Wednesday, March 16, 2016

March 20: Unified

How would you respond if our church suddenly added 3,000 people at one time.  How would it affect our unity?  When the early church saw their numbers swell from that small gathering of around 150 to 3000 from just one sermon, it must have been amazing, yet challenging. Just as the Holy Spirit had empowered them and demonstrated His power through them as they boldly proclaimed the gospel, they now had to depend on Him to remain unified with all these new people coming to Christ from so many different backgrounds. The Explore the Bible study: "Unified," is going to focus on this very important topic this week.

As you prepare to teach these passages, think about your life as a believer as you imagine how these believers lived their faith:
  • Imagine them encountering family and friends in the temple courts and sharing their faith in Christ with them.
  • Imagine them inviting neighbors and friends to join them at their homes for food and Bible study and to gather together to hear one of the Disciples preach.
  • Imagine the excitement they had about sharing their faith in Christ in the marketplace where people came to shop and sell.
  • Imagine how passionate they were about getting to know and caring for all those who were being added to the church.
  • Imagine if this were you and if this were our church today!
Here is a series of questions you might want to consider adding to your discussion:

Acts 2:41-42
  • Identify the four activities that expressed their devotion.
  • Were these community or individual pursuits?
  • What does this communicate about being a member of a local church?
  • How does being devoted to these actions keep a church unified?
  • Could they have done this without the empowering of the Holy Spirit? Why or why not?
  • In what ways does our church demonstrate these actions today? 
  • Look over this list again. How devoted are you to pursuing these actions as a part of this church? If these aren’t a priority what does this communicate about you?
Acts 2:43-47
  • How do these passages describe their "togetherness"?
  • What can we do, as church members, to learn about and respond to the needs of people in our church family? 
  • What is our church’s reputation for unity in our community?
  • Would you say our Bible study group is “together” based on how we respond to the needs of people in our group?
  • What was the result of their unity?
  • Why do you suppose fear was mentioned as one of the responses? Was fear express by the believers or those watching?
  • What if you were an unbeliever looking in; how would you have responded as you observed this group of people from all walks of life working together in love and unity to care for one another?
LOOK OUT (APPLICATION)
  • The most important result of their unity was that "every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47)!
  • Were they unified because of these actions or did these actions demonstrate unity that already existed? What caused them to be unified? (Obedience to the mission of Christ and their passion to share how Christ had changed their lives; this created unity which was expressed through devotion and togetherness.)
  • What do you need to do to capture the unity and passion of these early believers in your life?
Video Option for Acts 2:43-47 focusing on how people respond to the church when they are unified:



OR

HOW TO PRINT
After the Dropbox file opens choose DOWNLOAD and print once it is downloaded.
Posted by at