The Story of the Early Church

The Missin of the Aposltes and Pentecost

Acts 1

1. To whom is Acts written? Theophilus; lover of God; whoever reads the book

2. Who wrote the book of Acts? Luke

3. Who appeared with Jesus and the apostles when Jesus ascended? angels

4. What covered Jesus when he ascended? A cloud

5. Jesus talked about the Promise of the Father. Who is the Promise of the Father? The Holy Spirit

Acts 1

6. Where were the disciples supposed to wait? Jerusalem; upper room

7. After they are done waiting, where were the disciples told to go (in the correct order) to preach the Gospel. Jerusalem, Judea Israel, world

8. When the apostles gathered in the upper room, was Mary the Mother of God present? Yes

9. Who announced that someone had to be selected to replace Judas? Peter

10. What was the requirement for the replacement apostle? Be with Jesus and the others from the time of His baptism until His

ascension

Acts 1

11. How was the replacement apostle chosen? Casting lots

12. Write one of the names for the man chosen to replace Judas? Matthias

13. Write one of the names for the man not chosen to replace Judas? Joseph Barsabbas Justus

14. The author of Acts does not say that Judas hung himself. How did Judas die? Guts burst open

15. What did the Sanhedrin do with the money they paid Judas to betray Jesus? Bought a field to bury strangers in

Acts 2

1. Pentecost occurred … days after Jesus rose from the dead. 50 days

2. The first indication of something strange was when the disciples heard … a rushing mighty wind

3. What two things represented the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Day? Wind; tongues of fire

4. The miracle of Pentecost is that the people …. Heard the disciples speak in other languages

Acts 2

5. The people who heard the disciples were from (list 10 of the 15 places). Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of

Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians

6. The people claimed that the disciples …. were drunk

7. The main point of Peter’s sermon was that …. the Jews had killed their Lord and God

8. How did the people respond to Peter’s sermon? Cut to the heart; repentant

Acts 2

9. After listening to the sermon, most of the people wanted to … be baptized

10. After they were baptized, what three things did the people do? They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and the

fellowship, and to the breaking of bread and the prayers11. What does it mean that those who were baptized

shared all things in common?12. How many times is “breaking of bread” mentioned

in Acts 2? Twice

13. How many were baptized on Pentecost day? 3000

Summary Questions

What mission did Christ give the Apostles before he ascended into Heaven? Read Matthew 28.16-20 Read Acts 1.6-8

How could the period between the Crucifixion and Pentecost be called a time of confusion for the Church?

What will be the scope of the kingdom of God? Remember David

Why twelve apostles? Remember Jacob/Israel

Summary Questions

What was the significance of Pentecost? Church begins Church does its primary work (repentance, Eucharist)

What was the basic message that St. Peter preached? The long-awaited Messiah had come in the Person of Christ,

who was crucified, who rose from the dead, and who now sits at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven.

Where is covenant talk found in the Pentecost story? Reference to Moses at Mt Sinai References to David Quotation from Joel

Summary Questions

What transformation did the Apostles undergo on Pentecost Day? They lost all their fear Began boldly proclaiming the Gospel Unafraid of the consequences

St Peter’s Sermon

Locate the three parts HINT: Each part begins the same way HINT: Each part quotes a different passage from the

Old TestamentWho is Peter talking to in each part?How does this match with the “Great

Commission” mentioned in Acts 1.8

St Peter’s Sermon

What was the reaction to St Peter’s sermon (see Acts 2.36-38)

What was St Peter’s reply?Read Acts 2.39-47. After they were baptized, what did the 3000

do?What did they do each day?

The Service of the Holy Spirit

Role of the Holy Spirit

What does the Holy Spirit do for the Church? See page 81; complete table

Primacy of St Peter

What is the primacy of Peter?How is this shown in Acts 1 & 2

Matthias Sermon

How does the office of St. Peter relate to the office of the prime minister in the Kingdom of David? Christ the king appointed one of the Twelve to have

primacy over the others. In both cases, the prime minister is identified by the sign of his office—the keys of the kingdom

Vicar of Christ

What does the term Vicar of Christ signify?What is the extent of St. Peter’s authority

over the Church?Has the role of the papacy been exactly the

same throughout the centuries?What has remained constant in the role of

the papacy?

The primacy of St Peter

Primacy of St Peter

Summarize CCC 553 (p. 81), and then come up with two examples of St. Peter exercising his ministry during this time.

Primacy of St Peter

What is the primacy of Peter? THINK: Davidic covenant

How does the office of St. Peter relate to the office of the prime minister in the Kingdom of David?

What does the term Vicar of Christ signify?

Primacy of St Peter

What is the extent of St. Peter’s authority over the Church?

Has the role of the papacy been exactly the same throughout the centuries?

What has remained constant in the role of the papacy?

What is the primacy of St. Peter and the papacy?

Early persecutions

Martyrs

Read Acts 6.8-15Read Acts 7.54-60; 8.1What are some parallels between the deaths

of Jesus and Stephen? Sanhedrin Blasphemy False witnesses “Receive my spirit” Forgave killers

Martyrs

St Stephen was the first martyr after Pentecost. Who was St Polycarp? How did he die? Disciple of St John Bishop Burned to death at the age of 86

Why were Stephen and Polycarp martyred?So what difficulties did the early Church face?

The early Church faced persecution and martyrdom, difficulties she could bear because of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These problems actually strengthened the nascent Church.

Martyrs

What is a martyr?Why are martyrs held in such high regard by

the Church?What did Jesus say about suffering in the

Church? “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me

before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (Jn 15.18-19)

Martyrs

How could early Christians face suffering and death?

What was the response of the Apostles and early Christians to persecution?

How many Apostles were martyred? All, even St John But with St John, it failed

How did martyrdom help with the Great Commission?

St Paul

Who was St. Paul? Sanhedrin Scholar

St Paul

Read Acts 9What job did the Jewish authorities in

Jerusalem grant Saul?How did St. Paul’s life become transformed?Where did St. Paul meet Christ?What question did Christ ask St. Paul?Who baptized Saul, and why was he scared to

do this?Who is responsible for Saul’s conversion?

St Paul

Love inspired St Stephen to reprove those who erred, to make them amend; love led him to pray for those who stoned him, to save them from punishment. Strengthened by the power of his love, he overcame the raging cruelty of Saul and won his persecutor on earth as his companion in heaven. In his holy and tireless love he longed to gain by prayer those whom he could not convert by admonition.

Now at last, Paul rejoices with Stephen, with Stephen he delights in the glory of Christ, with Stephen he exalts, with Stephen he reigns. Stephen went first, slain by the stones thrown by Paul, but Paul followed after, helped by the prayer of Stephen. This, surely, is the true life, a life in which Paul feels no shame because of Stephen’s death, and Stephen delights in Paul’s companionship, for love fills them both with joy.

St Paul

What was St. Paul’s specific mission after his conversion?

Why was St. Paul spared crucifixion?Why did St. Paul have two names?

Roman name Jewish name

The Gospel for All People

First Christians

What nationality were the first converts to Christianity? Why does this make sense?

What kinds of Jews were there? Jerusalem and Judea Samaritans/Israelites (separated Jews) Jews in the diaspora (see Acts 2) Ethiopian Jews

Where were the Christians first called “Christian”? See Acts 11.26

What were they known as before then? (cf Acts 9.2)

Ethiopian Eunuch

Read Acts 8.26-40 Details from the story

Which Philip is this? See Acts 6.1-7

How did Philip convince the Ethiopian that Jesus was the Messiah?

Why was it symbolically appropriate that the Ethiopian was the first Gentile convert to Christianity?

Gentile Christians

Read Acts 10 Details from the story

What was the key question the Apostles had to answer as they attracted Gentile converts? Did the people of the whole world have to become

Jews and follow the Mosaic Law before they could become Christians?

Simply: Did the new Christians have to be Jewish in order to be Christian?

What two major issues were part of this key question? Circumcision and Diet

The Crisis

What was St Peter’s answer to the key question?

What was his answer based on? Explain the details of this answer

St Peter’s conclusion: “God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.”

Did all the apostles accept Peter’s answer? YES!

Why did others not accept Peter’s answer? What does “fair” mean?

Council of Jerusalem

What was the Council of Jerusalem?What did the Council decide?Who is a key speaker at the Council? (see

Acts 15.6ff)Who declares the decision? (see Acts 15.19-

21) Does this surprise you?

What is the decision?What does this mean?

The Apostles

Disciples of St John BaptistThree sets of brothers

Review

Chapter Objectives

The mission of the Apostles

PentecostWhat the Holy Spirit

does for the ChurchThe primacy of St.

Peter and the papacyEarly persecutionsSt. PaulHow the Church

learned that the Gospel was also for Gentiles

Biographical facts about Sts. Peter, James the Greater, John, Andrew, and Philip

Biographical facts about Sts. Nathanael, Matthew, Thomas, James the Lesser, Jude, and Simon

Biographical facts about Judas Iscariot and St. Paul

The universal call to apostolate

The fullness of the Kingdom of God

The student will be able to understand:

Keys to Chapter 3

The gift of the Holy Spirit made it possible for the Church to fulfill her Christ-given mission.

The papacy is also a gift to the Church.Persecutions are difficult to endure, but

they make the Church stronger and more effective.

The Church, under St. Peter, was led to understand that Gentile converts need not adopt the Mosaic Law.

We know the lives of the Apostles from Scripture, history, and tradition.

We are all called to evangelize as we await the final Revelation of the Kingdom of God.

For Discussion:What instructions did Christ give to

his Apostles before his Ascension?What is the role of the Holy Spirit in

the Church?What was the role of St. Peter in the

Church?How did the Church reach out to all

nations?How did each of the Apostles fulfill

the mission that Christ had given him?