The Power of the Kingdom
Alan Scott
The Story of the Kingdom Series
This study: Acts 2:1-21
October 25-26, 2014
Attention Leaders!
Be prepared for God to speak to your group. The Holy Spirit is with you as you prepare, as you open Scripture, and as you lead discussion. Prayerfully consider the needs of your group; who will be there; and what God has done recently in your group. Remember, aim for balancing discussion and teaching; more sharing than answering; and more listening than telling.
Link to the Sermon
· How did God speak to you through this weekend's sermon?
· Sometimes the subject of the Holy Spirit can take us out of our comfort zones. Was there anything that you found difficult or confusing?
This Week’s Bible Study
Text: Acts 2:1-21
Background and Context
What Luke wrote in his Gospel was only what Jesus 'began to do and teach until the day he was taken up' (Acts 1:2). Jesus was just getting started! Now enthroned beside His Father, the Messiah's next move: empower His disciples with the Spirit. So they can witness to every nation that he's King. (1:6-8; 2:33).
The day God chose for this empowering was when widely dispersed Jews were in town for the feast of 'Pentecost' – when Jewish farmers offered God their first sheaf of wheat, as a way of saying 'the harvest has begun'. The feast was 50 days after Passover: 50 days after they'd been redeemed with lamb's blood, Moses went up to God on Mount Sinai, and brought down a new way of life for the people: the Law. On this Pentecost, Jesus, 50 days after the cross, has gone up to heaven and brings down not a Law written on stone, but the Spirit. This day they celebrated the firstfruits of a great Kingdom harvest (2:41-42).
For centuries God had only poured out His Spirit on a few special representatives: kings and prophets. Moses had longed for a day when 'all the LORD's people would be prophets and the LORD would put his Spirit on them' (Numbers 11:29). This was the day. And as Joel predicted, on this day, 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved'.
The main point of this passage:
· The Spirit has been poured out, and He's vital to the mission of the church
Study & Discuss
Read Acts 2:1-21
After people have the passage open, choose a good reader to read, and suggest that as they read everyone else close their eyes and imagine these events occurring.
2:1-13
1. Imagine you're one of the 12 disciples, sitting together in a room in Jerusalem that morning. What do you experience next? (what sounds, sights, feelings, and bodily activity?)
2. Imagine you're a Jew from Rome who's visiting Jerusalem for the festival. That morning, what do you experience?
3. In these verses, how is the Holy Spirit empowering the church?
(What aspects of satan's Kingdom is He breaking down, and what aspects of God's Kingdom is He restoring?)
4. Have you ever experienced the Spirit leading you or the church forward in similar ways?
2:14-21
5. Who did the prophet Joel predict would have the Spirit poured out on them? And what would they do when it happened?
6. Does God pour out his Spirit on these different people only so they can have these individual 'experiences'? What's His bigger purpose?
7. Now that Pentecost has arrived, is your small group a place where all kinds of people 'prophesy' - speak penetrating Spirit-inspired words into each others lives - or only the small group leaders? Have an honest discussion about it!
8. Do you sense that your Small Group is a mission-oriented community? What empowering from the Holy Spirit would make a difference, and enable you to bring lost people into Jesus' Kingdom? (Make sure you ask for it tonight!)
Ministry Time
Take some time at the end of your group to welcome the Holy Spirit and seek Him for direction as you pray for one another. When we make space for Him, God is pleased to come and show Himself to us in our groups, and to genuinely touch and change us, often in powerful ways.
· Is anyone in your group feeling timid or anxious in their walk with Jesus? Pray for Jesus' Spirit to intensify His presence in their lives and give them conviction, joy and boldness, like He did on that first Day of Pentecost.
- Does anyone in your group desire a new Spiritual gift for the building of the church? Or for the Spirit to newly empower an existing gift or ability? Pray that God would enable, anoint and commission these small group members for powerful acts of service.