Maybe thats what luke means when he says stephen has the face of an angel 6. The beautiful, amazing, powerful, weak, dysfunctional church a chapterbychapter bible study of the book of acts 5 first ten years. Like the other heroes in acts, he sets an example for all believers. The stoning of stephen when the members of the sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.
Some scholars consider the scene involving stephens trial and death as. Stephen was not concerned about his earthly existence, determining instead to stand firmly on the side of. But stephen boasted in the grace of god, freely bestowed on undeserving sinners. The speeches in acts make the book interesting, because when people talk we learn something about their personalities. M any people who are familiar with the bible are not familiar with stephen who was one of the first deacons in the bible. Acts 7 is the record of stephens testimony, which is perhaps the most detailed and concise history of israel and their relationship to god of any in scripture. The only primary source for information about stephen is the new testament book of the acts of the apostles. They chose stephen, a man full of faith and of the holy spirit, as well as philip, prochorus, nicanor, timon, parmenas, and nicolas from antioch, a convert to judaism. The acts of the apostles, abbreviation acts, fifth book of the new testament, a valuable history of the early christian church.
It is the end of the jerusalem phase and the beginning of the samarian phase. Mar 23, 2020 acts stephen manley 37 50 minute sessions through saturation bible study we will look into the book of acts. These verses describe how seven men were chosen as special ministers, and one of them, stephen, fell foul of the authorities. Acts was written in greek, presumably by the evangelist luke, whose gospel concludes where acts begins, namely, with christs ascension into heaven. Stephen s final words were similar to jesus last words on the cross.
In this book we see the first mention of the dispensation of the holy spirit and jesus command to take his gospel to all the world. I encourage you to study the book of acts and all of its sermons to see them for yourself. The book of acts is an adventure thrill ride from start to finish, but we tend to skip over a lot of the incredibly compelling details. Mar 09, 2016 in this sharefaithkids sunday school lesson we learn about stephen. Stephen is first mentioned in the acts of the apostles as one of seven deacons appointed by the apostles to distribute food and charitable aid to poorer members of the community in the early church. Stephens response was jewish in its concerns, and in form it followed hellenistic rhetorical conventions joshua 24. Aug 31, 2015 stephen as his name and his relations in the church at jerusalem seem to imply acts 6. Stephens speech differs sharply from previous speeches in acts. He is the first christian speaker to challenge jewish institutions, the law and the temple. But stephen reminded the jews that god was bigger than any temple. These were men of the synagogue called the libertines, and some of the cyrenians, alexandrians, cilicians and asians. Jul 22, 20 for my wednesday night bible study class for kindergarteners6th grade, i decided to do an overview of the life of stephen.
Acts 68 describe the activities of two nonapostles, stephen and philip. His stoning by the nonbelieving jews and his bold proclamation of the gospel of jesus christ. It is not calculated to receive exoneration before the sanhedrin. Stephens final words were similar to jesus last words on the cross. Here is a quiz on the book of acts from the new testament. We were first introduced to stephen in the first verses of acts 6.
Both are hellenistic jews and neither is numbered among the 12. In addition, stephen was also the first martyr of the church. According to acts of the apostles, stephen performed many miracles and converted many of the jews, although nothing is known about him outside the acts of. Look through stephens sermon and you will see clearly what he wanted the people to know. In the developing argument of the book of acts, the sermon and the stoning of stephen is very significant. Acts stephen manley 37 50 minute sessions through saturation bible study we will look into the book of acts. The book has been called the acts of the apostles, really a misnomer because acts has very little to say concerning most of the original twelve apostles. The name stephen is greek, and chapter 6 of the acts of the apostles 6 tells us that he was a hellenist a foreignborn jew who spoke greek. Stephen, under attack and facing likely death, spoke the truth recorded by luke, acts 7. The book of acts provides a bridge for the writings of the nt. Complete bible timeline links interlinear bible bible commentaries bible lexicon topical bible bible summary bible outline bible timeline childrens bible bible hub homepage. The existence of the jewish nation was no coincidence or human contrivance. Stephen was the first christian to be put to death for his faith. Luke had written to him before and had told him about the things that jesus did and taught.
The very length of stephens speech in acts 7, the longest in a book full of speeches, probably indicates something of the importance luke assigned to this episode in the history of early. The book of acts provides a detailed, orderly, eyewitness account of the birth and growth of the early church and the spread of the gospel immediately after the resurrection of jesus christ. In this sharefaithkids sunday school lesson we learn about stephen. Stephens speech is often called a defense, or apology, but it is obviously not a speech for the defense in the forensic sense of the term. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to egypt. Stephens sermon is twice as long as peters sermon delivered at pentecost acts 2. His story is wholly contained in two chapters in the book of acts, but it provides a glimpse into life in the early church and serves as an example of how our faith in christ can lead to great things. Stephen was not concerned about his earthly existence, determining instead to stand firmly on the side of jesus christ, no matter the consequences. This is the length you should be willing to go to for jesus. If anything, stephens words are an indictment, not a defense. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets. Local churches were beginning to be established and there arose some problems with greek widows being neglected in their care.
It is a transition point, as we can see, marking the end of one era and the beginning of another. Of the numerous speeches in acts of the apostles, stephen s speech to the sanhedrin is the longest. Luke was from antioch but traveled with paul all over southern europe and the middle east. Luke recorded three rejections by the jews to peter and the apostles associated with him to the message of repentance and proclamation of the kingdom. We will journey through the complete book in an overall survey and then. Its narrative supplies a bridge connecting the life and ministry of jesus to. Here is a summary and overview of the book of acts. In the latter portion of acts, luke recorded three rejections of the jews to pauls overtures of salvation.
Lets take a look at some of the most intriguing things in acts and develop a new appreciation for this fascinating book. Jan 02, 2020 acts 7 is the record of stephens testimony, which is perhaps the most detailed and concise history of israel and their relationship to god of any in scripture. The beautiful, amazing, powerful, weak, dysfunctional church a chapterbychapter bible study of the book of acts 6 acts 1 50 days 1. Acts 7 is the record of stephen s testimony, which is perhaps the most detailed and concise history of israel and their relationship to god of any in scripture. Characteristics of the apostolic preaching in acts. Actus apostolorum, often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth book of the new testament. Yet stephen is the first martyr and his speech summarizing some important theological points in the transition between peters ministry in jerusalem and pauls mission in acts. Jun 29, 2018 under roman law, stephen s death was illegal. His listeners always reject the saving message of god. The temple in this book called acts was the third temple. Some scholars consider the scene involving stephen s trial and death as significant, not only because stephen is. Acts 7 new international version niv stephens speech to the sanhedrin.
Luke gives a few paragraphs in this article have been taken from my commentary an exposition of acts new testament commentary. Stephens speech to the sanhedrin then the high priest asked stephen, are. Its narrative supplies a bridge connecting the life and ministry of jesus to the life of the church and the witness of the earliest believers. An inward experience of grace flows outward into a gracious spirit toward others. Stephen is the first in a long line of christians who are put to death for sticking firm to their faith in jesus. We only have a chapter and a half about stephen in the whole bible, yet he emerges as one of the most impressive characters in the entire scripture. He performed great wonders and signs among the people.
Stephen said some words from the book by the prophet isaiah isaiah 66. In the new testament, in the book of acts, you will learn how the members of the church in jerusalem gave their money freely to help the poor. The story of stephen, the first martyr the wonder book of bible stories logan marshall in the new testament, in the book of acts, you will learn how the members of the church in jerusalem gave their money freely to help the poor. The god of glory appeared to our father abraham while he was still in mesopotamia, before he lived in harran. Bradd words in boldboldbold and underlined are the answers to the blanks on the acts study guides acts 1 the book of acts was written by luke to a man named theophilus. Stephen was headed for persecution for the death of jesus. Stephen wanted the people to remember their heritage vss. Peter and his mission to the jews is the main focus in this first part of the book of acts. Acts free bible commentary on the book of acts in easy english. According to orthodox belief, he was the eldest and is therefore called archdeacon. Many scholars see a samaritan connection to stephens community, postulating that it may have migrated there when jerusalem was destroyed in 70 ce. No, its not as fun as hopping along in outer space getting crushed to death with rocks never is, but.
He was one of the men chosen by the church to oversee the equitable distribution of food to the needy widows. Acts 7, new international version niv the bible app. Yet stephen is the first martyr and his speech summarizing some important theological points in the transition between peters ministry in. The greek word for wisdom is used only four times in acts, twice of stephen 6. Several questions can be answered from the first 2 verses.
For my wednesday night bible study class for kindergarteners6th grade, i decided to do an overview of the life of stephen. Acts 7 niv stephens speech to the sanhedrin bible gateway. A person who understands and lives gods grace as seen in the cross also becomes a person who shows grace to others. The purpose of the book of acts is governed by the jews response to peter and paul.
His stoning by the nonbelieving jews and his bold proclamation of the gospel of. The hellenist converts, who probably formed a minority in the early christian community, complained that the care of their elderly widows was neglected by the hebrewspeaking majority. To the objection that it seems unlikely that such a long speech could be reproduced in the text of acts exactly as it was delivered, some biblical scholars have replied that stephen s speech shows a distinctive personality behind it. The very length of stephens speech in acts 7, the longest in a book full of speeches, probably indicates something of the importance luke assigned to this. There is no mention in acts of anyone being punished for the death of stephen. The recipient of the book, theophilus, is the same person addressed in the first volume, the gospel of luke see introduction to luke. In the book of acts, why was stephen stoned to death. Stephen acts 67 sunday school lesson resource youtube. Most of us know that he was the first christian killed for his faith, but do we know what led up to that. The beginning verses of acts make it clear that acts is a sequel of the story started in luke and written to the same man named theophilus, generally a title ascribed to highranking roman officials. The sanhedrin was not authorized to impose the death penalty, but the stoning appeared to be the result of mob action. Each of the characteristics listed below can be found all over the book of acts, and for the sake of brevity i chose to only include one example for each. As for this fellow moses who led us out of egyptwe dont know what has happened to him. Stephen was an otherwise unknown martyr mentioned only in acts of the apostles.