overview
It was being alleged that Stephen was
attacking the temple and the law. But
Stephen’s preaching was very much in line with scripture and the teachings of
Jesus, who Himself represented, and brought into reality, deeper fellowship
with God. This went far beyond what the
old traditions could facilitate.
Stephen’s
speech was quite long, and we will look at it section by section. Two themes run through the speech:
- God’s pursuit and guidance, and man’s rejection and disobedience
- Man’s mistaken belief that God can be contained
Right off the bat, it is
demonstrated that God’s self-revelation is not confined to the land of the
Jews—He revealed Himself to Abraham in Mesopotamia . Could God’s revelation come to us in
unexpected places or ways? Or do we
choose to keep Him contained in our traditions, our usual church settings, or
our own limited expectations?
Read again through this chapter,
taking note of two things (you can make columns for this):
What people do What
God does
Can you see and more clearly understand people’s actions or
God’s actions? ___________ Who seems
to be doing more? ______________________
What do you notice about those who submit to God’s general
guiding?________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________
What do you notice about those who don’t?
________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________
Of all the people referred to in this chapter, who do you
most resemble? (If you are not sure, look at your column of “what people do”
and find actions which reflect your own) ____________________
How do you feel about that? _________________________________
Read and Pray: Philippians 1:6
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