Ananias and Sapphira

Make sure to pray together before you start, and invite the Holy Spirit to lead your time together. It’s possible that there are more questions to be answered here then you will have time for tonight. Select the ones that you think will be the most productive for your group.

The Book of Acts – Week 6

Pastor Nick Crespo

Scripture Context:

Read Acts 4:32-5:11

Today’s Question: What do we do with problems in the church?

Q1: The Freedom of Confession

Pastor Nick started us off by talking about imperfection in the church. We are all imperfect people, and so there will be times where we get hurt or when we will hurt others in the church.

• How have you seen people deal with struggles in a healthy way inside the church? (No griping or complaining here, this is about positive motion.)

• Read 4:33 again – How is the presence of God’s grace evident in these moments?

Q2: Church for me

Ananias & Sapphira show up in chapter 5 with a shady gift. They were seeking recognition, & presented their gift through a lie.

• Why is it so important that we recognize the reality that being a part of the church means being humble, putting selfish desire aside & being a giver rather than a consumer?

Q3: Let God deal with it

Peter & the apostles didn’t have to -do- anything but call out the sin. God was responsible for laying out the consequences. This was a “first instance” and an example for the church to learn from.

Today, God doesn’t remove the role of leadership through difficulty from us. Instead, He has laid out through His Word what we can do to take steps toward reconciliation through grace.

Matthew 18 talks about how we confront someone who has offended us. Paul’s letters talk about ways church leaders can handle rough situations & how we can speak life into someone who is making bad choices, like in James 5.

• Take a few minutes and talk about the grace-soaked role we play with one another in bringing people back into right relationship with God without dropping the hammer of judgment.

Q4: Confession & Repentance

Don’t worry, we’re not going to ask you to confess your deepest, darkest sins right now. If you’ve been baptized in Christ, covered with the blood of His atoning sacrifice, then God has removed those from your record.

• When have you seen freedom come from confession or life spring out of repentance?

• Are there examples (real or fiction) that you’ve seen where “getting it off your chest” has totally changed someone’s circumstances?

Q5: Where is our Hope?

As we read through accounts like this, we’re tempted to lean into the worldview/theology that tells us that we have to earn our way to God. Instead, we have a hope beyond what -we- can do or how good -we- can be.

• How do works tempt you?
• How do works encourage you?
• How have works done by others strengthened you?
• How do you see hope in motion through the works that God is doing in you?

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Closing prayer time:

How can you and your group help our friends & neighbors to see a little bit of heaven here in earth this week?

How can you pray for the impact of your group? What can you all do together to impact our community?