October 5, Acts 8-9: The Unlikely
God hears from us
Begin with a time of prayer, here’s some suggestions:
Prayers of Adoration
ACTS prayer
Pray through a Psalm
Open Intercession
Read a Liturgical prayer (valley of vision, book of prayer, divine hours, etc.)
We Hear From God
Read Acts 8-9
There is a lot of text here, divide in a way that seems best to you.
We are particularly interested in the individual who come to faith, so pay attention to their descriptions and what God does to bring them to faith.
Discussion Guide (leaders, please read over the leader guide before beginning discussion)
1. Describe the four people (or groups) that we see in Acts 8-9: the Samaritans, the Ethiopian Eunuch, Simon the Magician, and Saul of Tarsus. What do you know about these people? Why are they unlikely recipients of the gospel? (leaders, see guide below to fill in gaps of knowledge)
2. What different ways/people does God use to bring these people to faith, both miraculous and ordinary?
3. What do these stories tell us about the heart of God for people we might think won’t be recipients of the gospel?
4. What point is the author (both human and divine) trying to make by including these stories about the conversion of unlikely people at this point in the story of Acts?
We hear from each other:
5. Think about yourself, do you see yourself in any of these unlikely converts?
6. How in your life have you not shared the gospel with because they seem unlikely to receive the gospel?
7. Who is God calling you—like Phillip or Ananias—to share the gospel with who you might find unlikely or intimidating?
8. How would Table of Life’s community change if we really believed that God can and wants to save the most unlikely people?
Leader Guide:
the role of the shepherd is to hear God’s word and to apply it to souls. In this small group setting we are partnering with our group so that together we can practice hearing God’s word and apply it to our souls.
GENERAL CONTEXT FOR ACTS 8–9
Persecution & Expansion Theme: Acts 8:1–4 sets the tone—persecution scatters the believers, which ironically fulfills the mission Jesus gave in Acts 1:8 (Jerusalem → Judea/Samaria → ends of the earth). Each conversion story in Acts 8–9 represents a geographic and social expansion of the gospel.
Progression of Unlikely Converts:
Samaritans (half-Jews)
Simon (occult practitioner)
Ethiopian eunuch (foreign, sexually “unclean”)
Saul (persecutor of Christians)
Each of these represents a boundary being crossed: ethnic, spiritual, social, religious.
FOR QUESTION 1: WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
WHO ARE the Samaritans?
Shared ancestry: Samaritans descended from the northern tribes of Israel, particularly Ephraim and Manasseh. After the Assyrian conquest (722 BC), many Israelites intermarried with foreigners, which Jews considered a defilement of their ethnic and religious identity (see 2 Kings 17).
Separate temple: Samaritans built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim and accepted only the Pentateuch (first five books of Moses). Jews worshiped in Jerusalem and rejected the Samaritan scriptures.
Mutual hostility: Centuries of political, religious, and ethnic division led to intense animosity. Jews viewed Samaritans as heretics and half-breeds. Samaritans returned the sentiment with their own deep resentments.
Samaritans in the Gospels: John 4 (woman at the well), Luke 9:51-56 a Samartian Village rejects Jesus, Luke 10:25-37 the good Samaritan, Luke 17:11-19 the ten lepers, the one who is thankful is a Samaritan
WHO IS Simon the Magician?
What the bible says about magicians: Deuteronomy 18:10-12, 2 Kings 17:17-18 see also Exodus 7-9, Daniel 1-2, in short Magicians either worship false gods or lead the people of Israel astray.
Be ready to answer the question “Is Simon’s conversion genuine?” There is much debate here, when he asks Peter for prayer is he genuinely repenting of his request and misunderstanding of the power of the spirit or is this just something he says to get out of trouble? Luke (by the power of the Holy Spirit) doesn’t think that this questions needs an answer, so what is Luke doing by only showing us this much of Simon’s story? The emphasis is on a barrier being crossed that will become very important when the gospel moves into gentile territory. New converts must leave old religious practices behind. Remember, syncretism is the great sin of Israel (syncretism is the act of combining religious practices or deities into one new religion. The Israelites both included the worship of other gods and frequently treated Yahweh like one of the Canaanite or Chaldean gods.)
The Ethiopian Eunuch
Eunuchs were typically men who had been castrated—often from a young age—to serve specific roles in royal or noble courts.
In the ancient Near East (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia), eunuchs were seen as trustworthy servants, particularly in roles that required them to interact with women in royal harems or to manage sensitive administrative duties.
Some biblical uses of the word eunuch (Hebrew: saris) may also refer to high-ranking officials
Cultural Roles of Eunuchs
Royal court officials: Eunuchs were often employed as stewards, guards, or advisors in the palaces of kings (see 2 Kings 20:18; Esther 1:10; Daniel 1:3).
Foreign and marginalized: Eunuchs were usually foreigners brought into service. This made them both politically useful and ritually suspect in Jewish thought.
Socially in-between: Because eunuchs could not marry or father children, they existed outside the traditional family structure, often marginalized or distrusted.
For more detail see: Deuteronomy 23:1, 2 Kings 9:32, Jeremiah 38:7-13, Isaiah 56:3-5
Saul of Tarsus
1. Birth and Citizenship
Saul was born in Tarsus, a prominent city in Cilicia (modern-day southern Turkey), known for its learning and commerce. Acts 21:39
He was also a Roman citizen by birth, an unusual privilege for a Jew. Acts 22:28
2. Education and Religious Training
Saul was raised in Jerusalem and trained under Gamaliel, a respected Pharisee and teacher of the law. Acts 22:3
He became a Pharisee, deeply committed to the Jewish law and traditions.
Philippians 3:5–6 – “...circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”
3. Zeal and Persecution of the Church
Saul saw the early Christian movement as a dangerous heresy and was zealous to destroy it.
Galatians 1:13–14 – “For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it... I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age.”
He was present at, and approved of, the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Acts 7:58–8:1
Question 2: Miraculous & Ordinary Means
Convert, Divine Means, Human Means
Samaritans: Joy, healing, exorcisms (8:7–8), Philip preaching (8:5–6)
Simon: Signs and wonders (8:13), Peter rebukes (8:20–23)
Ethiopian Eunuch: Spirit-led appointment (8:29), Philip teaches & baptizes
Saul: Vision of Jesus, blindness (9:3–6), Ananias lays hands (9:17)
Highlight: These show that salvation comes from God, but He chooses to use His people to carry the message and care for the convert.
Question 3: Why These Stories Here?
This section of Acts demonstrates:
The inclusive nature of the gospel: From religious outsiders (Samaritans) to social outcasts (eunuchs) to spiritual opponents (Saul).
No one is beyond God’s reach. These chapters are a living illustration of Acts 1:8—the gospel is now crossing cultural, ethnic, and religious lines.
It prepares us for the coming of Gentile inclusion in Acts 10 (Cornelius)
Questions 5-8: Get Specific
Encourage everyone to share, and avoid generalities, move towards specific people. A bad example “I would never expect someone who identifies as transgender to accept Jesus,” what we are looking for: “I can’t imagine that Ethan would ever give me the time of day to share the gospel with her.”
With question 8 I really want you to be dig in and come up with concrete changes. If we suddenly had a group of bikers attending Table of Life Potlucks, if a group of gay men began to come, if BCS’s basketball team ;) were to come, and we allowed then to BELONG and to have roles which benefit the community of Table of Life, how would that shape and change things? How would we prioritize discipleship in a different way? How might we conduct the service differently? Would we change our approach to childcare? What would our programs outside of Potlucks need to be?
