Week 26: The Jerusalem Council

Opening Question

Have you ever witnessed a community make a decision that changed its identity and direction forever? What was at stake, and how was the decision reached? How does that experience help you understand what happened at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, when the apostles and elders decided the future of the Gentile mission?

Review of the Week’s Readings

Core Discussion Questions

Day 1: The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15)

1. The council relied on three kinds of evidence: Peter’s experience with Cornelius, Paul and Barnabas’s missionary testimony, and James’s scriptural argument from Amos. Which of these carried the most weight in the final decision? How should churches today balance experience, testimony, and Scripture when facing divisive theological questions?
2. James required Gentile believers to abstain from four things (food polluted by idols, sexual immorality, strangled animals, blood). Were these requirements soteriological (necessary for salvation) or pastoral (necessary for fellowship)? What is the difference, and why does it matter?

Day 2: Timothy and the Macedonian Call (Acts 16:1-15)

1. Paul circumcised Timothy for strategic reasons while opposing circumcision as a salvation requirement in Galatians. How do you distinguish between core convictions that must never be compromised and cultural practices that can be adapted for the sake of mission? Give a contemporary example.
2. The Holy Spirit closed doors to Asia and Bithynia before opening the door to Macedonia. How do you interpret “closed doors” in your own life — as obstacles to overcome or as divine redirection? What criteria help you discern the difference?

Day 3: The Philippian Jail (Acts 16:16-40)

1. The slave girl’s owners were angry not about the exorcism but about their lost revenue. Where do you see economic interests masquerading as other concerns — moral outrage, political conviction, religious principle — in the world today?
2. Paul and Silas worshiped at midnight in chains. What is the relationship between worship and suffering? Is praise in suffering a natural response, a supernatural gift, or a discipline cultivated over time?

Day 4: Thessalonica and Berea (Acts 17:1-15)

1. The Bereans are praised for receiving the word “with all eagerness” while also “examining the Scriptures daily.” How do you practice this combination of openness and discernment in your own engagement with teaching, preaching, and books?
2. The charge in Thessalonica was that Christians proclaim “another king, Jesus.” In what ways is the lordship of Christ genuinely subversive to the political and economic structures of the world? How should Christians navigate the tension between civic responsibility and ultimate allegiance to Christ?

Day 5: Athens and the Areopagus (Acts 17:16-34)

1. Paul quoted pagan poets and began with an altar to an Unknown God rather than with Scripture. What are the implications for how we communicate the gospel in secular contexts? Where are the “altars to unknown gods” in our culture — the spiritual longings that point toward the true God?
2. When Paul mentioned the resurrection, some mocked and others wanted to hear more. Why is bodily resurrection so offensive to both ancient and modern secular thought? How do you handle the temptation to downplay the most scandalous elements of the gospel?

Going Deeper

• Compare the four conversion stories in this week’s readings: the Jerusalem Council’s corporate decision about Gentile inclusion, Lydia’s quiet heart-opening by the river, the Philippian jailer’s crisis conversion after an earthquake, and the mixed response at Athens. What do these diverse stories reveal about how God works? Is there a single “model” of conversion, or does God meet people in radically different ways?
• Paul’s missionary strategy adapted constantly — circumcising Timothy in one city, quoting Greek poets in another, reasoning from Jewish Scripture in a third. Yet the core message never changed: Jesus is the crucified and risen Messiah, and salvation comes through faith in him. How do you distinguish between the unchanging content of the gospel and the flexible methods of communicating it? Where is your community most in danger of confusing the two?
• The Paul-Barnabas split at the end of Acts 15 is never formally resolved in the narrative. What does this tell us about the reality of conflict among godly leaders? How should churches handle disagreements between respected leaders who hold genuine but incompatible convictions?

Application

1. Personal: Paul adapted his approach to each audience — synagogue, marketplace, riverside, Areopagus. Think about the people in your life who do not share your faith. What are their “starting points”? How might you begin a spiritual conversation from where they are rather than where you think they should be?
2. Communal: The Bereans modeled a community that was both eagerly receptive and rigorously discerning. How does your small group or church balance these qualities? Is your community more in danger of gullibility (accepting everything) or cynicism (questioning everything)?
3. Theological: The Jerusalem Council declared, “It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” How does your church or tradition make theological decisions? What role do Scripture, experience, tradition, and communal discernment play? What might the Jerusalem Council’s process teach you about decision-making in your context?

Memory Verse

“For in him we live and move and have our being.” — Acts 17:28

Closing Prayer

God of all nations, who made from one man every people on the face of the earth and who determined the times and boundaries of their dwelling — we praise you that you are not far from any of us. Thank you for the Jerusalem Council, which opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. Thank you for closed doors that redirect us to your purposes, for earthquakes that shake open prisons, for Berean communities that search the Scriptures with eagerness and integrity. Give us Paul’s adaptability without compromising the gospel’s content, and give us the courage to proclaim the resurrection even when we know some will mock. May the unknown God become known in our generation. Amen.