Acts 7:2-60
ACTS STUDY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
As we took a second look at Acts 6:8-7:60 on Sunday, what caught your attention? How were you encouraged or challenged?
Where does Stephen’s faithful obedience lead? What do we learn from this about following Jesus and our own faithful obedience? Based on John 15:18-21 and 2 Timothy 3:12, what can we expect as followers of Jesus?
In John 16:33, Jesus prepares his disciples for tribulation, but he encourages them to take heart, for he has overcome the world system that stands opposed to him and his followers. What hope and confidence does that give you?
Though an earthly court condemned Stephen, the text says twice in Acts 7:55 and 56 that the heavenly court commended Stephen. How did viewing God’s verdict as superior affect Stephen in life and in death? Whose verdict do you tend to live by, and how does that affect your everyday living? Why is it so hard for us to view the verdict of God as superior to the verdict of man?
How does it make you feel knowing Jesus is right now interceding and commending you to God (cf. 1 John 2:1, Rom 8:34, Heb 7:25)? What confidence does that give in life and death?
One of the aims of Stephen’s sermon was to decentralize the temple and show that we relate to God by faith in Jesus rather than through a building or tradition. Why is that so important, and why is it so important at this point in church history, right before the gospel goes forth beyond Jerusalem?
What do we learn from Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, and what does it mean for our protection and provision (cf. 1 John 4:4, Rom 8:31-32)? In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul says we are a temple of the Holy Spirit, and we are not our own. What does it mean that we are not our own, and how does that translate to everyday living (cf. Gal 2:20)?
