This week we continue with week 2 of our new sermon series, “Embrace the Weirdness!” When we surrender our lives to Christ, we give up the rights to self. Not just some of our rights to self, but all of them. This means everything we do, from the day we first trust Him to the day we see Him face to face, should be done for His kingdom and for His glory. We have been bought at a price!
More often than we realize, God calls us to do things that defy conventional wisdom. Things that appear to be counterproductive to our own comfort, our own plans, and even our self-preservation.
In Acts chapter 16 we see an incredible example of this as Paul and Silas choose to allow God to use them to reach the very jailer that held them captive. Rather than walking free, they gave up their right to themselves so Christ might be glorified through them.
Is our desire for obedience and for the kingdom of God to increase, greater than our desire for self? What true freedom Paul and Silas must have known to make such a bold move!
Acts 16:25-28
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
Community Group Questions:
Read: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Romans 6:17-19, Acts 16:25-28
Discuss:
1. When we think of ourselves as having been “bought at a price,” redeemed by the blood of Christ, what impact does it have on us as we face some of life’s most difficult trials?
2. When you find yourself in impossible situations (ex: Acts 16:23-24), what is your initial reaction? What is our heart’s attitude towards God? (Would you share an example?)
3. (Acts 16:27-28) What does the decision/response of Paul and Silas tell us about them? What does it tell us about the way they viewed the situation they were in?
4. (Acts 16:29-34) What does the jailer’s response tell us about the power of selfless obedience?
-What might be holding us back from being as surrendered to Christ as Paul and Silas were?
5. What do Paul and Silas’ actions tell us about the true freedom we find in total surrender to Christ?