Study Questions for Acts Ch 6 verses 1 - 7

Study Questions for Acts Ch 6 verses 1 - 7

In any community and in any church, problems can arise because people forget the Second Commandment: sometimes it is a matter of just not bothering to put myself in another’s shoes and thinking of how I might feel in their position; sometimes silly prejudices of culture, class, or country are, wittingly or unwittingly, allowed to prejudice us against others. The dispute here between the ‘Hellenists’ and the ‘Hebrews’ was quickly and effectively solved but it anticipates future problems that we will encounter in Acts. There seems to have been a real sense of ‘family’ here but in the best Christian sense of that word. All were considered to have a role to play in the Christian family and yet priorities had to be maintained for the sake of the family’s calling.

Questions

1. Why would it ‘not be right to leave the word of God to wait on tables’?

2. What characteristics did they consider it important for the chosen men to have and why?

3. Why did the Apostles ‘pray and lay hands on them’?

4. What factors, or what was it about the early Church we learn from this passage, caused the Church to grow?

5. What causes churches to grow or to decline today?

6. Do you have any evidence for your answers to question 6?

7. ‘Problems arise when human prejudices get in the way of heavenly priorities.’ In what ways is this statement true?

8. What steps might individuals and churches take in order to become more aware both of their own prejudices and of the needs of others?