Know: Recognize the pastoral and administrative gifts of Peter.
Feel: Appreciate the courage and boldness that characterize Peter’s ministry.
Do: Apply lessons from Peter’s life and ministry to strengthen his or her personal life and church life.
Learning Outline:
Know: The Strength of Peter
What made a vacillating person like Peter become a bold and courageous witness for Jesus?
How did prayer play a prominent part in Peter’s life and ministry? How did Peter face the expectations of believers in various places where he ministered?
Feel: The Chief Characteristics of Peter
Even though Peter was a prominent leader of the church, how did he make himself available to the common people in the church? What does this tell us about Peter’s character as a pastor and leader?
Do: Learning From Peter
What can we learn from Peter’s approach to meet the needs of the individual and of the congregation?
Summary: Peter as a church member, prayer warrior, evangelist, and church leader has left a model for Christians to follow.
Learning Cycle
Step 1—Motivate
Spotlight on Scripture: Acts 9:32-43
Key Concept for Spiritual Growth: After the Resurrection, Jesus took time to prepare His disciples for their ministry ahead. Peter had denied Jesus three times before His death. The risen Jesus asked three times whether He could count on Peter to shoulder the responsibilities of discipleship. “The question that Christ had put to Peter was significant. He mentioned only one condition of discipleship and service. ‘Lovest thou Me?’ He said. This is the essential qualification.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 815.
Just for Teachers: Begin the class with a review of Peter’s failures and successes prior to the Resurrection.
With the supper over and Gethsemane ahead, Jesus looked at Peter and said, “ ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail’ ” (Luke 22:31, 32, NKJV). Peter wasn’t quite sure what to make of these words, but he swore his undying allegiance to Jesus with the readiness to defend Him and, if need be, to go “ ‘both to prison and to death’ ” (Luke 22:33, NKJV). However, all along, Peter had been a vacillating figure. At one moment, he confessed that Jesus is the Christ of God; at another, Peter denied ever knowing Jesus. Peter walked on water, but faith gave way to doubt, and the miracle almost became a disaster. Jesus shared Gethsemane with Peter—a rare privilege—but Peter chose to sleep. Peter did cut off an ear, but could not muster the courage to face a maid’s query regarding Jesus. The rooster crowed, and Peter wept. For Peter’s sins and the sins of the world, Jesus stood crucified outside Jerusalem. On the third day, Peter saw the risen Jesus. His life was never the same again. The Lord turned Peter into a new person, one who could preach with a firm heart from the Pentecost pulpit.
Discussion: Christian discipleship is both a privilege and a responsibility. What are some of the privileges and responsibilities? How do we often fall short in meeting the responsibilities?
Step 2—Explore
Just for Teachers: Jesus said to Peter, “ ‘When you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren’ ” (Luke 22:32, NKJV). Peter was a sad paradox of opposing elements—strength and weakness, daring and timidity, loyalty and betrayal. But the prayer of his Master was ever with him, and Jesus assured Peter that Peter would return to Him. Peter may deny, but that denial is not the termination point. It is only a temporary failure, for the Lord has assured him with His prayers. The hope the Lord had in Peter will not be in vain: Peter will strengthen his brethren. Thus, we have the powerful Peter, soaked in Scripture and filled with the Spirit to interpret it, a man through whom God’s Spirit moves the multitudes to repentance from sin and acceptance of Jesus as their Savior. And this powerful, daring, and fearless apostle fortified believers—the needy, the doubting, the dying, the stranger—in fulfillment of the hope Jesus had in him to “ ‘strengthen your brethren.’ ”
This week’s lesson focuses on Peter, who strengthened the laity and who broke down racial barriers so that the church could grow.
Bible Commentary
I. Peter: The One Who Cared for the Laity (Review Acts 9:32-35 with the class.)
In the history of missions and church growth, we often note a strange phenomenon. The principal evangelist behind the advance often seems so deeply engrossed in membership growth, development, and fund-raising that the need for personal touch and membership visitation gets neglected or assigned to others. While division of labor is an important concept in ministry, leaders must not lose touch with grass roots. Peter, whose preaching shook Jerusalem and was foundational in the great surge of church growth, set us a good example in pastoral visitation: “Peter went through all parts of the country” (Acts 9:32, NKJV) to strengthen and encourage the believers. He came down to Lydda, where he met Aeneas, paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. To him Peter brought healing with the words, “ ‘Jesus the Christ heals you’ ” (Acts 9:34, NKJV). The apostle-pastor-evangelist did not want the believers in Lydda to miss the main point: healing is important, but more important is to affirm that Jesus Christ is the Healer. In Him is the Creator’s “wonder-working power.”
Soon another miracle occurs. Eleven miles northwest of Lydda in Joppa, the church suddenly experiences a painful vacuum in its midst: Dorcas, a woman “full of good works and charitable deeds” dies (Acts 9:36, NKJV)—a woman who took her faith and calling seriously, and made the gospel speak through the language of “tunics and garments” (Acts 9:39, NKJV). Jesus restores Dorcas to her ministry of needle and thread and makes the brokenhearted widows of Joppa smile again.
Consider This: Then a third miracle: “So it was that he [Peter] stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner” (Acts 9:43, NKJV). A tanner works with leather, handling the skin of dead animals—an occupation that put Simon the tanner at risk of becoming ceremonially “unclean” (Lev. 11:24, 25), hardly the kind of company a conscientious Jew would keep. How did the walls of partition begin to break down in this encounter?
II. Peter: The One Who Crossed the Frontiers (Review Acts 10 with the class.)
“God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform” (The Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, No. 107). So He worked long ago in the lives of Peter and Cornelius. The story tells us how God broke down the walls of partition between Jew and Gentile so that one united body of Christ could emerge. Divisive factors—Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free, white or black, rich or poor—have no place in the communion of the crucified and risen Savior. Peter was not yet fully proclaiming that Christ is “our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation . . . so as to create in Himself one new man from the two” (Eph. 2:14, 15, NKJV). But Peter was beginning the learning process: he chose to stay with a leather worker in Joppa.
The Holy Spirit wanted Peter to understand more about Christian relations, and through that midday vision in the tanner’s terrace, the apostle was shown that he had neither the authority nor the right to call any person unclean or untouchable. That was the core intent, as Peter was to learn later, of the vision of the clean and the unclean creatures that Peter was commanded to “ ‘rise . . . kill and eat’ ” (Acts 10:13). God instructed Peter to go down and meet with the new reality that the gospel had brought about: Cornelius’s emissaries were at the door. Peter was quick to get the message: “ ‘God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean’ ” (Acts 10:28, ESV). The apostle was ready to breach the great barrier between Jew and Gentile, and enter Cornelius’s home. God did the rest.
Earlier, Cornelius, a Roman centurion at Caesarea, was in prayer. A devout, God-fearing, generous, and prayerful man (Acts 10:2), Cornelius was on his knees for the 3:00 p.m. appointment with God. In response to his persistent search for truth and his earnestness to know more about God, an angel directed Cornelius to fetch Peter from Joppa, some 40 miles south of Caesarea. No search for the gospel truth goes unattended by the One who is the Truth and the Life. Earnest search for truth immediately makes way for heavenly agencies to come to the aid of the seeker.
Peter’s very first words in Cornelius’s home were oneness in the gospel: God shows no partiality between Jew and Gentile, and Jesus Christ is Lord of all (Acts 10:34-36). Where oneness and unity become an essential insistence of the gospel, it is the most affirmative signal that the Holy Spirit is in action. And so it was, even before Peter could finish his preaching, “the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word” (Acts 10:44, NKJV). “All those” included the circumcised and the uncircumcised, Jews and Gentiles, men and women. In the face of such undeniable approval from heaven, who are mortals to continue clinging on to walls that divide? The centurion’s home became the first place where such walls of hatred and partition were torn down by the Holy Spirit.
Consider This: The Creation account announced that humanity, created in God’s image, had inherited a common oneness (Gen. 1:26). The Cross affirmed that in Christ there is “neither Jew nor Greek . . . slave nor free . . . male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28, NKJV). Why, then, do we still have divisiveness within Christian communities? How do we deal with this problem? Where must the solution begin?
Step 3—APPLY
Just for Teachers: Peter knew Jesus personally. Peter could speak about the art of fishing, whether the catch was fish or people. With Christ as the focus, Peter could speak about the healing of his mother-in-law, the feeding of the 5,000, the mount of transfiguration, the man at the pool, the 10 lepers, the walk on the sea, Lazarus, his own denial of Jesus, the kiss of Judas, the cross, and the Resurrection. To Peter, life was not a narrative of events, but the sharing of a certainty. His life was an eyewitness account of what the Lord did and can do!
Thought/Application Questions:
Peter was often a person of ambiguities and contradictions. The dividing point can be noted as Peter before the Pentecost and Peter after the Pentecost. What really happened to Peter that made the change in his life authentic? How does the reception of the Holy Spirit affect one’s spiritual life?
Step 4—Create
Just for Teachers: Bring to class slips of paper. On each slip, write down one incident in Peter’s life or one text from the gospel that relates to him. At the close of the lesson study, pass out the slips in a small basket or bag. Ask each member to pick one slip and share with the class his or her first thoughts about the incident or text.
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Key Texts: Acts 9:32-43, Acts 10
The Student Will:
Learning Outline:
Know: The Strength of Peter
Feel: The Chief Characteristics of Peter
Do: Learning From Peter
Summary: Peter as a church member, prayer warrior, evangelist, and church leader has left a model for Christians to follow.
Learning Cycle
Step 1—Motivate
Spotlight on Scripture: Acts 9:32-43
Key Concept for Spiritual Growth: After the Resurrection, Jesus took time to prepare His disciples for their ministry ahead. Peter had denied Jesus three times before His death. The risen Jesus asked three times whether He could count on Peter to shoulder the responsibilities of discipleship. “The question that Christ had put to Peter was significant. He mentioned only one condition of discipleship and service. ‘Lovest thou Me?’ He said. This is the essential qualification.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 815.
Just for Teachers: Begin the class with a review of Peter’s failures and successes prior to the Resurrection.
With the supper over and Gethsemane ahead, Jesus looked at Peter and said, “ ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail’ ” (Luke 22:31, 32, NKJV). Peter wasn’t quite sure what to make of these words, but he swore his undying allegiance to Jesus with the readiness to defend Him and, if need be, to go “ ‘both to prison and to death’ ” (Luke 22:33, NKJV). However, all along, Peter had been a vacillating figure. At one moment, he confessed that Jesus is the Christ of God; at another, Peter denied ever knowing Jesus. Peter walked on water, but faith gave way to doubt, and the miracle almost became a disaster. Jesus shared Gethsemane with Peter—a rare privilege—but Peter chose to sleep. Peter did cut off an ear, but could not muster the courage to face a maid’s query regarding Jesus. The rooster crowed, and Peter wept. For Peter’s sins and the sins of the world, Jesus stood crucified outside Jerusalem. On the third day, Peter saw the risen Jesus. His life was never the same again. The Lord turned Peter into a new person, one who could preach with a firm heart from the Pentecost pulpit.
Discussion: Christian discipleship is both a privilege and a responsibility. What are some of the privileges and responsibilities? How do we often fall short in meeting the responsibilities?
Step 2—Explore
Just for Teachers: Jesus said to Peter, “ ‘When you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren’ ” (Luke 22:32, NKJV). Peter was a sad paradox of opposing elements—strength and weakness, daring and timidity, loyalty and betrayal. But the prayer of his Master was ever with him, and Jesus assured Peter that Peter would return to Him. Peter may deny, but that denial is not the termination point. It is only a temporary failure, for the Lord has assured him with His prayers. The hope the Lord had in Peter will not be in vain: Peter will strengthen his brethren. Thus, we have the powerful Peter, soaked in Scripture and filled with the Spirit to interpret it, a man through whom God’s Spirit moves the multitudes to repentance from sin and acceptance of Jesus as their Savior. And this powerful, daring, and fearless apostle fortified believers—the needy, the doubting, the dying, the stranger—in fulfillment of the hope Jesus had in him to “ ‘strengthen your brethren.’ ”
This week’s lesson focuses on Peter, who strengthened the laity and who broke down racial barriers so that the church could grow.
Bible Commentary
I. Peter: The One Who Cared for the Laity (Review Acts 9:32-35 with the class.)
In the history of missions and church growth, we often note a strange phenomenon. The principal evangelist behind the advance often seems so deeply engrossed in membership growth, development, and fund-raising that the need for personal touch and membership visitation gets neglected or assigned to others. While division of labor is an important concept in ministry, leaders must not lose touch with grass roots. Peter, whose preaching shook Jerusalem and was foundational in the great surge of church growth, set us a good example in pastoral visitation: “Peter went through all parts of the country” (Acts 9:32, NKJV) to strengthen and encourage the believers. He came down to Lydda, where he met Aeneas, paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. To him Peter brought healing with the words, “ ‘Jesus the Christ heals you’ ” (Acts 9:34, NKJV). The apostle-pastor-evangelist did not want the believers in Lydda to miss the main point: healing is important, but more important is to affirm that Jesus Christ is the Healer. In Him is the Creator’s “wonder-working power.”
Soon another miracle occurs. Eleven miles northwest of Lydda in Joppa, the church suddenly experiences a painful vacuum in its midst: Dorcas, a woman “full of good works and charitable deeds” dies (Acts 9:36, NKJV)—a woman who took her faith and calling seriously, and made the gospel speak through the language of “tunics and garments” (Acts 9:39, NKJV). Jesus restores Dorcas to her ministry of needle and thread and makes the brokenhearted widows of Joppa smile again.
Consider This: Then a third miracle: “So it was that he [Peter] stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner” (Acts 9:43, NKJV). A tanner works with leather, handling the skin of dead animals—an occupation that put Simon the tanner at risk of becoming ceremonially “unclean” (Lev. 11:24, 25), hardly the kind of company a conscientious Jew would keep. How did the walls of partition begin to break down in this encounter?
II. Peter: The One Who Crossed the Frontiers (Review Acts 10 with the class.)
“God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform” (The Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, No. 107). So He worked long ago in the lives of Peter and Cornelius. The story tells us how God broke down the walls of partition between Jew and Gentile so that one united body of Christ could emerge. Divisive factors—Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free, white or black, rich or poor—have no place in the communion of the crucified and risen Savior. Peter was not yet fully proclaiming that Christ is “our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation . . . so as to create in Himself one new man from the two” (Eph. 2:14, 15, NKJV). But Peter was beginning the learning process: he chose to stay with a leather worker in Joppa.
The Holy Spirit wanted Peter to understand more about Christian relations, and through that midday vision in the tanner’s terrace, the apostle was shown that he had neither the authority nor the right to call any person unclean or untouchable. That was the core intent, as Peter was to learn later, of the vision of the clean and the unclean creatures that Peter was commanded to “ ‘rise . . . kill and eat’ ” (Acts 10:13). God instructed Peter to go down and meet with the new reality that the gospel had brought about: Cornelius’s emissaries were at the door. Peter was quick to get the message: “ ‘God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean’ ” (Acts 10:28, ESV). The apostle was ready to breach the great barrier between Jew and Gentile, and enter Cornelius’s home. God did the rest.
Earlier, Cornelius, a Roman centurion at Caesarea, was in prayer. A devout, God-fearing, generous, and prayerful man (Acts 10:2), Cornelius was on his knees for the 3:00 p.m. appointment with God. In response to his persistent search for truth and his earnestness to know more about God, an angel directed Cornelius to fetch Peter from Joppa, some 40 miles south of Caesarea. No search for the gospel truth goes unattended by the One who is the Truth and the Life. Earnest search for truth immediately makes way for heavenly agencies to come to the aid of the seeker.
Peter’s very first words in Cornelius’s home were oneness in the gospel: God shows no partiality between Jew and Gentile, and Jesus Christ is Lord of all (Acts 10:34-36). Where oneness and unity become an essential insistence of the gospel, it is the most affirmative signal that the Holy Spirit is in action. And so it was, even before Peter could finish his preaching, “the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word” (Acts 10:44, NKJV). “All those” included the circumcised and the uncircumcised, Jews and Gentiles, men and women. In the face of such undeniable approval from heaven, who are mortals to continue clinging on to walls that divide? The centurion’s home became the first place where such walls of hatred and partition were torn down by the Holy Spirit.
Consider This: The Creation account announced that humanity, created in God’s image, had inherited a common oneness (Gen. 1:26). The Cross affirmed that in Christ there is “neither Jew nor Greek . . . slave nor free . . . male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28, NKJV). Why, then, do we still have divisiveness within Christian communities? How do we deal with this problem? Where must the solution begin?
Step 3—APPLY
Just for Teachers: Peter knew Jesus personally. Peter could speak about the art of fishing, whether the catch was fish or people. With Christ as the focus, Peter could speak about the healing of his mother-in-law, the feeding of the 5,000, the mount of transfiguration, the man at the pool, the 10 lepers, the walk on the sea, Lazarus, his own denial of Jesus, the kiss of Judas, the cross, and the Resurrection. To Peter, life was not a narrative of events, but the sharing of a certainty. His life was an eyewitness account of what the Lord did and can do!
Thought/Application Questions:
Peter was often a person of ambiguities and contradictions. The dividing point can be noted as Peter before the Pentecost and Peter after the Pentecost. What really happened to Peter that made the change in his life authentic? How does the reception of the Holy Spirit affect one’s spiritual life?
Step 4—Create
Just for Teachers: Bring to class slips of paper. On each slip, write down one incident in Peter’s life or one text from the gospel that relates to him. At the close of the lesson study, pass out the slips in a small basket or bag. Ask each member to pick one slip and share with the class his or her first thoughts about the incident or text.