What kinds of teams or groups have you been part of so far in your life?

What makes a good team? What makes a person a good team-player?

Read Acts 2:41-47

What happened just before this passage? Do you remember what we read last week?
(Pentecost day -- Jesus ascending to heaven, the Spirit coming on the apostles in the room, Peter preaching, people repenting, “more than 3,000 were added to their number”)

Does anything from Acts 2:41-47 stick out to you? Is anything strange or surprising to you?

What was life like in the community of believers? (v. 42)

What does this community sound like to you? (Do you wish you could be part of it? Do you think you would find any part of their life difficult to handle? Why?)

The community spent their time together doing 4 things. Can you remember all of them?
1) devotion to the apostles’ teaching, 2) fellowship, 3) breaking of bread, 4) prayer

What is “the apostles’ teaching”? (What do the apostles teach about? If the apostles are teaching all the time, they must have something they want people to understand. What do you think it is?)

(Do you remember what Jesus taught his disciples at the end of Luke? Jesus said the Books of Moses, the Psalms and the Prophets all taught about him -- that’s the Old Testament. The apostles probably preached all the time about how Jesus is the fulfillment of everything God ever promised or planned to do in the Old Testament.)

What about fellowship? What comes to mind when you hear the word “fellowship”?

“Fellowship” for the first believers at Pentecost probably meant more than having tea after church. It’s probably better to replace the word “fellowship” with “sharing in common” or “being like happy gears in a big clock.” It’s the idea of being welcomed into a big puzzle -- every piece is needed, and the whole picture gets better and better the more pieces that fit together.

Did this community keep to itself? Or did they do stuff outside with other people?

Where did they worship? Where did they meet together?
(Does Acts 2 tell us about any churches?)

So, even though these Jewish people follow Jesus now, they don’t stop going to the temple.
Why do you think they continue worshipping at the temple? Might be 2 reasons:

That’s where they have always gone to worship God. Now, following Jesus, they can worship in a new way because they understand things a bit more clearly.
That’s where lots of people gather every day -- it’s a great place to spread the word about Jesus!

What did the other people in Jerusalem think of the community of believers? (v. 47)

What do you think of the end of verse 47? “And the Lord added to their number daily…” What do you think was causing more and more people to join the Christian community? What did people on the outside find so attractive?

If you had to describe this community, what does their lifestyle tell you about what is important to them?

Fast Forward

So, it’s a group that places a lot of importance on learning from the scriptures, spending lots of time together, giving generously to one another, eating together, and praying together.
Does youth group sound similar?

Think about your own experience at this youth group this year -- How have you experienced some of these things from Acts 2?

Why do you think that community in Acts and youth groups like ours do some of the same things? What’s the benefit to learning from scripture, spending lots of time with the same people, learning to be generous, eating together, and praying together? Why should we do this stuff?

How do you think youth group could be more like this?

Can you think of some things that you learned at youth group this year?

What are some of your most favourite memories from youth group this year?