Acts 7-8
Read Acts 7-8 here.
Chapter 7 is all about Stephen. Stephen was an evangelist for Jesus. He was Jewish, and at this point there wasn’t really a distinction between Jews and Christians. They weren’t called Christians yet, they were Jews who believed that Jesus was their Messiah. So they still went to the Temple in Jerusalem and to their synagogues each week.
Stephen is accused of being a heretic, speaking falsely about the great fathers of the faith. Abraham and Moses.
Here Stephen starts out. He’s not really trying to defend himself, rather, he now has a captive audience of the men in power to convince them that his interpretation of the story is the right one.
He starts out with God appearing to Abraham, then Joseph, then Moses, then the people in the desert. He’s re-telling this age-old story that every single one of them would know.
NT Wright says “one of the great arts of Christian theology is to know how to tell the story.” The old testament, the story of Jesus as the fulfillment of the old testament and the foundation of the church, and the story of the church, from the beginning to now. Also, your own story of experiencing the love and faithfulness of God today.
Do you tell the story of when you met Jesus? Do you tell stories of how God is working in your life now?
The story Stephen is telling quickly turns to denouncing these leaders he’s with.
There are two sides to every story, right?
Can you imagine being one of the priests in that room? They are just God-fearing Jews who are trying to be faithful to the ancient traditions. They have a story that has been passed down for generations, and this new thing, these Jesus followers are now threatening everything.
As we think about this season that we’re in, where do you find yourself? Protecting the traditions and people and buildings and institutions that we’ve always known or been a part of? Or are you like Stephen, trying to help others see new things God is doing? Neither is bad, both have opportunities and challenges.
Once Stephen is martyred, the rest of the Jesus-followers feel threatened and like they have to get out of Jerusalem.
Acts 8 includes two stories about Philip sharing the gospel with people he never would’ve met had he stayed in Jerusalem.
What are your social networks, what kinds of people do you hang out with? And how did you get connected with them?
Both stories in Acts 8 are about Philip putting himself in a situation where he would be around people who didn’t know Jesus. And he was ready to share his story, the story.
How can we position ourselves to say to God, “here I am”? Are we ready for when God says go?
What networks of people are out there that maybe God has been inviting you to get to know? Any come to mind right now?
Most of your conversations are going to be as blunt as this one. But eventually they might be. Part of being a Jesus-follower is knowing the story, but also living our lives in such a way that we look different and we have a positive impact on the world around us.