Acts of the Apostles - Sunday School handouts

[Faber]

Here are some handouts with background research for the Acts of the Apostles. There are 312 pages total, but I would start out with a few to see if there is any interest in these.

Feel free to add thoughts or comments.

Acts 001-002.jpgActs 003-004.jpgActs 005-006.jpgActs 007-008.jpgActs 009-010.jpgActs 011-012.jpgActs 013-014.jpgActs 015-016.jpg

[mikewhitney]

I hope these comments are the sort you are interested in.

Some things seem nice. The general appearance is nice. Also, it is decent having the quote of passages related to the verses in Acts. It would seem helpful to indicate that these are related passages. (But people might catch on quickly enough.)

I would expect the individual headings (like on page 3 and 4) to match with the outline (and it might help if there were page numbers). Also the topics on this page don't seem to fit under the outline topic on page 2. A shorter outline would be better. The missionary trips maybe would be better in some single line description rather than 3 lines

There was a question about misconceptions of the Holy Spirit but the answers were not in the text. I take it this is designed as a discussion topic?

There seems to be too much emphasis on the failed date predictions. Also, there is no comment about the dating and the failures. I take it that you are supporting a single concept of eschatology here but showing the problem of predicting a date. It may help to indicate that there are other eschatology theories.

On page 9, if you really mean "omission," you maybe need to use this in the text too. Maybe compare it explicitly to the Great Commission. (It may not have been a problem for the apostles to stay primarily in Jerusalem but it may help if they were traveling through Judea too.)


The booklet might be intimidating being 300 pages. If 10 pages were covered each week, it would take half a year to get through. This all depends on who this is for.

I might like it especially for the related quotes at the beginning -- but I'm not sure if this arrangement continues through the booklet. At some point, Paul's epistles can be related to Acts -- but this can be a bit controversial.

[Cow Poke]

I like calling it "The Acts of the Holy Spirit (through the Apostles)"

[Faber]

I hope these comments are the sort you are interested in.

Some things seem nice. The general appearance is nice. Also, it is decent having the quote of passages related to the verses in Acts. It would seem helpful to indicate that these are related passages. (But people might catch on quickly enough.)

The class wasn't limited to the content of these handouts. In fact, some parts were left out of the discussion. But at least it was something for the class to take home and study later.

I would expect the individual headings (like on page 3 and 4) to match with the outline (and it might help if there were page numbers). Also the topics on this page don't seem to fit under the outline topic on page 2. A shorter outline would be better. The missionary trips maybe would be better in some single line description rather than 3 lines

Admittedly, I didn't adhere strictly to that outline.

There was a question about misconceptions of the Holy Spirit but the answers were not in the text. I take it this is designed as a discussion topic?

Exactly. The intention was to leave it to the class to discuss.

There seems to be too much emphasis on the failed date predictions. Also, there is no comment about the dating and the failures. I take it that you are supporting a single concept of eschatology here but showing the problem of predicting a date. It may help to indicate that there are other eschatology theories.

This class took place at about the time that Harold Camping made a fool of himself and started teaching that the church age was over. I'm not sure how much emphasis we gave it during class time.

On page 9, if you really mean "omission," you maybe need to use this in the text too. Maybe compare it explicitly to the Great Commission. (It may not have been a problem for the apostles to stay primarily in Jerusalem but it may help if they were traveling through Judea too.)

One member in the class though I was coming down too hard on Peter. But again, it was for discussion: My contention was that the apostles neglected to expand the message to the Samaritans and the gentiles. That was why God called on the centurion to reach out to Peter, and why God used Philip the Evangelist (not the disciple) to reach out to the Samaritans, and why God allowed the persecution to spread the Christians abroad.

The booklet might be intimidating being 300 pages. If 10 pages were covered each week, it would take half a year to get through. This all depends on who this is for.

There were other teachers and other subjects. We took turns every few months. They would teach on other subjects, then when I returned we went back to Acts.

I might like it especially for the related quotes at the beginning -- but I'm not sure if this arrangement continues through the booklet. At some point, Paul's epistles can be related to Acts -- but this can be a bit controversial.

As we got into Paul's second and third journeys, I presented parallels with his epistles. Then when I finished Acts, I spent some time on Paul's imprisonment (was it one or two?), his prison epistles and pastoral letters.

[Faber]

Pages from the second handout. The person on page 30 is a blurred image of Jimmy Swaggart when he appeared with tears of repentance (?) on his weekly program after confronted with hypocrisy.
Acts 017-018.jpgActs 019-020.jpgActs 021-022.jpgActs 023-024.jpgActs 025-026.jpgActs 027-028.jpgActs 029-030.jpgActs 031-032.jpg