𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠 𝗨𝗣

• What was the strangest place you’ve visited? What made it different from other places?

• Share a time when someone helped you out recently. How did you respond?

• Have you experienced a recent challenge lately? How did you overcome it?

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘸𝘰, 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵.” 𝗟𝗨𝗞𝗘 𝟭𝟬:𝟭-𝟮

(Read also 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝟴:𝟭-𝟴.)

Jesus sent His seventy-two disciples ahead of him, to villages He had not yet gone to. He sent them out anticipating a plentiful harvest. At the same time, He focused on the need for more workers to preach the gospel and gather in the harvest. As we obey Jesus’ command to go, we will encounter many obstacles. But these are not dead ends. Rather, they can become doorways for the gospel to further advance into all the world. Today, we will talk about how every place that God places us in is an opportunity to preach the gospel, regardless of our situation.

𝟭. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

. . . 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘑𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢, 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴. . . . 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝟴:𝟭,𝟰

Because they were treated with hostility for following Jesus, even to the point of losing their lives, the disciples scattered across various regions. Any person or family who has gone through a similar change in environment must have been challenged or terrified. However, the disciples chose to preach the gospel in spite of persecution. Have you experienced preaching the gospel despite challenging situations? Tell us about it.

𝟮. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲.

𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥. 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝟴:𝟰-𝟲

Traditionally, Samaria and Samaritans were treated differently by Jews because of their cultural differences (see Luke 9:51–56; John 4:4–9). Because of this, they were distrustful of anything Jesus or His followers had to say. However, when Philip obeyed Jesus and preached the gospel even where he had fled, they 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 to him. What are some communities or friend groups you are a part of right now?

𝟯.𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴, 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝟴:𝟲-𝟴

By the power of God, many unclean spirits left and many who were sick were healed as Philip preached the gospel. In the same way, God shows His love and power as we preach to others. As we obey Him, joy comes to those who hear His word and experience His power. Identify some opportunities to preach the gospel in your life. Which communities can you reach out to?

When we understand that God’s sovereignty brings us to places we never knew we would go, we can begin to see that His command to preach the gospel is constant. More than this, we see how He goes before us and demonstrates His power as we obey. When we preach the gospel, we will see more cities experience joy and more individuals believe in Christ and publicly express it.

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

• Is there anything causing you to hesitate in preaching the gospel? What is one way you can address your hesitation this week?

• Knowing that God’s presence and power is with us, how should our attitude be as we preach the gospel to those around us?

• Is there a person or a community you have been praying to preach the gospel to? How can you start the conversation with them this week?

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥

• Thank Jesus for His salvation and the good news that we are now a part of His family. Thank Him for the person and the community who led you to Christ.

• Pray that you will continue to grow in the boldness to preach the gospel to your family, your friends, and your community.

• Ask God to go before you and open the ears and hearts of those you will preach the gospel to, believing that He will demonstrate His power as you obey.