New Testament Bible Reading Challenge4 March 2013 to 28th February 2014
Week 19: Bible Reading Plan and Discussion Starters
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Welcome to The Salvation Army's Challenge to read the New Testament from beginning to end within one year, reading just 5 chapters per week.
We are now starting week 19 of the Bible challenge…as we continue reading about some of the Acts of the Apostles.
Great Expectations: Expect
God to speak through the Scriptures, expect to learn new things about
Him, and about ourselves, and expect to read and absorb some familiar
stories and passages.
Top Tip!To get the most out of this challenge, start each daily reading with a short, simple, sincere prayer asking God to guide your thinking as you read. Then open the Bible and read slowly, with the aim of learning something new. After the reading, consider how it may affect your life and relationship with Jesus, and allow your increased knowledge of the Scriptures to shape your character and strengthen your trust in God.Take your time - enjoy this opportunity - and may God bless you as you embark upon this New Testament Bible Challenge.
Captain Phil Layton
Monday, July 08, 2013 --- Acts 2 --- The Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost, and Peter addresses the crowds that gathered- v1, What is Pentecost?
- v5 & v41, Why were there so many Jews from every nation? Was this a brilliant part of God's plan, so that they would take the Gospel back with them to their homelands?
Tuesday, July 09, 2013 --- Acts 3 --- Peter heals the crippled beggar and uses it to witness to the onlookers
- v1-10, Why don't we see more of these miracles within our churches today?
- It would appear at this early point that Peter and John are very active in proclaiming the Gospel. What about the other apostles? Could the author of Acts have written everything down, or only what he observed or was told about?
- Is the record of Peter's speech here a verbatim (word for word) account, or an accurate summary of his words?
Wednesday, July 10, 2013 --- Acts 4 --- The number of believers greatly increases, and Peter and John are questioned
- v4, the number of male believers was already at 5,000...an amazing growth-rate...is it any wonder that they were arrested, questioned and threatened by those who had hoped Jesus' death would be the end?
- within this chapter as a whole we see that the Apostles' faithfulness to the Gospel and boldness in preaching brought them hardship on the one hand, but reason to thank God too. How might we consider this account and its relevance to our lives and Gospel mission today?
Thursday, July 11, 2013 --- Acts 5 --- Ananias and Sapphira are struck down, and the apostles face fierce persecution
- v1-10, at first the story of Ananias and Sapphira may seem heavy-handed, but v8 indicates that it wasn't the fact that they kept some money for themselves which was the problem, but that they had lied about it. From this event, what was/is the main lesson for a) those believers and b) for us?
- It has sometimes been claimed that the God of the Old Testament was a wrathful God, and the God of the New Testament is a loving God, making it difficult to understand how God can be so changeable. Does this account act as a reminder that He is the same...both a God of love and holiness in both eras?
- v17, is it easy to see how jealousy was the root of so much of the following persecution?
Friday, July 12, 2013 --- Acts 6 --- The number of believers continues to grow, but Stephen is falsely accused.
- v1, Is it strangely reassuring that even the very early church had practical and administrative problems which needed addressing?
- v7, Again we see how quickly the Jews were accepting the Gospel, and even priests were believing
- v15, how do you interpret this? Was it a permanent physical feature, or a temporary one as Stephen is witnessing faithfully, or something else?
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