Acts Chapter 14 Study Guide

Family Study Guide for December 7 - December 14, 2006
(Read Acts 14 Online)

Reflections on Acts 14 by Mark Chesner, Coach

Currently, we are experiencing something in the church many are calling a "Praise Movement" where Christians try to "rediscover" praise as a center of the Christian experience. Christian rock bands are sometimes moving away from their own original music toward "praise albums" where they sing traditional or modern spiritual songs with the intention of leading others in praising God. Sometimes it can even be hard to find a CD on the shelf for a Christian band that has original music on it, because everyone is doing yet another version of "Awesome God" or "Shout To the North". The current Christian culture is steeped in "praise", it seems. But what is the proper way to regard "praise"?

Scripture often uses contrasts to remind us that we all reach the same decisions, but that there is a right way to go and a wrong way to go. In Acts 12 and Acts 14 we see the same situation coming about to two different people. First, in Acts 12:21-25 we see Herod give such a magnificent speech that the people start calling him "a god". In Acts 14:11-18, we see Paul and Barnabus perform a miracle and the people start calling them "gods". The situation is almost identical, but their responses are very different.

Herod, hearing the praise, leans back and soaks it in. He knows that he is no god, but probably figures it can't hurt and might even help his mission to Tyre and Sidon for the people to feel a little awe. After all, it makes them more likely to accept his decisions later on when they start talking about the food supply. But God doesn't see it that way. He sees plenty of harm in people glorifying another person as a God, and immediately punishes Herod with death.

Paul and Barnabus on the other hand, react very differently. They hear people calling them Zeus and Hermes, and immediately rip their clothes (a traditional sign of Jewish mourning) and run around trying to convince anyone who would listen that they were not gods, but that there was only one God and only He deserved praise and worship. They do manage to convince the people, but not without making them mad enough to try and stone Paul. But God spares him and he survives.

What is the lesson here? Proper praise is not about us. It is not about making us feel good or special or even making our eay in life easier. Proper praise is for God, about God, and focussed on God. Anytime we see someone trying to glorify us, we should be turning them toward God. And any time we feel tempted to use praise to bring attention to ourselves, we should remind ourselves that we're not gods, no matter how beautiful we are, no matter how wonderfully we speak or sing, and no matter how talented or intelligent we may be..

Praise is a wonderful thing, but there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it.

Questions to Consider
- When have you accepted praise that should rightfully have gone to God?
- Have you ever been tempted to use praise music to bring attention to yourself, instead of God?
- When have you let others think something special about you - talent, intelligence, looks, etc. - was due to your own specialness, rather than God's gift to you?

Bible.Org Outline for Acts 14
3. South Galatia: Iconium, Lystra, Derbe (13:51–14:21a)
a. In Iconium: Jewish and Gentile Response (13:51–14:5)
b. In Lystra and Derbe (14:6-21a)
1) From Iconium to Lystra and Derbe (14:6-7)
2) A Healing in Lystra (14:6-18)
a) The Healing of a Man Crippled from Birth (14:8-10)
b) The Response of the Crowd (14:11-14)
c) The Message of Paul and Barnabas (14:15-18)
d) The Stoning of Paul (14:19)
3) Escape to Derbe (14:20-21a)
4. Return to Antioch (14:21b-28)