Bible Study - Acts 16.16-34

Bible Study Acts 16.16-34

First, read verses 16 to 18.

Q1 Were the slave girl’s words true? Why was her message so annoying to Paul and why do you think he didn’t he act sooner to stop it?

Q2 What two things does Paul’s casting out of the demon demonstrate? In what ways should we also be confronting evil?

Now let’s look at verses 19 to 25.

Q3 What was the real reason for Paul and Silas’s arrest? Why do you think the crowd joined in the attack against them?

Q4 The punishment, a severe flogging and imprisonment, seems excessively harsh. Yet Paul and Silas respond with calmness and rejoicing. How can this be explained? See also Philippians 4.13 and 2 Timothy 1.7-8.

Q5 What effect do you think Paul and Silas’s singing had on the other prisoners? Can you give any personal examples of how a Christian response to crisis or injustice has affected others?

Finally, verses 26 to 34.

Q6 Is it significant that all the prisoners’ chains fell off and all the doors flew open, not just Paul and Silas’s?

Q7 Why do the prisoners - led by Paul and Silas – stay put instead of running away? What message does their action and attitude give about faith and about the aim of the gospel?

Q8 What caused the jailer to come to faith and what evidence of salvation did his life immediately show?

Q9 Is it surprising that the jailer’s whole household were baptized?

Q10 What lessons can we learn from this story about the way we should act in our society?