Session 6: Getting Out of Their Comfort Zone, (8:1-40)
The first few chapters of Acts record the fulfillment of Jesus’ words that the disciples would be empowered by the Holy Spirit and would become the witnesses to Jesus’ life, ministry, death and resurrection in areas beginning locally and extending outward to include the whole world. All of these disciples were Jews who lived in Palestine. When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost and through the inspired preaching of Peter, Jews from many parts of the world responded and were saved. The Jewish authorities reacted and tried to stop the growth of the early church through persecution.
The church, nevertheless, continued to grow not only in numbers but in ministry as well. Huge numbers of needy persons were taken care of and the ministry of deacons was established to allow the apostles to concentrate on teaching and preaching. One of the deacons, Stephen, was an impassioned believer and preached openly the gospel of Jesus. Stephen was taken before the Sanhedrin where he accused the Jewish leaders, as had Peter, of rejecting the Old Testament prophecy concerning Jesus, and of being conspirators in his death. The Sanhedrin, being furious with Stephen, dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death.
Stephen’s death marked the start of an aggressive and brutal persecution of the church and all the disciples “except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.” This persecution set he state for the further fulfillment of Jesus’ instructions: the disciples would be his witnesses in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
Read 8:1-3
1. How would you describe the actions of Saul in these opening verses?
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2. Did the scattering of the disciples mean they were defeated? ___________________
Read 8:4-8
3. What did the disciples who were scattered do? ______________________________
4. What ministry actions did Philip perform? What was the result?
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Read 8:9-13
6. What was Simon’s usual occupation? _____________________________________
7. Why did the people think he was “the Great Power of God”? _________________
8. How did Philip change their mind about Simon? ____________________________
9. What happened to Simon? ______________________________________________
10. What lesson should we learn from Simon’s conversion? _____________________
Read 8:14-25
11. Why did Peter and John travel to Samaria? ________________________________
12. What action did they take when they arrived? _____________________________
13. What mistake did Simon commit? ______________________________________
14. What actions did Peter instruct Simon to take in order to make himself right with God?
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15. What actions should we take to make ourselves right with God? _______________
16. What actions did Peter and John take as they returned to Jerusalem?
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17. Why is it important for us to be ready to give our Christian witness regardless of where we are?
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Read 8:26-40
18. Who spoke to Philip and told him to go to Gaza? ___________________________
19. Who was the Ethiopian man? ___________________________________________
20. What did Philip ask the man? _________________________________________
21. How did the Ethiopian answer Philip? __________________________________
22. Why is it important for us as a church, to assist unbelievers as well as Christians to “understand” the scriptures?
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23. What was the result of Philip’s counseling with the Ethiopian? _______________
24. What happened to Philip? _____________________________________________
The experiences with the Samaritans and the Ethiopian show the spread of the Christian movement beyond its original geographical and cultural boundaries. This only happened because Philip and others moved beyond their comfort zones. With the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit they shared the gospel with people who were different from those who comprised the church in Jerusalem. The persecution was not a good thing, but God used it for good. Sometimes we fear change for the wrong reasons, following God’s leadership through the Holy Spirit will lead us in directions that we fear to take on our own. But God has used such change as evidenced by Philip, Peter and the apostles, and such modern-day missionaries as Roger Williams, William Carey and countless missionaries serving today throughout the world.