Bible Study With Jairus - Acts 11

Acts 11 tells three stories. In the first, Peter takes six fellow believers to Cornelius’s home to bring salvation to Cornelius and all his household. He also baptized them with the Holy Spirit. The second story talks about the advancement of the Gospel by those who were suffering because of the persecution that arose over Stephen. Barnabas also went to Tarsus to find Paul and bring him to Antioch. In the third story, a prophet named Agabus foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over the entire Roman world.
Our focus today is that we should pay attention to the working of the Holy Spirit, especially the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We also need to pay attention to the ways that the Holy Spirit communicates with us, including visions, dreams, trances, and so on. Before we talk about this, I want to provide a personal point of reference for this discussion. Let me start by explaining how our Bible study group operates in hopes that it will be a help to others who lead Bible Studies.
Our Bible study is usually led by a man or woman who gives a brief summary of the Scripture in the beginning. Everyone takes a turn leading in order to achieve a better understanding of the Scripture as well as to give everyone a chance to practice speaking for God. Leading a Scripture reading session causes the leader to prepare for sharing in two ways. The first is summarizing the background and the basic information of the Scripture to share with the group. The leader may also add some thoughts that they learned from other Bible teachers. This step is very helpful for both the new believers who do not have much Bible knowledge and for those who wish to grow in their knowledge of the Bible. Those who wish to grow can learn to lead a Bible study and share what they have learned from this chapter. Their sharing will help those who are new to the Bible. This also helps those who are sharing to realize they need more understanding.
The second step in preparation, which is a more advanced aspect, is to pray for the leading of the Holy Spirit to give you new understanding and thoughts about the Scripture. The unfolding of God’s words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119:130) In other words, I try to help the group leaders to grow in their understanding of the Bible and receive Rhema words from the Holy Spirit. [“A rhema word is a specific word which the Holy Spirit quickens in our hearts and minds at a specific time and for a specific purpose. We receive a rhema word from God when the Holy Spirit specifically reminds us of a particular Bible verse or promise, and drops that “word” into our heart.”- Kenny Gatlin] I often show them an example of how to do this. We often get timely Rhema words from the Holy Spirit in our reading sessions.
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