Connect In what area of your life do you most need to be reminded that God will finish the work he started?

Warm-Up

1. Other than your household (or church), what is your main frontline? Do people know you are a Christian?
2. Has anyone ever asked you what church is like? What sort of questions do they commonly ask?
3. What would worship have smelt like in the ancient world? What was missing in the early church?

Read Acts 17:16-25

4. What were pagan practices of worship like? Why did they have so many idols? What did Paul think?
5. Why did people in the Greco-Roman world make sacrifices to idols? What security did this give them?
6. What were Jewish practices of worship like? How were Jewish sacrificial practices distinct?
   (Try to carefully work through the contrast of their origin, focus, and purpose.)
7. What was the purpose of sacrifices in the Jewish Temple? Why was this necessary?
8. What is the link between sin and death? How did the sacrifices help remind people of this?

Read Acts 17:29-31

9. What is the point of God saying that all people are God’s offspring? How does this relate to idols?
10. What—according to Paul—is calling all people to do? What does repentance look like in practice?
11. Who will come to judge the world? What is the ‘proof’ that God has provided to trust in his Son?
12. What are some of the spiritual beliefs common in Australia? What would Paul say about these?

Read Hebrews 13:9-16

13. In what way is Jesus a sacrifice for sin? How is he the ultimate sacrifice made once-and-for-all?
14. What is the parallel between the sacrifice Jesus made and the sacrifices made in the Temple?
15. If Christians make no sacrifices (and do not need to), why do we offer ourselves as living sacrifices?
16. Where else in the New Testament do we hear the exhortation to offer our lives as ‘living sacrifices”?
17. How is offering ourselves as ‘living sacrifices’ continual (i.e., it never stops!) and comprehensive (i.e., it involves every aspect of our life). Can you think of examples in your own life?
18. Are there any of your frontlines in which you struggle to see how they can be acts of worship? You might like to take time as a group to reflect on how this area can in fact be orientated to God.
19. What practical reminders/rhythms help you keep on orientation your whole life as a living sacrifice?

Apply Is there any area of your life in which you think you need to grow as a living sacrifice?

On Your Frontline this Week

Who else is praying for your frontline? You might want to share some prayer points with a friend. Pray for their frontline too.

For Families

• Download: some of the family resources to use at home: stbartskids.org

Listen, Watch, and Read

• Read (article): “Does the Crucifixion make God a murderer?” by Undeceptions:
  https://undeceptions.com/articles/does-the-crucifixion-make-god-a-murderer/ 
• Listen (sermon): “From Atheism to Faith” by Vaughan Roberts:
  https://stebbes.org/sermons/from-atheism-to-faith/#sermons 
• Listen (sermon): “With proof” by Rico Tice:
  https://www.allsouls.org/Media/AllMedia.aspx?show_media=50717&show_file=54375 
• Listen (podcast): “The Crucifixion” by Undeceptions:
  https://undeceptions.com/podcast/the-crucifixion/ 
• Listen (podcast): “The Rest is History on the Crucifixion” by Tom Holland:
  https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/175-crucifixion/id1537788786?i=1000557553721 
• Listen (sermon): “The Sacrifice” by Tim Keller:
  https://gospelinlife.com/sermon/the-sacrifice/ 

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

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