How many times have you pressed the button at a crossing to make the light turn green sooner? We hate waiting and we prefer our own ideas for life, yet Jesus told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem and simply wait for the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1 and 2). This sermon shows how the apostles set about building the new kingdom with old methods, and what changed once they stopped hurrying. Listen if you want to find your place in the church according to God’s plan rather than your own.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Acts 1 Jesus tells the disciples not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. Why, despite all they knew about Jesus, could they not go out as witnesses right away?
- What do the events of Pentecost in Acts 2, the wind, the tongues of fire and speaking in many languages, tell us about who the newborn Church is for?
- Before the Spirit comes, the apostles choose Matthias by casting lots, building the new kingdom in the old way. In what areas are you building your life with God on your own ideas or old habits?
- The sermon says that waiting on God means quieting down, slowing down and continuing in prayer. What makes this kind of waiting hardest for you, and what helps you listen to God's voice?
- What small steps, like praying less, skipping services or spending less time with other believers, add up to drifting away from God and the community, and how can you resist that?
- Jim's story began with a bottle of cold water with lemon. Who in your home, workplace, school or neighbourhood could you show a simple kindness to this week that might open the door to a conversation about Jesus?
