INSTRUCTIONS: Pray. Read the text. Then use the questions below as guides to write out what you have learned from the text. You can go as deep or as basic as you choose. You may choose to only answer based on the text you are studying, or you may decide to use other passages from the Bible, commentaries, or additional outside sources of information. You can answer in any order. You may choose to spend one day in only answering from the text and another day filling in information from other sources. You may add additional details that are not asked for in the narrative study format, such as historical context, archeological information, or questions you have for further study. Always complete your own study before reading my example so that you do not limit your own thinking.

But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, “‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Characters Who is this story about?  List all of the people in the story and what you know about them.  In addition, there maybe animal, plant, and supernatural characters in the story.  Of course, every story will include God as a main character.  Sometimes, His presence is obvious, but sometimes, you must look deeper to find Him in the story.

Setting:  Where and When?  Check out maps to understand the relationship of ancient places to modern countries.  How is this place connected to other places that you have read about? Is this place different from the locations just before this story started? Where will the characters go after this story is finished? Does this place have any spiritual significance?  Part of the answer to this question might be a specific date and time of day, but a more important answer looks at what events happened before, what events happened after, and most importantly, what other events are occurring simultaneously.  It is important to compare the events of the Bible with other historical events that were happening at the same time, but it is even more important to compare various Bible stories and events with each other.  For example, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel all provide differing perspectives on what was happening during one specific time period, so the other two books can provide a lot of insight to explain the situations occurring in a story from one of the other books.

Plot (Problem and Solution) What is the problem happening in the story?  Why is the problem happening?  Could the problem have been avoided?  What are the consequences that result from the problem?  Was the problem resolved?  If so, how was the problem resolved?  What was God’s preferred solution?  What solutions did humans try that were not in alignment with God’s way of handling situations?

Text-to-Text  Does anything remind you of other verses that you have read in the Bible?  Do you want to search deeper for more texts that speak about this subject?  If so, what is the consensus of the texts that you found, i.e., what lessons were communicated by the majority of the texts and were they different from the story that you are studying?

Text-to-World  What general lessons about life are in the text?  What similarities do you see between the story and our modern world?  What differences are there between the story and today’s world?

Text-to-Self  What specific application can you find for your own life, i.e., what message is the Holy Spirit trying to give you from this story?  Have you ever experienced any situation similar to the story?  Would you have reacted differently than the characters?  If so, why

Text-to-God  What does this story reveal about God and the way that He interacts with humans? Did God approve or disapprove? How do you know? Is there anything confusing about God in this story?

My Example Bible Study

Note: You can go much deeper than this example with lots of connections and details. You can also use this narrative format for studying the Bible at a more basic level with fewer connections and skipping textual cross-references. This format can be used to suit your own needs at the present time. You may decide to fill in more information at a later date when you have more time. I recommend that you either type or write your ideas because this is an attempt to understand the Bible at a deeper level. Thus, you may want to refer back to your notes and add information as you learn more.

Characters:  Peter and the eleven other apostles were addressing a large crowd of Jewish people from many different places who spoke different languages.  There were at least 3,000 people listening, since that many are baptized that day.  There may have been more people listening who did not decide to be baptized at that time.  Since Peter and the eleven apostles are identified, this means that the new apostle, Matthias, was also part of the group of speakers.  Peter addresses his remarks specifically to the men of Judea and the residents of Jerusalem although earlier verses identify that many of the group who are listening are from other locations. 

Peter invokes David as his witness to the truth that Jesus is the Messiah.  Thus, King David is a character in this section, but Peter does not refer to David’s credentials as king.  Instead, Peter focuses on David’s identity as patriarch and prophet and that David’s psalms are inspired by God.  All three members of the Godhead are also part of Peter’s sermon.  Of course, Jesus is his main theme, but Peter speaks of God (the Father) raising up Jesus from the dead.  Then Peter tells the crowd that the Holy Spirit has been poured out on the twelve apostles (and maybe others there) and the crowd is witnessing the results.  The crowd would have been familiar with stories about the Spirit being poured out on prophets in the Old Testament, so Peter’s words were not totally strange to them; however, Peter promises them that they, too, will receive the Spirit, which would have been a strange new thought to them.

Setting:  Where and When?  This sermon takes place in Jerusalem, probably in the streets outside of the house where the followers of Jesus have just experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Thus, this takes place on the day of the feast of Pentecost.  The big noise, shaking, and fires attracted a lot of attention and people would have come running to see what had happened.  Three thousand people would not have fit inside the house, so probably Jesus’ followers came outside.  In fact, it would make sense that if a large crowd of people came running to your house and maybe even knocking on your door to find out if you were alright, you would go out to speak with them and explain what happened, so I think that some of the crowd banged on the door to get an explanation, and the apostles and maybe others exited to speak, but when they began explaining about the miracle that they had just experienced, their words came out in a multitude of languages.  Then others in the crowd started to explain away the big noise and the confusion as a drunken party prank.  That made it important for Peter to explain.  He must have found an elevated place to stand in order to deliver his speech. 

After the crowd chose to be baptized, they would have needed to walk to a place with water to be immersed.  There were several pools in the area that would have worked.  I wonder which one(s) they used?

Plot (Problem and Solution):  After the Holy Spirit arrived in a conspicuous manner with the rushing wind and loud sound, people from all over the area came outside and began searching for the source of the disturbance.  They pinpointed the sounds coming from a specific house and approached the residence.  The neighbors probably came there first and knocked on the door to see what was going on.  The apostles and maybe others went outside and began explaining what had happened.  As they spoke, more and more people came to the front of the house wanting to know what was going on.  Crowds attract bigger crowds, so pretty soon the street was filled with people.  This was the time of holy feast, so Jerusalem was full of people from many different lands.  As the apostles began answering questions, something strange happened.  They were conversing with people in their own languages.  Soon the cacophony of multiple languages filled the air, which would have attracted even more people.  Some of the late comers arrived to a street full of indecipherable noise, so they decided this must be a drunken party gone riotous. At this point, Peter knew that he needed to take charge of the situation and stop the confusion.  He found a high place to stand so that everyone could hear him.  Maybe it was a table that they drug out of the house.  Maybe there was a nearby roof or balcony that he could stand on.  He had his eleven brothers-in-Christ standing beside him to help quiet the crowd.  He shouted out that they were not drunk, and it was too early in the day for a big party to have started.  Then he began telling of prophecies that they were all familiar with.  He started out with Joel’s prophecy of the Spirit being poured out in the last days to explain the experience that everyone had been relating moments before.  Then Peter began explaining that all of these strange manifestations were because Jesus had been crowned as their Lord.  Jesus was the Messiah and was now sitting at the right hand of God.  The Holy Spirit had been given to Jesus as His connection to His people, and Jesus had sent the Spirit out in power to His followers.  Peter gave proofs for what he was saying including the listeners’ own knowledge of Jesus’ miracles, the witness of the apostles (who had witnessed the living Jesus after His death on the cross), and from the scriptures.  Peter quoted David’s psalms and pointed out that David could not have been speaking of himself since David had died and the tomb was known to Peter’s onlookers.  Thus, David had foreseen Jesus’ resurrection and His installment as Lord of all Israel.  The proofs convinced the crowd that Jesus was their Lord and Messiah and that they needed to follow Him.  When they asked Peter what to do, he replied that they had to be baptized to show that they were now loyal to Jesus as their King.  Peter promised that if they turned away from their opposition to Jesus and became His followers, Jesus would not only forgive them, but they themselves would also receive the Spirit and have proofs of God’s power living in them.  Not all of what Peter said is recorded, but evidently it was enough to convince 3,000 men and women to be baptized.  This was the beginning of carrying out the great commission given to the disciples before Jesus ascended.  From this beginning the gospel would expand to the whole world.

Text-to-Text:  Peter says that the followers of Jesus were experiencing the fulfillment of a prophecy from the book of Joel.  “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls”  (Joel 2:28-32).  In addition to fulfilling the prophecy from Joel, this event was also a fulfillment of John the Baptist’s prophecy.  “I am baptizing you with water as a token of repentance, but the one who is coming after me is stronger than I am, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. It is he who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11).  This was also predicted by Jesus when he told the disciples that He had prayed for the Father to send the Holy Spirit.  “I will ask the Father to give you another Helper, to be with you always. He is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor recognizes him. But you recognize him, because he lives with you and will be in you” (Joh 14:16-17).  Thus, Peter could say with confidence that the Holy Spirit came from the Father and that He had been promised to the disciples. 

Peter quotes David in Psalm 16:  “A special Davidic Psalm. Keep me safe, God, for I take refuge in you. I told the LORD, “You are my master, I have nothing good apart from you.” As for the saints that are in the land, they are noble, and all my delight is in them. Those who hurry after another god will have many sorrows; I will not present their drink offerings of blood, nor will my lips speak their names. The LORD is my inheritance and my cup; you support my lot. The boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places for me; truly, I have a beautiful heritage. I will bless the LORD who has counseled me; indeed, my conscience instructs me during the night. I have set the LORD before me continually; because he stands at my right hand, I will stand firm. Therefore, my heart is glad, my whole being rejoices, and my body will dwell securely. For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, you will not allow your holy one to experience corruption. You cause me to know the path of life; in your presence is joyful abundance, at your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Psalm 16:1-11). 

Knowing that the person speaking in this Psalm represents Jesus shows the powerful relationship between the Father and the Son.  Jesus tells the Father that He took refuge in Him.  He trusted the Father to keep Him safe as He became a helpless babe and later submitted to death.  Until the time came for Jesus to die, the Father did keep him safe.  Herod could not kill Him as a baby.  The people could not lay hands on Him until He allowed it.  Jesus’ attitude is that He has nothing good apart from the Father, and He submits to the Father as His master. 

He delights in His followers.  He looks on us as noble.  We may see how unworthy we are, but Jesus sees us as something noble and delightful.  On the other hand, those who reject the Father are also rejected by Jesus.  Here we have a reference to both His death and His position as our high priest.  Those who follow other gods are not part of Jesus’ redemption.  We can know that the opposite is true of those who follow Jesus.  His blood is offered to cover our sins, and He speaks our names to the Father.

Jesus extolls the wonder of being with the Father, of receiving His counsel.  We are told that Jesus received counsel and instruction during the night.  Jesus set the Father before himself continually and could stand firm because He knew that the Father was directing His actions.  Thus, Jesus had confidence that the Father would not let death hold onto Him and let His physical body begin to disintegrate after death.  Jesus had confidence in the Father in the same way that I should have confidence.

Text-to-World:  Peter promised the same power, the Holy Spirit, to all who were baptized in Jesus’ name including us today.  I understand why there is not a powerful outpouring like at Pentecost nowadays.  That special event was meant as a sign of Jesus’ installment as Lord and the commencement of the rule of the kingdom of heaven on earth.  However, even after this first outpouring, the first believers routinely performed signs and miracles.  I hear of miracles nowadays, but I am always skeptical of faith healings and such because they seem to be third-hand accounts that could be faked.  Do we have a lot of miracles that are quietly happening in the church today? Or are we too cynical for miracles?  Or have we closed ourselves off from the Spirit so that He can only give us limited power since He will not force Himself into places that we deny Him?  I think maybe that all these possibilities are true.  The last may be most true for the majority of modern Christians.  However, I have experienced and know of other people who have experienced miracles that most other people do not know about, or if they know about them, they discount them as having nothing to do with their own lives.  Also, I think that we have gained the wisdom to know that the message is more important than the miracle.  Miracles are not enough.  Signs can get people’s attention, but it is the Spirit’s message to their hearts that changes people into loyal followers of God. 

Text-to-Self:  I love the way the Spirit works with me today.  There is a delight in working hand-in-hand, so to speak, with the Spirit.  There is a joy in the connection that the Spirit enables me to have with Jesus.  I want to know the joy and pleasure that comes from being in God’s presence every day of my life, so I am always open to the Spirit’s presence in whatever form He chooses to present Himself.

For years, I was never aware of the many times that the Spirit was speaking to me.  Then one day at one of the lowest points in my life as I was driving around by myself saying that no one loved me and that I was not special to anyone in this world and that no one would care if I lived or died, an inaudible voice spoke clearly to me.  “I love you.”  That was the first and last time that I ever heard distinct words from the Spirit in that way, but it was not the last time that the Spirit spoke to me.  Unfortunately, those initial words did not bring me to commit myself totally to following Jesus.  It is amazing to me now that even though I knew that God had said those words, and the knowledge of His love enabled me to find my way through the difficulties of starting a new life and obtaining a divorce, I still did not pay attention to the Spirit’s messages as I found my feet in my new life as a single mother.  It would be more than seven years later before I started recognizing the voice of the Spirit and the messages that He had for me.  As I said, I have never clearly heard words again in the manner that I first heard God tell me that He loved me, but I have received messages.  Once you know to listen for Him, you recognize His voice when He speaks even though there is no audible sound.

Whenever I try to explain my experiences to other Christians, I receive one of three responses.  My Pentecostal friends sort of look at me like I don’t get it, and I have the feeling that they believe that I have not had an authentic experience with the Spirit since there have been no ecstatic trances or speaking in tongues.  Other people who have had God communicate with them in a manner similar to me react with “ah-ha” looks and relief that there is someone else who understands.  However, the most common reaction I get is a patronizing skepticism from many Christians who remind me that the devil can speak to us also, and I should not follow any messages that I think I have from the Spirit.  They emphasize that we should only follow the Bible not airy-fairy possibly demonic and more probably delusional messages.  I do not disagree with them about being careful about supernatural messages and phenomenon.  I have run into Christians who have fallen for just such demonic activity.  How do I know?  Because the experiences that they describe are not compatible with the truths of the Bible.  On the other hand, the Spirit does speak with people directly at times, and there are situations when a scriptural lesson is not the best way to communicate.  I have known of people who were warned away from dangerous situations, who needed to be shown the possibilities for who they could be as children of God, and who, like me, needed comforting fast.  I agree with my skeptical Christian brothers and sisters that most times the Spirit communicates with us through the Bible, but He can also give us strong impressions, speak to us through other people, and sometimes even speak to us in words directly.  Being careful to test the spirits does not mean that we deny the Spirit when He has a message for us or when He directs us in our service for Jesus, our Lord.

Text-to-God:  The point of saying that Jesus was at the right hand of God was to show that Jesus was now powerful, not dead, and He was still active in what was happening on earth.  The Holy Spirit did not come to live in our temple bodies accidentally but from the Father at the direction of the Son.  What does the Spirit do in relationship to the Father and us?  He connects us directly with the Father through Jesus.  This was the reconnection of the human race to the Father’s power.  Prophets and priests had received an outpouring of the power in the past, but now every believer was a priest, and every believer could be a prophet, if needed.

Peter quotes from Psalm 16 here when he says that “the Lord told my Lord.”  This is an interesting phrase.  The Lord refers to the Father.  My Lord refers to Jesus.  They are both given equal titles, but Jesus is specifically ours.  He would be a descendent of David, and He would be human.  Again, Peter is emphasizing Jesus’ power.  Jesus is our Savior, the Messiah, the one promised since Eden to redeem us, but He is also our Lord, our King, our ruler.  The Jews crucified and humiliated Jesus, yet this accomplished Jesus’ purposes, and now He is not only sitting at the right hand of the Father in full power directing actions on earth, but He has also reconnected us to himself and saved our lives, if we accept His rescue.