Week 1 January 23/24, 2016 Quick-­‐Connect Guide Use the questions in this section if your group is already studying something else and won’t be using the full discussion guide. • Share a time you have experienced the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. How did that experience impact you? • Where do you place yourself on Bill’s devotion continuum? What distracts you from total devotion? Discussion Guide In this section, you will find an opening prayer, discussion questions, next steps, and a closing prayer. The discussion section is separated into three categories—Getting Started, The Basics, and A Little Deeper—and is designed to allow the group discussion to deepen as you move through each section. Use the prayers, questions, and next steps in whatever manner you find helpful based on your group’s needs. The Message Recap might help you and the group to prepare or to remember key points. Opening Prayer Father in heaven, thank You for the ability to gather together. Open our hearts to hear what You have to say to us. Guide our time and our words. Amen. Getting Started •
•
What was the best moment of your week? What was the hardest moment? Share a time you have experienced the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. How did that experience impact you? January 23/24, 2016 Week 1 The Basics What part(s) of the first two chapters of Acts did you find most meaningful or powerful? Why? Share a time you asked for God’s power to fulfill a selfish pleasure as opposed to something more consistent with God’s desire for transformation. How do you know if you’re praying with right motives? When was the last time you started a spiritual conversation with someone in your workplace, school, neighborhood, or community (in other words, outside of a church building)? Share that experience with the group. What moved you to start the conversation? How did the conversation go? •
•
•
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. —James 4:3 A Little Deeper Read Acts 2:42–47 aloud as a group. 2 •
Where do you place yourself on Bill’s devotion continuum? In what area are you less than totally devoted—gathering, sharing resources, fellowship, prayer? •
As a group, look at your individual calendars for the week or the month. How do you spend your time? What would someone looking at your calendar conclude are your top priorities? •
What would total devotion to God and His church look like in your life? •
What keeps or distracts you from total devotion? Is it a lack of desire? Busyness? Uncertainty? Lack of discipline? Exhaustion? Lack of community? Something else? They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. —Acts 2:42 Week 1 January 23/24, 2016 Next Steps Review the next steps below and consider which one or ones each member of the group would like to commit to for the upcoming week (and beyond). •
•
•
Pray and journal. Reflect on how you spend your time, resources, and energy in a typical week or month. Ask God to grow your desire for total devotion and to help you identify one or two things that are keeping or distracting you from being totally devoted to Him and His church. Identify one step you need to take to allow whatever is distracting you to die. Identify your declaration. Identify your declaration of devotion for this season. What verse of Scripture will motivate you to stay on track, to remember who and what God calls you to, and fend off distractions? One way to do this may be to think of a word that motivates you—faithful, mercy, steadfastness, grace, or another word. Then, search an online Bible (www.bible.com) to find a verse that helps you. Another way: ask people you know, in your small group, at classes you attend, or among your friends. Sign up for a class and go deeper. A new round of classes at Midweek just started and our Women’s Daytime Classes begin in a couple weeks. We have classes designed for new believers, those wanting to increase their Bible literacy, people looking for help with relationships or addictions, and much more. Check out the “Go Deeper” tab on Willow’s website for more information and to register. Closing Prayer Pray for whatever difficulties or needs were shared during your time together and have someone close that time by reading the prayer below. Father in heaven, thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit and the promise that by Your Spirit, You will indwell, empower, guide, convict, and perfect us. We want to be totally devoted to You and Your church. Grow this desire in us and help us to be disciplined followers who are committed to gathering together, giving to those who have need, and granting each other the gift of our sincere selves. Enable us to identify whatever distracts us from total devotion and empower us to prioritize Your purposes and vision over all else. May those who believe in You grow because of the transformation You accomplish in us. Amen. 3 January 23/24, 2016 Week 1 Message Recap Bill Hybels’ Teaching: Acts 1–2 For the next nine weeks, we will be studying the book of Acts, which is about the arrival of the Holy Spirit and the transformation that happened as a result. Jesus Promised the Holy Spirit Toward the end of Jesus’ ministry, He unnerved His followers by telling them that He was leaving to go be with the Father. But He promised that the Holy Spirit would come after Him. This Holy Spirit would indwell, empower, guide, convict, and perfect every believer. The Holy Spirit would convince every believer that he/she is saved. And the Holy Spirit would plant, establish, and catalyze the growth of the church. (John 14:15–31) In Acts 1:4–5, Luke recounted Jesus’ words to His disciples just before He was taken up to heaven to be with the Father: On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” The disciples responded with a question: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) In other words, their minds immediately turned to politics. The Jewish people had been living under Roman occupation for so long that they dreamed of being out from under such oppressive power. So, they heard Jesus’ words and believed the Roman government would be overthrown. The disciples’ question to Jesus was wrongly motivated. They thought only of their own situation, much as we often do when we pray for a better parking spot or to win the Powerball. But Jesus had a bigger vision. He said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) In other words, Jesus tried to lift the disciples’ vision from local politics to worldwide transformation. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. —James 4:3 Under His vision and plan, the local, international, and global spread of the gospel would bring hope and help to the whole world. Then, Jesus was taken up before their eyes, but convinced He would return soon or something would happen right away, the disciples stood and stared at the sky until two angels intervened to tell them to get on their way. Jesus’ first disciples never forgot, and nor should we, the difference between local politics and worldwide transformation. The Holy Spirit Arrives After Jesus was taken up to heaven, the disciples returned to Jerusalem and waited. Then, the supernatural happened. In Acts 2:1, we read about the coming of a violent wind, an unusual fire, and the sudden ability of the people gathered to speak different languages. Each of the three images—the wind, fire, and languages—carried a message with it. 4 Week 1 January 23/24, 2016 Wind: this word is used throughout Scripture to refer to the Spirit or breath. Fire: tongues of fire appeared above each person present, demonstrating that the Holy Spirit is available to all people—men and women, old and young, the apostles and all the other disciples. So often, we think power is available to clergy or just a select few. But this passage shows us that the Holy Spirit is available to all believers. Languages: when the disciples began speaking in many languages, we learn God’s plan for the message and love of Christ to go out to every nation and tongue in the world. God’s kingdom is a global kingdom. Supernatural Proclamation Once the Holy Spirit arrived, supernatural things began to happen in and through regular people. In Acts 2:14, we read about the supernatural empowerment of the Apostle Peter. Not long before this time, Peter had publicly denied knowing Jesus three times and so when the Holy Spirit arrived, he was still licking his wounds from that experience. And to our knowledge, Peter had never addressed a crowd of people or given a full-­‐length sermon in his entire life. Yet, he stood up and gave the sermon of a lifetime, bearing witness to God’s love for the world through Jesus. He believed and trusted the power of the Holy Spirit to give him the ability to proclaim God’s love and the good news about Jesus. Bill shared the story of being in a taxi last week and feeling prompted by the Holy Spirit to start a conversation with the driver as they passed a beautiful church. Though he was tired and wanted to get to his hotel, Bill responded and trusted the Holy Spirit. He pointed out the beautiful church and when the driver showed interest, asked if he ever attended church. This opened up a conversation in which the driver shared that he had once been on a path to become a worship leader, but a split happened in his church, leaving him so disillusioned that he left the church and hadn’t returned. Bill encouraged him with words the Holy Spirit gave and the man thanked him. Only God knows what will happen next. When we get the nudge from the Holy Spirit at work, at school, or in our neighborhoods, we need to remember that the Holy Spirit knows what He’s doing and who has the need and is open. When we respond to the Holy Spirit, sometimes something supernatural happens. When Peter responded to the Holy Spirit, he was empowered to proclaim God’s love and 3,000 people were baptized. Supernatural Devotion They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. —Acts 2:42–47 In this passage, we are given a vision for how God will transform the world—people aren’t sent out one by one; God’s plan is to draw individuals into a supernaturally empowered community. The key word in this passage, though, is “devoted.” Without supernatural levels of devotion, dedication, and commitment, a church is hopeless and helpless. But churches filled with love, passion, and commitment can impact their community and the world in supernatural ways. 5 Week 1 January 23/24, 2016 When the first church assembled, being fully engaged was the highest priority in their lives. On the continuum of low devotion to total devotion, they were totally devoted in multiple ways. Low devotion Total devotion In Acts 2:42–47, we see that the disciples were totally devoted to gathering, to giving their resources, and to fellowship. They weren’t just consumers of church services, they were participants, took their masks off, committed to serving those in need, and prioritized being part of a community. As a result, the Lord added to their number daily. When we are devoted the way the early disciples were, the church becomes an unstoppable force for good in the world. What does it take to move from low to total devotion? 1. A death. “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” —John 12:24 I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. —1 Corinthians 15:31 To be useful and impactful in this life, anything that distracts us from keeping Christ at the center, must die. To be totally devoted, our desire for popularity, fame, self-­‐pleasures, and a cushy life must die. 2. A declaration. To be totally devoted, you must have a verse or a mantra that you say to yourself when you doubt or want to give into lesser desires. Here are some examples: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. —Philippians 1:21 But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. —Jeremiah 20:9 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. —Acts 20:24 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. —1 Corinthians 15:58 This material is protected by U.S. Copyright Law and is for your own personal use. Any further use requires permission. Contact Kellye Fabian at Willow Creek Community Church with your request.