The Kingdom Takes Shape: Our Best Dreams and Our Truest Prayers
May 3, 2020
Fourth Sunday of Easter
Pastor Stacey Littlefield

Questions to ponder.
Name a movie or book that has a surprise ending for you? After you had finished reading the book or watching the movie, was there anything you encountered earlier in the story that might have tipped you off to where it was all going from the very beginning?

Questions to ponder.
Re-read Luke 5.17-25 and Acts 3.1-10 above. How are the two accounts similar? What do you think Luke wants us to know about Acts 3.1-10 that we might learn from Luke 5?

Questions to ponder.
What do you think "Exile" might mean for us today? For people who have not yet come to faith in Jesus?

Questions to ponder.
Consider the three "seismic shifts" at work in Acts 3. Can you think of other stories in Scripture that reflect similar shifts in how people understand God or in how God works in the world?

Quotables.
Read the following quote from Henri Nouwen. What is your experience in how you or others have used the phrase, "in the name of Jesus"? How does it relate to the quote below?

"Ministry is acting in the Name of Jesus. When all our actions are in the Name, they will bear fruit for eternal life. To act in the Name of Jesus, however, doesn’t mean to act as a representative of Jesus or his spokesperson. It means to act in an intimate communion with him. The Name is like a house, a tent, a dwelling. To act in the Name of Jesus, therefore, means to act from the place where we are united with Jesus in love. To the question, “Where are you?” we should be able to answer, “I am in the Name.” Then, whatever we do cannot be other than ministry because it will always be Jesus himself who acts in and through us. The final question for all who minister is 'Are you in the Name of Jesus?' When we can say yes to that, all of our lives will be ministry."


- Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey. Quoted in The Story of God Bible Commentary: Acts, by Dean Pinter, pp.97-98.

For children.
If you were the man who was healed in Acts 3, how do you think you would have felt before God healed you? What would you have missed? What would have made you sad? Now, how do you think you would have felt after you were healed? What is the first thing you would want to do once you were healed?

Prayer for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people; Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.