A Time to Learn
Acts 4:1-22
Richard Dahlstrom, Senior Pastor, www.spiritsoulbody.org
The church of Acts was born into a time of profound cultural change and was called to not only navigate the waters of cultural change, but lead the way! Hanging on to yesterday wouldn’t lead the way - then or now. But neither would forging ahead without wisdom. The way forward for the church is revealed through the three clear next steps offered by the following examples:
Learning from Caiaphas - The Next Step of Letting Go
Learning from the Healed Man – The Next Step of Holy Spirit Power
Learning from Peter – The Next Step of Clear Loyalty
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Discussion Questions
Before questions, attempt to give the group a bit of a summary of the main points of the sermon and then choose a few questions that fit your group’s needs and style. We don’t intend for you to use all of these. Three to five questions may be a good number.
What year would you self-select to be born into if you could write the history of your own life?
Prayerfully read Psalm 13 together. Offer prayers of lament.
The church in Acts is born into a cultural shift and as a community is forging ahead with wisdom. Can you name examples seen today in how the Church is doing the same?
Are there aspects of “the glorious past”, as Pastor Richard phrases it, that you would like to see preserved or are tempted to preserve?
Pastor Richards affirms, if we could learn a next step from Caiaphas, it’s to let others in… and that begins by acknowledging the sin of keeping others out. Take a moment of silent reflection or have participants write silently of when they have been guilty of the sin of keeping others out. Ask: What would they need to do differently to keep this from happening again?
*Facilitators, you may choose to open this to discussion but if you have people of color in your group, please be aware of not placing an expectation that they hold or respond to the expressed guilts shared by the group members.
Sin is not just an individual experience but we see it in our systems and strongholds. In what ways do you fall into the individualist view of sin, ignoring the collection of individuals in the system?
The example of the healed man provided undeniable evidence of something only God could do. What story is God writing through you that can ONLY be written by God?
People with no status quo are the ones who change the world, what does it look like to live with nothing to lose?
Peter’s story is also one explicable only by God’s actions in his life and in that we are reminded that we belong to a different kingdom and a different power. Where is God calling you to make a next step in letting go of your own power and receiving the Holy Spirit?