IMPORTANT REMINDER
Next week is our monthly community night where our life groups gather together over a meal. Take some time to figure out what your group will do, whether it is a group potluck, going to a restaurant, or just ordering pizza.
Please take some time this week to pray for who in your life God wants you to invite, and think about when you can get the chance to invite them to come and share a meal with you.
Discussion Questions
- Has there ever been a time where you faced a difficult situation because of your faith? What happened and how was it resolved?
- Peter boldly took a stand for Christ even after being arrested and told to stop. Why did he continue and what can we learn from him?
- In our modern context, how can we take a stand for Jesus in a way that makes other people notice (in a good way)?
READ ACTS 4:1-22 THEN ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW:
- What does this passage tell me about God and about people?
- If I believe today's teaching is from God and that He loved me so much He sent Jesus to die for me, what is the appropriate way to respond in my everyday life?
- Who can I talk to more about this or share this with?
Spend time sharing prayer requests as a group, and close your time in prayer together.
Scripture
Acts 4:1-22 (NLT):
4 While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. 2 These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. 3 They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning. 4 But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totaled about 5,000. 5 The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest. 7 They brought in the two disciples and demanded, âBy what power, or in whose name, have you done this?"
4 While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. 2 These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. 3 They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning. 4 But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totaled about 5,000. 5 The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest. 7 They brought in the two disciples and demanded, âBy what power, or in whose name, have you done this?"
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, âRulers and elders of our people, 9 are we being questioned today because weâve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? 10 Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. 11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,
âThe stone that you builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.â
has now become the cornerstone.â
12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.â
13 The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say. 15 So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves. 16 âWhat should we do with these men?â they asked each other. âWe canât deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. 17 But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesusâ name again.â 18 So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John replied, âDo you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 20 We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.â
21 The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didnât know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God 22 for this miraculous signâthe healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.
21 The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didnât know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God 22 for this miraculous signâthe healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.