New Testament Survey: Student Guide

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New Testament Survey

NT 2000
Week Three

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New Testament Survey: Student Guide

Table of Contents
(Hold Ctrl and click appropriate heading to immediately move to that
section.)
Week Three Devotional..................................................................................................
Week Three Introduction................................................................................................
Objective 1: Determine the purpose of the Book of Acts......................................
Objective 2: Describe the importance of community in the early
Church..................................................................................................................
Objective 3: The Missionary Journeys of Paul.......................................................
Objective 4: Discuss what the contemporary Church can learn from the
early Church.........................................................................................................

New Testament Survey: Student Guide

Week Three Devotional

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will
be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends
of the earth.
Act 1:8 (NIV)
How many times have you attended the grand opening of a business?
Whether retail store, restaurant, or some other enterprise, new ventures will
often conduct some program to introduce their product to the surrounding
area. Sometimes, the success of that grand opening will sustain the
endeavor for years and even drive its continued expansion.
The remarkable events from the earliest days of the Church described in the
Book of Acts (often called the Acts of the Apostles) served notice to the world
of a dynamic activity that God launched. Acts relates how God used the
changed lives of the followers of the risen Christ to change lives in the world.
Others in the community of believers would notice the changes in the
apostles and each other as they performed marvelous works. Those outside
of the community of believers fretted that these Christians caused trouble
all over the world (Acts 17:6 NIV).
Three words describing the community of the early Church in Acts are listed
as empowered, evangelical, and earnest. The Holy Spirit came upon the
believers in the early chapters of Acts and empowered them beyond their
comprehension to perform works in the name of Christ. An evangelical spirit,
which is a desire to spread the Word of God to those who had not heard
about Jesus, directed the believers to go beyond their comfort zones and
proclaim the Gospel even in the midst of opposition from inside and outside
of their circles. They performed in earnest to fulfill the command of Jesus to
preach to the ends of the earth.
Acts represents the introduction of the Church to the world and the world to
the Church. The grand opening described in Acts opened the hearts of
several thousand new believers, the door to the Church, which is from the
Greek word for called out, and the world to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Think about your openness to experience a change of heart and follow the
Spirits direction to continue to change your world for Christ.

New Testament Survey: Student Guide

New Testament Survey: Student Guide

Week Three Introduction

Welcome to Week Three of NT2000! We will study the history of the early
Church as recorded in Acts. Acts serves as a primer for building community
in and through the Church from its beginning in Jerusalem to its expansion
throughout the world. Luke, the historian, wrote Acts so we could read about
the work of the Holy Spirit in the raising of new lives like Pauls and in
assembling a new people, otherwise known as the Church. Again, please
remember the material we study informs and transforms. The following
pages show the objectives you can expect to learn and experience this week.
Learning Activity #1: Week Three Devotional
Each of us should recognize the importance of applying biblical
principles to our own lives and educational pursuits. Consider the
devotional above and think of the value of studying the New
Testament both educationally and spiritually.
Post your thoughts in the forum entitled Week Three Devotional.
Responses to other students are encouraged but not required.
Learning Activity #2: Course Project Part III
Continuing the effort of the course project, remember the goal is
to understand the background, objectives, and importance of
each book of the New Testament. Also, keep in mind that you
want to create this project as a tool for learning and teaching.
For Week Three, submit your PowerPoint on the books of
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I Thessalonians,
and II Thessalonians.
Create a PowerPoint that outlines the above list of books from
the New Testament with the following information:

Purpose of each book

Key Verse(s)
Theme
Context (author, date, sources, audience, etc.)
Issues addressed in each book

Submit your third weeks Course Project to your facilitator as an

attachment in the drop box titled Course Project Part III.
Objective 1: Determine the purpose of the Book of Acts.
Again, lets focus on the contemporary audience. How would someone
who actually witnessed, read, or heard the teachings from the book
respond to it in the context of their daily lives? Put yourself in their

New Testament Survey: Student Guide

place as you read and study the book. Then, what do we know about
the audience who read the book and how does this help us interpret
the book?
Learning Activity #3: Reading Insights Discussion
Read Chapters 14-17 (pp. 193-253) of your textbook,
Encountering the New Testament, by Elwell and Yarbrough.
Develop a list of at least three specific insights that you
discovered during the reading assignment in Learning Activity
#3.
Post your response to the discussion forum titled Reading
Insights Discussion.
Objective 2: Describe the importance of community in the early
Church.
People need community. We do not live in isolation, but belong to one
or more communities, which include family, neighborhood, work,
church, etc. The early Church in Acts exhibited many aspects of
community that responded to group, individual, personal, and spiritual
needs. They celebrated their risen Lord, confronted challenges, and
faced opposition with a remarkable degree of oneness, even in the
midst of issues within their ranks. How would you describe
community? What affected the community of the early Church? What
can we learn about community from the early Church? We need to
address these questions in the following activity.
Learning Activity #4: Early Church Presentation
Meet with your fellow students in the team forum visible in your
course. Your facilitator will have posted a roster of the team
members within each team forum. As a team, research the
development and outgrowth of community experienced by the
early Church. Create a PowerPoint of 10 to 12 slides with
complete Presenters Notes that describes how the early Church
fostered community.
The teams need to thoroughly review and include the following
elements within the presentation:

The founding of the Church: What initiated its beginnings?

The formation of the Church: What empowered its
development?
The fellowship of the Church: What fostered its
community?

New Testament Survey: Student Guide

Use the Team rubric provided in your syllabus to guide your

collaboration efforts. The points in the Team rubric represent only
your collaboration. The remaining points assigned to this activity
will represent the quality of the work.
Each team leader should submit the presentation to the
facilitator as an attachment in the drop box entitled Early Church
Presentation.
Objective 3: The Missionary Journeys of Paul.
The apostle Paul traveled throughout the Roman world to proclaim the
Good News about Jesus and to plant churches to extend Gods
kingdom. Paul functioned with a purpose, inspired others to faith in
Christ, and dealt with many problems in his journeys. What can we
learn about mission from Pauls three journeys?
Learning Activity #5: Chart Missionary Journeys Exercise
Chart the three missionary journeys of Paul. Include in your chart
the routes he traveled, the people who accompanied him, the
opposition he faced, the issues he addressed, the churches he
planted and any other information you want to include about
Pauls journeys.
Create an MSWord document in a format of your choosing that
will detail your findings.
Submit the chart to your facilitator as an attachment to the drop
box titled Chart Missionary Journeys Exercise.
Objective 4: Discuss what the contemporary Church can learn
from the early Church.
The early Church transferred the power of the resurrection that helped
to transform the world. They dealt with growth issues, controversy, and
opposition, but remained steadfast in their commitment to be
witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8, NIV). Church leaders
and members continue to study the early Church for insight about
what God intended for the Church.
Learning Activity #6: Learning from History Discussion
Reflect on the impact the early Church can make on the
contemporary Church. List three influences from the early Church
that would benefit the ministry of the contemporary Church.
Summarize your reflections and post them to the discussion
forum titled Learning from History Discussion.

New Testament Survey: Student Guide