this in Paul’s own repeated practice of going first to the

synagogue when he arrived in a city. But it is reflected in the switch of focus from the ministry

of Peter (chapters 1-12) – the apostle of the Jews and the leader of the Jerusalem church – to

the ministry of Paul (chapters 13-28) – the apostle to the Gentiles.

In this movement the conversion of Cornelius (a Gentile synagogue attendee – perhaps like

Theophilus, the first recipient of Acts) is crucial. His story is told three times which

corresponds to the three stories of Paul’s conversion – the Apostle to the Gentiles.

(Witherington, 73)

These two miracles [in chapter 9], one of healing and one of resurrection, both occur

among and for Christians (‘the saints’ [9:32], ‘disciple’ [9:36]), but to keep the clarity

of the section we should note that they are Jewish Christians. The story of Cornelius

loses its sharp focus without that thought. Why are they here? Because the gospel has

travelled to the outer limits of Diaspora Judaism, Joppa being on the coast, and Peter

has witnessed that. Luke had previously shown Jesus telling a man to get up and walk

(Luke 5:17-26) and raising the dead (Luke 8:40-56), and Peter has repeated those

miracles here. So, in a way, Peter is at the outer limits of where the gospel had gone,

symbolically and theologically at least, and the question arises: what next? The

answer lies in the vision of the sheet. (Green, 80-81)

The conversion of Cornelius (or is it the conversion of Peter?) ‘is the massive theological

centre of the section’: ‘Every indication is that what we find obvious many of the first

Christians found impossibly difficult to grasp and revolutionary in its impact.’ (Green, 81)

Each of the main stories has a principle theme: the first is the blessing of God on

believing Gentiles (Cornelius and his family), and the second is the judgement of God

on unbelieving Israel (Herod and his nation). Both receive a double, supernatural

3

authentication: Peter and Cornelius both have a vision; Peter and Herod are both

visited by an angel. And both conclude with an acknowledgement by Peter (10:34-35).

(Green, 84)

The continuity between the Jewish and Gentile missions is reinforced by the many parallels

that Luke draws between the ministries of Peter and Paul (Witherington, 72; Green, 25):

Peter Paul

Both heal a lame man 3:2-8 14:8-10

Both do miracles at a distance 5:15 19:12

Both exorcize demonic spirits 5:16 16:16-18

Both confront sorcerers 8:18-24 13:6-11

Both raise the dead 9:36-41 20:9-12

Both have heavenly visions 10:9-16 16:9; 18:9-10; 23:11

Both are miraculously released from prison 5:19; 12:7-11 16:25-28

Both preach to Jews using Psalm 16:10 2:27 13:35

Although Peter and Paul are to the fore, ‘Luke has an understanding that everyone is to be

involved in the task of spreading the message; hence he deliberately puts at centre stage in

evangelism those [Stephen and Philip] whom we might think he has disqualified.’ (70)

The continuity of the Jewish and Gentile mission is also reflected in way certain features of the

apostolic message are repeated, both in full-length speeches and summary statements. Green

claims a pattern emerges in which Luke abbreviates these speeches:

Peter’s … first full-blown evangelistic sermon is Acts 2:14-36 (twenty-two verses); his

second is in 3:12-26 (fourteen verses); his third is 4:8-11; 19-20 (five verses); then

5:29-32 (three verses), and so on. The verse numberings are new, but the decreasing

length is clear. As Luke increasingly abbreviates Peter’s sermons, it becomes apparent

that he is stripping Peter’s message down to its barest essentials; 5:29-32 shows this

clearly. That has condensed into a simple three-headed message about Jesus: You

killed him; God raised him; we saw him. (27)

Elsewhere the pattern becomes they (not you) killed him; God raised him; they (not we) saw

him. (See Acts 13:16-42.) ‘Luke has thus clearly shown that Peter and Paul preached the same

gospel, even down to their cross-references.’ (Green, 88) The same pattern is there when Paul

speaks to Gentile philosophers in Athens:

When Paul criticised the idolatry of Athens, he was criticising the best of the West …

acknowledging Athens’ intellectual strengths and contribution but pointing out some

weaknesses. This was a head-on critique … Although this conclusion is brief, it still fits

in with the standard gospel proclamation: Jesus was a ‘man’ who was ‘dead’ (i.e. they

killed him); by ‘raising him from the dead’ (God raised him) God has given ‘proof’

(witnesses saw him) of the coming judgement and possible salvation. (Green, 101)

#4: The movement of the Spirit

The Spirit is explicitly at work (16:6, 7, 8-10), moving the missionaries on into Europe. The Holy

Spirit is mentioned 52 times in Acts, but his work comes in clusters. Green comments: ‘The

4

work of the Holy Spirit in Acts is to push the churches outwards into new missionary activity,

and that this activity is focused on telling people about Jesus. Even Peter’s sermon at

Pentecost is a sermon about Jesus, not about the Holy Spirit.’ (26)

Steve Timmis says: ‘The message of Acts is that the gospel will spread whatever happens

(despite short-sightedness, division, prejudice, weakness, persecution).’

The church and Israel

‘Luke address the question, How can the Christian church be the true Israel when so many

Jews reject it?’ (Witherington, 73)

Chapters 3-6 have a unique emphasis on the Old Testament …

 The authentic Messiah is the suffering Messiah, as the Old Testament foretold …

 The Christian believers are the continuation of the people of God. (Green, 57-59)

The church and Rome

So why does [Luke] write this long panel of Acts [chapters 19-28], which takes up

nearly one-third of the book, and which includes a quite elaborate description of a

storm and a shipwreck? One possibility is that the new element in this panel is to see

Paul defend the gospel against charges … Paul passed through a sequence of

investigations, informal hearings and trials, and Luke shows how he was innocent of

the three key charges made against him. As he said before Festus (25:8), ‘I have done

nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar … If

(more generally) part of the purpose of Acts is to defend the gospel before sceptical

non-believers who have heard that Christianity is a troublemaking and illegal faith,

then this might in part explain the length of this section and its concern with legal

niceties. (Green, 107-108)

Witherington suggests three trials are described in chapters 24-26 to show that the Roman

Empire need not be antagonistic to Christianity. (73)

Distinguishing between what is normative and descriptive

Ben Witherington identifies four hermeneutical principles for distinguishing between what is

normative and what is simply descriptive:

1. Most behaviour of Christians exemplary (though their behaviour has to be scrutinized by

the ideals of the text – e.g. 2:43-47; 4:32-37).

2. The speeches provide norms of Christian behaviour.

3. Look for repeated patterns. One-off events (e.g. choosing by lots) are less likely to be

normative.

4. Look for clear divine expressions of approval or disapproval.

There are many miracles in Acts, but there are also occasions when miracles are not

performed. Aeneas is healed, but not before he had been bedridden for eight years (9:32-35).

Dorcas is raised, but not before she has been sick and died (9:36-41). Peter is miraculously

released from prison, but James is executed (12:1-11).

Perhaps we should not think of Acts as a blueprint for church planting – though I anticipate

there will be many lessons for us. We need to remember it is a story. We should expect to get

caught up in the story, carried along, moved forward, inspired, enthused, excited. We should

pray that telling the stories of Acts will get our communities doing mission without always

being explicitly told, ‘The lesson for us is that we should do mission.’ We want the story of

Acts to become our story.

5

ACTS OUTLINE

This outline involves some large sections. But larger sections are more achievable through a

story-telling approach. It should enable us to finish Acts by the end of the year (a chapter by

chapter approach would take at least nine months). It should enable us to get caught up in the

movement of the story. And it often reflects well the way Luke has compiled the book. It you

find the book unfolding in different ways then please do not feel bound to these divisions.

1. Acts 1-2

The community is empowered for mission by the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised and that

community then takes on a life that reflects its empowerment for mission.

2. Acts 3:1-4:31

God performs a miraculous sign that leads to persecution so the church prays for boldness

to speak in the face of persecution as God performs miraculous signs.

3. Acts 4:32-6:7

In answer to the prayer of Acts 4, God performs miraculous signs and the apostles speak

with boldness in the face of persecution. The believers share their possessions (fulfilling

Deuteronomy 15 and Joshua 7-8).

4. Acts 6:8-8:1

An ‘ordinary’ believer is the first to die as a martyr as he shows that the church is the true

Israel.

5. Acts 8:2-9:42

‘Ordinary’ believers are the first to take the gospel beyond Jerusalem and the spread of

the gospel beyond Jerusalem is affirmed.

6. Acts 10-11

The gospel moves out to the Gentiles as Cornelius is converted, a missional move that

involves a radical change of perspective for Jewish believers.

7. Acts 12

An angel comes to Peter and Herod: rescuing the leader of the new Christian community

and judging the leader of the unbelieving nation.

8. Acts 13:1-16:5

Paul and Barnabas begin church planting among the Gentiles. This mission raises new

theological questions.

9. Acts 16:6-40

People from different social classes are converted in Philippi.

10. Acts 17:1-19:20

The message of Jesus encounters religion, philosophy and occult power.

11. Acts 19:21-23:35

The gospel is attacked from outside and will be attacked from inside.

12. Acts 24-26

The gospel is seen to be innocent of any crime.

13. Acts 27-28

The Spirit brings Paul to Rome, the centre of the known world.

the rhythms of the edge network 

1.Bless

the challenge

Each week we bless others in our Christian community and local neighbourhood in word, action or gift at least three times.

 

links to our identities and values

Identities a We are the family of God … united as brothers and sisters. a We are the light of God … we witness to Jesus’ liberating truth through our words and actions. a We are the servants of God. We follow Christ’s example of sacrificial love, finding freedom and joy in serving God and others.

Values a 1. The priority of the gospel: We are committed to filling ordinary life with gospel intentionality, pastoring one another with the gospel and sharing the gospel with unbelievers. We challenge one another to be sacrificial, servant-hearted … a 4. Sharing our lives as extended family: We are committed to sharing our lives in Christian community, caring for one another … a 6. Working for city renewal: We are committed to working for neighbourhood and city renewal – redressing injustice, pursuing reconciliation and welcoming the marginalized … We encourage one another to glorify God and serve others through the workplace, business, community projects, government and artistic endeavour.

biblical foundations

Blessing
a person means doing them good or bringing them joy. Blessing God
means praising him. Genesis 12:1-3. God promises to bless the
offspring of Abraham. God blesses us through the story of salvation,
making us his people and promising a new creation (Ephesians 1:3).
God also promises to bless all nations through the offspring of
Abraham. We who have received blessing from God are to bless other
people. We have been saved to do good works (Ephesians 2:8-10; 1
Peter 2:9-12). Jesus says to those who are blessed by God: ‘Let
your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will
praise your heavenly Father.’ (Matthew 5:1-16) We even bless
those who make life difficult for us (Luke 6:28; Romans 12:14; 1
Corinthians 4:12; 1 Peter 3:9).

Bible stories

Genesis
12 – God promises to bless the nations through Abram (=
Abraham), but Abram brings a curse on Egypt. a
Genesis 39-41 – Joseph blesses his owner, his jailor, Pharaoh
and all Egypt. a Ruth 1-4 – a
foreign widow blesses her mother-in-law and finds blessing among
God’s people. a 2 Kings 5 –
an Israelite slave girl blesses an enemy army commander. a
Jeremiah 29 – Jeremiah writes a letter to Jewish exiles in
Babylon, telling them to bless the city. a
Mark 1:29-45; 6:30-44 – Jesus has compassion on
those in need. a Acts 9:36-41 –
Peter raises a woman from the dead who was much loved for the kind
things she did for others.

putting  it into practice

a Ask people to think
of some of the ways in which they have been blessed by God. a
Ask them to think of ways in which they have been blessed by other
people.

a Ask people to think
of some of the ways in which they could bless one another. a
Their family and friends. a Their
neighbourhood.

a Ask people to think
of ways they as individuals could bless other people. a
Ask people to think of ways we as a community could bless
other people.

a Ask people to think
of ways we can bless in word? a In
action? a In gift?

a Give everyone £1
which they must use to bless someone else. (See Matthew 25:14-30.)

a Show the movie Pay
It Forward or an extract from it. Set a ‘pay it forward’
challenge.

a Get people to draw
from a hat a need in the community or the name of a person which they
must try to do something about in the coming week. (E.g. help on old
person, improve the environment, bless another ethnic group.)

the
edge network

Identities

The F. I. R. S. T. thing to say
about us is not what we do, but who we are because of what God has
done for us through his Son and by his Spirit.

F. The [F]amily of God
Because
God is our Father, we are the family of God. Our heavenly Father
graciously accepts us and cares for us. We are united as brothers and
sisters.

I. The L[I]ght of God
Because
Jesus is our Prophet, we are the light of God. God has [i]lluminated
us through Jesus and we witness to his liberating truth through our
words and actions.

R. The Hei[r]s of God
Because
Jesus is our Saviour, we are the heirs of God. Jesus has set us free
from the condemnation our rebellion deserves through his death in our
place. We have received the promise of a glorious inheritance, making
us like [r]efugees in this age.

S. The [S]ervants of
God
Because Jesus is our King, we are the servants of God. We
follow Christ’s example of sacrificial love, finding freedom
and joy in serving God and others.

T. The [T]emple of God

Because the Holy Spirit is God’s empowering presence,
we are the temple of God. We are saints, people set apart for God,
and the home in which God lives.

Rhythms

Each week we respond to the
identity that God gives to us in his grace by trying to B. L. E. S.
S. others through what we do.

B. We [B]less
Each
week we bless others in our Christian community and local
neighbourhood in word, action or gift at least three times.

L. We [L]isten
Each
week we listen to God, looking for him to guide us through his word
and Spirit. And we listen to people around us to understand their
stories and the story of our culture.

E. We [E]at
Each
week we eat or have a drink with people outside our immediate family
at least three times, offering friendship and community.

S. We [S]peak
Each
week we tell people the story of Jesus and our story of Jesus, making
Jesus a normal part of our conversations. And we speak to God through
prayer, recognising our dependence on him in all things.

S. We [S]abbath
Each
week we spend time in rest, play, partying or creativity.

Values

1. The priority of the
gospel
We are committed to filling ordinary life with gospel
intentionality, pastoring one another with the gospel and sharing the
gospel with unbelievers. We challenge one another to be sacrificial,
servant-hearted, risk-taking and flexible because the gospel has
priority over our comfort, preferences, security and traditions. We
will not let Christian activity be just one part of our lives.

2. Mission through
community
We are committed to communicating the gospel message
in the context of a gospel community. As we build relationships with
people and share the gospel message, we want to introduce them to
Christian community. We want people to experience church as a network
of relationships rather than a meeting you attend or a place you
enter. We will not put on evangelistic missions outside the context
of a Christian community.

3. Home as the primary
location of church
We want a reproducible model of church
without any trappings that might impede freedom and flexibility. We
are committed to homes as a context for all or most of church life
with home shaping the ethos of church. When congregations use other
buildings, those buildings will not be viewed as the main focus of
mission.

4. Sharing our lives as
extended family
We are committed to sharing our lives in
Christian community, caring for one another, discipling one another
and resolving conflict. We expect one another to make decisions with
regard to the implications for the church and to make significant
decisions in consultation with the church. We will not let conflict
continue unresolved, nor view church simply as a meeting you attend.

5. Inclusive communities
We
are committed to welcoming broken people and making church accessible
to unbelievers. We want to offer a sense of belonging, and be
communities of grace in which people can be open and vulnerable. We
will not let our welcome be dependent on adherence to any cultural
norms not demanded by the gospel.

6. Working for city renewal
We
are committed to working for neighbourhood and city renewal –
redressing injustice, pursuing reconciliation and welcoming the
marginalized. We

Values

celebrate the diversity of
cultures in our local contexts while recognising the need for gospel
renewal. We encourage one another to glorify God and serve others
through the workplace, business, community projects, government and
artistic endeavour. We will not make a division between spiritual and
non-spiritual activities.

7. Growing by starting
churches and church planting networks
We are committed to
starting new congregations. We will work together within, between and
beyond our networks of missionary congregations. Our vision is to
collaborate in a wider church planting movement to litter the world
with communities of light. We will not develop into single, large
congregations, nor become insular.

8. Prayer as a missionary
activity
Recognising that God is the primary agent and
orchestrator of mission, we view prayer as a missionary activity. We
want prayer to be both a regular community discipline, and an
impromptu response to needs and opportunities. We will not assume we
are in control of mission, nor rob God of his glory by boasting of
our achievements.

9. Everyone exercising gospel
ministry
We are committed to every Christian seeing themselves
as a missionary and exercising gospel ministry in every aspect of
life. We shape activities around gospel opportunities, and the gifts
and passions of church members. Leadership is not about control, but
setting a missional vision by modelling and teaching the
gospel so creating a culture in which everyone
flourishes in ministry. We will not make distinctions between
full-time and nonfull-time ministers.

10. Shaped by the Bible
We
want our lives and our life together to be formed and shaped by the
Bible’s story of redemption. We believe the Bible to be the
reliable, authoritative and sufficient word of God, and are therefore
committed to good Bible learning. We will not act on the basis of
tradition, habit or pragmatism without reflection on the Bible. We
will not see Bible teaching as an end in itself, but as that which
must shape our thinking and action.