Passage: Acts 9:1-22 & 31
Today’s Question: What might God do in the heart of another person?
Q1: God knows where you are
In Acts 9, we see God give some very specific directions (including an address) for Ananias. Ananias offers a question/concern, but God confirms the call to go.
He knew the situation of both men, the state of their hearts, their individual needs & concerns.
- Have you ever asked God to give you specific leading like this?
- Has He ever spoken to you with a call like this?
- Describe the encounter if you can.
Q2: Trusting God in the eye of the storm
In Acts 9, we two men in difficult places. Saul has had a miraculous encounter with the resurrected Christ. This worked directly against his heart’s voice.
Ananias was already a believer, and he was fearful _of_ Saul, as there was persecution breaking out against the church. Saul was heading up that effort.
Both men had to trust, be humble and be willing to listen & follow through. It was Jesus who pressed into both of them.
- Has God ever asked you to do something uncomfortable?
- How did He bring peace to you as you acted in humble obedience?
- How does God work against our self-perceived inadequacies?
Q3: Humble obedience brings God glory
Pastor Julian shared about his own concerns when God called him to take on the Lead Pastor position here. He talked about feeling unqualified, even in the light of being called with confirmation.
When God calls us, He equips us for His calling. Other people have said, “God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called.”
- How have you seen God build your & equip someone when they step out in faith? Maybe a friend, a missionary, a family member?
- Through what methods have you seen God develop these people?
Q4: We all have a past
Reading through this account, we see God working with someone (Saul) who has a very tough past. God used Saul (who becomes Paul, writer of most of the New Testament, prolific missionary church planter) to do amazing things.
No one would have picked him to do this, but God did.
- How does God remind us to look beyond our circumstances, or someone else’s circumstances, to see what He wants to unfold?
Q5: In God’s timing, you reap a harvest
Pastor Julian reminded us that God goes for the root of our problems & struggles. We may want quick fixes, but God works in His way which encourages perseverance in us.
Read the last verses Julian preached from in Acts 9:31.
- What two factors do we find at work in the second half of the verse?
- How would you describe “walking in fear of the Lord & being comforted by the Holy Spirit” (at the same time) to someone who doesn’t know Jesus?
- Tell a story about someone who stuck with God through a tough circumstance.
