Radical Apprentices: Week 2 Readings and Discussion Questions

Readings: Acts 1; Acts 2: 42-47; Radical Apprentices, Chapters 3 and 4

Discussion Questions:

Discussion 1:

• Why is obedience essential to experience contentment and blessing in our walk as disciples of Jesus?
• What command did Jesus give his disciples after his resurrection appearances (Acts 1: 4-8)?
• Imagine yourself in the crowd, watching the ascension of Jesus (Acts 1: 9-11). What would you have been tempted to do next? Would you want to obey, or look for a more comfortable life?

Discussion 2:

• Why can obedience often take the form of waiting on God?
• What does waiting on God in prayer teach us about the nature of being disciples?
• How does the process of selecting a new apostle to replace Judas demonstrates the disciples’ ability to obey, wait and pray, and seek the Scriptures for God’s will?
• What makes those who obey God, such powerful witnesses?

Discussion 3:

• Consider the following passage from page 38 of Radical Apprentices:

“The Church of Jesus Christ must consider whether it has lost the essence of organic spirituality in its assemblies today, of a kind that captured the hearts and longings of unbelieving people in the first couple of centuries.” Do you think that our churches sometimes get too focused on self-preservation to the neglect of Gospel proclamation?

• In the passage Acts 2: 42-47, what are some of the characteristics of the early believers that made them multiply as a community?
• What made the believers a teachable community?
• How were they a giving community?
• What did they do to show that they were a worshipping community?
• What do you think the church needs to do in order to be a “radical community” and show the heart of Christ in the midst of a stressful and hurting world?