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ICEBREAKER
For an Icebreaker to this week, a simple discussion question: What is the strangest dream you’ve ever had?
This is a really fun question to ask and in my experience can spark a lively, humorous, and interesting discussion. I don’t know about you, but I have some of the strangest dreams and I’m sure your students will have some good ones too. For example, I remember dreaming I was flying through the sky on a giant bag of Doritos—nonsense things like that.
TRANSITION
Well, today were to going to take a look at a strange but wonderful dream that Peter has in Acts chapter 10 that is going to fundamentally change the early Christian church and, really, the world forever.
SEARCH
So to introduce this story, you need to know that Peter, at this point, has been traveling throughout Judea preaching the gospel to any Jew that will listen to him, when eventually he arrives at the city of Joppa. The same place (interestingly, in light of the meaning of his dream) where Jonah tried to flee from his mission call to the Ninevites). And he’s staying in the home of a man named Simon the Tanner by the seaside. Now, see if you can find a description of Peter’s dream in Acts chapter 10. And if you look closely you’ll find it in verses 11-16. Now something significant about this dream is the way Peter is feeling before he goes to sleep. Verses 9-10 tell us that
9 On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
Or he falls asleep, and he has this vision, this dream. And maybe the message here is don’t go to sleep hungry, or you’ll have strange dreams. But let’s go ahead and read the dream in verses 11-16 and see if we can interpret its meaning. Dreams, interestingly enough, can be vehicles for revelation from God at times. There are plenty of examples of that in the standard works.
Acts 10:11-16
11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
So Peter sees this giant blanket full of animals come down from the sky and the voice of the Lord commands him to go forward and eat. And remember, he’s hungry. Now this is interesting because the Jews had (and continue to have) very strict dietary rules. Maybe you’ve heard of the term "kosher” before or you know that Jews don’t eat pork. But there are other animals they are forbidden to eat from the law of Moses. And if you’d like to know what some of the animals Peter might be seeing in the blanket you can check out footnote 14a which sends us to Leviticus chapter 11. And Leviticus 11 has a huge list of all the animals that Jews consider to be unclean. Animals like bats, weasels, ferrets, camels and lizards. And I’m sure you’ve all been tempted to eat some of those before, but you shouldn’t, they’re unclean. So here’s God commanding him to eat these “unclean” creatures. And Peter is like “No, Lord, I’ve never eaten anything unclean, I don’t want that pig in a blanket.” I think, to us, it would be comparable to God commanding us to take a drink of beer, or to smoke a cigarette. It would be a very foreign idea to us and difficult command to understand. And this command to kill and eat happens three times, and then he wakes up. And as he’s sitting there, wondering about the message of this strange dream, right at that moment, there’s a knock at the door.
Now, before we find out who that is or start to interpret Peter’s dream, there is another very important character in this story that I need to introduce you to. (And this sets you up for a super lame Dad joke, but I always get a kick out of it) I like to ask my students if anybody knows who the first rock star of the New Testament was? He’s somewhere in Acts chapter 10. And if they can’t find him, you can tell them that he’s in verse 1. And it’s Cornelius. Cornelius and his Italian Band. And yep, that’s a dad joke for sure, but you might get a few well-deserved groans for that one. But yes, Cornelius. And we need to know a little bit more about him and what kind of a man he was.
So I want you to read the following verses and mark everything you learn about him: Acts 10:1, 2, and 22.
So there we find that he is a centurion, or a soldier in the Roman army
He’s a devout man, or a religious and faithful man
He fears (or respects) God
He gives alms, so he’s charitable to others
He prays
He’s just
It’s repeated that he fears God
And he’s of good report among all the nation of the Jews. So he has a reputation amongst the Jews for being a just and benevolent leader.
And something miraculous happens to Cornelius in verses 3-8. Let’s read.
3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:
6 He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.
7 And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually;
8 And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.
So an angel directs Cornelius to send for Peter down in Joppa.
And allow me to just go on a little tangent here and share a quick truth that I see in that. The angel could have just delivered the message of the gospel to Cornelius himself, but he sends Peter to him. Which teaches me that more often than not “God works through his chosen earthly servants”. And I think that can apply to us. We may be praying for some answer from God, and I do believe that he often will answer our prayers directly, but we shouldn’t rule out the possibility that he may prefer to answer us through his chosen leaders. So maybe we should go to a bishop, or parent, or search the words of the living prophets for our counsel and answers. God will often help US through THEM.
But now you have these two very different worlds coming together in the rest of the chapter. And as the teacher I would summarize vs.17-26. So back to our narrative here. Peter has just woken up from his dream and it says in vs 17 that he doubted in himself what the vision should mean. And while he’s thinking about it, there’s that knock at the door, and who is it? Cornelius’s men requesting Peter come to meet him in Ceasarea. And the Lord tells Peter that he should go with them. The next day they travel up to Ceasarea and these two men meet, Peter the Jewish Fisherman, and Cornelius the Roman Centurion.
Now I want you to picture this moment. It’s importance can’t be underestimated. It’s one of the most pivotal, significant, and beautiful encounters in history. You couldn’t have two men from more different backgrounds. Typically the Romans despised the Jews and the Jews in turn hated the Romans and saw them as oppressors and conquerors. The Gentiles were considered “unclean” to them. No self-respecting Jew would ever be caught willingly associating with or spending time with a Roman. But Peter walks in and Cornelius and all his household are standing there wanting to hear Peter’s message. They are ready and eagerly awaiting to hear the gospel. And Peter gets it. He understands the dream.
Do you? Do you understand the dream? Let’s try some dream interpretation here. What do you think it means?
And there you can just let them answer, you don’t need to tell them whether they’re right or wrong, but just see how they interpret it. Now, compare your answer to the one Peter comes to in vs. 28:
28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
So what was the dream’s meaning? Peter realizes that he should not call any MAN common or unclean. For centuries the Jews were quite exclusive in their faith. They considered themselves to be the chosen people of God. Which they were. But they had forgotten one key aspect of the Abrahamic covenant, which was to bless the nations of the world with their faith, and not to just keep it to themselves. So Romans, Canaanites, Arabians, Greeks, these people who the Jews felt were beneath them in a way, or unclean, different—they were loved by God too and were also worthy of the healing message of Christ’s gospel.
That message is so important for us and them to understand that it’s going to be said in 5 different ways to make sure we get it. So we’ve already seen one of them in verse 28, “I should not call any man common or unclean”. But in what phrases do you see that same Idea in the in the following verses:
:34 God is no respecter of persons
:35 In every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him
:36 He is Lord of all (smiley face at the end of that one)
:43 whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins
And then the Lord reiterates that point visually in vs 45. What happens there that sends the message?
:45 on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost
And the chapter ends with Peter baptizing them. Great story with a happy ending.
Now I want to take a second to hopefully help you sense the gravity and importance of what’s just happened here. Remember that the apostles and early disciples of the church really struggled to understand certain key aspects of Christ’s mission. In my mind there were three big ones—the three great misunderstandings that they had to overcome:
One: The Messiah will come to save us from the oppressing power of Rome.
Two: The Messiah will save us by the power of his military might.
Three: The Messiah will come to save all Jewish people
Now misunderstandings one and two have already been clarified in the gospels. They learned from Jesus himself that in fact:
One: Christ came to save them from sin and death, not Roman Soldiers
Two: Christ saves by the power of his atonement and resurrection, not military strength
But now three, the last great misunderstanding they had to overcome. The message of this victory over sin and death and the gospel that Jesus taught was for who? When Jesus said back in Mark 16:15 Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, They interpreted that to mean, “Preach the gospel to every Jewish creature”.
But Acts 10 changed everything and now they were prepared to fully grasp the scope of that command. The gospel was to literally go into all the world, and all people, not just Jews. God is no respecter of persons, and anybody who comes unto him is accepted.
And who did God choose to represent that change, that opening of his truth and power to all the world? A Roman Centurion, living in the city of Caesarea. I mean the name of the city itself represents all that the Jews despised. And Cornelius is not just a Roman, but he’s a Roman soldier, the type of person they originally thought the Messiah would come to save them from, not TO save. The world will never be the same again as these two men come together. We have this beautiful and critical moment where a Roman Centurion felt that a Jewish fisherman had something of value to give to him. And a Jewish fisherman that felt a Roman Centurion was worth giving it to.
And so Peter gives him that beautiful gift, and through Cornelius, he gives it to all of us, not just the gift of the Holy Ghost and baptism. But the gifts of the Jewish people. All those wonderful stories from the Old Testament topped off by the teachings and ministry of the Savior himself. All that light, and truth, and power that God had poured into that tiny nation for centuries was now ready for the world. And from the previous chapter God has just the man to do it—Paul. Paul, more than anybody else will grasp the vision of this change and spread that message throughout the ancient world.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
Now, to liken the scriptures ask:
What message do you see for us in this chapter? And there are so many directions you could take this chapter. Many powerful principles are taught here. You may even consider just highlighting some of these
TRUTH
We too should spread the gospel to all people
God directs his church through inspired leaders
Church policies can change
We must guard ourselves against prejudice
We should not place racial, religious, economic, moral, or political walls between ourselves and those we would share the gospel with.
We should accept all revelations and instructions from the prophet, even those that are challenging
A quick comment about that last one. I love taking my students to verse 29 and asking them to take note of the manner in which Peter accepted this perception shattering revelation.
Without gainsaying. Which means without argument or rebuttal, and also, as soon as I was sent for. Later in chapter 11 when he’s trying to explain this major change to the other members he says in verse 17, “What was I, that I could withstand God?” What’s Peter teaching us about the way in which we should accept a prophet’s counsel? Without argument, without hesitation, without personal pride. And with a prophet like Russell M. Nelson at the helm that has been making big sweeping policy changes in the church, this is a very applicable principle for us. Are we willing and able to accept these changes without gainsaying or hesitation. I hope we do.
CONCLUSION
No matter which direction your “likening the scriptures” discussion goes, one point from this chapter that I would really want my students to walk away with is gratitude for what the Jewish nation and people have given us. This people that have been despised and persecuted and even slaughtered for centuries, we all owe them a deep debt of gratitude. They gave us the scriptures. They gave us our concept and understanding of God. They gave us all that light, and truth, and knowledge that they received. Considering all that, I find it really hard to understand the persecution of the Jews. There’s just no justification for it. Heavenly Father even tells us this in the Book of Mormon. He says it in no uncertain terms in 2 Nephi 29:4-5
4 But thus saith the Lord God: O fools, they shall have a Bible; and it shall proceed forth from the Jews, mine ancient covenant people. And what thank they the Jews for the Bible which they receive from them? Yea, what do the Gentiles mean? Do they remember the travails, and the labors, and the pains of the Jews, and their diligence unto me, in bringing forth salvation unto the Gentiles?
5 O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have cursed them, and have hated them, and have not sought to recover them. But behold, I will return all these things upon your own heads; for I the Lord have not forgotten my people.
So I pray that we won’t make that mistake as modern members of the Church. Let’s thank, and respect, and honor the Jews for what they’ve given us. Thank a Jewish person today for the gifts of their people. Acts chapter 10 represents the giving of that gift from that nation. That day changed the world. The effects of that day have rippled down through the ages and have deeply touched and affected you and me personally. So “thank you” Peter for being willing to give us that gift. Thank you, Jewish people for the gift of your nation’s history, and faith, and understanding.
THE ANGEL OR THE SWORD
ICEBREAKER
For an icebreaker to Acts chapter 12, give your students some “Would you rather” questions. The way this works is that you pair them up with a partner and have them share their answer to a question asking them to choose between two options and two options only. Which option would they rather experience? I’ve found this kind of activity to be a great attention getter and helps to prepare a class to discuss and share more once you get into the scriptures. So here are some of my favorite “would you rather” questions.
Would you rather be 3 feet tall, or 8 feet tall?
Would you rather have hiccups for the rest of your life or constantly feel like you have to sneeze?
Would you rather be born with an elephant trunk or be born with a giraffe neck?
Would you rather travel 500 years into the past or 500 years into the future?
Would you rather have the ability to teleport anywhere or be able to time travel?
TRANSITION
Well one of the fun things about “would you rather” questions is that they compel you to compare and contrast. And that’s what I want you to do with these next two stories that we find in Acts chapter 12.
SEARCH
There’s a remarkable juxtaposition in this chapter that is just too perfect to be a coincidence. I want you to read the following two stories quietly to yourself and compare them. What do they have in common, and where do they differ?
So we’ve got the story of James and Herod in Acts 12:1-2. And then the story of Peter and Herod in Acts 12:3-11.
And if you did that, what did you notice?
First, what did they have in common? They’re both stories about apostles who are being persecuted by Herod. Where do they differ though? In their outcomes. James dies. He gets killed by the sword, while an angel goes to great lengths to rescue Peter. And it’s a really fun account of how that happens. First of all, Peter’s there in prison, and Herod puts 16 soldiers in charge of him—for one man. But even that’s not enough, he has Peter chained with two chains, and then he’s placed right in between two soldiers, right next to him. I’m sure that’s because Herod had heard what had happened the last time Peter was put into prison. But once again, no matter how many precautions are taken. Peter is rescued. The chains fall off his hands, the soldiers next to him remain in a deep sleep, he passes by two more sets of guards until he comes to the big iron gate at the entrance of the prison, and it just opens all by itself, and he just walks out. Amazing. Herod must have been absolutely livid that next morning. How could you guys have lost him?
DISCUSSION
But, as fun as that story is, it begs the question: Why? That doesn’t seem fair. Why does Peter get an angel to rescue him, but James gets the sword? And for that matter, why do Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walk through the fiery furnace unscathed, but Abinadi burns? Why do Joseph and Hyrum get killed in Carthage Jail, but John Taylor and Willard Richards walk away? We see these kinds of situations all throughout the scriptures. It seems that sometimes God rescues his prophets and other times he allows others to hurt or kill them? WHY? Is it because God loved Peter more than James? Peter was more worthy than James? Peter was more important than James? Or some other reason?
Before we answer that I want you to stop and consider how this principle might apply in our lives. Though we probably won’t find ourselves in a martyr or miracle kind of situation, I believe we all have “sword stories” in our lives and we all have “angel stories” in our lives. Do you know what I mean by that? Angel stories are the times when our prayers are answered, miracles happen, a person is healed, there is a car accident, but nobody is hurt. And we love angel stories. We often tend to focus more on these events in the church. They’re the ones that end up in the Liahona and shared in testimony meetings. And we attribute those experiences to God’s love and protection. Which we can and should. However, what about the stories where the prayer isn’t answered, the person doesn’t get healed, and the car accident takes a life. I’ve had times when I’ve lost something and prayed to find it, and I did! On the other hand, I can think of times when I prayed, and the object was never found. When my Mom got brain cancer, we all prayed that she would be healed, but she died. When my cousin was in a car accident, she didn’t survive. Do we assume that those individuals were not as loved by God, that they weren’t as worthy, or that they weren’t as important? I say no. I don’t think God loved Peter more than James, I don’t think he was more worthy or more important either. So why did it happen this way? That can be a very fruitful and thought-provoking discussion to have with your class.
And here are a few thoughts of my own on this question that I’ve gleaned from my scripture study over the years that have helped me to understand this dynamic.
One, God will intervene and will protect his people if there is some work or purpose in mortality that it is absolutely necessary for them to fulfill. Abinadi is a good example of this, he is protected by God, but only until his message to King Noah and the wicked priests was done. Then, the power of God’s protection fades, and he is eventually burned. Joseph Smith is another example of this, there were many instances in his life where he could have been killed, that it was very likely that he would be killed, but he miraculously escaped time and time again. But when Carthage came, Joseph felt that his work was done. At one point just months before the martyrdom he was quoted saying:
“Some have supposed that Brother Joseph could not die; but this is a mistake. Having now accomplished [my work], I have not at present any lease of my life. I am as liable to die as other men."
Joseph Smith Jr.
(Truman G. Madsen, Joseph Smith the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1989], 110.)
This truth applies to more than just prophets apparently. Joseph Fielding Smith said the following:
"May I say for the consolation of those who mourn, and for the comfort and guidance of all of us, that no righteous man is ever taken before his time"
Joseph Fielding Smith
(address at the funeral of Elder Richard L. Evans, 4 Nov. 1971, 1)
Another possible reason. God honors the agency of others, even when it hurts good people. You see this in the story of Alma and Amulek when the righteous women and children are burned before their eyes.
Alma 14:10-11
10 And when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames.
11 But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.
So God will not always rescue the righteous from the agency of his other children. If God always stepped in to stop people from hurting others, that would be more of Satan’s plan than his. And so, he does allow people to do terrible things to others, so that his judgment may be just against them.
And then finally, one of the very purposes of our lives is to experience opposition, and even pain and suffering. God is not there to remove all suffering from our lives. This life is not for “living happily ever after”. That doesn’t come until the next life. As it says in 2 Nephi 2:11 “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.” And in D&C 136:31 31 “My people must be tried in all things, that they may be prepared to receive the glory that I have for them, even the glory of Zion; and he that will not bear chastisement is not worthy of my kingdom.”
Those are just a few possible explanations for the sword or angel principle.
TRUTH
In our lives, sometimes we will have angel experiences, times when the divine will intervene and we will experience miracles. And there will be other times when we have sword experiences. Times when God does not intervene, and we’ll experience pain and suffering. But whether we get the sword or the angel, hopefully we can still maintain our faith in a loving Father in Heaven and His divine plan of happiness.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
To liken the scriptures. You could ask:
Ponder your own personal sword or angel stories. When have you experienced miracles and answered prayers? And, by the same token, when have you experienced unanswered prayers, personal tragedies, and challenges in your life.
What have your “sword” experiences taught you?
What have your “angel” experiences taught you?
Both can teach us.
JOY AT THE PROPHET’S VOICE
ICEBREAKER
Chapter 12 has another great story with a character in it that I just love. A young woman by the name of Rhoda. To introduce her story, a quick voice recognition activity. This is really easy to do. Quiz your students on recognizing the voices of the brethren. You can do this by going to the Church website or to the Gospel library app on your phone and just navigate to the most recent general conference page. For each talk, there will be the option to play a video or a recording of each of the talks given. Select a few of them and see if your students can name the speaker by writing them down on a sheet of paper. Perhaps do five to ten of them and see who gets the best score.
TRANSITION
Then, to transition to the scriptures you can tell them that In Acts chapter 12, we’re going to study someone who recognized the voice of a prophet and how they reacted to it. While Peter is in prison under Herod’s order, all of the members of the church are out praying for his welfare because they believe he is going to be executed. But then, as we discussed, he’s freed by the angel and walks out into Jerusalem. And so he walks to the home of a group of Saints in the area and knocks on the door and this delightful thing happens.
13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda.
14 And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate.
15 And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel.
16 But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.
So, when Peter knocks on the door and Peter says it’s him, she’s so excited and overjoyed to hear the prophet’s voice that she forgets to open the door for him, leaves him there, and runs in to the house to tell everybody that the prophet is alive! He’s safe! And they don’t believe her, or they say it must be his angel. Meanwhile, poor Peter is still standing out there knocking, and they’re like, “Oh, well, we’d better go let him in !” But I love Rhoda’s reaction there. So a question: How is she a good example to us?
She found joy at the voice of the prophet.
TRUTH
The voice of the prophets inspire joy.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
A question to ask yourself. Do I find joy in the voice of the prophets? When General conference comes around do I rejoice, or do I murmur? When a prophet speaks, do I heed, or do I ignore? When a challenging policy change is announced, do I consent, or do I criticize?
CONCLUSION
For me, I want to be like that wonderful young woman. I want to be like Rhoda. So excited at the sound of the voices of the prophet that I lose focus on everything else. So joyful that I run to let others know that a living prophet speaks. So adamant in my affirmation of their reality and presence that I lead others to have faith in them. Let’s be Rejoicing Rhoda’s instead of unhappy Herod’s when it comes to the voices and the teachings of the brethren.
GETTING TO KNOW PAUL
Before we continue into Acts chapters 13-14, there’s a little activity I like to do with my students to help them get to know one of the most important characters of the second half of the New Testament. And that person is Paul. I know that last week we learned the story of his conversion, but these next two chapters begin to chronicle the missionary journeys of this great man. And we’re going to be spending a lot of time with Paul over the next six months, so it behooves us to understand who he was and where he came from. So I give my students the following handout and encourage them to fill it in to the best of their ability using the provided scripture references. So let’s get to know Paul.
First Question: What was his birthplace? Paul was from the city of Tarsus-a seaside city that you’d find in modern day Turkey. It was a rather important Roman city that was an important center of trade and learning. There was a university in Tarsus and I’m sure that these things would have had quite an impact on who Paul would become.
What was his occupation? This one might surprise you. He was a tentmaker by trade. So perhaps a family business. More than likely it was a successful business because there are some things about Paul’s life that would suggest he was from a wealthy family. One of those proofs would be part of the answer to our next question.
Who was his teacher? Paul was educated by a very famous rabbi and Jewish Pharisee named Gamaliel. We talked a little bit about Gamaliel the other week. He’s the one who offered that great solution to the Christian problem to the Jewish leadership which was to let it alone. If it was false, it would eventually come to nought, but if it were true, then what good would it do to fight against God. That’s who Paul’s teacher was. And so, for Paul to have been sent to Jerusalem to be educated by this important figure would suggest he was upper-class within the Jewish community.
What languages did he speak? Paul spoke both Greek and Hebrew, making him particularly qualified to be a missionary for the Church. He spoke the language of the Jews, but also a Gentile language.
What was his citizenship? Paul was a Roman citizen by birth. This would prove to be a big factor in his success as a missionary. How exactly his parents were able to acquire this privilege is a bit of a mystery, but you could purchase Roman citizenship, but you had to be pretty wealthy to do so because it was pricey. But this is a significant advantage for Paul which would come in handy on a number of occasions and give him opportunities that the other apostles just didn’t have. This would save his life several times.
His religious upbringing? Of course Paul was Jewish but, more specifically, he was raised as a Pharisee. A sect or religious party amongst the Jews that prided themselves on their strict observance of the Mosaic law. Which may explain his original disdain and hatred for Christians before he became one himself.
And then this mystery reference, 2 Corinthians 12:7-8, what does this teach us about Paul? These verses tell us that he had some kind of thorn in the flesh. Which just means, there was something about Paul’s appearance, or health, or physical stature that was difficult for him. So difficult, in fact, that he prayed for the Lord to remove it from him, whatever it was. Now we don’t know what it was, but we know that he struggled with this particular malady.
And then, we have this quote form Joseph Smith in the corner that describes his physical appearance. Lucky for us that we have Joseph Smith’s account of what he looked like, which is pretty cool to consider. Joseph Smith met Paul and here’s how he described him:
“He is about 5 foot high; very dark hair; dark complexion, dark skin; large Roman nose; sharp face; small black eyes, penetrating as eternity; round shoulders; a whining voice, except when elevated and then it almost resembles the roaring of a lion. He was a good orator, active and diligent, always employing himself in doing good to his fellow man.”
(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 180)
And then there is one final box here that encourages your students to write down one thing about Paul that impresses them most.
And that should serve as a fairly good introduction to Paul the man and hopefully flesh him out a bit as an individual.
ACTS 13-14
Now you’re going to notice a theme throughout the Book of Acts that is going to come up time and time again, so hopefully you don’t get tired of it. And that is the theme of missionary work. This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about it in Acts, and trust me, it won’t be the last. And that shouldn’t surprise us because Paul is one of the greatest missionaries to ever live, and we’re going to be following his story for much of the rest of the year. These chapters in this week’s Come Follow Me share an account Paul’s 1st missionary journey, and again, just like we saw in Acts 8 with Phillip and the Ethiopian man, Paul will teach us what it means to be an effective minister or missionary in the Church.
ACTIVITY
To cover a large number of principles at once from these chapters, you could do the following relay race activity. The way this works is you divide your class up into teams of four and give them a stack of strips of paper that you’ve cut out from sheet that I’ll make available that have various principles or truths written on them. They can arrange them on a desk on front of them any way they wish. But then, when you say go, a representative from the team will run to the front of the room and grab card number one. Card number one has two different scripture references on it. They’ll take it back to their group who will then need to decide which two principles are taught by those particular references. Some are easier than others. Some come from only one verse of scripture, and others may direct them to an entire story. They’ll need to decide which principles make the best match for that reference or story. And once they’ve decided on those two principles, they will run them up to the front for the teacher to check. If they have correctly identified the two principles, they can then move on to card #2 which they will grab from the front and then take back to their team. That card will display two more principles. And they’ll look for the principles that match those references and so on until they have completed all 5 cards. The team to complete them all first wins. And you should also let them know that there are two principles that will not be used in the game at all.
ANSWERS
Card #1:
13:3 An effective missionary finds strength through fasting and prayer
13:4, 9 An effective missionary, just like we saw in the story of Philip and the Ethiopian man, follows and is filled with the Spirit.
Card #2:
13:6-12 An effective missionary helps others recognize false prophets. This is the story of Bar-Jesus. Which I think is a really fitting name for a false prophet. I mean, he has Jesus in his name but it’s off a little. It’s not Jesus, but Bar-Jesus. Just like a counterfeit is close to the real thing, but not quite, and Satan is a master counterfeiter. Paul exposes this false prophet who is seeking to turn away the “[man they are teaching] from the faith and he smites him with blindness. An effective missionary is going to help others recognize these false prophets. In our day, the media is full of false prophets. I would characterize many music, movie, sports, political, and intellectual figures in our society as false prophets. Anyone that seeks to turn us away from the words and guidance of the true prophets are false prophets. I think it’s also fitting that blindness is the consequence. False prophets truly are blind to the light and truth of God.
13:33-37 An effective missionary knows the scriptures and teaches from them. In this middle portion of Acts chapter 13, you have this discourse of Paul where he teaches from the scriptures. Specifically, all the way from verse 14 to verse 43. And it’s obvious as you read this that Paul has a real command of the scriptures. He’s studied them, and understands them and knows how to teach from them. An effective missionary, like we discovered last week, first seeks to obtain the word, before they seek to declare the word. And Paul is very good at it.
Card #3:
13:45/13:50/14:2/14:19 An effective missionary must expect and be ready to face opposition. In each of these verses you see examples of the opposition Paul and Barnabus face in their efforts to teach. Missionary work isn’t easy, never has been. There will always be opposition and persecution to face. The adversary is not going to go down without a fight. So don’t be surprised when things don’t go smoothly, or people oppose you as you seek to share.
13:32, 52 An effective missionary declares glad tidings. They’re positive in their teaching. They focus on what Enos calls the “joy of the Saints”. Now, I hate to sound judgmental here, but I remember having a missionary companion that was so serious and solemn and cheerless in his teaching, that I wondered if he really believed that the gospel was “good news”. How can we expect anyone to want to join in our faith, if we don’t find gladness in the tidings that we have to share?
Card #4
14:3 Love this verse:
3 Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
An effective missionary speaks boldly, and gives their testimony of the word of grace. We have to be bold in our efforts to share the gospel. That doesn’t mean we’re pushy, or aggressive, or abrupt in our invitations. Relationships of trust need to be built, patience must be exercised, we have to understand that conversion often takes time, but there is a time for boldness. At some point, we have to have the courage to speak up, and invite, and challenge.
14:8-10 Paul heals a crippled man in these verses. Therefore, an effective missionary seeks to heal others, and that could be either through priesthood blessings or spiritual healing as well. They help others to stand on their own two feet of faith.
Card #5
14:11-18 An effective missionary is humble and gives God the glory. After Paul heals the crippled man, the people of the city think that he and his companion are Gods, and they’re about to perform sacrifices to them. Now you think what the average person might do in that situation. Wow, these people think I’m a God, I could really take advantage of this. But Paul does not want the focus to be on Him, and so he quickly squashes this idea and points them to God. He says: , Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:
Now contrast that briefly to this account of what happens to Herod back in Acts 12:20-23.
20 And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king's country.
21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.
22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
So in contrast to Paul, Herod hears their cries of “it’s the voice of a god, and not of a man” and thinks to himself, “Yes. I am pretty amazing, aren’t I. That was a pretty amazing speech if I don’t say so myself. I am like a god.” And the Lord smites him, and he’s eaten of worms. A suitable end for a terrible tyrant.
If you’ll humor me, allow me to tell of a brief personal experience I’ve had with this principle. I remember as a young missionary at the MTC practicing a teaching scenario with another companionship of sister missionaries. And I was bearing my testimony of the First Vision (I believe) and one of them started to tear up. And, I hate to admit this, but guess what my first thought was? “Gosh, I’m good.” And almost immediately, the Spirit that I had been feeling up to that point was gone, and I started to fumble over my words and the strength and the power that had previously been there was no more. And I’m glad that I learned that lesson in the MTC before I got out into the field, that power in teaching and testimony does not come from us, but the Spirit. Give God the glory—he is the source of that power. When we start to point people to us, instead of Him, watch out for the worms.
14:19-22 An effective missionary is determined and persistent. This story just blows my mind. And you might miss the message if you aren’t paying close attention to place names in these verses. They go to the cities of Antioch and Iconium to preach, and they stone Paul. And, I mean, just think about that for a minute, they’re throwing rocks at him. Imagine the pain and the bruises and wounds he must be covered with. And his companions drag him out of the city, thinking he’s dead. He’s been stoned to within an inch of his life. Thankfully, he recovers, and they go to a different city, Derbe. But just look at vs. 21. Where does he go next? Back to Iconium and Antioch. Now I don’t know about you, but if I went somewhere where the people tried to kill me, I wouldn’t go within 100 miles of that place. But Paul is relentless. He’s determined. You can’t stop him from testifying no matter what happens to him. He knew that there were people in those cities that needed to be confirmed and strengthened, so at risk of his own life, he goes back. And what’s his message? He exhorts them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. A principle that he’s just beautifully illustrated with his own life.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
To help my students liken the scriptures, I would display this slide with the truths we just discovered and ask if anyone has ever had any experiences with the truthfulness of these principles that they would be willing to share.
And that is where I would like to conclude this week’s video. Now what about Acts chapter 15? There is a powerful message in that chapter regarding the way in which the Church handles and deals with tough issues. I’m not going to cover that message this time, however, I did give some thoughts on this matter in the video I produced four years ago for this week
THE JERUSALEM CONFERENCE
ICEBREAKER
The final chapter of this week, chapter 15. To introduce it, one of my favorite brain teasers. Here’s the problem, see if you can figure out the solution. I’ve given you the view of a specific object from a front view, and a side view. What you need to figure out is what this object would look like from the top. See if you can figure that out. If you’d like, you could pause the video so that you have some time to think. And the solution here is this. It would look like a circle from the top. That would be the only shape that would work with the other two views being accurate.
TRANSITION
Acts chapter 15 describes a specific problem that the early Church is having at this point. It describes what we might call the first General Conference of the Church, held in Jerusalem, where all the leadership had gathered to discuss matters of the Church. And together, they’re going to seek to find a solution to this issue. What is that issue? Can you find it in verses 1-2? There are some of the members of the Church that are insisting that “Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.” What does that mean? Well with the announcement that Gentiles will now be accepted into the church, some of the Jewish members of the church feel that before you can become a good Christian, you have to become a good Jew first. They say that Gentiles must be circumcised first before they can join the church, and without going into detail about circumcision, you can imagine that these grown men probably Gentiles aren’t too keen on the idea. Their logic kind of went like this. They felt that since all the first Christians were Jews first, that a Gentile had to become a Jew first, then they could become a Christian. While others are saying, no, you don’t have to take that middle step, you can go right to becoming a Christian as a Gentile. And this question is going to be a persistent issue in the early church. It’s a tough one for the Jewish members to accept and we’ll see it come up again in the future. So what you have in chapter 15 is a great example of how church leaders work through tough issues. How prophetic revelation works in such cases.
And how does it work? Send your students into the following verses to see this process.
15:6
6 And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. So step 1: Leaders of the church come together to discuss the matter
15:7 “And when there had been much disputing . . .” Disputing (maybe not the best word) But they discuss it together. And I’m sure with the various backgrounds that the brethren come from in our day, I imagine that there are going to be different opinions and thoughts on various matters in their meetings. I don’t picture them arguing, but I can definitely see there being variance in their views .
15:7-11 After those discussions, Peter, as the prophet, reveals the will of God. Which is that the Gentile converts do NOT need to be circumcised. That they need not “put a yoke” upon their necks, or ask them to do something extremely difficult. Peter confidently and boldly proclaims the Church’s policy in this matter. But those preliminary discussions are an important part of that process. I believe they act as a necessary step in the revelatory process.
15:15 In verse 15, James speaks up and confirms: 15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written. And then he quotes Old Testament scriptures. The words of the prophets today will always agree with the scriptures.
15:19-20 After those decisions are made, instructions are decided on. The prophets are then able to give us instruction or commandments. They decide that the Gentiles do not need to be circumcised, but there are some Gentile practices that do need to be done away with. They do need to “abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.” So prophets, after receiving revelation from God, offer us guidance and counsel.
15:23 They need to distribute that message to the Church. In Peter’s day, they wrote letters. In our day, we can get that message out much quicker. But there is some means of distribution of those revelations. General Conference, announcements in the Liahona, the Proclamation on the Family, the Living Christ, and frequent letters for bishops to read in sacrament meetings.
15:25 How must these decisions be made? Of “one accord”. The leaders of the Church are always united and unanimous in their decisions.
15:36 Then what do they do? They “visit” the members to “see how they do”. President Nelson and the apostle’s travel all over the world to visit members and deliver their counsels and inspiration.
TRUTH
Through discussion and direct revelation through his prophet, God guides the church through difficult decisions.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
Can you think of any examples of some major decisions made in the church recently that probably came as a result of a pattern just like this? Two hour church, changing of home teaching to the ministering program, the decision to leave the Boy Scout organization, and many, many others.
CONCLUSION
I’m grateful for the inspired organization we have standing at the head of our Church. I’m always comforted by the principle of precedent when it comes to these kinds of things. Even the early Church in Christ’s day had issues and challenges and policy matters to consider that weren’t always straightforward and clean cut. There were problems they had to face where the answers weren’t always clear. But together, through this inspired pattern, they were able come to a unified solution with the help of Christ supporting them. That same process and sense of unity continues with the brethren we have leading the Church today.
