Verses Used:

• Acts 6-7
• Leviticus 24:16
• 1 Peter 3:15
• Galatians 5:6-24

Takeaways:

The gospel is such good news because it gives us not only an earthly perspective, but an eternal perspective.

Full of the Spirit

• To be full of the Spirit is yielding to his lordship in our lives. Letting God be in charge of our lives, even daily stuff instead of letting ourselves take charge.
• Being full of the Spirit means we will be led by the Spirit and in step with the Spirit.
• We are called to follow Jesus and to be filled, led, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
• Ordinary people filled with the Spirit can do everything an apostle can do.
• Some of God’s greatest miracles are supposed to happen through you.

Rooted in the Story

• Knowing the story of God (Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration/New Creation) are important for our own faith.
• The story of God helps shed light on questions like “Why did all these things happen? Does God care? What’s the point of life?”

Suffering and Death

• We ask questions like “What happened? Why didn’t God rescue Stephen?” when we are so focused on this life and not the next.
• There is a cost to being a disciple.

As confusing and sometimes painful this life is, our calling is to love Jesus and live sent.

Discussion Questions:

• Why is being led by the Spirit important to living the life of discipleship? Can you give an example of what that looks like?
• How does understanding God’s redemptive story help you make sense of life’s circumstances?
• What are some examples of suffering you and I might face in this life?
• How do you think Stephen was able to pray for his accusers as they were killing him? How do you think you would respond?

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Verses Used:

• Acts 6:1-7
• 1 Corinthians 12:12-26

Takeaways:

• In order for the kingdom to expand and the church to grow, issues need to be addressed
• For the church to grow, tasks needed to be shared and responsibilities needed to be delegated.

SHAPE

• S - Spiritual Gifts - What has God supernaturally gifted me to do?
• H - Heart - What do I have passion for and love to do?
• A - Abilities - What natural talents and skills do I have?
• P - Personality - Where does my personality best suit me to serve?
• E - Experiences - What spiritual experiences have I had? What painful experiences have I had? What educational experiences have I had? What ministry experiences have I had?

Discussion Questions:

• Why do you think it’s sometimes difficult to either hear criticism or offer it?
• Can you think of a situation where a leader struggled to delegate responsibilities? Why do you think it was?
• What are some serving roles that are a necessity for the church, but sometimes overlooked?
• Can you think of a time you served outside your gifting? What was it?

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Verses Used:

• Acts 5:1-11
• Psalm 111:10
• Proverbs 1:7
• Proverbs 19:23
• Proverbs 14:26-27
• 2 Timothy 1:7
• 1 John 4:18
• Isaiah 41:10
• Matthew 10:31
• Psalm 56:11
• 1 John 4:8 & 10
• Romans 8:15
• Isaiah 43:1
• Psalm 145:8-9
• Psalm 16:11
• Zephaniah 3:17

Takeaways:

Sin and Consequences

• They wanted to appear generous without actually being generous (hypocrisy).
• It was not required that they sell their land and donate the full price to the church - the problem was their lying about it.
• Sin has consequences but they don’t always get us dropped dead.
• If this willful, conscious rebellion against the character of God goes unchecked and is allowed to take root, the whole mission of God’s people veers off-course.

Dealing with Fear

• Fear is commanded and fear is also forbidden in scripture.
• The fear of the Lord is a total acknowledgement of all that God is, which comes through knowing Him and His attributes.
• God has also encouraged us against fear throughout the Bible saying “Fear not.”
• Often we fear the future and what will become of us.
• Bad fear is fear away from God.

God’s Love

• God is love and always does everything he does out of his love for us.
• Do you see God’s love? He knows you. He made you. He loves you. He sings over you.

Sin has consequences. It is foolish to lie to God - He knows. God will deal with sin, sometimes immediately, sometimes after a long time.

Our fear is to bring us closer to God, not further from him. God does not act like sinful humans. He has no need to intimidate, prove anything (he is totally secure, and gives us free will to choose how we live. He is not into manipulation either).

God’s love for us is more than we can possibly comprehend. Everything he does is undergirded with love because God is love. He cannot act in an unloving way. Period.

Discussion Questions:

• Why do you think Ananias and Sapphira lied about the amount of money they sold the land for? What were they hoping to accomplish?
• Why is it not good to be afraid of God instead of fearing God the way he commands?
• What wrong ideas can we get from our experiences about God’s nature?

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