Week #10 — The Solid Rock
Have you ever noticed how some people are just excellent listeners? They attentively look you in the eye, give you their undivided attention, and make you feel like what you say and who you are truly matter.
Good listening is a type of spiritual gift. Given how prone we sinners are to being in our own worlds and our own heads, listening well often requires the Holy Spirit’s intervention. For some of us, this may happen in an instant—God reveals the importance of someone or something to us, and we focus in. For most of us, however, it takes patience, humility, and the passage of time as God softens our hearts and gives us ears to hear.
In Acts 4:5-22, the religious leaders have a listening problem. They’ve already heard the how, why, and by whose power of this lame man’s healing, and yet they didn’t listen. The circumstances not only allow Peter to proclaim the Gospel once again, but they should also cause us to ask: Are we willing to listen to the grace of God in Jesus Christ and to change our lives in response?
Read the passage, and then work through the questions together. Such discussions are a fantastic chance to grow our faith and trust in the Lord together.
In Christ,
Pastor Ken
Week #10 — Questions
- Peter and John have been in custody overnight, and this starts the “next day” with the Jewish leaders all gathered together. Why do you think Luke names specific people (v5-6)? What would that have meant to his audience?
- Peter declares that the crippled man was healed “by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead” (v10). What key truths about Jesus does Peter emphasize, and why are they essential to the Gospel?
- Read Psalm 118:19-24, part of which Peter quotes in v11. What is a cornerstone? What does that image reveal about Jesus’ role in God’s plan?
- Peter boldly states in v12 that “there is salvation in no one else.” How would that exclusive claim about Jesus have sounded to the religious leaders? How does it sound to our culture today? Why do you think that is?
- The religious leaders reject Jesus despite knowing of the miracle (v14-17) because, if he is the true Messiah, their lives need to change. Put differently, Jesus is a stumbling block to maintaining their current life, power, and authority. What forms can that same type of rejection take today in our communities and in our own hearts?
- In v13, it says that Peter and John were “uneducated, ordinary men.” What does their impact show about the difference between human credentials and the power of the Spirit? Why do you think God sometimes chooses to work through us despite our shortcomings?
- Peter was “filled with the Holy Spirit” (v8) in a special way for this specific task. Have you ever felt the Holy Spirit prompt you to take on a task for which you felt unprepared or ill-equipped? How did God use that situation to stretch and grow you as he used you?
- The religious leaders “recognized that they had been with Jesus” and were astonished (v13). Can people recognize the same about you from your life? What does this say about the value of spending time with and staying close to Jesus?
- When the leaders command Peter and John not to speak about Jesus (v18-20), they refuse. What pressures tempt us to stay silent today, and what helps you faithfully speak out?
- The Lord still offered repentance to those who rejected Jesus (v12). What does this say about God’s mercy toward those who resist Him? How should that shape how we pray for or engage with skeptics in our own circles of influence (family, friends, neighbors, etc.)?