You Stubborn People

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray walked through Acts 6:8 through 8:1, the longest speech in the book of Acts, delivered by Stephen before the Sanhedrin. Stephen was one of the seven chosen to serve the Hellenistic widows, described repeatedly as full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, grace, and power. When opponents could not beat him in debate, they brought him up on false charges of blasphemy against Moses, the temple, and...

Read together

1. Acts 6:8-8:1 the passage being preached through the entire sermon
2. Genesis 15 God telling Abraham his descendants would be oppressed as slaves for four hundred years
3. Exodus 1:8-11 a new king arose who did not know Joseph and appointed taskmasters over the Israelites
4. Deuteronomy 18:15 Moses told the people God would raise up a prophet like him from among their own people
5. Acts 3 Peter quoted the same Deuteronomy 18:15 passage to the same body about Jesus being the prophet
6. Isaiah 66:1-2 heaven is God's throne and earth his footstool, his hands made both heaven and earth
7. 1 Kings Solomon asking before the temple consecration whether God would really live on earth since the highest heavens cannot contain him
8. Psalm 31 Stephen's dying prayer entrusting his spirit into God's hand likened to a bedtime prayer

Talk about it

1. Stephen was described repeatedly as full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, grace, and power. What do you think it looks like in a person's daily life when those things are genuinely present together?
2. Pastor Ray pointed out that nearly everything Stephen said in his defense was material his accusers already agreed with, yet his application still infuriated them. Why do you think it is easier to agree with a story from the past than to accept what it means for us right now?
3. Stephen traced a pattern through Israel's history where God made a way and the people rejected it, with Joseph and Moses as the clearest examples. Where else have you seen that pattern, and do you think it shows up in the church today?
4. When Stephen applied his sermon, he told the council they were resisting the Holy Spirit just as their ancestors had. Pastor Ray mentioned that in missionary work there is a point he called 'the you people place.' What makes it so hard to keep loving people you are frustrated with, and what did Stephen's example show about that?
5. Stephen died with words that closely echoed what Jesus said on the cross, asking the Lord not to charge his killers with the sin. What do you think it took for him to pray that in that moment, and what would it mean for us to respond to opposition that way?