week of 2/18

 Unit 30 Session 4

THE CHURCH WORKS TOGETHER

ACTS 4-5

God judged Ananias and Sapphira for lying about the gift they gave, protecting the purity of the early church.

After Peter's preaching and the group's prayer for boldness and for God to act in miraculous ways, the group felt a sense of further oneness, and one of their first actions was to give generously to meet the needs of their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. The first picture of generosity was given in Acts 2, where all the believers shared everything they had, even selling their possessions to give to all "as any had need" (v.45). Here in Acts 4, this pattern continued, though not all would be generous.

Points to consider:

✞   God's people practice generosity.

     * How can we, as a body of believers, 

        feel and act more unified?

     * What does it take to sacrifice worldly 

        goods for the sake of needs in the 

        church body?

✞   God's people confront sin.

     * How easy or difficult is it to 

        confront sin in others and why?

     * When confronted with sin, why 

        do we sometimes fall into more 

        sin when we are unrepentant?

✞   God's people display reverence.

     * How do we balance a seriousness 

        for staying away from sin and grace 

        to forgive when sin happens?

     * How can the church instill more 

        understanding of reverent fear of t

        he Lord to its people?