Acts: The Priority of the Church // Travis Cook
Channel: Park Cities Baptist Church
Date: 02/05/2021

SERMON RESPONSE GUIDE

PRIMARY SCRIPTURE: ACTS 1:12-14
KEY POINTS
For prayer to be the collective priority of the church, prayer must become the personal priority of our lives.
The in-between spaces of our lives are opportunities for prayer.
What if we remove the word “waiting” from our vocabulary and replace it with “praying?”
At its core, prayer is being with God.
MEMORY VERSE
Ask God to write this word on your heart this week:

“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”
- Acts 4:31 ESV

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Take time to reflect and respond to these questions on your own in the presence of the Holy Spirit, or with trusted friends or family members:
 
1: Think about how you spent the last week. What are the in-between spaces of your life these days?
 
2: Big or small, what are you waiting for in this season? Replace the word “waiting” with “praying” and confess out loud, “I am praying for God to ___________.” If it helps to remind you to pray, write down your confession somewhere you will see it each day to pause and pray.
 
3: Where do you feel wounded today? Why do you think it is worthwhile and wise to pray when we are wounded?
 
4: What change(s) are you experiencing right now? How might God want to use this period of change as an opportunity to grow you more into the image of Christ? What role do you think prayer plays in times of change?
 
5: Have you ever prayed on your way to a destination, or just before leaving? What do you recall about that time of prayer and the impact it made on you and/or others?
 
6: How is God inviting you to step deeper into prayer this week?
 
7: Who do you know who needs to hear this perspective on prayer? When will you tell them?

PRAY
Lord, thank you for the gift of prayer. That we can simultaneously be seated with you in the heavenlies while walking this earth is a truth too great to fully comprehend (Ephesians 2:6-7). But Lord, help us to hear and respond to your constant beckoning to be with you. Stir within us a deep longing for more of you in all we do. We want to live in the fullness of your invitation, “Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live,” (Isaiah 55:3).

REFERENCES
For those interested in further study, our pastors want to share resources that have aided them in their sermon preparation (in conjunction with the Bible and the Holy Spirit):
 
·      Acts of the Apostles (The Pillar New Testament Commentary) by David Peterson
·      Acts (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) by Darrell Bock
·      Christians as the Romans Saw Them by Robert Louis Wilken