CONNECT: How can you help continue to shape St Bart’s as church devoted to learning, loving, worshipping, and telling? (Feel free to pick one!)

WARM-UP  Questions

1. How do you react when you come across people asking for money? Do you give or turn away? 
2. If you could solve a problem or heal an ailment for one person in your life who would it be and what would you do? What is your greatest hope for that person?

READ Acts 3:1-10

1. What do you think life would have been like for the man to go up to the temple everyday and beg?
2. What does Peter and John’s reaction to the crippled man tell us about the God they worship? 
3. What does the response of the crippled man tell us about who, he thinks, has healed him? How is his response a great example of thankfulness and faithfulness?

READ Acts 3:11-26

1. How would you summarise Peter’s sermon? What do you think is his main point? 
2. How many times does Peter make reference to the resurrection? Why is it so important to mention?
3. Is Peter trying to offend his audience in vv.13-15? Is this how the Gospel should be preached today?
4. Why is Peter’s call to repentance so important? What is the effect of turning to Jesus?
5. How does the Old Testament foretell Jesus' coming, and how does Jesus fulfil God’s promises in the Old Testament? What does v.20 tell us about God’s promises?
6. If you had the opportunity to share the Gospel with a friend, which aspect of Peter’s speech here might you use and which aspects might you leave out? 

READ Acts 4:1-4

1. Why do the Sadducees and the priests react differently to the crowd at this point?
2. Should we expect opposition to the Gospel? Should this stop us from sharing the Gospel?
3. When you hear that, despite all of the opposition, “many who heard the message believed”, how does that fill you with a great hope for sharing the Gospel today?

APPLY This Week: What might it look like for your ‘one person’ to turn to Jesus? Pray each day this week (at a set time) for that to become a reality.

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On Your Frontline This Week: Have you asked the person you’re praying for what they think about Jesus?

Audio and Video

• ‘Amazing power of kindness’ by Sinclair Ferguson
• ‘Repentance’ by Martin Lloyd-Jones 
• ‘Restoration’ by Jamie Child
• ‘You killed the Author of Life Whom God Raised’ by Wayne Schuller
• ‘Does God Heal Today?’ By Stephen Foster
• ‘Lecture 9: The Healing by the Beautiful Gate’ by R.C.Sproul

Other Helpful Articles and Courses

• ‘6. A Lame Excuse for Preaching the Gospel’ by Bob Deffinbaugh
• ‘Gateway: Beautiful Miracle / Powerful Healing’ by Robert J Morgan

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