“The First Christian Martyr”
Click below to download the Cornerstone Connections leader’s guide and student lesson. This week’s resources also include two lesson plans and a discussion starter video which offer different ways of looking at the topic. Each lesson plan includes opening activities, scripture passages, discussion questions, and real-life applications.
Stephen was brought to court on trumped-up charges, permitted a brief defense, and then executed. Serving God exacted a price then—and it does now.
Scripture Passages
OVERVIEW
Leadership comes in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes it even comes from the most unlikely places. From the standpoint of the world, the apostles were a motley group of people with very little potential, but from God’s perspective they were the right people at the right time. Stephen was another one of those people. He was a follower of Jesus, who found himself in the right place at the right time to preach the truth.
1. Have your group form a line, shoulder to shoulder (with appropriate social distancing), facing the same way.
2. Instruct them to take two steps forward if they have ever done the things listed below. This is a fun way to get to know your students.
3. After acknowledging their movement, have them step back into line.
Take two steps forward if you (have):
Eaten a grasshopper
Gotten carsick on a school outing
Snuck into the baptistry to check it out
Waited till the last minute to study for an exam
Been raised in the country
Prefer dogs over cats
Are the oldest child in the family
Eaten chocolate for breakfast
Sung in the shower
Spent a night in the hospital
Broken a bone
Eaten food out of a trash can
Tripped because you were talking and texting
Been trapped in an elevator
Gone scuba diving
Put a message in a bottle in the ocean
QUESTIONS
TRANSITION
Have you ever wondered what impact your life choices will have? Do you think the apostles and converts to Christianity realized what following Jesus would mean? If you knew what was going to happen when you made decisions, how would that impact your decisions? After reading the first few chapters in Acts, one gets the impression that following Jesus was the most important thing and the consequences didn’t matter. Today’s study isn’t any different, so let’s dive in.
BIBLE STUDY GUIDE
Read Acts 5:1-10.
1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”
5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”
“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”
9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”
10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
QUESTIONS
Read Acts 6:8-15.
8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.
11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”
15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
QUESTIONS
Read Acts 7:44-49.
44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.. 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.
48 “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
49 “ ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be?
QUESTIONS
APPLICATION
Stephen was a good man who followed God no matter what. He wasn’t motivated by threats or fear. He was motivated by sharing the Gospel even though it cost him dearly. What motivates you? Are you willing to stand up for right without regard for the cost?
FOLLOW UP
Read Psalm 37:34.
34 Hope in the Lord and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it.
Read Psalm 42:11.
11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Read Psalm 112:10.
10 The wicked will see and be vexed, they will gnash their teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.
Read Proverbs 10:24.
24 What the wicked dread will overtake them; what the righteous desire will be granted.
QUESTIONS
This week, ask God to make you willing to be willing to follow God’s leading in your life.
SCRIPTURE PASSAGES
LEADER’S NOTE
For a Relational Bible Study (RBS) you’ll want to get into the Scripture passage and encourage the youth to imagine participating in the story while it’s happening. Then you will be able to better apply it to your own situation today.
You will need to ask God for the Holy Spirit to be present as your small group discusses the questions (no more than 3-6 people in a group is recommended). Start with the opening question. It is a personal question and the answer is unique for each individual. There is no right answer and nobody is an expert here, so don’t be surprised when you hear different responses. You are depending on the Holy Spirit to be present and to speak through your group. Say what God prompts you to say, and listen to what others share.
Take turns reading the chapter out loud. Follow that with giving the students some time to individually mark their responses to the questions (a PDF version of the handout is available as a download). This gives each person a starting point for responding when you start to share as a group. Next, begin the discussion by asking the students to share what they marked and why on each question as you work your way through. Feel free to take more time on some questions than others as discussion warrants.
Encourage each person in the group to apply what is discussed to their personal lives and to share with the group what they believe God wants them to do. Then ask them to pray that God will help each of them to follow through in doing so. Remind them to expect that God will show them ways to live out the message of this passage in the coming week, and that they are free to ask others in the group to help hold them accountable.
OVERVIEW
The early developments of the Christian church recorded by Luke in the book of Acts now transition to the lives of several key leaders. Our passage for this week provides the only record of Stephen, the first martyr for Christ. You might want to make this entire study about martyrdom, and that would be fine. This Relational Bible Study (RBS) will emphasize more about the speech Stephen gave and the things that prompted it in addition to the response.
Last week we read of seven people, filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3), ordained as deacons to serve in food distribution so the apostles could devote their time to prayer and teaching (Acts 6:4). You would expect Stephen to be a good administrator or efficient worker with a special knack for people, and possibly good listening skills. Instead, a few verses later we read Stephen was full of grace and power, performing great wonders and signs among the people (Acts 6:8). This sounds more like one of the apostles than a deacon attending to people’s physical hunger.
The rest of Acts 6 describes opposition that came from Jews who had come to the temple in Jerusalem from various parts of the Mediterranean. This was their spiritual pilgrimage—coming from different parts of the world to the sacred temple. Without giving many details, it seems they got into an argument with Stephen that challenged their understanding of Moses, God, and their sacred temple. They had inadequate answers to whatever Stephen shared with them about Jesus rather than their temple or religious heritage, so they started a rabble that turned on Stephen and brought him to the religious leaders for judgment.
The Scripture portion listed for this week starts in Acts 6, then bypasses much of Stephen’s speech and picks it up at the end of Acts 7. You may choose to do the same, or read through the full speech—that’s up to you. Is it just Jewish history, or is there some reason Stephen recited this familiar story to the religious scholars?
Instead of an altar call, this sermon ended in martyrdom. Read it for yourself. And then wrestle with the questions in this Relational Bible Study.
“Unstoppable”
What’s something that pushes your “angry button”?
Read Acts 6:8-15.
8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.
11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”
15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Read Acts 7:44-59.
44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.
48 “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
49 “ ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? 50 Has not my hand made all these things?’
51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him—53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”
54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
1. Which of the following descriptions apply to Stephen?
2. Why did the immigrant Jews to Jerusalem find fault with Stephen?
3. What happened when Stephen’s face became like the face of an angel?
4. What did Stephen include in the final speech of his life (Acts 7:1-53)?
5. If you had been a Jew there that day, what would have offended you from Stephen’s speech?
6. What amazes you the most about Stephen’s martyrdom?
7. Is Jesus the center of your religious beliefs and practices OR does Jesus challenge your religious beliefs and practices?
8. Where do you see Jesus or His angels/messengers in those around you? When do others notice Jesus in you?
SUMMARY
There’s nothing quite like stoning a person for religious heresy when the ones doing the stoning are making their own guilt even more obvious with their actions. Talk about losing it! And yet Stephen, a powerful preacher, died. Why would God allow that? Why didn’t God miraculously save Stephen? This started some major persecution for those who followed Jesus. They would have to flee from Jerusalem, fanning out to Judea and Samaria (as foretold in Acts 1:8). The next step would be taking the message of Jesus to the ends of the earth. That next step will begin with next week’s Bible study. And the miracles continue in spite of persecution and martyrdom.
APPLICATION
Here are three application ideas for you to “live out” the Bible passage we studied for this week’s Youth Sabbath School. The first application focuses on prayer, the second on perception and discernment, and the third assessing and reflecting. Choose at least one of the three and put your talk into action this week.
You might not face immediate persecution right now for placing your faith in Jesus or speaking about Jesus (except for possibly losing a friend or two who doesn’t think it’s cool to be into Jesus too much). But right now, an estimated 340,000,000 Christians who speak about Jesus, like Stephen did, experience persecution.
Many of these organizations ask for money for their ministry. You may choose whether or not to donate, but this week’s application calls for you to pray as you become aware of Christians you don’t know personally, but you know are being persecuted right now.
The face of Stephen lit up like an angel. People noticed. He even verbalized a vision of seeing into heaven—looking at Jesus Himself, standing at the right hand of God! That’s vivid! For most of us, we might say something like, “I saw Jesus when . . .” and then we describe an act of kindness or somebody befriending us.