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10:30 am. Worship, Teaching, and Community

Wednesday
7:00 pm. Wednesday Night Mosaic Book Club

Mosaic Teaching Guide
14 June 09

Teaching Series: Of Spirit and Flesh (2)
Acts 4 and 5

Chapter 4

  1. Introductory Thoughts
    1. Of Spirit and Flesh
    2. Opposition and Crisis
  2. Vv. 1-4 No good deed goes unpunished
    1.  “Wouldn’t it be simply great news to know that God was alive and well and was providing a wonderful rescue operation through his chosen messiah?  Answer: Not if you are already in power” (N. T. Wright).
  3. Vv. 5-22 “We cannot keep from speaking!”
    1. Peter and John are questioned by the high priest, Annas and others. 
    2. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, responds.
    3.  “There is salvation in no one else.”
      1. How should Christ-followers relate to people of other faith traditions?
    4. The high priest responds 
      1. “Sometimes people can be bold even when they are muddled.  It gave them something more: a clarity, a sharp edge, a definite point at which to stand.  And the authorities knew it” (Wright). 
    5. Peter and John responds
    6. They send Peter and John away with a stiff warning but not even a slap on the wrist. 
  4. Vv. 23-31 A Joyful Return
    1. Peter and John are released from custody and return to their friends.
  5. Vv. 32-37 “They were of one heart and soul.”

  Chapter 5

  1. Vv. 1-11 Ananias and Sapphira
    1. Ananias is confronted and dies (vv. 1-6).
    2. Sapphira is confronted and dies (vv. 7-11).
    3. “And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things” (v.11).
    4. “They knew God was not to be trifled with” (The Message).
    5. “It was a place of holiness, a holiness so dramatic and acute that every blemish was magnified. . .” (Wright).
    6. The question is, why did the early church work to take care of one another so aggressively and radically?
    7. The demands of holiness
      1. Thin places are beautiful and dangerous
      2. Lucy asks about Aslan: Is he safe?  Oh, no he is not safe, but he is good. 
  2. Vv. 12-16 Reflection
    1. “signs and wonders”
    2. More and more people were learning the way of Jesus.
    3. Peter gained a reputation for healing.
  3. Vv. 17-32 The High Priest takes Action
    1. The apostles are incarcerated and promptly released by an angel and told to return to the temple and keep talking about Jesus.
      1. “Go to the Temple and take your stand.  Tell the people everything there is to say about this Life” (The Angel from The Message). 
    2. The Apostles are apprehended again in the temple.
    3. Gamaliel convinces them not to kill the apostles but let them go because they will most likely fade away like so many other revolutionaries before them.  If their cause is of a human origin they will fade away, if God is there source there is nothing you can do about them anyway!
    4. The apostles are flogged, ordered to quit speaking about Jesus and they left rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus.
    5. Needless to say, didn’t stop teaching about this Life.