Obsessed and Blessed

Read Acts 2:42-47.

1. The title of this week’s chapter in Chan’s book is “Profile of the Obsessed.” What does it mean to be obsessed with something/someone? To what/whom does Chan say we should be obsessed?

2. Do you think the people of the Acts 2 church were obsessed with Jesus and his church? Why/why not?

3. Pastor Mick shared another pastor’s rather cynical rewrite of today’s passage (“And since they were very busy people, they spent as little time with each other as they could get away with, eating on the run and never feeling satisfied, competing and scrapping over worship, and having the mistrust and criticism of the majority of the people.”). Which version of the Acts 2 passage best describes the modern-day church (this cynical version or the original Biblical version)?

4. To what activities was the Acts 2 church devoted? Why were those things so important?

5. What benefits did the Acts 2 church receive from their devotion/obsession and activities?

6. What does Gandhi’s quote (“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”) say about the state of the American Church? What do you think he’d say about us at Grand Lake UMC if he knew us? Why?

7. Do you think it’s possible to live today like they did in the Acts 2 Church? Why/why not?

Prayer for the Week: Lord Jesus, thank you for giving us the example of the Acts 2 church. Forgive us when we fall woefully short of that standard. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, help us to live more like that example. Help us to devote ourselves to the things to which they were devoted. Help us to stop obsessing over the material things of this world and instead be obsessed with a deepening relationship with you. Transform us more into your image every day, so that when others see us, they will see you. As we learn to live more like the Acts 2 community of faith, help us to become truly contagious Christians, blessing others, and being blessed with new believers day by day. We love you, Lord Jesus, and we give all honor and glory to you. Amen.