Acts 2:1-21
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This is the second week in our series on Acts and the Early Church. This sermon is called "Possessed by the Spirit of God"
Questions and going deeper resources
Small group questions
Connect On one of your frontlines, what is one way that you can be helpfully distinctive in order to demonstrate how your life has been transformed by the Gospel?
Warm-Up
- When did you first come to learn about the Holy Spirit? What were your first impressions?
- In what ways is the Christian belief in the Holy Spirit weird or distinctive in our culture?
Read Acts 2:1-13
- Who is gathered in the room on the day of Pentecost? Why were the disciples still in Jerusalem?
- Imagine you were in the room with the disciples. What did you hear and see?
- What did the Spirit enable the disciples to do? Who understood what they were saying?
- Why were the Jews from all other nations bewildered?
- How did the disciples know the Spirit had arrived? Why were the disciples expecting the Spirit?
- Who is the Holy Spirit? What is the Holy Spirit’s role in the church?
- What aspects of the Spirit’s identity and work have you found confusing? What aspects are clear?
- Who was filled with the Spirit in the Old Testament? What is the difference now?
Read Acts 2:14-21
- What phenomenon is Peter trying to explain?
- Which promise is now fulfilled with the Spirit’s arrival?
- Who is the Spirit poured out on? Why is that surprising and comforting? How is that still true today?
- Read Verse 38. If you believe in Jesus, will you receive the Spirit? Why is it incorrect and damaging to suggest that only particular Christians receive the Spirit (or specific signs must accompany belief)?
- Is the Spirit always experienced in the same way by people in Acts and in the New Testament? What are some of the different experiences people have when they come to faith in Jesus?
- What has been your experience of the Spirit? Why can the Spirit decide to act in different ways?
Read Acts 8:9-24
- How did Simon try to acquire the power of the Spirit? Why was the Spirit’s power attractive?
- Why can’t we control the Spirit? What is the purpose of God’s power at work through the Spirit?
- Why could the disciples with confidence go out from Jerusalem proclaiming the gospel? How is the same power of God at work in you, on your frontlines and in your witness?
Apply How should the presence of God with you by his Spirit change your day to day?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of your Spirit, for all the ways he is at work in our lives. Amen.
Going deeper resources
On Your Frontline this Week
What are you giving your attention to actively at the moment? How is it shaping you?
For Families
- Download: some of the family resources to use at home: stbartskids.org
Listen, Watch, and Read
- Listen (sermon): “The Spirit Breaks Out!” by Vaughan Roberts:
https://stebbes.org/sermons/the-spirit-breaks-out/#sermons - Listen (sermon): “Long Live the King” by Chris Wright:
https://www.allsouls.org/Media/AllMedia.aspx?show_media=304030&show_file=334422 - Listen (sermon): “The Descent of the Spirit” by Timothy Keller:
https://gospelinlife.com/sermon/the-descent-of-the-spirit/ - Listen (sermon): “Pentecost Proclamation” by William Taylor:
https://www.st-helens.org.uk/resources/talk/53495/ - Read (book): “He Who Gives Life: The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit” by Graham Cole.
- Read (chapter): “The Holy Spirit and the Church” in Evangelical Theology (2nd ed.) by Michael Bird. 📚
Series Resources
- Read (book): “Strange Religion” by Nijay Gupta. 📚
- Read (commentary): “The Challenge of Acts” by Tom Wright. 📚
- Read (book): “Why the Gospel” by Matthew Bates.
- Read (advanced commentary): “Acts: Witnesses to Him” by Bruce Milne.
📚 Available to borrow in the Church library
