HOW TO USE THIS DISCUSSION GUIDEAs you lead the discussion, we follow a discipleship framework that helps move us from learning to transformation: Head → Heart → Hands → Share → Check-In
Leader Reminder: There are multiple questions in each section. Leaders should prepare ahead of time and use discernment to choose the questions that best serve their group. The goal of this discussion is not just conversation but transformation. Encourage participation, honesty, and practical obedience.
ICE BREAKER
- What is the farthest you have ever traveled from home? What do you remember most about the experience?
- If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
- Have you ever tried to communicate with someone when you did not share the same language? How did it go?
SERMON RECAP
In Acts 2, we see a picture of a community transformed by the gospel. The message of Jesus cuts people to the heart, changes them from the inside out, and creates a new way of life. They devote themselves to God's Word, share what they have, gather in homes, pray, worship, care for one another, and participate together in God's mission. This is what Vox calls the lifestyle of authentic Christianity: gospel, community, and mission. Jesus is at the center, His grace forms a new people, and together they give their lives away for His purposes in the world.
But this kind of community does not happen by accident. Our natural tendency toward independence, self-protection, and "us versus them" pulls us apart. The gospel, however, gives us a new identity rooted in the grace we have all received through Jesus. That grace makes deeper, diverse, and deliberate relationships possible. The invitation is to engage in community now —to make time, open our lives, be known and needed, and intentionally practice the life together that Jesus makes possible.
SCRIPTURE
READ: Acts 2:37–47
HEAD
What does the scripture show?
- What stands out to you in this passage? What surprises you or raises questions?
- What do we learn about God from what happens in this passage?
- What do you notice about the way these believers relate to one another? What does this reveal about the kind of community the gospel creates?
- As you look at the whole passage, how do you see gospel, community, and mission working together?
HEART
What do we believe?
- What makes deep, consistent community difficult for us? Where do you see the pull toward independence or self-protection in your own life?
- How does knowing that we all come to Jesus on the same basis—by grace—change the way we see and relate to people who are different from us?
- The sermon describes healthy Christian community as deeper, diverse, and deliberate. Which of these most challenges or encourages you in this season?
HANDS
Practice Together in Community
- What is one thing God is inviting you to believe, do, or change because of this passage?
- What is your next step into intentional community? What will it look like for you to take that step this week?
- What does it look like for us to be an intentional, biblical community as we meet each week? What can we practice together to become more known, needed, and engaged in one another’s lives?
Complete this sentence: “This week, I will live out this sermon by __________.”
SHARE: MISSION
Living Out the Message This Week
- Who will you share this takeaway with this week?
- Who will you intentionally pray for this week?
NEXT WEEK CHECK-IN
- Encourage the group to return next week ready to share how they practiced the HANDS step and how they lived out the SHARE: MISSION step.
PRAYER
- Thank Jesus for the gospel and the grace that gives us a new identity and brings us into His family.
- Pray for the grace to build deeper, diverse, and deliberate relationships where people can be known, strengthened, and carried.
- Ask God to make your group a community where gospel, community, and mission come together in a way that points others to Jesus.
OTHER SCRIPTURE
Genesis 2:18, Psalm 133:1–3, Romans 3:23, Isaiah 64:6