Adventurers in Hard Places

Read Acts 11:19-30 together

For Adult Homes and Groups

1. We don’t use the word persevere to describe good things. What is a funny, mundane, or mildly annoying task in your daily life you have to “persevere” through?

2. Culture says to find the “silver lining,” in hard times, but James 1 tells us to consider trials pure joy. How is the secular idea of optimism different from Christian hope when you’re going through a truly painful season?

3. Instead of protecting themselves, the scattered believers pushed the Gospel to a new frontier in Antioch and became “adventurers with Jesus.” Where is the “frontier” in your life right now (in your family, workplace, or

neighborhood) where Christ is inviting you to step out in faith and share it?

4. Pray over each other for those specific frontiers you share and ask the Holy Spirit to move in you to take that step this week.

For Families with Kids

1. The world says, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” But God promises that when hard or sad things happen, He uses them to grow and make us stronger. What’s something “sour” or hard that happened to you recently, and how can we ask Jesus to help us find joy in it?

2. In Acts 11, the people watching the believers saw that everything they did was about Jesus, so they nicknamed them “Christians” (“like Christ” or “belonging to Christ”). If your friends or neighbors saw how you act, what “nickname” or words might they use to describe you? Parents: Remind your kids even if we’re teased for loving Jesus, it’s the greatest honor to be called by His name!

3. The early church went through really sad things, but the Bible shows us a beautiful “ray of light” - lots of people met Jesus and were saved since the believers moved to Antioch! If you look back at hard times your family went through, can you see any good or “rays of light” that Jesus brought out of it? Pray the Lord’s Prayer together.