CONNECT: What ‘Gospel Opportunities’ has God placed before you this week?

WARM-UP  Questions

1. Have you ever had a ‘Damascus road experience’ that totally change your ideas about something?
2. What sort of things (fear, passion, greed, family) do you think motivate the people on your front line?

READ Acts 9:1-9

1. Why was Saul travelling to Damascus? What was he trying to achieve? 
2. What sort of emotions do you think Saul would have felt as he encountered Jesus along the road?
3. What do Jesus words in vv.5-7 tell us about Jesus' relationship with his disciples?
4. Why do you think Saul fasted for three days in Damascus? What do you think he was doing? 
5. What could you say to someone today who wants their own ‘sign from God’ like Saul had?

READ Acts 9:10-19

1. Who do you identify with more in this story so far, Saul or Ananias? What would this experience have been like for them?
2. What do the Lord’s words in v.15 tell us about his plans for Saul? 
3. What can vv.17-19 teach us about making disciples and bringing people into the church? 
4. How might you need to change the way you see the people around you in order for you to become a disciple maker like Ananias? 

READ Acts 9:20-31

1. How does God redeem Saul’s bad qualities and use them for his good purposes?
2. What was the crux of Saul’s evangelistic messages (see vv.20-22)? How are people responding?
3. Why was it difficult for Saul to join the church in Jerusalem? What makes joining a church difficult today?
4. Why do you think the early church experienced such rapid growth? What lessons can we take out of the Acts series, as we commit to being disciple makers this year?

APPLY This Week:  Who are the people in your life who, by their own admission, would never become Christians? How can you be praying for them and reaching out to them this week?

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On Your Frontline This Week: Invite a colleague, neighbour or friend to come along to an Easter service with you. Be they skeptical, indifferent or mildly interested, it is a great opportunity to introduce someone to Jesus?

FOCUS Weekend Away

• As we seek to grow as Disciple Makers, we’re going away for a weekend (May 31 - June 2) to Coolum Beach. This is going to be a great time together, with people of all ages and from all three congregations. As you think about growing in your living out of the Gospel, please prayerfully consider coming along. For more info and to register: stbarts.com.au/focus 

Audio and Video 

• ‘You Can Change’ by David Jensen
• ‘What really Happened to St Paul on the road to Damascus’ by NT Wright
• ‘Acts 9:1-23’ by Skip Heitzig
• ‘Normal Christian Experience’ by Dick Lucas
• ‘Acts - New Beginnings: Saul Converted’ by Susan Calder
• ‘The Spirit Transforms’ by Rico Tice

Other Helpful Books, Articles, and Courses

• ‘The Conversion of Saul’ by Bob Deffinbaugh
• ‘The Conversion of Saul of Tarsus’ by Wayne Jackson

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