Saints Together Week 5 - The Culture of Community
Read
Acts 5:17-42
17 Then the high priest rose up. He and all who were with him, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 So they arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple, and tell the people all about this life.” 21 Hearing this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. When the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin—the full council of the Israelites—and sent orders to the jail to have them brought. 22 But when the servants got there, they did not find them in the jail; so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing in front of the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” 24 As the captain of the temple police and the chief priests heard these things, they were baffled about them, wondering what would come of this. 25 Someone came and reported to them, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 Then the commander went with the servants and brought them in without force, because they were afraid the people might stone them. 27 After they brought them in, they had them stand before the Sanhedrin, and the high priest asked, 28 “Didn’t we strictly order you not to teach in this name? Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” 29 Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than people. 30 The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging him on a tree.
31 God exalted this man to his right hand as ruler and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” Gamaliel’s Advice 33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered the men to be taken outside for a little while. 35 He said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful about what you’re about to do to these men. 36 Some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, and all his followers were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and attracted a following. He also perished, and all his followers were scattered. 38 So in the present case, I tell you, stay away from these men and leave them alone. For if this plan or this work is of human origin, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even be found fighting against God.” They were persuaded by him. 40 After they called in the apostles and had them flogged, they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them. 41 Then they went out from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be treated shamefully on behalf of the Name. 42 Every day in the temple, and in various homes, they continued teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
Summary
Welcome back to Community Group, this week we will be looking at COMMUNITY of Faith. We begin the passage with the apostles being arrested because the Sadducees being jealous of them. You see while the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, the Sadducees were filled with jealousy.
People were seeking out the apostles not only to hear them speak, but they would put the sick on the side of the road hoping Peter’s shadow would heal them. They were imprisoned for teaching about Jesus. They knew that they could speak of nothing else.
While in jail, an angel came and let them out. The jailers found the doors locked but the cells empty. They went looking for them and this time asked them to come in, they were afraid of the people. They once again told them to stop teaching about Jesus. Peter replied “We must obey God rather than people.” He went on and gave them a lesson about what they had done to Jesus. Their response was to Peter’s lesson was to kill them.
In every group, there is always someone with common sense. In this group it was Gamaliel. He told them that fighting against these men might mean fighting against God. So, instead of killing them they flogged them. As they were released, the Sadducees thought they would leave discouraged. Instead, they left feeling honored that they were beaten for Christ.
They left and celebrated with other believers and the Gospel continued to be preached.
So, what are our next steps:
Pray for the filling of the Spirit
Commit to community
Celebrate continually
Say YES to Jesus
Discussion
Has the Lord ever prompted you to share the Gospel with someone? Share
Have you ever been told not to speak of the Lord? How did you react?
What do you think would happen if you were disobedient to the Lords prompting? Share
Does knowing that God cannot be STOPPED give you courage to share the Good News? Share
How does having your community embolden you to share with others? Give an example.
Announcements
We are already beginning to plan for next year, please help us pray as we week God’s leading in His CG Ministry.
We will be starting to implement CG Coordinators this year. Each Coordinator will be providing support for their CG and four others. Please pray for our future Coordinators.
Let’s continue to pray for each other and send prayer requests through our WhatsApp thread. If you are a CG Leader and are not on our WhatsApp thread please contact Meichelle at meichelle.vasquez@bt.church
Pastor Isuaro Medina
Isauro.medina@bt.church
Cell: (956) 984-9380
