God’s Grand Story NT Lesson 4-

The Great Commission

In what ways did the disciples experience the power of the Spirit as they took Jesus’ message into the world?

How can we tell the difference between ministry efforts that are empowered by the Spirit and those that aren’t?

We can’t always tell the difference between work (i.e., ministry effort) that is empowered by the Spirit and work that isn’t, but some indicators are supernatural power, the fruit of people coming to Christ or growing spiritually, and Jesus being glorified. These are not always visible, but should be seen over time in Spirit-empowered ministries.

Read Matthew 24:14

Matthew 24:14 ESV

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

What do you think Jesus meant by the good news being preached to “all nations” (this can also be translated as ethnic groups)?

To what degree do you think the world will hear the good news before He comes?

From ABWE - According to the Traveling Team, UPGs make up 42.2% of the world’s population, or more than 3.14 billion people. The vast majority of them are Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus living in the 10/40 Window, and 86% of them have never had a meaningful conversation or relationship with a Christian. Yet the staggering reality is that less than three percent of foreign missionaries work among this massive segment of humanity.

Mission experts note that almost 7,000 of the people groups in the world are “unreached” , meaning, they do not yet have an indigenous, self-propagating Christian church movement.

Clearly, for heaven to be populated with people “from every nation, tribe, people and language” (see Revelation 7:9), we Christians have some work to do!

Pentecost

Read Acts 2:16-18

Acts 2:16–18 ESV

16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

Joel’s prophecy spoke of the last days, and Peter applied those words to the happenings in Jerusalem at Pentecost.

If those were “last days,” what do you think are the implications of this prophecy for today?

The expression “last days” in Scripture refers to the period of time beginning with the ascension of Christ/birth of the church (Bible scholars quibble over the exact beginning) and continuing until the return of Christ.

The New Testament writers spoke frequently of living in the “last days,” so clearly this era has already lasted some two millennia! But we have to remember that “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8, NIV).

Why was it important for everyone gathered in Jerusalem to hear of God’s wonders in their own language?

Why do you think God chose to do this through a group made up mostly of uneducated Galileans?

To prove it was not a man made religion but the act of a supernatural god

The Spirit endowed different forms of language ability in Acts.

On the day of Pentecost, it was the ability to speak and hear in different human languages.

—Later in Acts and the New Testament, “speaking in tongues” seems to refer to heavenly or prayer languages. These distinctions are important, but the focus in these passages is the Spirit’s power for the moment, not on any universal principle about the Spirit’s presence.

Ministry Among Jews

In the frequent clashes between the followers of Jesus and their opponents, what evidence do you see of a spiritual battle?

How was Satan using opposition for his purposes?

How was God using that same opposition for His purposes?

Though the devil is a “murderer” (John 8:44) and a “roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8) who incites the blind, unbelieving enemies of God to join him in in his efforts to “steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10) God’s people, God is sovereign.

GOD’S ultimate purposes are unstoppable and His will cannot be thwarted. Even when the godless do terrible evil against the godly, God is able to turn it for good (see the comment of Joseph in Genesis 50:20).

Read Acts 4:24-31

Acts 4:24–31 ESV

24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

and Acts 5:41-42

Acts 5:41–42 ESV

41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

What do these passages reveal about the first believers’ attitude toward persecution?

How did God respond to this attitude?

This question is likely to spark some soul-searching and robust discussion.

It’s worth noting that the early church did not seem shocked or surprised by persecution. Nor did they pray for protection or an end to their suffering. On the contrary they rejoiced and prayed for boldness to continue to speak boldly about Christ.

The church in the West (especially in America) has long enjoyed a place of prominence and prestige in culture and, until recently, extreme protection and favor from the state. As this is now changing, Christians seem more inclined to outrage, not rejoicing.

This is worth talking about—is our view/understanding of the “church’s place in society” more informed by 300 years of Western history, or by the Bible?

Ministry Among Gentiles

Even though Jesus had commissioned His followers to go to the ends of the earth (or the extent of the land), why do you think they waited so long to take it beyond Judea?

In what ways do we likewise tend to set unconscious limits on God’s mission?

A great question that touches on our love of comfort, our tendency toward complacency, our struggle with obedience, and our reluctance to engage in the mission of taking God’s Grand Story to our neighbors near and far.

How do we fight our instinctive tendency to focus inward and selfishly turn our backs to the world?

Why are we so reluctant to engage others regarding spiritual issues?

When we have good news (e.g., a windfall, a new car, a baby or grand-baby on the way, etc.) many of us immediately rush to broadcast our announcement on social media. Why then, our frequent reluctance to speak of the gospel? We have to ask ourselves, Do we really believe the story of Jesus is good news, in fact the best news ever? Imagine being a good commandment-observing, kosher-keeping Jew for your entire life in faithfulness to God’s revealed Word. How would you react to foreigners having experiences with God without ever having demonstrated similar obedience? In what ways might you have tried to defend God’s Word? What argument did Peter use in Acts 15:8-9 in favor of accepting Gentiles? This is a particularly tricky question for those who really see the implications. The people who opposed Gentiles coming into the church without also keeping the law had a very solid biblical argument. God declared in numerous Torah passages that His covenant with Israel—and the foreigners who joined them—was everlasting. They could point to chapters and verses. Peter’s

argument is essentially, “This is what we saw the Spirit do.” The implication is that it’s possible to think we have a solid biblical argument and still be wrong if we aren’t sensitive to what we see the Spirit doing.

Missionary Journeys

Read Acts 16:6-10

Acts 16:6–10 ESV

6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

How do you think the Holy Spirit prevented Paul and his companions from turning north in the Asian province (modern-day Turkey)?

What was significant about the vision of the Macedonian pleading with them across the water from Europe?

What does this passage tell us about how God leads?

Participants may have several answers to the last question in this sequence. The passage doesn’t tell us every way God leads, but it shows us at least three: sensitivity to the Spirit (verse 6), closed doors (as verse 7 seems to indicate), and a supernatural vision (verse 9).

As God inspired Luke to write the book of Acts, why do you think He arranged it to end where it did—with Paul awaiting trial in Rome, seemingly in the middle of the story?

There’s no neat, tied-up bow, no clear-cut ending to Acts. It just sort of ends in the middle of the story—which is, of course, Luke’s point.

The story is far from over! Many additional chapters have been written by the Spirit working through His Church in the last 20 centuries. Perhaps today (in Acts, chapter 381,936?) God wants to use you and/or the members of your group in a major way to advance His story. Will we take our place in the story?