If a tree is going to grow strong and tall then it must establish a strong root system. This week, as we study Acts 1-2, we will see the roots of this newly planted church reaching deep into the soil. Jesus is the key to this whole operation. Not only is he the planter of the seed, he is the seed and the soil as well. The church is planted in the truth about who Jesus is and why he came. The disciples were called to be witnesses to the simple, yet profound fact that Jesus conquered sin and death by rising from the dead. They were commanded to take this good news to the entire world. 

In order for this sapling church to accomplish the mission for which it was sent, it had to be firmly rooted in three things: Power, Proclamation, and Presence. Without the Power of the Holy Spirit they were nothing; just a sapless, lifeless stick of wood. Without the Proclamation of absolute truth that is found in the person of Jesus Christ there is no mission at all. Only through the life-giving Presence of an authentic community in the world would the love of God and the Good News of Jesus have a vehicle through which to be delivered. We will look at all three of these root structures this week. 

Acts 1:1-14

What topic did Jesus discuss with his disciples during the time he spent with them following his resurrection? Why? 

What are the two kinds of baptism that Jesus contrasts? What are the similarities and differences between these two baptisms? 

What did Jesus promise the disciples would receive? 

What were they to do when they received it? Where were they to do this? 

Mark these areas on the map provided. 

Note: If you don’t have a Bible Atlas, you may want to get one. It would be a great addition to your family library. A good one is The Moody Atlas of Bible Lands. Publisher: Moody Publishers (September 1, 1985) ISBN: 0802404383 

If you have a Study Bible, it should have a set of maps in the back. 

If you don’t have and atlas or a good set of maps in your Bible, here are some sites that have reproducible maps. (please note: I am not necessarily endorsing the theology of these sites, but the maps are good!) 

www.bible.ca/maps 

www.keyway.ca/htm2002/keyway07.htm 

www.biblestudy.org/maps/main.html 

What promise did the two “Men in White” make about Jesus? 

What did the men and women do as they waited for Jesus’ gift? Why? 

The Seed is Planted

Inside of a single seed there lies all the genetic information to produce a gigantic living tree. Even more amazing than that is the fact that from that one seed hundreds, even thousands more seeds can be produced. Today Jesus planted the seed of His kingdom into the hearts of his disciples. 

The disciples asked Him if he was going to restore the Kingdom to Israel at this time. Notice how he did not answer them directly. His silence was like he said, “Hello! Have you not been walking with me and listening to my teaching for the past three years? Yes I’m going to restore the Kingdom, but not in the way that you or all the other Jews think. I am, through you, going to restore the Kingdom of God as it was originally designed…for the whole world. You don’t understand this yet, but when the Spirit comes into you on a permanent basis, he will help you discover that you will break the boundaries or race, language, and creed. You will be my witnesses to the entire world. 

The seed looks small an unimposing in the beginning. It even lies unseen for a season as it spreads roots. But then, given the proper environment, it bursts forth into a dynamic living organism, the roots of which are strong enough to break up a concrete foundation. As we study the book of Acts we will watch this sprout start tiny with only 120 people, incubate for a while in Jerusalem, and then bust out into the entire world, spreading it’s branches for all to see and participate. 

Just For Kids

Spend time today getting familiar with the geography of the book of Acts. Use the blank map that was provided in the book. You may want to make some copies of it before you start marking on it. That way you can make a different map for each section of the book. We will be referencing this map throughout the study of Acts, so it would be a good idea to get familiar with it. 

Today, read Acts 1:8. 

What did Jesus say the disciples would receive when the Holy Spirit filled them? 

The Greek word for “power” is dunamos. That’s where we get the word “dynamite.” In what ways could the power of the Holy Spirit be like dynamite? 

Where did Jesus say the disciples should go to be witnesses for him? 

Identify the regions where Jesus said to go by marking them on your map. **Please see the note about maps in the main study. 

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Tuesday 

Acts 1:15-26

Who was Judas and what had he done? (You’ll have to review the gospels for this answer) 

Peter quoted from Psalm 69 and 109. Read those two Psalms and see if you agree with Peter’s interpretation of these two passages. 

Who wrote these two Psalms? What relationship did the author have with Jesus? How does (if at all) the meaning of these Psalms change if you hear them spoken from the mouth of Jesus? 

What did Peter think needed to be done in regard to Judas’ absence? Why? 

What method did the disciples use to choose Judas’ replacement? Read Proverbs 16:33; Leviticus 16:6-10; Joshua 18:3-10; 1 Chronicles 24:1-5 to see why Peter may have viewed this method as a legitimate way of discerning God’s will? 

Do you think this is a good method for determining what God’s will is in your decision making? Why or why not? 

Life without the Spirit

Scholars have debated long and hard over the correct way to interpret today’s passage. Some have said that Peter was operating exactly according to God’s design and that it was necessary for a twelfth apostle to be chosen. The number twelve was important because it represented the twelve tribes of Israel. The 12 apostles represented the new Kingdom and the new tribes. If you follow this school of thought, then Peter’s method of choosing Matthias by lot was appropriate. After all, it’s not like he randomly chose from the crowd. Instead, he and the other apostles prayerfully boiled the selection process down to two equally qualified candidates. At this point they drew from an age old, biblical, tradition of casting lots and leaving the ultimate choice in the hands of God, trusting that God would direct the fall of the lots. 

While this interpretation is good and can definitely stand, I’d like to explore the possibility of another interpretation. In the flow of the story (tomorrow) we are about to witness one of the greatest miracles of all time. It is the central driving force of the church; the giving of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit came he would guide the disciples in every step of their mission. In today’s reading, perhaps, Luke was giving us a glimpse of what it would look like if the disciples operated without the Holy Spirit. Peter, being the bold and impulsive man that he was, took matters into his own hands, figured out that they needed a replacement, and used “old school” methods to choose one. 

Don’t blame him; he hadn’t received the Holy Spirit yet. He didn’t know that Jesus had another man already chosen to fill the role of number twelve; Saul of Tarsus. Of course, at that time Saul was still neck deep in his zealous Pharisaism, so Peter couldn’t have possibly seen that one coming. That’s just the point. Apart from the Spirit of God, he couldn’t have seen if coming. When we move out under our own strength and with our own wisdom, we very seldom make Godly choices. Oh, we may make good choices (I’m sure Mathias was a top notch guy) but we don’t make God choices. We so often sacrifice the best on the altar of the good and efficient. 

We’ll talk more tomorrow about how necessary the Holy Spirit is for us to be able to be all that God wants us to be. Today, simply ask yourself, “Am I listening to the Holy Spirit, or am I closing my eyes and rolling the dice…eenee, meenee, minee, moe?” 

Just For Kids

Let’s say you and your friends get together and one of the friends has brought his brand new bike. It’s the coolest bike you’ve ever seen. Everyone wants to be the first one to ride it. Obviously, not everyone can be the first one to ride the bike, so how do you decide who gets to go first? 

Do you… 

1. Allow the owner of the bike to determine who gets to ride first?
2. Not let anyone ride so that there won’t be any more fighting
3. Draw straws to see who goes first.

What problems could happen if you chose a? (You might think the owner was playing favorites) 

What problems could happen if you chose b? (Everyone would be upset) 

Why might c be the best option? (By allowing it to be a random choice, everyone agrees upon the plan, and no one can be accused of playing favorites. That way no one’s feelings can get hurt and you can form a nice, friendly line behind the winner of the lots) 

Sometimes, when we have to make big choices, like the disciples had to do, it is OK to “flip a coin” or “draw straws.” The truth is that if you are walking with God, he’s going to bless you in whichever decision you make, because both options are good ones. God is not as concerned about what you do as he is about how you do what you do and for whom you do it. 

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Wednesday 

Acts 2:1-13

In Deuteronomy 16:1-7 we learn about the three main festivals in the Jewish year. The first is Passover, the second is the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), and the third is the feast of Tabernacles. 

What did the feast of Passover celebrate? 

What key event happened for Christians during the Passover (hint: It was a dark day for Jesus)? 

What did the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) celebrate? (Note: by the 1 st century, the Jews had also come to associate Moses’ receiving the Law on Mt. Sinai as something to be celebrated at Pentecost in addition to its original purpose) 

What key event happened for Christians at the Feast of Weeks in our passage today? 

Do you see any correlation between these New Testament events and these Old Testament Feasts? If so, what? 

What miraculous event took place when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples? 

Who was represented in the crowd? 

Read Genesis 11:5-7 and see if there is any correlation between it and the events in our passage today. 

How did the crowd respond to this miracle? 

The Root of Power

The complete title of this book is The Acts of the Apostles. While it definitely records the history of Peter, John, Philip, and Paul, these men are actually secondary characters to the main plotline. Keeping in mind that Acts is the sequel to Luke’s Gospel, when we look at both Luke and Acts combined we realize that the unifying character through the story is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit conceived Jesus in Mary’s womb. The Spirit anointed Jesus at his baptism and led Him into the wilderness to be tempted. The Spirit was the big promise when he went away. We will see as the story unfolds that it is the Spirit that guides (directly, I might add) the activities of the Apostles. And, it is that very same Spirit that indwells Jesus’ disciples today, eternally connecting us to the never-ending story of Acts. The Holy Spirit is the star of the show. The book should really be called The Acts of the Holy Spirit. 

Today we see a promise fulfilled. Jesus said that the disciples would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. The Greek word for power is “dunamos.” This is the word from which we get our word “dynamite.” Dunamos was an explosive power. It was a driving energy. To carry our tree analogy along, the Holy Spirit is the sap and the life energy that drives a tree to spread its branches and soak in the life giving rays of the sun. Without the Spirit there is no life. Without the Spirit there is no power. 

When the Spirit came on them it blew people away. There was a shaking, a rattling, and a miracle. The crowd at Pentecost had to stand up and pay attention. By the supernatural power of God’s Spirit, representatives from every corner of the world instantly heard the truth of Jesus as it was proclaimed in their own language. You might say it was the Spirit’s version of a live CNN satellite uplink. From that one moment, the seed of the Kingdom of God was planted into 3,000 lives and was taken back to the far reaches of the world. Most people don’t think about this, but because of the miracle at Pentecost, churches were planted all over the world, long before the missionary journeys of Paul, and completely under the leadership of the Holy Spirit and no one else. That is a miracle! 

We could spend days, weeks, and months discussing the topic of the Holy Spirit. We could debate over whether tongues was a miracle of speaking in foreign languages or of hearing a foreign language in your mother tongue. We could debate whether tongues is a gift that everyone should receive or if it is only for a few, like all the other gifts. We could debate whether miracles like that can still happen today. We could discuss it, and I’m sure you will discuss it in your house church. You should in fact, spend a great deal of time in your studies in the future researching that subject. 

Today, we aren’t going to discuss those typical debates. Today we are going to look at one simple fact. When the Spirit is present, there is power. When the Spirit of God is present, the authority of God is present and the beacon of God’s truth in present. In an act of unprecedented Grace, God Almighty poured out his powerful Spirit into the hearts of all believers. When the Spirit of God is flowing fully, then there is power. There is power to speak the truth without fear. There is power to heal the sick. There is power to restore sight to the blind. There is power to rescue people from the bondage of darkness, to be cleansed from the filth of sin, and to be transformed into the glorious image of Jesus. Here’s the question…when was the last time you felt the power? I’m not talking about a big show. I’m not talking about a power trip where you stand up and everybody marvels at how spiritual you are in public. I’m talking about the real power of God that solidifies your faith and allows you to boldly, yet humbly, surrender to the will of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is the power that allows you to face any obstacle with peace, and more importantly with love. It is the power that allows you to know joy in the midst of any and all circumstances. 

Have you tasted that power lately? Here’s a bold statement. If we, as a community, are not filled with that power, then we will never be more than a fearful, weak, and benign entity that shines dimly and makes little impact. As we go through this study, ask God to open your heart to the power of the Holy Spirit and discover what that looks like in our day, in our city, right now. 

Just For Kids

Today is another map day! Look at Acts 2:9-11. Find and label all the places on your map that were represented on the day of Pentecost. 

How would you have felt if you were one of the people in the crowd at Pentecost and heard a common man from Galilee stand up and speak in your language? Would you have been more likely to listen to what he had to say? 

Read Genesis 11:5-7. Why did God do this to the people of Babel? 

In our story today, we see that God was, once again, calling all people back to Himself from every part of the world. God wants everyone, from every nation and every language to love him. Maybe be you could be one of the people who take the good news about Jesus to a nation and a language that has never heard of Him before. 

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Thursday 

Acts 2:14-41

Peter believed that the miraculous event that had just taken place was the fulfillment of the prophecy made by Joel centuries earlier. When Joel spoke these words during the reign of King Joash (2 Kings 11-13) the Kingdom of Judah had just been devastated by a killer swarm of locusts. They lost everything. Joel warned the people that this devastation had been a punishment for sin and that, if they did not repent, a worse devastation could hit the city (which it ultimately did). However, in the fashion of the prophets, Joel paints a picture of hope and what it will be like when the Kingdom of God finally comes on the earth in Joel 2:28-32. 

In what ways was this prophecy fulfilled on the day of Pentecost in our reading? 

In vv. 22-36, Peter gives the first Christian sermon ever preached. In these verses he spells out to the Jerusalemites who Jesus really is. Make a list of all the important points he makes about the nature and position of Jesus. (If you need a little help, check out the “Just for Kids” section!) 

Is it important to believe all of these things about Jesus? Why? 

How did the people respond to Peter’s message? 

What did Peter say needed to be done in response to being confronted with the reality of Jesus? 

What did he say would happen if the people did this? 

What did Peter plead for the people to do? Why? 

The Root of Proclamation

Yesterday we talked about power. Power is a funny thing. Power is intoxicating. It comes in many forms. There is an old saying, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Raw power is a destructive force. It is like a wildfire that rages through a neighborhood, devouring everything in its path. 

Is that the kind of power that the Holy Spirit brings? Of course not. The power of the Holy Spirit is a focused power, like a LASER beam. The focusing mechanism of the power is found in today’s reading. It is found in the Proclamation of the Truth. 

When the initial shock wave of the Spirit’s outpouring began to diminish, the crowd was left absolutely stunned, and not a little bit confused. 

What just happened? Did we imagine it? Who can make any sense out of this? 

Peter, now under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, stood up and brought order to the chaos. He brought focus to the power. How? He boldly proclaimed the truth about Jesus. Here lies the second root for the church. We are not bringing an ambiguous and innocuous message about generic, universal love, saying, “Why can’t we just all get along.” We aren’t propagating a power that is akin to harnessing the elemental powers or “life-energy” of the cosmos. We are witnesses to the objective, historical, person of Jesus Christ. He was born, he lived a real life, he died a real death, he rose in bodily form, and he is exalted to the right hand of the Father as the supreme lord of the universe. That is our message. That is a message that divides families. It polarizes a crowd. You either believe it, or you don’t. This is the message of the Kingdom of God. It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can have the courage to proclaim this message. And, when we cease to proclaim this message then we no longer will be operating in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

There are two questions we must ask today. 

1. Do you fully understand who Jesus really is and what he came to do?
2. Can you clearly articulate the message of Jesus, in its Acts 2, unfiltered state, to your culture?

If you answered no to either of these questions, then a top priority for you should be to revisit the Gospels and make sure that you know who it is that you are serving. 

Jesus said that there would be many who claim that they served him and called him Lord, but he will respond, “Depart from me, for I never knew you.” 

We live in the Kingdom of God. The question is whether or not we have entered into the correct Kingdom or an imposter. These are sobering words, but words that need to be pondered nonetheless. 

Just For Kids

Who is Jesus? How do you know? 

Look at these verses and make a list that describes who Jesus is. 

v. 22 Jesus was a ______. 

v. 23 Jesus was put to ________. 

v. 24 God ________ Jesus from the _________. 

v. 33 He was ____________ to the _______ ________ of God. 

v. 33 He has both received and given the ________ ___________. 

v. 36 He is both ________ and __________. 

If all these things are true about Jesus, and you were one of the people who had just nailed him to the cross a few weeks earlier, how would you be feeling right about now? 

Peter said that if you want to make things right with God, then you need to repent and be baptized. Have you been baptized yet? If so, how has your life been different since then? If not, why? 

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Friday 

Acts 2:42-47

Make a list of the things to which the disciples were devoted. Try to describe what each of these things is. 

How did the members of that church treat one another? 

How often did they meet together? 

Where did they meet? What did they do in each place? 

How did the “neighborhood” respond to this church? 

What was the result of their presence in the “neighborhood?” 

If the description of this first church is to be considered a model for what the church should be like, how well do you think our church is doing in each area? 

Rank it from 1-6, 1 being poor and 6 being great, in the following areas: 

• Devoted to Apostles Teaching (today, found in Scripture)
• Devoted to Fellowship
• Devoted to Breaking Bread
• Devoted to Prayer
• In Awe of God’s miracles
• Sharing everything in common
• Giving to the needy
• Meeting daily in the Temple Courts
• Eating together in their homes with gladness and sincerity
• Praising God
• Enjoying the favor of the people

How could we improve in these areas? 

The Root of Presence

Today we see the third root that is necessary for the young tree to grow strong and tall. This root brings balance, for without it the first two roots of Power and Proclamation could become a force in the world that brings nothing but devastation in its wake. Truth always needs to be delivered in the package of Absolute Love. That is what the root of Presence provides. The Kingdom of God is designed to be delivered through the conduit of an authentic, Spirit-filled, God-loving, community. In an authentic community the love of God can be fully demonstrated in real-life and the light of the Gospel can shine through to the world in vivid color. The truth moves from the abstract to the concrete as the power and the truth and the love of God moves in and through the lives of God’s people as they interact with one another and with the world around them. The church becomes a Presence within the world that acts as the Salt and the Light that Jesus referred to in Matthew 5. 

The key to this is the word authentic. The church must be real, not manufactured. We live in a society that has become an expert at manufacturing artificial reality. If you go to Disneyland you can walk through simulated environments that are so real that when you actually take your children to the real thing in nature they say, “Hey, this is just like Disneyland.” We put hardwood floors in our homes that aren’t made out of wood. We paint faux finishes on our walls. We put artificial sweeteners in our instant coffee. And, most ironically, we make food products out of bleached flour and plastic. 

When we substitute the real ingredients with artificial substances and then package it as the “real thing,” do you know what happens? First of all, millions of people slip into a state of ignorant bliss and fill their bodies with harmful toxins, unaware. Secondly, an entire generation slowly dies of malnutrition and the subsequent diseases that accompany the plight of full stomachs and starving cells. 

When we apply this principle to the church, the same is true. Here are five ingredients from today’s reading that should be present in the church along with the five artificial substitutes that we have settled for. As with baking, when one ingredient is missing from the recipe then the food doesn’t taste quite right. 

Devotion vs. Distraction

The word devotion (proskarteréo) means a. “to focus on,” b. “to hold fast to,” and c. “to be in continually.” It is a matter of priorities. What is first in our lives? Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 that we are to seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and all these things will be added unto you. In our world the areas of the Apostles teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread, and Prayer are things that are most often an addendum to our agenda and under the “optional” or “if I have extra time” category in our weekly maelstrom of activity. We are the people of distraction. Our work, our worries, and our amusement swirl around us and vie for our attention. Who do you think is behind the machine that fills the airwaves with distracting messages? It’s not God. Our enemy knows that as long as he can keep us distracted from the things that actually matter in life (eternal life, remember) then he can keep us from adding the most important ingredient to our Presence, leaving us as unsavory salt, and lackluster light in the world. 

Wonder vs. Wonder Bread

We talked about this on Wednesday. The real catalyst for the church is the Power of the Holy Spirit at work in its people. Every day the people were in awe of the miraculous wonders that the Spirit was doing. If we want the dough to rise, then we have to add the yeast. It’s like the difference between Wonderbread and Ezekiel bread. Wonderbread may look like bread, but it has been stripped of everything nutritional that God designed wheat to provide. Wonderbread will last for weeks on the shelf because it is so worthless that not even mold wants to eat it. Ezekiel bread, on the other hand, is made with the whole, sprouted grain and is rich with life-giving nutrients. Without the power of God in the church, we have nothing more than bleached flour with no nutritional value. It looks good on the shelf and it can fill your stomach, but it does nothing for your body. When people observe our community, do they see a nicely packaged presentation that looks like bread, but has no actual wheat left in it? Or, do they see bread that is alive with the whole grain goodness of the power of the Spirit of God coursing through it as a regular and expected reality? 

Generosity vs. General Apathy

They shared everything in common and gave to anyone as he had need. In our society we have become so desensitized and calloused by the parade of charlatans that have used us over the years that we no longer trust. Or, we have become immobilized by our exposure to the global reality of hunger and poverty that we feel incapable of making any difference in the world, and so freeze into inactivity. We horde our finances and resources and rationalize it under the guise of “good stewardship.” Until the floodgates of generosity open up in the community, first between the members of the community, and then to the world around it, the practical demonstration of God’s love will not be evident to the world. We will have faith without deeds. We will speak hollow words while we turn people out into the cold. 

Interdependence vs. Independence

The Great American myth is the belief that we are free agents in the world. Our radical individualism is the destructive factor that dismantles the cohesion necessary to bring unity and to bond us together as the body of Christ. No one person and no one family can be the church. We are part of the body and we need each other to be complete. We must rely upon one another. The reason we don’t do this is because, quite frankly, it is scary. To trust is to risk. It requires vulnerability. When we become vulnerable we can be taken advantage of and hurt by people who do not have the same values, or are struggling with their own sin. Yet, if we keep our guards up in order to protect ourselves, we will actually find ourselves locked in the prison of self, disconnected from the body of Christ which is the only source of support we have. If the church is to be a vital Presence in the world, then it must be a cohesive unit that trusts and depends upon one another. 

Open System vs. Closed System

The Lord added daily to their numbers those who were being saved. Do you know what that means? It means the church was in a constant state of change. Change! One of the greatest reasons for the demise of the American church is the fear of change. We can slip into the attitude that we really like the few people in our little network and we don’t want to lose the fellowship that we have. The realm of biology has taught us that a system that is not open to receive outside influence is a system that will soon die. A healthy system, like a living cell, for instance, has a good balance between internal cohesion and external openness. The outer wall of cell is what is called a semi-permeable membrane. It is strong enough to hold the components of the cell together, but pliable enough to allow outside substances into it for nutrition. The church must become a healthy cell that has a strong cohesion, but also has an open attitude to allow new people to constantly be brought into the fold and made to be a viable member of the body. 

Remember, the church in this passage did not set out to add numbers. They simply devoted themselves to the essentials of BEING the Presence and God added the numbers. The church is called to die to itself and all the artificial substitutes that threaten it, be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, and then be ready to receive the fruit of the overflow that God will bring to it as a result of being real. 

The question we must ask ourselves every day is this. What are we baking? Do we have all the ingredients that it takes to be the church, or are we substituting them with artificial substances. Are we serving up Wonderbread or are we the real thing? 

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