Last week we ended at 11:21 where the church at Antioch was growing in this pagan Gentile city. We pick up in verse 22 with the ministry of Barnabas in Antioch.

Acts Lesson 19 Study Questions

1.    When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad: At the church in Antioch, when Barnabas had seen the ______ of God, he was glad. There was something in the work and _________ among the followers of Jesus in Antioch that made Barnabas able to see the grace of God.

2.    Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul: So, it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and ______ a great many people. Together, Barnabas and Saul taught a great many people, making the church in Antioch _______.

3.    The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch: It wasn’t until these years at the Church in Syrian Antioch that the name __________ became associated with the ________of Jesus.

4.    In Antioch, they probably first used the term Christians to _____ the followers of Jesus. “Antioch was famous for its readiness to jeer and call names; it was known by its witty epigrams.” (Gaebelein) But as the people of Antioch called the followers of Jesus the “Jesus People,” the believers ____________ the title so much that it stuck.

5.    Showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar: We don’t know exactly how Agabus showed by the ______ this famine was on the way. But the Christians took the word seriously, and generously _______ to meet the coming need.

6.    This means that they gave according to the ability of their __________; those who had more gave more, probably referencing a proportional giving. It also means that they gave according to the ability of their ______, trusting that their gift to God’s work was a worthy investment in His kingdom, and not a loss.

7.    Herod the king: This was Herod Agrippa I, the ________ of Herod the Great, who ruled in the days of Jesus’ birth (Matthew 2:1-16). Herod Agrippa I was also the nephew of Herod Antipas, who had a role in the ______ of Jesus (Luke 23:7-12).

8.    Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword: This was a new development in the _______ of the church. Of the twelve who followed Jesus, James was the ______ to be martyred.

9.    There was a significant difference between the _________ from Saul of Tarsus (Acts 8:1-3) and from Herod. Saul, wrong as he was, persecuted out of sincere (though misguided) religious conviction; Herod persecuted out of purely _________ motives. Both were wrong, but one had a better motive.

10.    Earnest prayer has ______ not because it in itself persuades a reluctant God. Instead, it demonstrates that our ______ cares passionately about the things God cares about, fulfilling Jesus’ promise If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you (John 15:7).

11.    Bound with two chains between two soldiers…guards before the door: The chains, the guards, the prison doors meant _______ to God and His appointed messengers; Peter was _________ set free.

12.    And has delivered me from the hand of Herod: James was ________ (Acts 12:1-2) and Peter was _______. The reasons God does such things, or does not do them, are often known only to Him. We do know that James, having graduated to glory, did not consider himself a loser in any way.