Fall 2009, Week 6 – Small Group Questions

The sermon for this week from the series “Acts in 3 Acts: Act 1” is titled “Juggernaut“.

What has been your experience on either side of jail cell bars? What sights, sounds, and feelings do you associate with jail?
When you leave home or your car unattended do you always lock it? Why or why not?

Read Acts 5:12-16 out loud. What words (nouns, adjectives, adverbs) would you use to characterize what’s going on in these verses?
Read Acts 5:17-42 out loud. What stands out for you in this passage? What questions do you have?
How do you account for the jealousy of the Sadducees?
As an apostle, how would you feel during the events of vv. 18-21? What would you expect to happen next?
How did the various people feel in vv. 21-26? The apostles? The Sanhedrin? The “someone” in v. 25? The temple captain? The people?
Prior to Jesus, there were many zealots who led rebellions against Rome. What is Gamaliel’s point in recalling two such leaders?
Flogging sometimes resulted in death. How would you react if you were freed from jail, only to experience a more severe punishment? What does the response of the apostles show about them (vv. 41-42)?

Do you ever feel tired, drained, overwhelmed, constricted, afraid, ineffective, or generally weak? In what way, what area of your life?
What aspects of this story are encouraging to you when you think of those difficult areas of your life?
How is joy in suffering related to God’s power?
How do you explain why God sometimes delivers you out of hardships, but at other times he allows you to go through them?

Application: Share an area of your life in which you feel weak (tired, drained, ineffective, afraid, etc.). Have each person pray for what the person to their right shared.
Joys and Challenges: What joys and challenges are you facing this week?
Here at Northminster: Pray for all the Sunday School teachers and volunteers and for the children they serve each week.
Beyond Northminster: Pray for Trinity Life Church a year-old church plant in San Diego affiliated with San Diego Presbytery. Pray for their pastor, Marc Peña, that God would guide him and strengthen him for this ministry.