LifeGroup Notes
OPEN
As you open up tonight, let’s think about this past week. When you’re sick, what kind of patient do you tend to be (cranky, nervous, upbeat, distracted, etc.)? If you were ill in the hospital, whose visit would probably be most comforting to you?
What jumped out at you from the message this week? What led you to really think or even better, to change your actions?
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever thought about this? God has certain expectations for you, what might some of those expectations be?
READ
Read Acts 5:12-16
12Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
Acts chapter 5 tells us that many signs and wonders were being performed and many people were being miraculously healed. What is the point of these miracles?
What is another expectation that God has for His people?
V1 tells us that the early church was highly regarded by the church but there was fear. Where might this fear have come from?
What else does this passage teach us?
What is another expectation that God has for his people?
What does v14 tell us about the early church’s growth?
What did these types of growth in the early church show us in the church today?
What is the correlation between spiritual growth and physical growth?
Does this mean it should be all about how big we can grow?
LET’S PRAY
Consider the following questions as you pray together as a LifeGroup:
1. Are you making a difference in other people’s lives?
2. Are you doing your part to foster community and to build a good reputation for the church?
3. Are you setting goals to connect with God and with God’s people through christian community?
BIG IDEA
Over the centuries, much has been written about the performing of miracles and whether we as believers can still perform these types of miracles, whether or not we should perform these types of miracles and whether or not these types of miracles have ceased. Usually, these conversations turn into heated debates and we begin to miss the point of these miracles in the early church. God expects His people to make a difference in the world around them. Despite your thought on miracles, we can all agree that these miracles made a difference in the lives of those who received them AND the lives of those who witnessed it. We may not have been given the ability to perform miracles, but God has given us the ability to make a difference in the lives of others!
PERSONAL REFLECTION
How do you think you could learn from the example of the early Christians in the way they took care of the physical and mental needs of people?
What practical help can you provide this week for a church partner?
How does this lesson help us keep moving forward?