Downtown Church sermon from March 14, 2010 by David Mathews. This is part of our series called Our Radical Response to God.
Small Group Questions
Pendulum Swings:
“Have you ever … ”
1. wondered why there are interstate highways in Hawaii?
2. wanted time to go faster or slower? Why … what were you doing at the time?
3. seen growth and change in yourself? What made you able to see it?.
4. prayed in public? What were the circumstances? Would you do it again?
1. LEARN TOGETHER: Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
2. READ: Act 12:1-19
3. Discuss the reasons the church was motivated to pray “fervently”.
How do you think this prayer time was structured? (i.e., what do you think it looked like?) Opinion: For what reasons did Luke not go into details of this prayer time
4. Discuss the power of Christians getting together to pray.
Acts 12 notes they were “gathered together” in a home to pray. How powerful would it be for everyone to stay in their own homes to pray? Discuss the power of “gathered” prayer vs. “individual” prayer? i.e., is there a difference.
5. READ: Romans 12:5 “… we all belong to one another.”
To what extent is the statement “my business IS your business” – i.e., meaning the church’s business – true or not true? In what ways does this apply to our business being one another’s business?
6. What does the ‘little faith’ of these Christians in Acts 12 teach us about praying?
7. What keeps many Christians from asking their brothers and sisters to pray for them?
8. Describe some of the most powerful ‘prayer’ moments you have experienced in the church (i.e., when you prayed with a group of Christians).
9. Discuss how we as a Downtown Church family be more of an Acts 12 praying church?
Downtown Church of Christ, Searcy, Arkansas 