Group Guide
This Week's City 7:
7. How can I trust that the Bible is still God’s Word today? I trust the Bible is still God’s Word today because Jesus rose from the dead, proving He was God and said His words would never pass away. Through the Holy Spirit, God inspired the writing of the Scripture, determined the canon of Scripture and protected the copying of Scripture so that we might know Him and worship Him to this day.
(Matthew 24:35; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Revelation 22:18-19)
(Matthew 24:35; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Revelation 22:18-19)
Ice-Breaker:
When was the time that God spoke to you the MOST clearly.
Scripture:
Acts 21:1-16
After saying farewell to the Ephesian elders, we sailed straight to the island of Cos. The next day we reached Rhodes and then went to Patara. 2 There we boarded a ship sailing for Phoenicia. 3 We sighted the island of Cyprus, passed it on our left, and landed at the harbor of Tyre, in Syria, where the ship was to unload its cargo.
4 We went ashore, found the local believers, and stayed with them a week. These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem. 5 When we returned to the ship at the end of the week, the entire congregation, including women and children, left the city and came down to the shore with us. There we knelt, prayed, 6 and said our farewells. Then we went aboard, and they returned home.
7 The next stop after leaving Tyre was Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed for one day. 8 The next day we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to distribute food. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy.
10 Several days later a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea. 11 He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’ ” 12 When we heard this, we and the local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.
13 But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.” 14 When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
Paul Arrives at Jerusalem
15 After this we packed our things and left for Jerusalem. 16 Some believers from Caesarea accompanied us, and they took us to the home of Mnason, a man originally from Cyprus and one of the early believers.
After saying farewell to the Ephesian elders, we sailed straight to the island of Cos. The next day we reached Rhodes and then went to Patara. 2 There we boarded a ship sailing for Phoenicia. 3 We sighted the island of Cyprus, passed it on our left, and landed at the harbor of Tyre, in Syria, where the ship was to unload its cargo.
4 We went ashore, found the local believers, and stayed with them a week. These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem. 5 When we returned to the ship at the end of the week, the entire congregation, including women and children, left the city and came down to the shore with us. There we knelt, prayed, 6 and said our farewells. Then we went aboard, and they returned home.
7 The next stop after leaving Tyre was Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed for one day. 8 The next day we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to distribute food. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy.
10 Several days later a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea. 11 He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’ ” 12 When we heard this, we and the local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.
13 But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.” 14 When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
Paul Arrives at Jerusalem
15 After this we packed our things and left for Jerusalem. 16 Some believers from Caesarea accompanied us, and they took us to the home of Mnason, a man originally from Cyprus and one of the early believers.
Discussion Questions:
- In chapter 21, once again God is speaking through different people that pain and suffering await Paul in Jerusalem. But interestingly, Paul and pretty much everyone else interpret this prophecy in opposite ways. Paul has said repeatedly that despite the suffering that is ahead, he is BOUND and COMPELLED to go to Jerusalem. But all the people that were traveling with Paul and that loved him dearly interpret that to mean he shouldn't go. He had finally had enough of their begging him, and in verse 13 he basically tells them to cut it out. At that, they gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done." This should be on the lips of every believer every single day. God wants to share with you what His plan is for your life, but can you hear him? How does He speak to us? The first way Brandon discussed on Sunday was that God speaks through His WORD. This isn't the ONLY way He speaks, but it's the PRIMARY way. Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path." Think of that imagery... a lamp only lights what is just ahead of your feet, while a light for the path indicates more of a flashlight to see what's ahead. His Word will lead and guide us if we'll just read it. Sometimes it will speak to us directly through a verse, sometimes indirectly through a principle. Now, that's a LONG question to get to this: How often are you in His Word? When was the last time God clearly spoke to you through Scripture?
- Next, God speaks with a WHISPER. Every believer has the Holy Spirit of God inside them, and He is always talking. When the Lord passed by Elijah on Mount Sinai, He wasn't in the wind, or the earthquake or the fire... God was in the sound of a "gentle whisper." Some translations say a "still, small voice." If you're waiting for God to speak to you through thunder, lighting or fire, you might be waiting a long time. He mostly speaks to us in the quietness of our hearts. This means we MUST quiet ourselves enough to actually be able to hear Him. And when He speaks to you, it MUST be checked against the Word. God will never contradict something He has already said. How hard do you find it to make this kind of space in your life? How do we make room for God to speak to us? Do you feel like you are able to hear the whisper of God on a consistent basis?
- God also speaks through the WISDOM of people. God will often use other people in your life, GODLY people, to confirm things He might be doing. People might tell you they have a word for you from the Lord, or it might even happen in a casual conversation where something they say stands out to you that you think MIGHT be from God. But we must be careful to take what people say to us as CONFIRMATION of something God might be already speaking to us, but not DIRECTION. Remember, Paul's friends correctly prophesied about suffering in Jerusalem, but they also contradicted what the Lord had already told him about whether he should go there. The things people say, even godly people, must be checked against the Word and against what the Spirit is saying to YOU. Are you giving the words of others too much weight in your life? How can we, like Paul, better sift out human interpretation that might be leading us towards disobedience?
- Finally, God speaks through the witness of our CIRCUMSTANCES. Jesus talked about how He only does what He sees the Father doing. In other words, He notices things around Him, His circumstances, and He joins the Father where He is already working. This is how God speaks in a positive way through positive circumstances, but He can also speak through negative circumstances. Like Job, whose whole live was falling apart, who literally lost everything... this made him press into God and seek Him for answers, to ask what He was trying to show him. Another way He can begin to confirm things through circumstances is when you start to get a godly peace about something you think He's said. You might even start to notice a lot of little coincidences in your life that point you further in that direction. Has God ever spoke to you through the circumstances of your life? Is He speaking now? What might He be saying?
- The challenges on Sunday were simple... HEAR Him, and then OBEY Him. This is the way of the believer; to put yourself in a place to be able to hear God through His Word and the Whisper of the Holy Spirit, and then DO what He is telling you to do. This is what we see modeled over and over in the New Testament and in the book of Acts. Is this what your life models? This is your choice, to listen and obey or to go your own way. You have before you two paths. One is ordinary and safe and easy, but one is extraordinary. It might be difficult and scary, but it's so worth it, filled with rewards you can't even imagine. Which path will you take?
Prayer Topics:
- That we would be a people that know God's Word.
- That we would learn to hear God's voice.
- That our lives would be marked with obedience to God.
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