Experience - End of Week 1

INTRODUCTION
The following is a guide to help facilitate discussion between you and the person you’re studying with, or with your Connect Group. Feel free to add, subtract, or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.

OPEN QUESTIONS
Was there ever a gift or a promise you had to wait way too long to receive or be fulfilled (a diploma, someone’s hand in marriage, a job offer, a trip you longed to take)?  How long did you wait and what was it like to finally receive it, assuming you did?

HEAD

1. Read Acts 1 together and share any wisdom, insights, or thoughts that come to you from the reading.
2. What were some of the ways that Jesus proved to the apostles, and over 500 others, that he was alive?  Why was this so important?
3. Do you think the apostles had any idea what would really happen when the Holy Spirit was poured out?  Explain.
4. When Jesus was taken up into heaven, do you think they were startled or were they beyond being surprised by anything Jesus did at this point?  Do you think any of them would have been sad again to see him go?
5. What were some of the things you think they prayed over in the in-between?
6. Do you think the disciples ever forgave Judas for what he did?

HEART

1. If you come from the Adventist faith tradition, we’ve spent a lot of time looking for signs and trying to make predictions about when Jesus will return.  The angels appear to tell the disciples, “Don’t look to heaven, you’ve got work to do (Jesus had just said that they’d be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth).”. Do you think the message is the same today, or should we be continuously looking to the sky?
2. Which do you think was more daunting to the disciples to think about, Jerusalem, Judea, Samara, or the ends of the earth?  Explain.
3. What kinds of things could you and I, today, be united in prayer over?
4. How could we make prayer a more important element to our faith community, since it seems to be so critical in the early church?

HANDS
You and I live in the in-between; in-between the resurrection and the final return of Christ.  Spend some time today praying and waiting for the Holy Spirit to come to life in you.  Maybe you could pray for God to help you be strong and take heart while you wait for him.  Then think of one way you could advance the work of His kingdom today; one act, one kind word, something.

LIVING WORDS FOR YOUR WEEK
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Matthew 28:18-20 NLT