Read:  Acts 9:32-43

Open

Have you ever been witness to a “miracle”?  Can you share a story of when you saw or heard God breaking into our world outside the normal laws of the universe?  This miracle does not necessarily have to be a physical one.

Dig

Our text tells the story of two healings performed by the Holy Spirit through Peter.  In the sermon we noticed the lack of drama or embellishment to these stories.  A dead woman is raised back to life and it is described in eight verses.  Why do you think these miracles are so understated?

In the sermon, we looked at two implications from these two miracles.  The first is that the Church of Jesus Christ is supposed to minister in the power of Christ.  Allan said “there is a power let loose in the world that is even able to overcome death.”  Where do you see this power of Christ in your life and in our life together?

The sermon contrasted this view of God invading our world to work in our lives with the view that we live in a closed universe of cause and effect.  How do you see Christians succumbing to this mechanistic, closed universe, world view?  “The Church has given anemic witness to an anemic God.”  Do you agree?  Why or why not?

Reflect

The second implication in the sermon is that those who witnessed these miracles became believers.  The sermon told us that our believing that God is making us into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) is a miracle for many of us.  What is miraculous about your own coming to believe in the gospel of Jesus?