Be Thou My Vision: Looking Around
Acts 2:1-21 & Micah 6:8
Nathan Nelson, Pastor of Missions and Outreach; nathann@churchbcc.org
The story of Pentecost is a powerful reminder of God’s presence all around us and how we are invited to live in response. As we take a look around, let’s take note of three gifts of the Holy Spirit that equip us to be people of hope at the intersection of beauty and brokenness:
- ... the capacity for unity in our diversity.
- ...everyone a role to play.
- ...empowerment for all people, especially the marginalized.
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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.
- Begin by reading Acts 2:1-21 and Micah 6:8 aloud, taking turns reading the passages.
- What has been your experience/perception of neighbors experiencing homelessness?
- Do you tend to focus only on the beauty in the world or only on the suffering?
- How does this affect the way you interact with the world?
- What barriers exist between you and people who are different from you?
- [Leader's note: in Seattle, when asked questions like this, we often focus on "different" meaning marginalized people. Consider pushing your group to flip this question a little—for most of us, Seattle's billionaires are as different from us as can be, but God loves them as much as He loves everyone else!]
- How do you feel that your differences are not appreciated by your church family?
- How can your community support you in that?
- Richard Austin said "The perverse human quality Christians call sin includes our capacity to hurt ourselves and others. Many believers associate sin with sensuality and the more intellectual Christians usually link it to selfishness. Jesus, by contrast, often associated sin with insensibility-- our determined, seemingly willful inability to feel or perceive.” Where have you seen that insensibility (the inability to feel or perceive) can lead you into sin?
- Do you struggle to believe that you have a part to play in the work that God is doing in Seattle and the world?
- Have you been hesitant to step up because of feelings of inadequacy?
- Take a moment to pray for group members, that they will trust the Holy Spirit working in and through themselves, empowering them to answer God's calling.