Earthquake
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“Earthquake”
1. Crisis. (Acts 16:25-27)
2. Questioning. (Acts 16:28-32)
3. Commitment. (Acts 16:33-34)
Sermon Questions for Acts 16:25-34
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SPECIFIC PRAYER (suggestions)
Pray for people in your life who are experiencing different kinds of crisis (relational, parenting, financial, employment, physical, or emotional crisis). Pray for them to recognize God’s hand in their struggles, and for those who don’t know Christ to find Him through their crises. Pray for opportunities to speak words of encouragement, love and guidance to those in crisis. If there are people in your group in crisis, pray for their specific situations.
SCRIPTURE AND SHARING
Crawl:
Did any of the baptism testimonies on Sunday stay with you? Which one(s)? Why? Have you been baptized? Talk about that experience.
Walk:
One definition for “crisis” is: “A dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval in a person's life.” Can you think of a crisis in your life over the past year? What happened?
So many times, when God wants to do something in your life, He uses a crisis to get your attention. Can you think of a crisis that God used to change you? How are you different now?
Re-read the passage from Acts 16. What strikes you as significant?
After experiencing the supernatural event of the earthquake, was it inevitable that the jailer would believe in Paul’s God? Or could he have explained it away as coincidence?
Was it a crisis experience that led to your receiving Christ? Talk about what happened.
Did you go through a period of spiritual questioning before coming to Christ? What kinds of questions were the most difficult/challenging for you? Whom did God use to provide answers?
Paul’s answer to the jailer’s question (Acts 16:31) is one of the many clear statements in the New Testament about salvation through faith. Read the following passages and explain how each one adds to our understanding of salvation through faith: John 1:12, John 3:16, John 5:24, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9.
In this clear statement of salvation through faith, Jesus is referred to as “the Lord Jesus.” What does this say about how we must view Jesus?
Run: Discuss how the following biblical characters were formed through crisis: Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Paul, Jesus.
Key Words and Further Study: In verse 34, the word for “filled with joy” is the Greek agalliao. This word was never used in secular Greek—it referred to a kind of deep joy only possible through a relationship with God. Pray that God will fill you and your group members with that kind of joy this week.
SERVICE (fodder for ideas)
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