ACTS
O U T O F J OY / T H E C H U R C H M U LT I P L I E S
GROUP STUDY QUESTIONS
WEEK 2
THE CHURCH IS BORN (ACTS 2) VERSE FOR MEDITATION And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” ACTS 2:38-39 OPENING THOUGHT The Church was born in power, from the initial signs and wonders that accompanied the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, to the conversion of thousands upon hearing Peter’s call to repentance, to the empowering of witnesses to take the gospel out from their newborn community. The Church began as a powerful people movement and continues to prevail over the gates of hell (Matt. 16:18) by the power of the Spirit.
Power is energy or force applied to an object in order to influence or control. Who else but the Spirit has the authority to exert that kind of power—certainly not us—in ourselves? Ours is not power as strength but more so as weakness—as surrendered servants, as witnesses. Christians witness or testify that Christ is who He says He is. This Christian witness, empowered by the Spirit, fueled the early growth of the Church. While it began as an apostolic work, it was the faithful followers who multiplied disciples across communities. According to Kenneth S. Latourette’s A History of the Expansion of Christianity, historians believe “the chief agents in the expansion of Christianity appear not