These questions are connected to Part 1 of the message, Deep Faith, Wide Embrace from Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022. You can watch it here.
- Try reading Acts 15:1-29 in The Message.
- Was there anything that challenged, inspired, or intrigued you about the Acts 15 passage or sermon?
- How has experience played into your understanding and practice of the Christian faith?
- Of the four: Scripture, experience, reason, and tradition, which holds the most weight for you? Have you considered either of the other 3 as important in discerning your Jesus following?
- Discuss a time when your experience (or the experience of someone close to you) seemed at odds with Scripture. How did you wrestle with that? What tools were helpful? Did you move forward?
- Does it surprise you that the apostles were not more certain about their decision? How does this impact your own wrestling and need for certainty?
- Share how you feel about the idea of Deep Faith and Wide Embrace. Is it unsettling or encouraging? What feelings does it evoke?
- In light of the final decision of the Jerusalem council, what appears to be their primary concern or focus? And why do you think that is?