EXTRA! Ideas for Bible Studies for Life
DATE: November 29, 2015
SESSION TITLE: When Opposition Strikes
The Point: We can boldly face any opposition when God is in charge.
Leader Extra: Get Into the Study
Tips for Leading Bible Study Groups
Leader Extra: Get Into the Study
Use this idea to supplement the question in “Get Into the Study.”
Share the following news item:
The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers played their first football game in 1895, when the game of American football was still relatively new. With 120 years of history, this rivalry is one of the oldest in college football.
Rece Davis, the ESPN College GameDay host said before this year’s game that “no rivalry has been more significant” than LSU and Alabama since Nick Saban became head coach at Alabama. Saban has coached both LSU (2000-2004) and Alabama (2007-today). Alabama won this year’s match-up on November 7th with a 30-16 score. The two teams have played 80 games against each other with an overall record of 50 wins (Alabama), 25 wins (LSU), and 5 tied games.
Then direct learners to respond to Question #1 on page 121 of the PSG.
Information for this post was gleaned from here:
http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2015/11/lsu_alabama_significant_rivalr.html
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/11/alabama-lsu_rivalry_explained.html
Donna McKinney has recently retired from a career with the federal government of the United States. She is a veteran Bible study group leader living in Apex, North Carolina.
Leader Extra: Study the Bible
The following activity corresponds to the Acts 4:23-28 section. Display a portable power charger, or power bank, used for cell phones or tablets. Use the following activity as an object lesson.
To illustrate the idea of power, instruct group members to pull out their phones. Our phones serve as communication tools, cameras, fact checkers, and more. However, they aren’t any use if the battery is dead.
Whose phone has the most battery power right now?
Whose phone has the least battery power left?
In 2014, portable backup chargers swept the market allowing you to charge your phone without an electrical outlet or computer. Because cell phone usage has become so prevalent, we now need backup power to keep our phones charged and ready at all times. The big takeaway: Smartphones can give us GPS directions, buy movie tickets, keep us entertained with music, and even provide a flashlight, but they’re useless if they have no battery life. No power means no benefit.
As Christ-followers, our single most important spiritual tool is prayer. It connects us to God and reminds us Who is in charge. Prayer is our power source when we face spiritual opposition; without it, we’re left to face battles in our own strength that is bound by human limitations. The early Christians in today’s study knew the magnitude of prayer and were witnesses to God’s responsive action as a result of their petitions.
Additional Questions
Icebreaker
- When have you been faced with opposition?
- When have you most felt like you were in hostile territory?
- What’s one of your favorite sports memories?
Acts 4:23-28
- Why is unity in the presence of opposition so important?
- According to Acts 3:1-4:22, how did Peter and John end up in hostile territory?
- How has God’s church encouraged you to stand firm and faithful when you’ve encountered spiritual opposition?
- How does using Scripture in prayer give power and confidence to your prayers?
- When have you felt opposed because of your faith?
- Why is prayer an appropriate response to spiritual opposition?
- What can you learn from Peter and John in this passage?
- What’s the connection between God’s sovereignty and our prayers?
- How does our understanding of God shape the ways we pray?
Acts 4:29-31
- How does acknowledging God as Creator increase our faith when we pray?
- Considering the threats in the world we live in, what are some opposing views and actions we should lay before God in prayer?
- What strikes you about what the people did and did not ask God to do for them?
- What would it take for the early church’s main concern to be our main concern?
- How can this prayer of the early church be a model for all our prayers?
- What is absolutely essential for any follower of Jesus to speak God’s message with boldness?
- What does it look like to demonstrate spiritual boldness in today’s world?
- How do we offer our troubles to God?
Member Extra
Share the following with your group members as either a devotional before the group study or as a follow-up devotional:
Three Things to Pray When You Face Opposition
I knew I was getting older, but thought I was bordering on dementia when I could not figure out why I had an “extra” lesson at the end of my teacher’s guide table of contents, but not in my book or Hobbs commentary. Not until I got out a calendar, matched the lesson titles with each Sunday and cross-referenced my Hobbs’ table of contents did I figure out that the lesson “Stand Courageously” was left out of the teacher’s guide table of contents. Please help me ward off the aging process by proofreading for such mistakes.
Marsha, sorry for the confusion. I know which book you are referring to because, of the many titles in Bible Studies for Life, we had one table of contents that repeated some session titles. We had a corrected Table of Contents to distribute to those who caught it and asked, and I’m sorry we were not able to get that to you.