In the Street—Lesson 4 - Having Ears to Hear — Acts 1-6

Discussion Questions:

1. How does the Wizard of Oz present a wrong view of who God is and what our role is in receiving His grace and help?  Why is Satan so effective in getting us to be more dependent upon ourselves than God?

2. What does it take for God to be pleased with you?  How much of His being pleased with you is based upon what you do and how much is based upon His nature?

3. How did Jesus show dependence upon God?  What role did prayer and knowing/following God’s word play in His dependence upon God

4. What does it mean to have ears to hear?  What kind of ears don’t hear?  How does the parable of the soils show the issues we face when it comes to our hearing God’s will? What kinds of things work to harden your heart or distract you from taking what you hear and producing fruit for the Kingdom from it?

5. How did Pontius Pilate demonstrate ears that don’t hear?  Why does the crowd or threats of losing position or power have such a strong hold over us when it comes to hearing and obeying the will of God?

6. When is the last time you believed God and His promises to the point that you would wrestle and not let go until He fulfilled what He said He would?  Is that a sign of faith, or presumption and arrogance?  How can you act in faith without crossing over into presumption or arrogance?

7. How devoted are you to prayer and the ministry of the word?  Why are these the place to start to accomplish powerful things for the Kingdom of God?   How did the apostles demonstrate the importance of these things in the first six chapters of Acts?  What can Garden Ridge change to have prayer and the ministry of the word as more foundational in what we do as the body of Jesus?

8. Why was the lighthouse keeper wrong in helping people out?  Are there things in your life or in the activities of Garden Ridge that are good, but that take away from the one key thing God wants us to accomplish?

9. Do you believe in the power of God to transform lives?  What lies from our culture do we listen to that diminish God’s power to transform stubborn areas of addiction or character flaws?  How much of what Jesus was able to do through the power of the Spirit should we be able to do?

In the Street--Lesson 3--Ready Player Two--Acts 2

Discussion Questions:

1.     In what ways would you say Jesus was a perfect witness for God?  How did He provide a witness for the love God has for us?  How did He provide a witness of truth?

2.     Why is being a witness for truth so dangerous?  What happens when we get truth and love out of balance?  Too much love, not enough truth, or too much truth, not enough love?

3.     Why do you think people are threatened when your truth doesn’t line up with theirs?  How can we live according to truth and not fall into division?

4.     How have you seen the power God provides through His Holy Spirit make a difference in the witness you offer?

5.     How did Jesus’ lifestyle shame the wise and the strong (See I Cor. 1:27-28)?  Why are His choices an important reminder of the need we have for the power of God through His Spirit?

6.     What are some ways God shows throughout the Scriptures that it doesn’t matter what the opposition is that we face because His plans will be fulfilled?  How have you seen this in your own life? 

7.     What things can we learn from the change in Peter from being rebuked when Jesus told him He must suffer and die to what he proclaims on the Day of Pentecost?  How has the Holy Spirit helped you to gain understanding

8.     On the Day of Pentecost there was a combination of wind and fire to display the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.  The witness of the apostles went on to spread like wildfire.  Have you seen a wildfire of witnessing spread similar to this before?  What can we do to see the same kind of wildfire today? 

In the Street - Lesson 2 - Challenge Accepted - Acts 1

Discussion Questions:

1. What does it mean to be a witness for God and His Kingdom? How have you seen God open opportunities around you for you to show His glory and witness to His goodness?
   

2. Who would you say is the greatest witness for God in the bible (excluding Jesus)? What qualities do they demonstrate that make you feel this way?
   

3. How is being a witness more about lifestyle and choices than the words we use? In what ways is being a witness for the LORD a mindset of being willing to be used by the LORD?
   

4. Why did God point Job out to Satan? What do you see in Job’s early life prior to Satan’s attack against him that challenges you to be a better witness for the LORD?
   

5. Seeing the description of Job’s earlier life in Job 29, does it encourage you? frustrate you? intimidate you? scare you? Excite you? Based upon the example Job provides, in what ways should we expand our concept of witnessing and outreach?
   

6. Why does Luke emphasize that his first account was what Jesus began to do and teach in Acts 1:1? What is the significance of this?
   

7. How is the call of Jesus to the apostles to be His witnesses similar to the model of witnessing Job provided? In what ways is witnessing merely showing that God/Jesus is alive and active in our lives? How is it more than this?
   

8. What tactics did Satan use to discourage Job so he would stop being a witness for the LORD? How have you seen these tactics used against you?
   

9. Why do you suppose Job’s wife told him to curse God and die? In a world that often suggests for us to “curse God and die” what are some specific ways we can bless the LORD instead?
   

10. Do you have one person God has placed upon your heart to be a witness for Him? What can you do to be ready to witness when the door of opportunity is opened?