Tuesday, September 9, 2014

The Acts of the Apostles - Week 8

WEEK EIGHT - Acts 15


DAY ONE - The big debate (part 1)
Acts 15:1-5

A big part of Peter and the apostles work after Jesus' ascension was to work out the details of how the church would function.  Jesus had left them with a doctrinal base and an organizational framework, but there were many smaller issues that cropped up that had to be prayerfully addressed, like the issue of circumcision brought up in this passage.  While they were embracing a new covenant under Jesus, not everything from their Jewish history had to be thrown away.  The trick was figuring out how it was all going to work out.

When we start our own families, we are coming from a long history of our past generations.  Our beliefs, traditions, values, or even just habits might not be shared by our husband.  What differences did you discover when you got married?  What differences emerged later on in your marriage, perhaps when you had children, or as the children grew?  What differences have presented themselves between you and your children?



DAY TWO - The big debate (part 2)
Acts 15:6-11

"The apostles and elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate..."

When the question arose, there was no unilateral decision without debate - much debate.  Look at the differences you noted down yesterday that you encountered within your family. When they arose, did you allow for debate?

The definition of debate is "a formal discussion on a particular topic, in which opposing arguments are put forward."  Oftentimes it is hard to imagine that another way of doing things could be at least as effective as our own way, let alone a better way. When differences come up, do you allow for debate - a presenting of opposing sides?  When Peter rose to make his pronouncement, it seems that he listened to all the arguments and then gave his summation.  What might have helped Peter to listen fairly to all sides and then come up with the right answer to the question?  How can we mimic Peter when it comes to our own differences of opinion with our families?



DAY THREE - Signs and wonders
Acts 15:12-18

After Peter speaks on the Gentile issue, Paul and Barnabas tell their stories of the signs and wonders God has done through the apostles among the Gentiles.  Then James rises and quotes scripture that states that God will rebuild and restore the ruins so that all may seek the Lord.

Our children come to us new, waiting to be taught and instructed in what we choose. What wonders has God done through you, for your children, as you have taught them the gospel?

But, like James says, sometimes it is not about newness and teaching, sometimes it is about restoring and rebuilding.  What wonders has God done through you, for your children, after they have fallen in sin and need restoration?



DAY FOUR - A written letter
Acts 15:19-35

The big debate has come to a close.  Peter, Paul and James have all spoken their piece.  Now James recommends that they write letters, as church authorities, to be taken to the Gentiles to help clarify the principles and practices.  But it is not a long letter that contains all the points of the debate regarding circumcision, and it does not try to defend their position.  Instead, the apostles filtered down the message to three key commandments.  Underline what they emphasized in their letters to the Gentiles (verses 20 and 28-29.)

Write down each of your children's names. What difference exists right now between you? Write that down under each name. Now look at that issue and try to discern if there is something deeper, more important behind it. For the apostles, obedience was not going to be about the Law of Moses or circumcision, but there were a few key commandments that were necessary for the Gentiles to adhere to.  Under each child's name, write down what the key commandment or doctrine you really want to teach them in regards to this issue. If you have a chance, write a letter or short note (as age appropriate) to your child to help express your feelings on the issue.


DAY FIVE - Sharp contention
Acts 12:35-41

Are you as unsettled as I am to end a study on the apostles of the new church with a sharp disagreement and contention?  Most of the rest of the book of Acts follows Paul, and so this is really the end of the account of the apostles in general.

What message do you see in the recording of this "contention so sharp between them that they departed asunder one from the other?"  We have carefully studied the building of a church, in hopes to relate it to the building of our families.  We have studied the leaders of the church to compare it to motherhood and leading our children.  We have studied the growth of the gospel, and we have the hindsight of seeing it flood the earth, so we know that this was not the disintegration and end of the church.  Knowing that the church succeeded, what insight does that give into this contention and separation?

The Acts of the Apostles - Week 7

WEEK SEVENT - Acts 11-12


DAY ONE - Lather, rinse, repeat
Acts 11:1-18

In this section we get another recounting of Peter's experience regarding Cornelius and the Gentiles.  considering the short manner in which most New Testament stories are told (most are given only a few verses), why do you think this story in particular is given 66 verses?

Consider yourself as Peter: what dream has God given you to prepare you for an unexpected and otherwise unpleasant event?  (Peter was prepared to go among the "unclean", with whom he never otherwise might have sat with.)

Consider yourself as Cornelius: what message have you had to be prepared in advance to hear?  (Cornelius might not have accepted a Jewish messenger or foreign religion.)

Consider yourself as the apostles and brethren in Judaea: when have you balked at another's actions, thinking them not in line with your perception of the gospel or it's practices? (The brethren were getting caught up in practices or traditions instead of principles and doctrine.)



DAY TWO - Defining and redefining
Acts 11:19-26

Acts 10 and 11 talk about taking the gospel message to those who were not Jewish.  As you can see by the amount of scripture dwelling on the topic, this was a big deal at the time.  As this new church emerges, the leaders and members struggle to find their way, defining and redefining what it means to be a Christian, and how to integrate their Jewish faith.

How have you defined and redefined your idea of what a mother is?  Where have you taken your ideas from (scripture, ancestors, church, friends, mentors, etc)? What has changed your definition over the years?  What is your current definition?



DAY THREE - Your ability
Acts 11:27-30

"Every man, according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren."

When we are called to serve, we are called to give according to our ability.  What does it mean to you to give according to your ability?  How do you determine what is enough? What is too much?  What is the difference between being stretched to grow and being stretched too thin?

As mothers, our day to day actions are about giving relief to our husband and children. How do you serve them according to your ability? How do you determine where and how you might need some help? When in the past have you realized something was beyond your ability?  How did you deal with it?



DAY FOUR - The big bully
Acts 12:1-11, 20-25

Herod is acting like a classic bully. Write down the characteristics in this passage that show him as such.  Now mark the one action that the church felt they could do on behalf of Peter.

This is a dramatic, gritty story. This is about prison, death, torture, dingy jail cells, torn clothing, persecution.  It may be a few short verses, but the story played out in real life, with Peter being roughly apprehended, thrown into a stone cold prison cell, maybe beaten and starved and mocked. With James' death just earlier, Peter probably thought this was the end of his life also.  While we quickly discover the happy ending of deliverance, while Peter was in this trial it certainly didn't give a feeling of peace and love and happiness.

Just like hits moment in Peter's life, our own lives can have dark, gritty times.  Have you or your children ever been the victim of bullying?  How was that circumstance similar to Peter and Herod's?  In this story, an angel of the Lord is sent to deliver Peter from the hands of his bully, but it isn't until Peter is actually out in the streets that he realizes he is actually being delivered.  How were you able to be delivered?  Did you see it happening as it did, or did it take some time?  Draw as many appropriate parallels as you can between this scripture story and your own story.

PS - Did you notice in the last 5 verses that God delivered justice to Herod?  Remember that he does not like when others bully those who love him.  Vengeance is his.



DAY FIVE - Are we crazy?
Acts 12:12-19

Have you ever felt like Rhoda, where you are bursting with joy so much at something so awesome, and everyone looks at you and says "Are you mad (crazy)?"  The NIV translation says "You are out of your mind."

What was the last time you were so stoked over something you learned, read, saw or experienced?Did you feel the excitement brimming over? Did you try to share with everyone you came across? Did they look at your like you were out of your mind?

Jot down your memory of this experience and take a moment to feel that joy all over again.

The Acts of the Apostles - Week 6

WEEK SIX - Acts 9:20 - 10:48


DAY ONE - Never Say Never
Acts 9:20-31

Can you recall a time in your parenting (or pre-parenting) life when you uttered the fateful words "I would never ....." I would never use disposable diapers.  I would never let my child throw a fit in the grocery store.  I would never join rep sports teams.  I would never miss a family prayer.  Hopefully I'm not alone in this admission.  I've been there more times than I care to admit.

Initially, Paul has a hard time settling into his new role as advocate of Jesus Christ and teacher of the gospel, because people think "Saul? (Paul) He could never be for Jesus." (verse 21, 26.)  You know, if you'd asked him just weeks earlier, he probably would have laughed (or spat) and vowed "I would never."

Take a moment to jot down the "I would nevers" you can remember saying, and how circumstances, life, people, or time softened or changed your mind. Why is it you dug so hard in on that issue in the first place? Why did you change? What are your current views on "nevers?" Boundaries are important, but we must know why we set them where we do.  What are your current reasons for the boundaries you set?



DAY TWO - Get up and make your bed
Acts 9:32-43

Today we will learn the secret of getting your children to make their beds.  Just kidding.

What we do see today are different ways Peter is touching the lives of all those around him.  Peter is passing "through all quarters," going in and around all the new believers.  Presumably, following the model of Jesus Christ, he is teaching and healing everywhere he goes.  First in chapter three, and now twice in chapter nine, we see healing miracles, including the raising of the dead.  And, just like the Gospel accounts on Jesus' life, they are recorded with simplicity, in just a few verses, as though it was all just a catalogue of the many works of Peter.

Think about yesterday.  How did you go about touching the lives of your family members yesterday?  Make a list of the ways you taught them, served them, showed love to them, and touched them.  Each one might be a miracle of its own.



DAY THREE - The Works of God (part 1)
Acts 10:1-33

Today just read the story of Cornelius and Peter.  There are several different parts to the story.  In your notebook, try to sort out the order of events.



DAY FOUR - The Works of God (part 2)
Acts 10:1-33

Read the story again.  God is working in some pretty neat ways in this story.  He prepares Cornelius, he prepares Peter, he uses visions and dreams and pray and revelation.  He foresaw potential problems and provided ways ahead of time to mitigate those problems.

What is most amazing to you about this story?  Can you remember a time in your own life when God was working many moving pieces so that everything would fall into place? Record it in your notebook.



DAY FIVE - A simple testimony
Acts 10:34-48

Once again Peter gives a very succinct testimony of the basics of the gospel.  Compare the following testimonies of Peter and note their commonalities:

Acts 2:22-24
Acts 3:12-16
Acts 4:10-12
Acts 10:36-41

Our own testimonies do not have to be complicated and long; in fact, Peter is showing us that a simple testimony clearly outlining the most important doctrines of the gospel is what is most effective. Write your own testimony in your notebook, keeping it to 4 or 5 sentences.

The Acts of the Apostles - Week 5

WEEK FIVE - Acts 8-9:19


DAY ONE - Trials and Triumphs
Acts 8:1-8

These eight verses paint two very different pictures of what is going on at this time.  The first half (1-3) talk about the persecutions of the people of the church.  The second half (4-8) shows the success of the spreading of the gospel.  It is interesting that at the same time there were both great persecutions and great conversion.

Have you ever noticed in your life a time when great trials and great triumphs seemed to coincide?  When you are winning one battle but struggling with another?  Make two columns in your notebook, titling one "triumphs" and the other "trials."  Make a list under each of the things in your life right now that fall under each category.  No triumph is too small to include, it could be that your children didn't fight today, or that you finally figured out a laundry schedule, or that you've managed to read one scripture verse each day.  No trial is too trivial - even a struggle with meal planning or getting out the door on time can be frustrating and fill you with a desire to overcome it.

Study both lists.  Rejoice and pray a prayer of gratitude for the triumphs.  Give the trials over to God and ask for peace and endurance as you wait for them to move to the triumph list.



DAY TWO - The intent of your heart
Acts 8:9-25

The Samaritan convert Simon seems outwardly to be desiring something righteous within the church: priesthood power to bless the lives of others.  But Peter, the leader of the church, is able to see that Simon's "heart is not right before God" and that the "thought (intent) of Simon's heart" needs to change.

There is no doubt that, given our sinful nature, we too can get caught up in the wrong motivations for our actions.  It takes humility, prayer, and a good hard look at our hearts to discern wrong motivations.  Peter points out the dangers to our soul if we let these ill-intents grow: we could find ourselves "in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity."

Take time to look inside and pray today for God to reveal any wrong motivations within.  Follow Peter's advice to pray for forgiveness and a change of heart.



DAY THREE - He arose and went (to the desert place)
Acts 8:26-40

Can you believe the miracle of a story that comes out of a desert place? Philip wakes up one morning and is simply told to start walking, straight into a desert wasteland.  Do you think he wondered what such a place could possibly hold for him?  That he would chance upon a caravan, carrying a man reading Isaiah, studying a specific passage about Jesus, who would then jump out of his chariot into the waters of baptism? And to top it all off, Philip would simply be carried away and find himself transported from arid desert to bustling city?  Now that's a story!

What desert place has God asked you to walk into?  What path did you feel led to walk, even though it seemed empty?  What miracles happened, what unexpected circumstances, what story was written?  Record it now in a simple version.



DAY FOUR - Gentle teaching
Acts 8:29-38

This same passage as yesterday contains a beautiful example of gentle teaching.  As mothers, we are charged with instructing our children in so many things.  Some days each command just spews forth like a rattling machine gun, one after the other, trying to exact order and obedience in our families.  Oftentimes this doesn't produce the results that we are after: either our children fall into a meek line of submission, or revolt outright against us.

Philip takes things much slower, and with astonishing success. Go through this passage and highlight Philip's method of gentle teaching.  Then list these steps in your notebook so that you might reference them in the future.



DAY FIVE - Our past
Acts 9:1-19

At this time of the beginnings of the early church, two leaders emerge.  One is Peter, one is Paul (formerly known as Saul.)  By all accounts, both men were raised in the Hebrew tradition.  Both likely went to the Synagogue every Sabbath.  Both were likely taught from the scriptures as they grew up. But when they encounter Jesus, they have a vastly different reaction.

Peter hears Jesus and follows him immediately.  He spends three years walking beside Jesus, hearing him teach, watching him perform miracles.  He sees the ups and the downs.  He prays with Jesus.  his faith is gradually strengthened more and more, growing up spiritually until he is ready to emerge as the leader of the church when Jesus ascends to heaven.

Paul, on the other hand, stands staunchly with the religious leaders of the time against Jesus and his followers.  He sees this group as a bunch of troublemakers, and puts all his effort into quashing yet another rebellion of the people.  His conversion to Jesus comes abruptly on the road to Damascus.  He goes from prosecutor to preacher almost overnight.

What did your call to the gospel look like?  Was yours a gradual conversion?  Was there a rebellion and a return? Do you feel committed now or do you feel some wavering? Were you raised in a Christian home or did you come to it via some other path? Isn't it comforting to know that God can use our past, no matter what it is, to bring glory to him?

Highlight verse 15.  Write it in your notebook, but replace the word "he" with your own name:

"For ___(your name)___ is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel."

Read it again to remind yourself that no matter where you came from, you have been chosen as a vessel unto the Lord, to complete the sacred duties he has trusted you with.













The Acts of the Apostles - Week 4

WEEK FOUR - Acts 6-7



DAY ONE - Serving
Acts 6:1-7

Mark in verse 3 what qualities the apostles were looking for in appointing servants in the kingdom of God.

We as mothers are serving in our families nearly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  We need to be filled with these qualities ourselves if we are going to be effective servants.  Write the qualities down in a notebook.  Look at each one, individually, and consider how it is in effect in our lives.  What does this quality look like in me?  Have I been blessed with it naturally?  Have I developed it over time?  Is it an area in which I am lacking?  What could I do more to develop it further?




DAY TWO - Standing firm
Acts 6:8-15

Read this rewrite of some of these verses, in relating it to ourselves.  Insert our own name where indicated.  (NIV translation used.)

"And (our name), full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among her family.  Then, some of those who belonged to other families, rose up and disputed with (our name.) But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which she was speaking.  Then they secretly instigated women who said "We have heard her speak blasphemous words against mothers and families." And they stirred up the people and the mothers and the families and they came against her and seized her and...set up false witnesses....And gazing at her, all who sat there saw that her face was like the face of an angel."

Do we ever feel under attack for the position on family, mothering, women, or parenting that we stand for?  Do we feel accidentally misunderstood or deliberately misrepresented?  Write down one thing in regards to families/mothers/women that your are passionate about.  Try to capture the thought in a few simple sentences, and then read those sentences back to yourself, committing them to memory.  Now, next time someone asks you or challenges you on this idea, you have a clear, easy response to state your opinion.


DAY THREE - Generations of leaders (part one)
Acts 7:1-19


This passage tells the story of four famous forefathers of the Hebrew faith: Abraham, Joseph (today) Moses and David (tomorrow).  These would be men to whom the people of the day looked to as examples.  The disciple Stephen, as his last witness before martyrdom, is trying to remind the people how important it is to remember good, strong examples of people in our past.  As you read each story, underline important lessons you can learn, or characteristics you can emulate.




DAY FOUR - Generations of leaders (part two)
Acts 7:1-19


This passage tells the story of four famous forefathers of the Hebrew faith: Abraham, Joseph (yesterday) Moses and David (today).  These would be men to whom the people of the day looked to as examples.  The disciple Stephen, as his last witness before martyrdom, is trying to remind the people how important it is to remember good, strong examples of people in our past.  As you read each story, underline important lessons you can learn, or characteristics you can emulate.

Who do you have in your past to whom you can look for inspiration as a mother?  Write down some of the names, and jot down a story or two that has written itself on your heart.  If you don't know any, try to inquire from family members to have a few to record. Or, you could look to ancestors of your faith in stead of family: people you have known from your church who have inspired you. If you can't find anything, then record something from your own experience, to serve as inspiration to generations yet to come.





DAY FIVE - Falling asleep
Acts 7:54-60

Do you ever feel as though you are being metaphorically abused as Stephen was?  He was yelled at, swarmed, dragged away, beaten, and stoned.  Are there days when you feel done in by your children, when they yell at you, swarm you, drag you away from what you are doing, lash out at you?  Are there days when you are done in by the adults in your life, when they yell at you, come at you, abuse you, drag you away from your God-given purpose?  Are there days when life itself seems to be rushing at you, when the onslaught of commitments drags you in different directions, when trials seem to beat the hope or happiness out of you?

Underline what happened right before the abuse of Stephen started happening (verse 55-56.)  We need to make sure we are filled with the Holy Spirit and "see" our Father and Saviour in our lives before the trials come and try to beat us back.  We will probably not be called to die in our hard times, but we can "kneel down" and "fall asleep," resting in the arms of our loving God.

Think about a situation in your life right now that reminds you of the abuse of Stephen.  It could be a relationship with a child, spouse, friend, church member, co-worker, or it could be an illness, job situation, physical or mental or emotional battle.  Now prayerfully write down a few ways you can make sure you are filled with the Holy Spirit the next time you have to confront it.