Before We Get Started

For our discussion today we will be using the sermon series discussion guides. If you would like to follow along you can access this discussion guide on the website at mosaicchurchaustin.com and then select “community group resources” in the menu options.

Prayer

Because the main goal of our time together is to establish relationships and learn how to walk with one another in all that God has called us to be and do, we’d like to begin by praying for one another. So, does anyone have anything you’d like us to pray for, or  anything to share regarding how you’ve seen God moving in your life that we can celebrate together.

This Week’s Topic

This week we continue our new sermon series that will focus on what discipleship looks like through the lens of the life of the Apostle Peter. The series is titled How to Follow Jesus Christ. Over the the course of this series we will be discussing who it is that God has called us to be as Christians, the motivation behind that calling, and what that calling looks like when lived out in our every day lives.

Today’s Topic

Following Jesus Through Culture Shifts

Discussion Questions

What major events have you seen take place in your lifetime, and how have those events brought a shift to our culture?

Acts 10: 1-7

“There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”
And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?”
So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.” And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually. So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa.”

As a Roman, military leader, how do you think Cornelius might have felt about sending his people to find an uneducated, Jewish fisherman to come teach and lead him and his household?

From this experience Cornelius had, what do you think might have enabled him to overcome some of those obstacles and prejudices he may have had in his own heart?

Acts 10:9-21

“The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about [e]the sixth hour. 10Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance 11and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. 12In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 13And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
14But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”
15And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” 16This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again. 17While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. 18They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.
19While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. 20So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” 21Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”

As a Jewish man devoted to the Law of Moses, steeped in Torah, seeking to lead an all-Jewish community in following Jesus, how might Peter have felt about going to the house of a Roman, military leader to teach him about the God of the Jews?

From this experience Peter had, what do you think enabled him to overcome those obstacles and prejudices he may have had in his own heart?

Closing Thought

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I think it is one of the tragedies in our nation, one of the shameful tragedies, that 11:00a on Sunday mornings is one of the most segregated hours, if not the most segregated hours, in Christian America. I believe that any church that has a segregated body is standing against the Spirit and teachings of Jesus Christ, and fails to be a true witness.”

What obstacles exist today that threaten to keep the people of God from stepping into one another’s worlds and seeking the heart of God together?

What will it take for us to overcome those obstacles and prejudices in our own hearts?

How might doing this Gospel-centered work allow us to see God’s Kingdom come, and His will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven?