Engaging Gospel Doctrine | Constructive approaches to ...
340: July 14, 21; Being wrong (New Testament Weeks 28-29)July 14; Acts 6-9 (Home Study)July 21 Acts 10-15 (Sunday School)Title comes from a the Kathryn Schulz book. Great TED talk. What does being wrong feel like? Being right. Highlight: Speedy Sunday School prep!! Normally I like to work carefully through the reading, mark it up, and then go back and prepare my lesson. But I thought this episode would be a good opportunity to model efficient Sunday School preparation. Review the content of the assigned reading (a Bible with section headings REALLY helps) Pick the top two or three most important topics for discussion Remember to always encourage questions and conversation, and don’t be afraid of telling the class or whomever you are talking to that you will look up the answer and get back to them (Feel free to email me with questions any time!) Reading Acts 6Seven called to serve as deconsArrest of StevenActs 7Stephen’s speech (The Jewish scriptures look forward to Christ’s coming) Stoning of Stephen (Serves as a echo of Jesus’ death) Acts 8Saul’s early persecutionPhilip teaches in SamariaEthiopian Eunuch (8:31: How can I understand unless someone guides me?) Acts 9Saul’s conversionSaul escapes from DamascusSaul visits JerusalemPeter and Lydda and JoppaActs 10Peter and Cornelius: Gentiles believe in ChristHoly Spirit givenActs 11Peter returns to JerusalemChurch in AntiochActs 12Jacob, son of Zebedee, is killedPeter’s miraculous escape from prisonHerod’s deathActs 13Barnabas and Saul set apartMinistry in Cyprus-the first missionPsidian AntiochActs 14IconiumLystra and DerbeReturn trip to AntiochActs 15Jerusalem Conference Decision of the Conference Paul and Barnabas go their separate ways Ask the class: What was your takeaway from the reading? What seemed to be the most important lesson? (For me, it comes down to “Learning you were wrong and correcting course) Paul, Peter, and the Church all go through this process Paul: Don’t persecute the Christians; preach their Messiah Peter: Don’t limit preaching to Israel; preach also to the Gentiles Church: Don’t require Gentile converts to be circumcised or follow the Jewish Law; require them to be moral Deeper discussion of the three examples Paul: (Mission talk about God respecting Paul’s zeal. He was never lukewarm, and so efficiently converted from a staunch persecutor of the Church, someone who “devastated the Church” (8:3) to a staunch missionary for the Church) 9:2 “Of the Way” (earliest name of the Christians) Why are you persecuting me? Who are you? Ananias is at first scared and wary of Saul “He is a chosen instrument for me, to bear my name among the Gentiles, kings, and the people of Israel” Moving that Ananias’ first words are “BROTHER Saul”. Ananias too had to quickly change his mind and update Note that in Jerusalem, the disciples were again afraid of him. Barnabas had to recommend him so Saul would get a chance. Peter: God prepares Peter for a radical paradigm shift Cornelius is the “golden investigator” (righteous, God-fearing, “praised by the entire Jewish nation”) Peter is praying.. Seeking connection with God… and receives a vision that challenges everything he knows, his entire upbringing. It would be even stronger than God telling a member of the Church to drink some hard liquor Peter refuses The vision repeats three times Peter still doesn’t get it Cornelius worships Peter and he says “Stand up. I’m only a man” (power of a clear translation) “You know it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call a person unclean or common” (10:28) “I truly understand that God does not show partiality” (10:34) Elder McConkie alluded to this scripture after the 1978 revelationMcConkie, All Are Alike Unto God We have read these passages and their associated passages for many years. We have seen what the words say and have said to ourselves, “Yes, it says that, but we must read out of it the taking of the gospel and the blessings of the temple to the Negro people, because they are denied certain things.” There are statements in our literature by the early Brethren which we have interpreted to mean that the Negroes would not receive the priesthood in mortality. I have said the same things, and people write me letters and say, “You said such and such, and how is it now that we do such and such?” And all I can say to that is that it is time disbelieving people repented and got in line and believed in a living, modern prophet. Forget everything that I have said, or what President Brigham Young or President George Q. Cannon or whomsoever has said in days past that is contrary to the present revelation. We spoke with a limited understanding and without the light and knowledge that now has come into the world.We get our truth and our light line upon line and precept upon precept. We have now had added a new flood of intelligence and light on this particular subject, and it erases all the darkness and all the views and all the thoughts of the past. They don’t matter any more.It doesn’t make a particle of difference what anybody ever said about the Negro matter before the first day of June of this year, 1978. It is a new day and a new arrangement, and the Lord has now given the revelation that sheds light out into the world on this subject. As to any slivers of light or any particles of darkness of the past, we forget about them. We now do what meridian Israel did when the Lord said the gospel should go to the Gentiles. We forget all the statements that limited the gospel to the house of Israel, and we start going to the Gentiles.Jesus’ teaching: Mark 714 And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”[e] 17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”[f] (Thus he declared all foods clean.)“What God has cleansed you must not call unclean” (Acts 10:15) Revelation trumps traditionChurch: We see a model of early Church decision making, as Wayment points out 15:6 “This verse establishes key precedents for how matters were resolved in the early Church. A problem was presented to the leaders in Jerusalem, and two opposing views were presented, both by believing groups in the Church. As a result, the apostles and elders gathered together”. The question: Do Gentile converts need to follow the Jewish Law? (Most urgently, circumcision) Answer: For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to place any greater burden on you than these directives: To abstain from what has been offered in animal sacrifices, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual impropriety. If you obey these directives, you will do well.” (15:29-30) Oxford Bible commentary points out “the list of prohibitions is even more clearly designed to facilitate table fellowship between the Jewish and Gentile believers” (The precise issue Paul addresses in Galatians 2). Nugget: One of the primary agendas of the Book of Acts is to make the early Christian leaders look like they got along. The tension was stronger in reality… watch for hints in Paul’s letters, especially Galatians. Conclusion/Practice: What are you wrong about right now? (I don’t know! “I’m wrong about everything” is a daily meditation of mine, but the whole problem is that I can’t be right about the ways I’m wrong until I have greater knowledge and perspective What practice do you need to be converted to? (What do you need to do differently) Peter’s command/change of heart is a HUGE deal Are we persecuting Jesus in ways we aren’t aware? Are we allowing our prejudices and even principles to alienate us from others (the way I deal with vegetarianism) ................
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