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Lesson OneThe Birth of the Christian Church4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TwoGrowth of the Christian Church4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson ThreeThe Spreading Flame4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FourEarly Christian Life and Faith4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FiveThe Young Church in Action4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson SixThe Martyr Faith4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson SevenThe Age of Constantine4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson EightSt. Augustine of Hippo4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson NineThe Iconoclastic Controversy4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TenThe Crusades4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson ElevenMystics and Scholastics4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TwelveHeretics and Inquisitors4 Activities2 Assessments
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Lesson ThirteenReformation Patterns4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FourteenThe Lutheran Tradition4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FifteenThe Reformed Tradition4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson SixteenThe Anglican Tradition4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson Seventeen18th Century Renewal Movements4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson EighteenThe Missionary Explosion of the 19th Century4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson NineteenThe Rise of Modern Pentecostalism4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TwentyThe Rise of Fundamentalism4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson Twenty-OneFundamentalism and Modernism in Transition4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson Twenty-TwoFundamentalist/Modernist Controversies4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson Twenty-ThreeModern Catholicism4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson Twenty-FourThe Future of Evangelicalism4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson Twenty-FiveThe Challenge of Ministry in a New Millennium4 Activities1 Assessment
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Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity1 Assessment
Participants 167
Discussion Questions
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Describe the place of the temple in first-century Jerusalem’s social, economic, and political life.
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The temple was the driver of economic activity for the residents of Jerusalem. It was like a Vatican state of modern day. It was sustained by the 1000s of pilgrims who visited annually to celebrate various feasts. Persons from various strata of society benefited from the Temple presence and the economics it generated.
Politically they were run by the Sanhedrin which was headed by the High Priests with 71 members who were wealthy people.
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the temple was the center of Jewish life, Social, economic, spiritual, and political life. If the person was not connected and participated in the temple they had no life. the early church used the synagogue to get together and not the temple. this is to avoid any conflict with the Jewish hierarchy.
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Christians didn’t have actual church buildings for several centuries. They normally would meet in their own homes and, of course the biblical records indicates that the church is after all not building. It’s is the people of God. Economically it was structured around a number of trades: pottery, baking, wools, olive oil, carpentry, stone cutting and the alike. It was depended heavily upon the tremendous consumption of the temple establishment. Jewish social structure reflected the ordering of the thousands of religious functionaries that people the city.
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It was the center of Jewish life, Social, economics, spiritual, and political life.If the person was not connected and attending temple they had no life.
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The temple in first-century Jerusalem was the lifeblood of the people. The people at all hierarchical levels depended on the temple, and the temple on them. Economically, there were a number of trades – pottery, baking, wools, olive oil, carpentry, and stonecutting – and the temple needed all of these trades. The traders also relied on the the many pilgrims who came to the temple. Socially, there were thousands of religious functionaries. The rich were the higher priests, bankers, and tax collectors; middle course was composed of common priests, shopkeepers, and traders; the poor were day laborers and slaves. At all stages of life, however, the people relied on the temple for finances, for trade, and for welfare assistance. Politically, the people were dominated by the Sanhedrin, the highest political body. There were 71 members headed by a high priest who was a Levite. He could enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the people. The other members were wealthy land owners, priests, and Levites. Below them were the chief priests, the Sadducees, who taught, managed temple finances, and made decisions based on the law. Ordinary priests, Sadducees, Pharisees, and scribes came next, followed by people who had roles of singers, guards, and doorkeepers. At all social, economic, and political points, however, the people were dependent upon the temple in all facets of their lives.
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How did onlookers react to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost? How did Peter respond? What was the outcome?
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They were utterly amazed. Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another. What can this mean? They could not associated it to a spiritual act. They thought they were drunk the middle of morning. Peter took the opportunity to preach from the old testament – the only effective way that he could have been able to reach this pilgrim audience. Peter used Joel to begin the process and then focused on the 4 major elements of all apostolic preaching. The announcement that the age of fulfillment had arrived, the rehearsal of the ministry, death, and triumph of Jesus, the citation of Old Testament Scriptures to prove Jesus as the Messiah, and finally call to repentance. 3000 souls were touched by the gospel and baptized as new believers.
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The onlookers or the crowd in Jerusalem for Pentecost were astounded by the ability if the 120 or so disciples that spoke in their languages. about 3,000 of them believed that day, Peter tool the led in speaking to the crowd. the outcome was salvation for 3000.
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Acts tells us that the coming of the Holy spirit was a sound like the blowing of a violent wind from heaven. The 120 or so followers heard this noise and saw tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. They began to speak in tongues. A crowd gathered, and everyone heard them speaking in his own native language. They were amazed that Galileans could speak in so many tongues. They hear the message, understood it, and were able to carry it back to their own homes. When some in the crowd said that the followers were drunk, Peter defended the followers by announcing that it was only 9am so they couldn’t possibly be drunk. Peter preaches to the crowd from the Old Testament because he knew they would understood that. He then announced that the age of fulfillment had arrived, he reviewed the ministry, death, and triumph of Jesus, he cited OT scriptures to back up the claim that Jesus was the Messiah, and he called the people to repentance. About 8000 souls were baptized and converted, healings took place, and persecutions began. But the followers were on fire and they could not be stopped.
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Because they heard foreign tongues spoken they responded in a manner of confusion and some even mocked them. Peter responded by pointing to prophecy that foretold of these occurrences. Because of this, more came to Christ.
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They thought the people receiving the Holy Spirit were drunk. Peter explained that they were not drunk but spoke in each other’s languages as a sign of the infilling as mentioned in Joel’s prophecy. The onlookers felt convicted and asked what was required to be saved.