Discuss the following questions during Family Meal and Discipleship Group (see How To Use This Booklet).
Family Meal
Even when you are exactly where God wants you to be and doing what God wants you to be doing and God is blessing what you are doing, you may still experience opposition, suffering and persecution. This is what happens to Peter and John in Acts 4. God uses the situation, however, to continue building his church in amazing ways. At their best the professional religious leaders try to be powerful by their elite positions. Peter and John, however, are amateurs. Their power must come from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit graciously pours out his power to amateurs seeking to make much of Jesus.
- Read Acts 4:1-31. What does the Lord bring to your mind as we read this passage?
- What does this passage teach about receiving suffering yet being in God’s will? Do you tend to think that you are living inside of God’s will when opposition, persecution, and suffering strike?
Prayer: Spend some time together praying that the power that made Peter and John bold in the face of opposition would upon us as well.
Discipleship Group
- What is the greatest challenge you are facing in your life right now? (for example, your marriage, job, parenting, relationship, etc.)
- In what ways can this be used as an opportunity for the expansion of the mission of God?
- When we read Acts 4, we see that their insecurities did not hinder them, but rather drove them to prayer and action. What are the things in your life which could bring about insecurity towards being on mission?
Prayer: Spend some time together praying, inviting God into your insecurity and asking for the same boldness he gave to the Apostles.
Record any insights from family meal and/or discipleship groups...