Confronted with the Power of Jesus

How will we respond when we are confronted with the power of Jesus? Join us this Sunday at CrossWinds Church in Spencer as we consider the answer from Acts 16.

Sermon Discussion

1. How have you seen Jesus’s power at work in your life or in the life of someone else’s life?
2. What is one takeaway you have from this passage? What will you do with that this week? What is a question you still have after studying this passage?
3. Read Acts 16:14. How does this verse describe Lydia becoming a Christian? Is that different than the normal way you think of conversion? In light of this verse, take some time to share your story of how “the Lord opened your heart to pay attention” to the message of Jesus.
4. Read Acts 16:13–14, 16–18. How do these verses describe Lydia and the slave girl? With these two coming from opposite ends of the social spectrum, what does that teach us about
   God’s grace?
5. Read Acts 16:16–18. How does the evil spirit attempt to undermine the gospel message by associating itself with the message of Paul and Silas?
6. In our sermon, we talked about the danger of syncretism (the blurring of true Christian beliefs with false beliefs from our culture). Syncretism can be hard to identify in our own culture because we the gods of our culture are the “air we breathe.” What are some ways that we see syncretism in the US today?
7. Read Acts 16:19–24. How does Jesus challenge the gods of the slave owners? How does Jesus challenge the gods of his culture?
8. This Time Tomorrow: How does this passage transform your thoughts, actions, or interactions at “this time tomorrow”?