The New School and Mission - The Book of Acts

Introduction: the Crashing Wave

Witnesses, not Warriors: Setting the Scene

Gospel Momentum = Velocity x Mass

Velocity: Sending the Spirit

Promised in the Old School

Pentecost: Reversing Babel

The Spirit’s Work

Empowerment for Mission

Transforming Lives

• Peter 
• Paul

Mass: Sending the Church

Christlikeness: Greater Works

Sending, Multiplying, Planting

Conclusion

Our Story

Community Meditation

• How do you understand the Holy Spirit’s role in the life of an individual believer and in the life of the Church? Is this something you’ve been taught or think much about? Have you experienced the Spirit’s empowerment for mission or his transforming power?
• The uniting of all people groups through faith in Christ is a major theme of the Book of Acts. Are there any people you would have a hard time accepting as your spiritual brothers and sisters?  What does this teach us about racial, tribal and ethnic relationships in the church?
• Read Paul’s conversion story in Acts 9. Then read 1 Timothy 1:12-17. How does Paul’s experience and perspective encourage you? How does it challenge you? How might you use this story in talking to others about Jesus?
• In what ways have you seen the local church look like Jesus? In what ways does the Church struggle in this ? How can we move forward together—as individuals, as families, as Missional Communities-in greater Christlikeness this week?
• What story are you living in? That’s a tough question, but really think deeply about it. If your life were a novel, what would the basic plot be? Would you be sympathetic toward you as a character? What would it mean for you to see your story as part of God’s story?