When you say that you have faith in God, how much do you believe that because He’s God, nothing is impossible for Him?
Discussion Questions
– Why did the coming down of the Holy Spirit in power manifest historically in tongues, as opposed to teaching or healing? Discuss two reasons (read Gen 11).
– What 3 camps do you see in Acts 1-4? Give examples from Acts. Which group are we most similar to? Discuss the Sadducees. They are very naturalistic in their thinking. How did they get this way and how might we be similar to them?
– Why were the religious leaders shocked about Peter and John? What do these leaders note about them? How might this reflect a mentality in our society?
– Talk about the 2 camps: 1) cessationists and 2) continuationist. What is one explanation as to why people end up becoming a cessationist (or a practical cessationist)? What might they be starting with instead of Scripture? Make the case that continuationism is biblical (read 1 Cor 12). Who were the gifts given to–the apostles or to the church? Why does it matter? Do we get to pick and choose which spiritual gifts are still operative? In 1 Cor 12, how does God connect the spiritual gifts, including the supernatural ones, with the idea of being one body?
– Do you agree with the statement that being cautiously open to the gifts of the Spirit is still pretty faithless? We pray with bold faith for financial provisions yet we don’t pray for healing with the same bold faith. Why is that? For example, compare a faithless prayer for healing with a faith-filled prayer for healing.
– Why might God not be performing miracles in much of America? Read Matt 13:54-58 for one perspective.
– In the preaching of this text, I could have focused on the biggest miracle of this text–his salvation–and totally avoided the lesser miracle of healing. Yet why does Luke in Acts 3-4 focus on the miracle of healing that accompanied the miracle of salvation?
– Definition of faith: believing that nothing is impossible with God and that God will use all means necessary according to His perfect timing and sovereign purposes to communicate His love for us. How does this relate with the physical healing of the 40 year old cripple? God could have healed him spiritually only, but what does the fact that he was healed physically communicate about God and how he views us?
– Some say that your emotions of joy and peace don’t matter because your heart is full of deceit and your emotions fickle. What matters is commitment. Why is this a lie? What physical, emotional or mental crippledness do you think God wants you to have faith to be healed from?
