Surrey Chapel Fellowship Group Notes January 16th/ 17th
Acts 1 
Commissioned

The book of Acts is widely acknowledged to have been written by Luke hence the reference to his former book - The Gospel of Luke. Verse 1 tells us that Luke’s gospel recorded what Jesus “began to do and teach”. The book of Acts therefore details the continuation of Christ’s work, primarily through the actions of the apostles and later through the church.

v.3 “many convincing proofs” - We must never forget that there is hard evidence for the Christian faith. This is in total contrast to people like Richard Dawkins who claim that “faith is believing in something for which there is no evidence”. How would you counter such a claim?

v.5 Baptism in the Holy Spirit. This was a special event, as the apostles were living in the transition from the Old to the New Covenant. It should not therefore be seen as setting the pattern for being baptised in the Holy Spirit for which other texts need to be referred to. Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology ch. 39 discusses the range of views on this topic.

v.6 It appears that they still hadn’t grasped the true nature of the Kingdom of God. What were they expecting? What did they get?

v.8 Is a good summary of the book of Acts.
The word witness appears 39 times in Acts. What does it mean to be a witness? Is this different to being an evangelist or missionary? If so how?

The greek word dynamis means ‘power, strength or ability’ and is used several other times in Acts to refer to the power to work miracles in connection with gospel ministry. For examples see 3:12, 4:7, 6:8, 10:38.

v.9 For such a significant event the brevity of its description leaves it rather understated. Why?
A cloud is often used in scripture as a symbol of God’s presence. See Luke 9:28-36,  Exodus 13:21, 40:34, 1 Kings 8:10. Clouds will also herald Christ’s return, Revelation 1:7.

v.16 is a clear reminder of the divine inspiration of scripture.

v.21 Why was it necessary to replace Judas?

v.22 Note the importance of being a witness to the resurrection. This is central to our faith. See 1 Corinthians 15:12-17.

v.24 Just as Christ had chosen the original 12 apostles, the choice of Judas’ replacement was also up to God.

Prayer Pointers										ADB
Regular activities of the church that members of your group are involved in.
The Elsie Tilney Story special event on 27th January.
Parenting workshops on 8th/9th February.
Preparations for Sizewell.