August 6 2022

SCRIPTURE

Acts 5:25-42

OVERVIEW

When is the proper time to stand up and take a stand for what is right or wrong? Who gets to decide what’s right and wrong? In an age of Covid-19 restrictions, courts ruling on abortion, gun control, personal civil rights, and any number of hot button topics—what is the responsibility of a Christian young person in influencing those around them? In our lesson today, Peter and the other apostles give us a glimpse into how to live in a time when those around us aren’t following God.

OPENING ACTIVITY:

GIBBERISH

QUESTIONS

TRANSITION

^“But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

Is this an easy thing to do? That depends on the subject. There are some issues for which the Bible provides more clarity, but others aren’t quite so easy. Being a Christian isn’t always easy or convenient; however, it’s what one is asked to do—are you ready?

BIBLE STUDY GUIDE

QUESTIONS

Read Acts 5:25-27.

25 Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” 26 At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.
27 The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.

QUESTIONS

Read Acts 5:29-32.

29 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! 30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. 31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. 32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 

QUESTIONS

Read Acts 5:33-39.

33 When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. 34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. 35 Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. 36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. 37 After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38 Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.

QUESTIONS

Read Acts 5:40-42.

40 His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

QUESTIONS

APPLICATION

It’s easy to go with the flow, but being a Christian isn’t about “easy.” God gave us a set of instructions in the Bible about how to live. They aren’t mere suggestions, but they are guidelines for living in His Kingdom. Often the Bible is at odds with society, but some Christians choose to ignore these differences and pretend that everything is going fine.

FOLLOW UP

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE

Acts 5:1-42

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.

DOWNLOAD THE HANDOUT

OVERVIEW

If you want to move people in a certain direction, it requires some type of power. Physical power can move people by reward or punishment. Some prefer to draw followers by communicating a goal that motivates followers to move on their own. Another method treats people like sheep and simply gets one person to move and the rest follow. We call that peer pressure, also known as “everybody’s doing it!”

Early in life most children follow their parents—their primary caregivers. Unable to talk or walk from birth, their dependency appears obvious. But as children grow and develop, they become increasingly independent of their parents. When children go to school, their social unit expands beyond more than just their family. Church is another broader social unit. By adolescence, two major physical changes initiate broad ramifications for the rest of a person’s life.

The first is the onset of puberty, which begins the challenge of what a person will do with their sexuality. This is not simply an adolescent matter. It begins in adolescence, but it will continue for the rest of your life. You can see in Bible examples and current-day news and observations about how sexuality remains a potent factor from adolescence throughout life.

The second major change relates to our topic for this Sabbath. A teen’s left and right hemispheres of their brain make new connections in the middle of their head (corpus callosum), which enables a person to think in ways they couldn’t previously think. You start asking “Why?” not like a two-year-old seeking attention, but because you really want to know. You may have been told previously, but now you can understand in a whole new way, so you need to be “re-treaded” on what you discovered earlier in life because you can now think in a new way.

This is why a person who grew up loving Jesus still needs to make a personal choice to follow Jesus in their teen years when they’re able to think in new ways. Their previous decision and desire are valid, but with a new capability to think, a new choice must be made. Perhaps the teens in your Youth Sabbath School need to make that decision today.

With this change, you can now consider what other people think. Previously you only thought about yourself, naturally. Now that you realize that other people have their own thoughts, what do you suppose they are thinking about? They are probably thinking about YOU, right?! Psychologist David Elkind labeled this an “imaginary audience.”

For example, when you come from the cafeteria line and need a place to sit, you might not see a place right away, so you pause. Then you realize, “Everybody is looking at me right now, and it looks like I have no friends because there’s no place for me to sit.” You spot an open seat, but you quickly notice who else is sitting there. If you were to sit with that person, what would other people think about you? You can’t take that risk. So finally you find a spot and just fit in. Ideally, the most popular person in the cafeteria would shout out your name and ask you to come sit with them. After you finish eating, you realize that you never once looked back at the cafeteria line to see whether or not other people faced the same crisis point as you—having your food and then needing to find a seat while “everybody is looking at them.” That’s the imaginary audience.

From this point forward, you will know what “peer pressure” is—the sense that the people like you or the people that matter to you do things a certain way, so you should do that, too. Or they don’t do things a certain way, so you don’t want to do it that way either. Teens demonstrate this by the way they dress—often different than their previous role models (parents) and now the need to dress like fellow teens. This is why fashions change so often—young people have to come up with their own “peer uniform” (and clothing businesses want to keep selling stuff). This is why musical styles for teens are often the “new sound.” The same is true for hairstyles.

With a new ability to understand that other people are thinking about you, you want them to think positively about you. So you’re willing to make some decisions to fit in with others—your new peer group.

Some teens no longer have an interest in Youth Sabbath School because their peers no longer think it’s the thing to do. They stop participating because of peer pressure. Other teens choose Youth Sabbath School, and their influence gets labeled as “positive peer pressure.”

While this starts in adolescence, it will continue for the rest of your life! Instead of being called “peer pressure,” it gets called “social pressure” or society. While you get to practice this in your adolescence, you will get to deal with it for the rest of your lives.

Today’s Scripture passage in Acts 5 gives a variety of examples of peer pressure and societal pressure, and how different people responded to it. This can help us, as followers of Jesus, to know how to relate to peer pressure.

Lead or Follow?

Would you rather follow a leader who is smart, powerful, or kind?

Read Acts 5:1-42.

5 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.

The Apostles Heal Many

12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.

The Apostles Persecuted

17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”

21 At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.

When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. 22 But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, 23 “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” 24 On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.

25 Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” 26 At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.

27 The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. 28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”
29 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! 30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. 31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. 32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

33 When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. 34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. 35 Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. 36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. 37 After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38 Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

40 His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

1. Why did Ananias lie about the cost of the couple’s land sale and gift?

2.   Why did Sapphira lie about the amount?

3.   How would you react to the sudden death of this couple?

5.   Why didn’t Peter give in to the pressure the religious leaders used?

6.   How was Gamaliel able to defuse the crisis?

7.   When it comes to spiritual things, are you more likely to lead a group, follow a group, or a combination of both?

8.   What gave the disciples such courage when they faced such pressure? When or how does God give you courage?

SUMMARY

Acts 5 provides multiple examples of peer pressure in New Testament times. Those same pressures exist today. We can see how peer pressure operates in negative ways and also in positive ways. We also see that having a strong anchor point in Christ and an active Holy Spirit in one’s life transcends the peer pressure most people feel. This challenges us to purposely place our anchor in Jesus and rely on the Holy Spirit to guide our choices rather than simply going with the crowd or the expectations of others.

APPLICATION

The applications from Scripture for how to relate to peer pressure might be obvious to you. If so, go ahead and apply them. If you’d like to prime the pump for some ideas, check out three applications below for this week’s Relational Bible Study on Acts 5 and peer pressure.

If you’re a teen, you’re probably now able to think about what others think about you. What DO others think about you? How do you know? Is it just a guess?

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The early Christians met in the temple at a place called “Solomon’s Porch” or “Solomon’s Colonnade.” It was a hangout spot for them to bond together with God through Scripture, prayer, and community.

Use peer pressure for good! These kinds of things are happening all the time. You can initiate it. Sometimes it only takes one or two people to shape peer pressure in a positive way.

You Are a Leader
By Seth Yelorda

Every day when you wake up and look in the mirror, the person staring back at you is your primary follower, and you are their primary leader. That person will do what you tell them to do. They will go where you tell them to go. They will say what you tell them to say. They will follow you up a mountain, through a valley, and even over a cliff. Who that person ultimately becomes and what that person achieves will be dependent on how you lead them? You Are a Leader gives examples of leaders and leadership traits along with exercise that will help develop your leadership ability.

Chapters include:

As a leader, the influence you have with people is a sacred trust given to you by God. You Are a Leader will help you to maximize your influence.

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