Welcome to this week's Group Study! This spring we're doing an 8-week block which began April 11 running through the week of May 30. The study series will spend three weeks in Luke & five weeks in Acts.
Start your time with a Check-in (about 15 minutes)
inductive bible study (30-40 minutes)
Open your Bibles and begin with a prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to help you read God's word. Read the passage out loud once together and then silently once more on your own, noting your observations and questions. Then take a few minutes to share your observations and questions together.
Key Scripture: Acts 2:1-13
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.
7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
[a] Acts 2:4 Or languages; also in verse 11
Take some time to answer a key question you've raised as a group and think through how the issues you've explored apply to your lives.
Take a moment after your Bible study to watch this video:
DISCUSSION (about 20 minutes):
Main Point: God's presence now resides in and empowers every believer.
1) Where do we see wind and fire mentioned in Scripture? What do they symbolize?
2) What were the disciples like before they were filled with the Spirit? How did this filling change them?
3) "What does this mean" is the question being asked in v.12. What did Pentecost mean for the Apostles? What did it mean for those who were in Jerusalem? What does it mean for us today?
4) Since Pentecost, God's presence resides in every believer through the Holy Spirit. How does this affect the way we live? How can your small group encourage each other with the knowledge that God's presence is with us through the Holy Spirit?
Close with a time of prayer.
