Acts 4:32-5:14 | SIN AND GOD’S AMAZING GRACE

W25_WK9_MAR16

Life Group Guide

SERMON OUTLINE:

THE IMPLICATIONS OF KOINONIA (FELLOWSHIP) IN CHRIST:

•       God’s grace doesn’t just make us into _______________________. It makes us into ____________________.

THE TELL-TALE SIGNS WE HAVE RECEIVED “KOINONIA” (FELLOWSHIP) FROM GOD:

•       How we treat our _________________, especially the most needy, and how we treat temporary, perishable, ________________.

THE GREATEST THREAT TO KOINONIA WITH GOD

•       ________________.

WHY HYPOCRISY IS SINGLE GREATEST THREAT TO COMMUNITY

1.       Hypocrisy _______________ community.

2.       It is _______________ to Christian witness.

3.       It is a _______________ of the gospel.

TAKING IT HOME

•       God is infinite and ____________ and must be worshipped as such

LIFE GROUP GUIDE:

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

1.        It’s the last official week of Life Groups in this season.  What was a highlight in your time together?

2.        What is something that you have discovered or rediscovered about your faith and about God through this journey in the book of Acts?

QUICK REVIEW

1.        Looking back at your notes from this week’s teaching, was there anything that particularly caught your attention, challenged, or confused you?

2.        This weekend, Pastor Justin noted how hypocrisy is the single greatest threat to the church and to koinonia (fellowship) with God. Why is that the case?

TRIADS

READ Acts 4:32-5:14

1.  What does this passage say about the character of God?

2.  What does this passage say about fallen humanity and the world we are in?

3.  Where does this passage specifically expose sin or unbelief in my own life? How does it specifically call me to change my thinking, redirect my affections, replace behaviors, and trust in my Savior?

DIGGING DEEPER

1.        READ Acts 4:32.  This unity, of being of “one heart and soul,” isn’t just an affiliation with one church family over another, but a unity in serving Christ’s mission.  What in your words, is Christ’s mission in Acts?

a.        READ Philippians 2:1-4.  How do we today, miss this mark of unity?

2.        READ Acts 5:1-4.  Ananias and Sapphira’s sin was not just lying about their donation, but about deception, as they were trying to show that they were holier, or more faithful, than they actually were.  In modern privatized faith, how can we assess if the same deception is prevalent or not today? Is that even up to us?

a.        READ Colossians 3:5-10.  How do we guard ourselves from misrepresenting our own faith?

b.        What are we to do, when we do catch ourselves participating in deception?

3.        READ Acts 5:7-8 & Matthew 6:19-24.  Unknowingly widowed, Sapphira joins in the deception before Peter, placing her possessions as more important than her standing before God.  How do we today, become more aware of how we might have our life’s priorities in the wrong order?

a.        READ 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.  How would you describe the life of an individual who has a deep understanding that both life and possessions, belong first to the Lord?

TAKING IT HOME

READ Acts 5:5, 9 & Matthew 5:3-12.  Ananias and Sapphira reaped the fruit of their hearts, missing the goal of humility that the Beatitudes encourage for the disciple of Jesus to foster.  In light of these two stories of the early church community, why is the posture of humility still hard for us today? How can we encourage each other in growing in this area?

PERSONAL REFLECTION

READ Acts 4:36-37.  Joseph (Barnabas) sounds like a model, or ideal, disciple that the church should develop, as he is one who understands, and helps, to fulfil the Christ’s mission.  Do you understand Gateways’ sense of Christ’s mission here in the Valley? How are you helping that? How can we as a church community foster and develop such disciples?