Acts 12-28 GGprep+podcaststudy5

Acts Podcast 5

(This is a transcript generated by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy or content by Crossroads)

Welcome, growth group leader. You are listening to the Plus podcast. This podcast helps you prep each week for our studies and acts. You need your Bible, a pen and your study booklet. I'm joined by Aisha, who wrote these great studies. Welcome, Ayesha. Okay, we are up to the final study for the final two chapters of Acts and Study five, Acts 27 to 28.

Yeah, we're going to get stuck in, but always good to pray before you prep. So could you pray for us, please? Heavenly Father, thank you that you are the sovereign God who created the world and sustains it all. And thank you that by your son, you have sought to. Yeah, bring your kingdom, and include us in it.

Thank you that we've seen the reign of Christ across the book of Acts. Would you help us to see that again today? To be filled with courage and joy, and perseverance, and help us to lead others in that, too. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Amen. In your prayer, you alluded to some of the things going on in these final chapters.

What is what is what happens in these final two chapters? And what's the kind of big idea, big takeaway that we want for our groups this week? I mean, what doesn't happen in these chapters? It's action-packed and theologically rich at the same time. But it's just, it's so juicy. You could spend weeks here.

Anyway, what happens? Paul finally starts moving a bit quicker towards Rome. But it's not without so many things that stop him on its way. This. Yeah. Shipwrecks and snakes and all sorts of weird and wonderful things. And some strange things, like he heals people on this island, but it doesn't look like anyone saved. So what?

Why is that there? I think it's probably to do with God's sovereignty. And to see that Paul will make it to Rome. You get to see God. Nothing is going to stop his messenger getting to where he's got to go. Unstoppable. King is going to send his message no matter what. So I feel like the last study had big speeches.

It was about God, Paul's boldness and courageousness. Yeah. And hear it. Yeah. It's more like God. So he's going to get this guy to run. Yeah. It's no circumstance. It's going to get away. Yeah. I love also how you flagged last time. It's that kind of passion narrative of the suffering of Christ, the suffering of Paul.

But also that Jesus turned his head to Jerusalem. Paul has had his heart set on Rome. Not in a happy way, though. He knows it's not going to be good, but he knows he's got to go, and he's going to reach there. Yeah. In these chapters. Okay. So how about you press pause and prep, and we'll come back after that to kind of wrestle through some of these questions together.

After press pause.

And we're back. So we creative way in this. You've got a great whole question there. I love hacks to get over obstacles. That's always helpful. Observation question. It's kind of you suggest because it's quite a long excerpt and there are lots of bits. There are lots of mini-episodes in it. You suggest kind of tag teaming around the group to retell the story, a little bit like it's beautiful, it's just like fascinating to feel like something goes wrong.

But then God rescues, but then something goes wrong. But then God rescues, and so they might read like a little chunk and then tag and tag TikTok, and at the same time be marking on the map where he's going. Yeah. An alternative to that. You could draw it on a big piece of paper, and one person draws it as you go around.

But trying to keep people kind of matching the journey and seeing how in each step God is sovereign through it. So what kind of things have probably given the game away a little bit? What kind of things do you say there in that understanding question? What do you notice about that series of events? I wonder what you noticed, ladies, in that series?

What kind of things do you think the scriptures are holding out for us to notice there? Yeah, there are a lot of bizarre things that seem to happen. And fairly critical things and even things that seem avoidable, like how he gives advice to his shipmates to say let's not go sailing. Yeah. They do it anyway, I think, yeah.

It's just a really big picture of like, no matter what human foolishness or natural insanity is happening. God, look at this guy. Because this guy. Yeah. So we're trying to say that some of you are working through it. Yeah. Especially in that first in family. Oh, 27 to 28. 16 in particular.

Yes. Yeah. So how would you say I'm just going to throw this at you? The promises of the kingdom are coming to fruition. What promises of the kingdom do you have in mind? Yeah. Should we have some one day? I mean, this one sort of overlaps with the next half of, like, what promises. Well, God has promised to Paul that he will go to Rome and that the message will get there, and we get to see that happen.

Yes. Yeah. And then there's just the nations, going to be reached. Yeah. These are promises from the Old Testament. Yes. And at the same time, there's just this miraculous kindness that's shown to Paul all of a sudden, like in the past, people have been relatively brutal. But his God and the people on the island, we've seen these words of kindness, that it's just interesting.

Yeah, God is with his man, and he's going to protect him until he gets there. Anyway. It sort of overlaps with the past. So there's some things there is in there. And also you could go to one, what age can you promise you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Yeah. I'm really, Rome would be seen as the centre of the earth and the way to get to the ends of the earth. Yeah. Isn't it? But this was the centre of the empire. All roads lead to Rome. And so all leads over. I lead from Rome to the whole world. So let me open up my page again.

Then we have these observation and understanding questions over the page. I'm interested in the last one on 2825 to 31. What themes in Acts. Now we're really at the end of the year. Paul is in Rome. Yeah, he's giving his final piece of well-recorded teaching and yeah. What are the big themes? Why is that section? It feels a bit harsh.

It's like really that's the last word hole. But what are the themes that, that, Luke is choosing to really show us in that section? I mean, the kingdom of God pops up, I guess he came up in this style. It's been trickling throughout, which is really that Jesus is the king of God's kingdom. Yes.

Yeah. And this is the shape of the kingdom now. And it's going from it goes first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles, to the nations. Yes. And the Holy Spirit has been there the whole time. You can say in verse 25 that the Holy Spirit was at work in the Old Testament, giving these promises, and the Holy Spirit is at work now confirming who is in this kingdom.

Yeah. And it's a beautiful, joyful thing for the nations. They are rejoicing. So we have, yeah, the themes of proclamation and testifying to the truth of the kingdom of God and to the work of the Holy Spirit. Those are all such key things. And I love how Luke chooses to pull them together. So. Well, it's also reminded me even of chapter nine, when Saul is converted.

And this is what Jesus says to him. He says to Ananias, "Go over here." Hey, Paul is my chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. And that's what we've seen. Yeah, that's what we see happen in this whole section of acts that we've been looking at.

This is God's man. Yes, for the Jews. But also for the Gentiles. That's been the big surprise. He's going to talk before the kings. He's going to suffer. Yeah. And we see him. We see all that comes to pass. Because Jesus is the unstoppable king, and his plans do come to fruition. And so as we turn to our kind of final section of thinking through application, I love these questions.

Like thinking through the original audience. How would they have received it? And how would this have given them confidence, praise, and preparedness? Then we kind of reflect on that ourselves. How could we use that final personal reflection to sum up the series of studies? As a whole, we've done five weeks by now in the book of Acts.

So this is going to be our fifth week. How could we use that question to reflect on the whole series, do you think? Yeah. I mean, yeah, Act was written to give Theophilus confidence and what the message was. So what is the truth? What is the gospel? When we share confidence about how the King is reigning right now.

And so my prayer is that people would be praising God because he's suffering and he's powerful. People are called to live fullness of life with the Holy Spirit and with relationship with God. And that we be confident that God will be at work, and then be confident with a right expectation. When I'm going to expect suffering, I'm going to expect rejectio,n and I'm going to give it a go.

Yes. Like I've got courage because the Holy Spirit is with me. I have God's word. And this is what our King is on about now. He's about bringing people into his kingdom. And so I'm prepared to. Yeah. So we'll be praying that this is a great week for your group and that it does really give people that courage.

And confidence that Jesus is on the throne. He's getting his message out. He's even doing it through us. And we've seen how Paul is faithful to that. And he became the apostle to the Gentiles right at the end. Thanks so much, Asia. Thanks for doing these podcasts. I, we hope that they've been a benefit for you.

And we're so thankful for this ministry that God has given us together. Thanks for listening.