A Whole New World
Acts 2:27-37
Richard Dahlstrom, Senior Pastor, www.spiritsoulbody.org
In today’s text, we see a two-act play that offers us a description of what true Christ-followers are.
Revelation and Repentance
Routine and Adaption
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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.
Have you had the experience of hearing something that’s corrective, prophetic, and challenging and said to yourself: “I know someone who really needs to hear this”?
Read Acts 2:27-37 aloud. Pastor Richard proposes that the people who gathered to hear Peter preach looked more like evangelicals than people self-medicating with promiscuous sex, or addicted to making millions and squandering it all selfishly on material pleasures. What similarities do the listeners of Peter’s sermon and today’s Christians have?
Liminal space, being the sacred space between the familiar and the unknown is where transformation takes place. We are challenged in this to see what God has for our future by facing the departure of what had been our normal.
What “normal” experience do you need to let go in order to be open to the future?
In what ways is your “heart pierced by the state of the world” and out of that do you resonate with the sense of "wondering what shall we do”?
Read James 1:19:
How would it look like in your day to day interactions to be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger as you pause and ask “what is God doing here” in moments of reaction?
Is there one aspect more challenging than another in those three responses?
Peter indicates that repentance isn’t simply a changing of the mind regarding some facts about the identity of Jesus but rather a turning back from the path you are on to walk on the path of the kingdom of God.
Is there a new path or a new set of values that God is calling you into? (See the sermon notes for examples of what means to reject and turn in different areas).
Pastor Richard offers a list of aspects of our world that are NOT NORMAL.
What do you recognize as “not normal” in your personal life, community, country?
How are you tempted to miss repentance in lists such as these in viewing them with an individual lens versus being part of an entire system?
We were given examples of routines in the early church, including gathering in small groups such as these! Daily practices/routines matter now more than ever, examine the list of daily practices offered in the Rule of Life handout.
Are you developing new routines in this new season?
What is one rule of life could you commit to?
This week we were reminded of the health disparities of our country and how COVID19 is disproportionally affecting marginalized people in our country. As the Church, the presence of Jesus in the world today, we are called to help bridge the gap. How has Jesus been our example in caring for people in times such as these?
Knowing the only person we can change is ourselves we were challenged this week with the fact that there isn’t a single person who doesn’t have a next step to take. What is your one next step as we take 5,000 collective steps toward the kingdom of God, shining Christ’s light brighter?