July 24th Sermon Follow-Up Study

Read Acts 4:23-31 and answer the following questions.

1.        Why do you think God uses evil men to fulfill his plans?

2.        How important is the role of prayer in the life of these believers?

3.        What is the role of the Holy Spirit in their witness?

4.        Without the Holy Spirit how bold do you think they would have been?

5.        How are your prayers similar to and different from the prayer in this section?

6.        If God knows everything why do they share all the details with God? (Verses 27-28)

7.        What can you learn from this?

8.        What prevents you from letting the Holy Spirit make you bolder in your witness?

9.        What characterizes the believers in verses 32-34?

10.       How well would you have fit into the early church?

11.       What would have been the most difficult for you to do? Why?

12.       How easy is it for you to share Jesus with others?

(Adapted from Serendipity Bible Study)

July 17th Sermon Follow-Up Study

Read Acts 26:1- 32 (NIV) and answer the following questions.

How would you describe Paul’s speech- a defense or his story?

How are the two related?

What is Paul’s goal in this speech?

How effective was this speech in defending himself? In explaining the Good news of Jesus?

Did God use Paul’s circumstance to share the message of Jesus with powerful people?

Paul considered himself a servant and a witness.  In what way is God’s call to you similar, and different?

Should not all Christ followers be able and willing to share the good news?

Write out your story.

If you were in Paul’s shoes could you share the good news? Why or why not?

Under what kind of circumstances do you feel comfortable sharing the good news?  Why?

What have you learned about sharing the good news from this passage?

How can you put this into practice today?

Ask God to show you the people that He wants you to share Him with.

(Adapted from Serendipity Bible Study)

July 10th Sermon Follow-Up Study

“INVESTING THE TIME”

Read Acts 8:26-40.

• Just an observation:  the good news of Jesus is for everyone regardless of race, or color.  Christ followers should be ready and willing to talk to anyone who may be seeking Jesus.
• Maybe you have heard that still small voice of God whispering your name.  Maybe you have felt the nudge to go and sensed the urge to speak up on His behalf.
• Let’s say you invite a couple over for coffee and dessert.  Just a nice evening with some friends but from the moment they enter, you can feel the tension colder then a January day in Michigan.  You can tell something is wrong.  Typically you are not one to ask, but you feel the urge to and cannot be silent.  So you ask.
• God can and will use you if you are open to His spirit living in you.  He will use you if you listen to His voice guiding you.  But you must be more concerned with obeying God then any selfish reason you have for not listening to Him.
• Is there anyone that you are not willing to tell about Jesus?
• Is there any place that you are not willing to take the good news?
• What is it that keeps you from sharing the good news?
• Ask God to help you overcome that fear and bring someone into your life that needs to hear the good news.

2 Timothy 1:8 (NIV)

“So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,”

 

(Adapted from Max Lucado “When God Whispers Your Name”)

July 3rd Sermon Follow-Up Study

Read 1 Peter 4:1-19.

Christ followers have a new set of standards that are full of love and God’s power.
Following God’s standards helps Christ followers face difficult times that are around the corner.

So are we to live according to God’s standards regardless of suffering and inconvenience?

In your life has God given you the power to preserve through difficult times when it was evident that your suffering was because you were a follower of Christ?

When you decide to live like Jesus among the strong willed and selfish, God will honor your decision, but you will encounter misunderstandings and will be mistreated.   You will be taken advantage of.

However don’t make a wrong assumption by thinking that if you are going through tough times, you are off target.  Not so.  Doing what is right is never a stroll through a rose garden. Jesus ‘plan is simple, but not easy.  No matter how painful it may be, let us trust Him to bring good from our living His way.  Jesus is our model to follow, and remember where He wound up.  But think of all of those who were once His enemies, now His friends.

Has your life been spent honoring God?  Evaluate the focus of your life.  What goals do you have?  Which ones have you met?  Are you living for God, or self?

Take time to ask God to help you to live your life for Him.

(adapted from a devotion by Chuck Swindoll)

Leave It Better Than You Found It!

From “The Christian Working Woman” daily email devotion. – As written and presented by Mary Whelchel

How’s your church doing? I’m well aware that churches that thrive and do well are those who have lots of involvement from the congregation. I’m proposing that we adopt the Boy Scout mantra to leave things better than we found them, and I was thinking how much better our churches would be doing if every church member took that seriously.

You know, it’s not difficult to find things wrong with your church. It’s full of people-people who make mistakes, people who don’t have it all together, many are new believers with lots to learn. So, you won’t have trouble finding something about your church that you don’t like so much. But if it’s a Bible preaching church, under godly leadership, and that’s where God has put you, then you have to ask yourself what you’re doing to make it a better church.

I think of a woman in our church-we call her Miss Shirley-who is now 90 years old. Miss Shirley has never held an office in our church, but few people have benefited the church like she has. For years she made it her job to greet someone new every Sunday, invite someone new to sit with her, get to know them, and just share God’s love with them. One of my friends tells how when she started coming to our church, she was very wounded and was trying to just isolate herself from everyone, but Miss Shirley found her, sat with her, invited her to my class, and eventually helped her get involved and find healing.

Miss Shirley can’t do as much now because of her health, but she definitely has left our church better than she found it. She still spreads joy and love with everyone she meets.

Just ask yourself: If you dropped out of your church today, would it leave a hole? Would your service to the church be missed?

God created us for community; we are one body in Christ, and we need each other for fellowship, for healing, for growth, for accountability. I hope you are very much committed to your church and you can say for sure that you are leaving it better than you found it.