Bible Study Guide for Acts 6

Horton Road Church of Christ / Spring 2010

Life in the Church is not Perfect (6:1-7)

1. What controversy opens this chapter? What is one reason Acts gives for why this
controversy began?

2. Does Acts tell us if this controversy was real, or just perceived (or perhaps even
manufactured)? How is the truth often somewhere in the middle?

3. Who was looked at to solve the problem? How did they respond? Did they dismiss
the problem? Why didn't they handle it personally? What does this say about division
of labor in the church?

4. What was the decision of the Twelve? What were the characteristics of the Seven
who were chosen? Who chose them? What did the apostles do with those who were
chosen? What were the Seven to do? What else did they do (in chapters 6-7)?

5. What does "full of the Spirit and wisdom" mean? What does it look like?

6. What were the results of the church's decision making process? What is significant
about some of the conversions?

7. What does this passage teach us about: 1) problems in the church, both motives
and types?; 2) decision making?; 3) leadership development?; 4) leadership selection?;
5) division of work?; 6) faithfulness to God?

Stephen's Story, Part 1 (6:8-15)

1. What did Stephen do? How? What were the results? Was the opposition successful?
Why not?

2. What the opposition's next step? Why did they persuade people to say Stephen
spoke blasphemy? Did this work?

3. What happened to Stephen? What was spoken against him in the Sanhedrin? Is there
some truth to these accusations (6:14)?

4. What did they see in Stephen?

5. What does this passage teach us about: 1) opposition to God's word?; 2) how gossip,
slander, and false witnessing can thrive and take on a life of its own?; 3) how this
attitude can take hold in a church and poison it?

What did you learn that we should do or think differently about?

© 2010 Jeremy Hoover / www.jeremyhoover.com / jeremy@jeremyhoover.com