Acts 6:1-7:2a, 44-60

Being Church

Opening Question:

What ministry have you been involved with? In what way do you serve in the Church?

Context:

The early Church included Jews that returned from various countries. The Hellenists were Jews who spoke Greek and lived in that culture. There were also Jews from the area, raised traditionally, speaking Aramaic or Hebrew.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is the point of conflict or concern being raised in this story? What is decided in order to alleviate the issue?

2. How is Stephen described? In what way do you see the Holy Spirit working through him?

3. What similarities, if any, do you notice in this event of Stephen’s life and death, and that of Jesus’ life and death? In what way did Stephen live like Jesus?

4. What do you think the importance is of Stephen “having the face of an angel” and seeing the heaven’s opened with Jesus at the right hand of God? What do you make of this?

5. What can we learn from Stephen?

Take Home Questions:

The Church today lives with much division. Among the Body of Christ there is disagreement, an unwillingness to work together and even judgment of who is actually a Christian and who’s not. What do you think of the lack of unity among the Church as a whole? How do you think it impacts the world’s view of Christianity?

What do you think we can learn from the early Church in how to be unified and work together? What is something you can do to find common ground with other Christians?

GROW Guide April 18, 2021