Being Faithful

Session Goals:
*To affirm that the Holy Spirit’s presence is evidenced by a spirit of  unity within His church.
*To discover that partial obedience to God is actually disobedience.
*To acknowledge the blessings of Christian service.
*To commit to following Christ by giving all we have to God.

The Word to Live By:  All the believers were one in heart and mind.  No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.  (Acts 4:32)

Session Truth:  The Church is made up of Spirit-filled people together in community characterized by contentment, generosity, and power.

Engage:
*What does it mean to be faithful?
*What motivates most people to serve God?
*Are Christians generally motivated by positive factors such as love for Jesus or negative factors such as fear of judgment?
*When have you felt the most support and encouragement from your church family?

Explore the word:  Following the Day of Pentecost when about 3.000 were baptized and added to the Church, new believers were added to their number daily.  A day came, when at the gate of the Temple, Peter and John were involved in the healing of a lame man.  A crowd gathered, and Peter preached to them, attributing the healing to faith in the Risen Christ.  Two significant things occurred as a result of Peter’s preaching.  The number of believing men grew to about 5,000, and Peter and John were arrested.  They went before the Sanhedrin (Jewish religious council whom Jesus had faced), after spending a night in jail, and were ordered not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.  However, Peter and John insisted that they must continue telling what they had seen and heard.  It is after this our Scripture Focus begins (Acts 4:31-5:11).

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The Standard for Faithfulness (Acts 4:31-35)
*After Peter and John returned to the believers and reported what had  happened, the believers responded by praying together (vv. 24-30).  The believers asked that God would enable them to continue serving (v. 30).  God thus shows His approval of the believers’ request and granted it.  First, the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit, and second, they spoke the word of God boldly.
*What did Luke mean when he said, “All the believers were one in heart and mind” (v. 32a)?     (They were in complete accord)
*What four qualities summarize the strength of the Early Church?  (The prosperity of the Church consisted in its spiritual unity [v.33a], its boundless generosity [vv. 32b, 34-37], it’s undaunted witness to Christ [v. 33a], and the measureless grace of God’s manifest presence and approval [v. 33b].)
*How did the Early Church care for believers who had material needs?
(vv. 34-35)  (From time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.)
*What was the remarkable result of their communal generosity? (There were no needy persons among them [v. 34])

Barnabas: A Model of Faithfulness  (Acts 4:36-37)
*Who was Joseph? (v.36)  Why did they call him Barnabas? (v.36)   (A Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement).  Illustrated Bible life pp. 32-33.
*For what is Barnabas commended in the Scriptures? (v. 37)  (Sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.)
*How is sharing an evidence of grace in the life of a believer?  (Voluntary sharing is a sign of the move away from self-centeredness that marks a Spirit-filled life)  Acts 2:44

Ananias and Sapphira: Models of Unfaithfulness (Acts 5:1-2)
*What is the significance of the word “also” in Acts 5:1?  (The word ‘also’ ties the account of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1 to the account of Barnabas in Acts 4:36-37.  Barnabas was introduced as a positive example of sharing.  Ananias and Sapphira are given as a negative example.)
*In what ways is the example of Ananias and Sapphira like that of Barnabas?  (They both sold land and gave to the needy.)
*In what ways are the two accounts different?  (Ananias and Sapphira ‘kept back part of the money’ v. 2a.)
*The land belonged to Ananias and Sapphira.  They could do with it as they pleased.  Why was it wrong to keep back part of the money?  (They misrepresented the truth.  They acted as though they had given the entire sum of money.)

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The Disturbing Consequences (Acts 5:3-11)
*In contrast to the believers whose hearts are filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter said that the heart of Ananias was filled with what? (v.31) (Satan v. 3)
*To whom did Ananias lie? (v. 4)  (God)  What was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira?  (Dishonesty, lying to God, having a heart filled with Satan instead of the Holy Spirit, enhancing their personal situation.)
*Look at Peter’s questions to Ananias in 5:3-4.  What point was he trying to make?  (No one demanded that Ananias give all the money in the first place.  Lying demonstrated that it wasn’t about what he kept, but what he wanted it to look like.)
*What self-centered desire was at the heart of his lie? (Pride)
*What was the outcome for each of them?  (Death)
*How did believers react when they heard about these events?  (Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Through this story, Luke warns the Church about the deadly consequences that deceit can have on believers, especially when money is involved.  Sometimes two people can do the very same thing and be seen as models of faithfulness.  However,  God knows all, especially our hearts.  If we want to be truly faithful, we must allow the Spirit to help us examine both our actions and our motives.