Click here to see the sermon discussion questions or see them listed below. We highly encourage you to listen, think, and talk about the sermon. These are questions you can reflect on by yourself, with your family, or with your small group.

Sermon Discussion Questions:

1. Paul endured much hardship, sacrifice, pain and suffering to take the gospel to the world.  How can you explain Paul’s incredible perseverance to continue, in spite of his battered broken body and the constant persecution he faced?  In what ways are we challenged today to persevere in our faith and commitment to Jesus?

2. Do you think Paul felt supernaturally powerful and didn’t really feel the pain of the beatings and stonings? What do you think comes first, God’s provision of power, or man’s faith to step out and use that power? Explain your answer.

3. The Jews were looking forward to a conquering king-like Messiah.  They could not (would not) recognize that the Scriptures proclaim a suffering Messiah who would come to earth to die. They missed the power of God being proclaimed in the Gospel.  In what ways do Christians today miss out on the power of God when we focus only on the blessings and good things in the gospel?

4. We see in Acts a disproportionate number of gentiles, women, and marginalized people coming to Christ, as opposed to the Jews who were closest to the teachings of the Scriptures.  Is it any different today? Think about the young people brought up in churches today.  Are more of them walking with Jesus or walking according to the ways of the world?  Either way, explain why you think this may be the case.

5. In the book of Acts we see a pattern that when people become Christians, unbelievers begin to persecute them.  Why do you think this is the case?

6. What do you think it meant when the Jews said that the Christians had turned the world upside down, and what enabled the early Christians to accomplish such a feat?

7. When you understand that living the Christian life and spreading the gospel are empowered by God rather than ourselves, how should that impact the way we live and proclaim Jesus?  How should this impact the way we pray?