In our readings this week we will cover a model of an early church community, the roots of the diaconate, the martyrdom of St. Stephen, and a mission to Samaria.
Be Bold! Week 2
In our readings this week we will cover a model of an early church community, the roots of the diaconate, the martyrdom of St. Stephen, and a mission to Samaria.
gracelutheranchurch.com 
Where is the video on Ananias and Sapphira? Thanks. Susan
Hi Susan,
Here’s the link for the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L-dG5A_rP4
I’m not sure why it’s not showing up above for you.
Now I get it, we are just meeting on the website. No, zoom at 9;15 on Sunday mornings. OK. Are we to ask and asnwer questions here? People were being baptized by the Holy Spirit, and yes we get authority from the Holy Spirit, but this is fom last week which I missed. Question-this idiom “cut to the heart” occurs a couple of times. Is that an ancient Hebrew idiom? Does it mean more than to make one question what is in your soul? Stephen quotes so much scripture because these are practicing Jews experiencing something that fills them in awe, this witnessing about the re. surrection of Jesus of Nazareth. We speak a lot today about authentic storytelling. Stephen’s tie to authenticity was the fact that he was quotong from the Septuagint, he was a person who was a practicing Jew just like them, yet he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and was preaching about the resurrected Jesus. There is boldness exhibited all over these readings. Peter and John were bold, Stephen was bold, Gamaliel was bold, being a Pharisee, he stepped in and spoke with great wisdom, rose his voice over those who wanted to kill Peter and John. We don’t always get to see a Pharisee portrayed in this light, that is, as the one who is offering the most sense. Look at vs. 38 – keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this work is of men it will come of nithing, but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow.it. Even Ananias and Sapphira were bold, in trying to hide what they did. They obviously were not using their boldness for good. Philip was bold. Oh, the idiom, cut to their hearts was used again in Acts 5: 33. I want to know more about that. I have a question about the living oracles, too. Were Peter and John the living oracles, or were there many living oracles. Were living oracles also known by all of these people throughout Macedonia, or were only the Greek speaking people asking about living oracles. Did the Aramaic speaking people also have questions about the living oracles? Back to boldness, Simona was bold too, but then he wanted to pay money for the power of the Holy Spirit. I still don’t know if this is how we are doing Sunday School, but I wanted to be more on top of things this week. Thanks, Angie. I will look for something more on Ananias and Sapphire.
You can either leave questions here or email me if you want some anonymity. We are doing Sunday School this way during the pandemic. I didn’t want anyone to be overwhelmed with having to show up at 9:00 every Sunday. This format, at least in theory, let’s people work at their own pace. I’ll look into your questions and get back to you! Thanks for participating!
1)I don’t know if it’s an ancient Hebrew idiom. I did some digging around and one source suggested that Luke might have been using the LXX and looking at Pslam 109:16. Personally, I think about like when you’re having a fight with someone and you realize that you are in the wrong and you have that moment where you feel terrible about yourself.
2)I tried to keep my translation as close to the original text as possible and didn’t translate into easy to read English. “Logion” translates as oracle, saying, or word. It can be used to signify the whole of the Hebrew scripture. The idea is that Moses received the law directly from God and not from man.
Hope that helps!
Yes – the cut to the heart – I knew what it meant, but it feels like it has roots in some ancient story. I went digging as well – didn’t find a great answer, yet! Thanks for checking. Yes, and logos, word, oracle, etc. . . . thanks for checking on that, too!
Oh, good. I like having this space right here to ask questions. Thanks! Susan