ACTS - WEEK 23

Risk is Right

Note for Leaders:

(Begin with open prayer. Praying that the Spirit would lovingly convict and open hearts to what you are about to read.)

The first question/activity is from the Discovery Bible Study Method. It is helpful to get the whole group to engage with what is happening in the passage. Explain to the group that you will read through the passage twice, in different versions. Then close the text and try and recount the story best you can.

READ ACTS 20:17-38

17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them:

“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.[c] 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by[d] the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. 25 And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,[e] which he obtained with his own blood.[f] 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. 32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, 38 being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.


DISCUSS

1. Retell the passage by memory in your own words. Try and fill in whatever is missing as a group.

2. What strikes you from Paul’s speech?

3. How long had Paul been with the people of Ephesus (v31)? How would this impact the weight of his speech to the elders as well as to Paul?

4. What is the significance of Paul’s repetition in v 20 and v 27?

5. What are Paul’s deepest convictions about what it means to follow Jesus Christ as seen in this passage?

6. How do these convictions change the way Paul responds to the fact that” in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me”?


Reflect

  1. Have you experienced hardship or trial because of sharing the truth of Jesus? If yes, share about the experience. If not, what might this reveal about your own convictions about following Jesus?

  2. Read the following quote from Piper:

    “There is sometimes a subtle selfishness behind our avoidance of risk taking. There is a hypocrisy that lets us take risks every day for ourselves but paralyzes us from taking risks for others on the Calvary road of love. We are deluded and think that such risk may jeopardize a security that in fact does not even exist. The way I hope to explode the myth of safety and to disenchant you with the mirage of security is simply to go to the Bible and show that it is right to risk for the cause of Christ. It is right to seek to make much of Christ by taking the risks of love.”

    -John Piper (Risk is Right)

    (In pairs) What area in your life is God challenging you to take a risk for Him?

  3. What is one truth in scripture that can speak into any fear/doubt/anxiety that may come up for you when thinking about boldly sharing the whole counsel of God with others.


    Pray
    Identify one person you would like to be praying for, for the remainder of the year. Pray that God would provide an opportunity to invite them along to the outreach series, or to ask them to read the bible with you yourself. If anyone can’t identify someone, pray that God would reveal someone in your life you can invite/share Christ with.