Peter Stood Up!

Acts 1:12-26

Key Verse 1:15

1. Compare what the disciples did in verse 12 with Jesus’ instruction to them in verse 4. Now that Jesus was not with them physically, the disciples could have gone back to their hometown, Galilee. But instead, they obeyed Jesus’ instructions and the Lord blessed them. What does this episode teach us about our life of mission in the Lord? 

2. Think about what the disciples did in Jerusalem in verses 13-14. In what respect was it difficult for them to pray together in this way? Yet why did they do so?  What can we learn from them in serving the Lord’s world mission command?

3 Verse 15 suggests that it was “in those days” [of intensive prayer] that Peter “stood up” among the believers. Consider what Peter did (after standing up) and what he had been doing in “those” days. What do you think brought about this change within Peter? Why is this kind of change in a man necessary for God’s work to arise?

4. Verses 16-20 indicate that Peter found a solution to the problem (of Judas Iscariot) in the Scriptures. What can we learn from Peter in coping with the problems we run into while serving the Lord? 

5. In verses 21-22 Peter set forth the qualifications a “witness” of Jesus Christ must satisfy. What does this passage tell us about the mission given to the body of Jesus Christ? 

6. Verses 23-26 describe the way in which Matthias was added to the “apostolic ministry.”  What does “apostolic” mean? How is it related with “witnessing”?