{"id":3455,"date":"2012-10-29T20:42:49","date_gmt":"2012-10-29T20:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christcommunitychurch.com\/blog\/?p=3455"},"modified":"2012-10-29T20:42:49","modified_gmt":"2012-10-29T20:42:49","slug":"stephens-sermon-that-surveys-gods-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/christcommunitychurch.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/29\/stephens-sermon-that-surveys-gods-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen’s Sermon That Surveys God’s Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re reading Acts together.<\/a> Hopefully this is not a news flash to you.<\/p>\n

This week:
\nMon Oct 29 Acts 7:1-53
\nTues Oct 30 Acts 7:54-8:3 + catchup
\nWednesday Oct 31 Acts 8:4-40
\nThursday Nov 1 Acts 9
\nFriday Nov 2 Acts 10
\nSat Nov 3 Catchup\/reflect\/review<\/p>\n

Acts 7:1-53<\/strong><\/em>
\nStephen’s mind had evidently soaked up the Old Testament, for his speech is like a patchwork of allusions to it.<\/p>\n

Stephen picked out four major epochs of Israel’s history, dominated by four major characters.<\/p>\n

First he highlighted Abraham and the patriarchal age (7:2-8); then Joseph and the Egyptian exile (9-19);
\nthirdly Moses, the Exodus and the wilderness wanderings (20-44); and lastly David and Solomon, and the establishment of the monarchy (45-50).\u00a0 The connecting feature of these four epochs is that in none of them was God\u2019s presence limited to any particular place.\u00a0 On the contrary, the God of the Old Testament was the living God, a God on the move and on the march,<\/strong>
\nwho was always calling his people out to fresh adventures, and always accompanying and directing them as they went.<\/p>\n

James Boice: Stephen’s speech is a transition speech that paves the way for presenting the gospel to the Gentiles, which begins in the very next chapter of Acts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n