Discussion Guides For Gulf Coast Community Church

🌬️ Group Discussion Guide: A Rushing Mighty Wind

Text: Ezekiel 37 and Acts 2

Theme: Pentecost, New Creation, and the Spirit Who Brings Life

Opening Prayer

Begin by asking God to give your group open hearts, attentive minds, and a fresh awareness of His Spirit. Pray that God would help your group not simply understand Pentecost more clearly, but experience deeper renewal through His Spirit.

🌿 Opening Reflection

Take a few moments and share:

What stood out most to you from Sunday's message?

What challenged, encouraged, or surprised you?

When you think of Pentecost, what have you traditionally thought about? Did this message expand or reshape your understanding?

🏠 Point 1: A Prophecy Concerning the House

Read: Ezekiel 37:1–3

Israel was scattered, broken, and spiritually lifeless. The valley of dry bones represented a people who appeared beyond restoration. Yet God asked Ezekiel a question:

"Son of man, can these bones live?"

The vision was bigger than individuals. God was promising to restore His people together.

Discuss:

• Why do you think God asked Ezekiel a question He already knew the answer to?

• Where do people today experience "dry bones" moments spiritually, emotionally, or relationally?

• Why is it often difficult to believe God can restore things that feel hopeless?

• Have you ever experienced God bringing life into a season that felt spiritually dry?

Group Action:

Take one minute quietly. Ask God to reveal areas in your own life that may feel dry, discouraged, or lifeless right now.

🦴 Point 2: A Prophecy to the Bones

Read: Ezekiel 37:4–8

The bones came together. Flesh formed. Bodies stood upright.

But something was missing.

Breath.

Life.

Spirit.

The people looked alive externally while remaining lifeless internally.

Discuss:

• Why do you think outward spiritual activity can sometimes exist without inward spiritual life?

• What does "going through the motions" spiritually look like?

• What helps keep your relationship with Jesus alive rather than routine?

• Why do we often settle for external appearance rather than deeper transformation?

Group Reflection:

Share one practice that helps you remain spiritually connected to Jesus.

Examples:

Prayer

Scripture

Silence

Community

Serving

Worship

🌬️ Point 3: A Prophecy to the Wind

Read: Ezekiel 37:9–10

The sermon emphasized the Hebrew word ruach meaning breath, wind, and Spirit.

God did not merely rebuild Israel.

God breathed life into Israel.

This points back to Genesis when God breathed life into Adam and forward toward Pentecost when God would breathe life into His people again.

Discuss:

• Why is it important that Christianity is more than behavior modification?

• How would you explain "new creation" to someone unfamiliar with Christianity?

• Where have you seen God renew or transform your life?

• What does dependence upon the Holy Spirit practically look like?

Group Action:

Spend two minutes together quietly praying:

"Holy Spirit, renew us and lead us."

🔥 Point 4: A Prophecy Fulfilled

Read: Acts 2:1–4

Pentecost was not merely about spiritual gifts.

It was God fulfilling His promise.

The rushing mighty wind.

The gathered nations.

The Spirit poured out.

Dry bones coming alive.

Pentecost marked the beginning of God's Spirit empowered people carrying His mission into the world.

Discuss:

• How did connecting Pentecost to Ezekiel 37 deepen your understanding of Acts 2?

• Why do you think God forms a people rather than merely saving individuals?

• How does Pentecost shape how we think about the church?

• What does it mean that we are witnesses rather than warriors?

Group Reflection:

What would change if our church increasingly lived as Spirit empowered witnesses?

🌎 Living It Out Together

The sermon ended with a reminder:

Pentecost is not the end. It is the beginning of new creation.

God still brings life where death exists.

God still gathers scattered people.

God still fills ordinary people with His Spirit.

Discuss:

• Where do you need God's renewing work right now?

• How can your group better encourage spiritual life in one another?

• Who in your life needs hope, encouragement, or prayer this week?

🤝 Group Action Step

As a group, choose one action together this week:

• Pray intentionally for one another daily

• Reach out to someone disconnected from church community

• Encourage someone going through a difficult season

• Serve together in a practical way

• Share one story next week of where you saw God bringing life or renewal

🙏 Closing Prayer

Pray together:

*"Father, thank You for giving life where there was death. Thank You for sending Your Spirit and making us part of Your renewed people. Breathe fresh life into us. Renew our hearts. Fill us with Your Spirit and help us faithfully reflect Jesus in our homes, our church, and our community. Make us witnesses empowered by Your Spirit. In Jesus' name, Amen."

🙌 Small Group Discussion Guide

A Beautiful Gazelle, A Militant Ram, and a Holy Wind

Acts 9:32–11:18

📖 Main Sermon Points

• A Beautiful Gazelle
• A Militant Ram
• A Holy Wind

🌿 Opening Reflection

Begin by sharing one thing that stood out most from the sermon.

Then read aloud:

“It’s not like this is just an incidental reference because the saints are the people to whom the kingdom will be restored.”

🧠 Opening Questions

• What challenged or encouraged you most from this message?
• What stood out to you about the connection between Jubilee, the kingdom, and the church?
• Why do you think Acts spends so much time on the story of Cornelius?

🦌 Section 1: A Beautiful Gazelle

🗣 Key Quotes

“Always doing good and helping the poor.”

“In the book of Acts, God finds people who are doing his will, caring for the poor and vulnerable, practicing jubilee, and then he uses them for major gospel advances they themselves never set out to do.”

“The kingdom advances through mercy, generosity, service, witness, care for widows, never violence, and never force.”

📖 Scripture References

• Acts 9:32–43
• James 1:27
• Isaiah 35:5–6
• Luke 4:18–19
• Galatians 6:9–10

🧠 Discuss

• Why do you think Tabitha’s story matters so much in the flow of Acts?
• What does her life teach us about faithfulness and significance in God’s kingdom?
• How does our culture define importance differently than Jesus does?
• Why do you think caring for vulnerable people is so central to the kingdom of God?
• What might “practicing Jubilee” look like in ordinary life today?

🛠️ Group Action Step

As a group, identify one practical way to serve someone vulnerable, overlooked, struggling financially, elderly, or isolated this month.

Choose something concrete and assign next steps together.

🐏 Section 2: A Militant Ram

🗣 Key Quotes

“The question is not just can I love my enemies. The question is even bigger than that. It’s can God love our enemy?”

“Works don’t merit salvation, but they do matter deeply to God.”

“Cornelius was a contradiction of terms.”

📖 Scripture References

• Acts 10:1–16
• Matthew 5:43–48
• Romans 5:6–10
• Luke 6:27–36
• Deuteronomy 7:6

🧠 Discuss

• Why would Cornelius have been so shocking to Jewish believers?
• Why do you think God chose a Roman centurion for this moment?
• How do we tend to categorize people as insiders or outsiders today?
• Who are the kinds of people Christians can struggle to believe God truly wants?
• How do mercy, prayer, generosity, and humility soften people toward God?

🛠️ Group Action Step

Spend time praying for people your group struggles to understand, avoid, fear, dislike, or view as “other.”

Ask God to give your group His heart for those people.

🌬️ Section 3: A Holy Wind

🗣 Key Quotes

“God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.”

“The holy wind came on all who heard the message.”

“God does not show partiality.”

“The restoration of the kingdom to Israel has broken beyond its old boundaries.”

📖 Scripture References

• Acts 10:17–48
• Acts 11:1–18
• Acts 2:1–21
• Joel 2:28–29
• Galatians 3:26–29
• Ephesians 2:11–22

🧠 Discuss

• Why was Peter’s vision so difficult for him to process?
• What old assumptions or categories was God dismantling?
• How does the gospel challenge division between people groups?
• What barriers still divide people today inside and outside the church?
• Why is it significant that Gentiles received the Spirit before becoming ethnically Jewish?
• What does this reveal about salvation and belonging in Christ?

🛠️ Group Action Step

Discuss ways your group can become more welcoming, hospitable, and outward focused toward people who feel disconnected, different, or spiritually hesitant.

Choose one intentional step to practice together this week.

🌍 Section 4: The Ends of the Earth

🗣 Key Quotes

“You don’t have to go anywhere else to be at the ends of the earth.”

“It’s right across the street.”

“The mission field is already surrounding you.”

📖 Scripture References

• Acts 1:8
• Genesis 12:1–3
• Matthew 28:18–20
• Romans 10:12–15

🧠 Discuss

• How do we sometimes overlook the mission opportunities already around us?
• Who has God already placed in your life right now?
• What fears or hesitations keep us from living as witnesses of Jesus?
• How can ordinary faithfulness become part of God’s kingdom mission?
• What would it look like for your neighborhood, workplace, or school to experience Jubilee through your life?

🛠️ Group Action Step

As a group, commit to praying daily this week for one specific person who does not know Jesus.

Next week, share any opportunities God opened for conversations, kindness, encouragement, or witness.

🙏 Closing Prayer Prompt

Read this quote aloud before praying:

“How many of us are like Aeneas unable to walk in God’s ways? Jesus Christ heals you.”

Then pray together:

• Ask Jesus to heal areas where your group has grown passive, fearful, prideful, judgmental, or divided.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to make your group a people of mercy, generosity, reconciliation, and courage.
• Pray for your church to become a visible witness of King Jesus in St. Petersburg and beyond.

🔁 Final Reflection Question

“What would change in our homes, relationships, church, and city if we truly believed the kingdom advances through mercy, generosity, service, witness, care for the vulnerable, and the power of the Holy Spirit?”

🙌 Group Discussion Guide

Jesus Takes Captivity Captive

Acts 8–9

Main Points From the Sermon

1. Taking Samaria Captive
2. Taking the Slave Captive
3. Taking Saul Captive

🌿 Opening Reflection

Begin by reading this quote aloud:

“Jesus wants to capture all of us in our captivity and set us free.”

💭 Opening Questions

➡️ What stood out to you most from the sermon?

➡️ Which person in the story did you most relate to: the Samaritans, the eunuch, or Saul?

➡️ What does the phrase “Jesus takes captivity captive” mean to you?

🏙️ Discussion Section 1: Taking Samaria Captive

📖 Scripture References

Acts 1:6–8

Acts 8:1–25

Luke 4:18–19

🗣 Key Quotes

“What appears to be the crushing of the church actually becomes the means through which the gospel spreads beyond Jerusalem.”

“It is liberation from debts and demons, if you will.”

“The kingdom comes through compassion.”

🧠 Discuss

➡️ Why do you think God often works through suffering, disruption, or scattering?

➡️ How did persecution actually advance the mission of Jesus in Acts?

➡️ What kinds of captivity do people experience today beyond physical oppression?

➡️ Why is compassion essential to kingdom ministry?

➡️ How can Christians pursue kingdom power the wrong way?

💬 Group Reflection

Talk honestly about areas where people commonly seek influence, recognition, or “power” rather than serving others with humility and compassion.

How can the church resist becoming driven by status, platform, or control?

🛠️ Group Action Step

As a group, identify one practical need within your church or community where you can collectively bring encouragement, mercy, or support this month.

🚶🏾 Discussion Section 2: Taking the Slave Captive

📖 Scripture References

Acts 8:26–39

Isaiah 53

Isaiah 56:3–5

🗣 Key Quotes

“The very text he is reading is a reflection of his own life.”

“Jesus had joined him in his suffering.”

“The unic goes into the water rejected and enslaved and comes out accepted and free.”

“No one is baptized alone.”

🧠 Discuss

➡️ Why is the eunuch’s story so powerful?

➡️ What does this story reveal about the heart of Jesus toward outsiders and excluded people?

➡️ Why do you think the eunuch was drawn so deeply to Isaiah 53?

➡️ How does Jesus entering into suffering change the way we view our own pain?

➡️ What barriers or forms of exclusion still exist in churches today?

➡️ What does baptism teach us about belonging and community?

💬 Group Reflection

Discuss ways people today may carry “marks” of past captivity:

shame, addiction, trauma, divorce, failures, rejection, abuse, or consequences of past sin.

How can the church become a place of healing instead of shame?

🛠️ Group Action Step

Reach out together to someone who may feel disconnected, overlooked, or isolated. Invite them intentionally into community, conversation, or a shared meal.

⚡ Discussion Section 3: Taking Saul Captive

📖 Scripture References

Acts 9:1–31

Galatians 1:13–16

🗣 Key Quotes

“The focus of Saul’s conversion is not on his sinfulness, but on who Jesus is.”

“He now realizes he had been doing harm to the very God he was defending.”

“Disciplehip begins in the hands of another.”

“Jesus has taken captive the captivator.”

🧠 Discuss

➡️ What strikes you most about Saul’s conversion story?

➡️ Why is recognizing who Jesus truly is central to transformation?

➡️ Why do you think Saul needed Ananias and the church community after encountering Jesus?

➡️ What does Saul’s story teach us about grace and redemption?

➡️ Are there ways Christians today can wrongly believe they are serving God while harming others?

➡️ Why is humility essential in following Jesus?

💬 Group Reflection

Talk about the danger of self reliance in Christianity.

Why is it difficult for many people to admit they need help, accountability, correction, or community?

How does baptism challenge the idea that faith is merely individualistic?

🛠️ Group Action Step

Pair into groups of two or three and spend intentional time praying for one another’s spiritual growth, struggles, blind spots, and areas where greater surrender to Jesus is needed.

🌍 The Mission Expands to the Ends of the Earth

📖 Scripture References

Acts 1:8

Acts 9:31

Isaiah 49:6

🗣 Key Quotes

“We are not on the back lines of mission. We are on the front lines of mission.”

“The same Spirit that pursued Samaritans and Unix and persecutors is still pursuing captives today.”

🧠 Discuss

➡️ What does it mean that we are living in the fulfillment of Acts 1:8?

➡️ How should this shape the way we see our city, workplace, neighborhood, and relationships?

➡️ Who are the “captives” around us today?

➡️ What fears keep Christians from living missionally?

➡️ How can we better see ourselves as participants in God’s kingdom mission?

🙏 Closing Prayer Prompt

Spend time praying through these themes together:

🕊️ Pray for freedom from spiritual captivity and bondage.

🕊️ Pray for compassion toward outsiders and hurting people.

🕊️ Pray for humility and teachability like Saul experienced.

🕊️ Pray for boldness to participate in Jesus’ mission in your city.

🕊️ Pray that your church would reflect the welcoming kingdom of Jesus.

🔁 Final Reflection Question

Go around the room and answer:

➡️ Where is Jesus trying to set you free right now?

➡️ Who might Jesus be calling you to pursue with His compassion and truth this week?

🙌 Group Discussion Guide

Lies that Resist Jubilee

Text: Acts 5–7

Series: Cultivating Generosity: Becoming a Jubilee Community

📖 Sermon Structure & Core Points

1. The Lie That Fills the Heart
2. When Envy Fills the Heart
3. The Truth That Fills the Church
4. The Lie That Kills Jubilee People

🌿 Opening Reflection

Read this quote aloud:

“All too often, we fail to live Jubilee because we believe a lie that shapes how we see everything.”

Then discuss:

What stood out most to you from the sermon?

What part felt most challenging or uncomfortable?

Where do you see resistance to God’s way of life in yourself or others?

🔍 Point 1: The Lie That Fills the Heart

“What lie did Satan fill your heart with that made disobedience seem reasonable?”

📜 Scripture: Acts 5:1–11, Deuteronomy 15:15, Leviticus 25:23

🧠 Discuss:

Why do you think Ananias and Sapphira wanted the appearance of generosity without the reality?

What are some modern ways we do the same thing?

Which lie do you relate to most:

“I deserve more than others”

“This is mine”

“I need to protect my status”

Why is remembering our past slavery to sin essential for living in humility?

🛠️ Group Action Step:

📝 As a group, identify one common lie people believe about money, status, or identity.

Then replace it with a truth from Scripture together.

🔥 Point 2: When Envy Fills the Heart

“When envy fills the heart, it cannot celebrate the liberating life of God.”

📜 Scripture: Acts 5:12–42, Philippians 2:3

🧠 Discuss:

Why does someone else’s blessing or influence sometimes feel threatening?

Where do you see comparison showing up in your life?

How does envy quietly distort relationships in the church?

The religious leaders weren’t just wrong they were threatened.

→ Where do you feel threatened by what God is doing in others?

🛠️ Group Action Step:

💬 Share one area where you’ve struggled with comparison or envy.

As a group, speak encouragement and truth over each person to counter it.

⚖️ Point 3: The Truth That Fills the Church

“The lie says some matter more than others. Jubilee says no one is overlooked.”

📜 Scripture: Acts 6:1–7, Galatians 2:9–10

🧠 Discuss:

Why is it easy for certain people or groups to be overlooked in a community?

What does it say about the early church that they addressed this issue quickly and structurally?

Why is caring for the poor not optional in the life of the church?

Do you think most churches drift toward:

inward focus

or outward care?

Why?

🛠️ Group Action Step:

🤝 As a group, identify one way you can care for someone overlooked or in need this week.

Make a simple plan and follow through together.

🩸 Point 4: The Lie That Kills Jubilee People

“The same lie that resists Jubilee will try to destroy those who embody it.”

📜 Scripture: Acts 7:54–60

🧠 Discuss:

Why does living out truth sometimes provoke strong opposition?

What stands out to you about Stephen’s response as he is being killed?

How does his vision of Jesus reshape how we view suffering?

Where are you tempted to shrink back from living boldly for Jesus?

🛠️ Group Action Step:

🙏 Take time to pray for courage as a group.

Each person share one area where they need boldness to live out their faith.

👑 Big Picture Questions

Which lie do you see most clearly in your own life right now?

How does the gospel specifically confront that lie?

What would it actually look like for you to live out Jubilee this week?

How should this sermon change:

your view of Jesus

your view of others

your daily decisions

🔁 Group Challenge for the Week

As a group, commit to one of the following:

💌 Encourage someone who may feel unseen

🍽️ Provide a meal or support for someone in need

💬 Have an honest conversation where truth replaces a lie

🙏 Pray daily for one another to live as a Jubilee people

🙏 Closing Prayer Prompt

Pray this together:

“Lord Jesus, You are forming a people shaped by truth, not lies. Reveal where we have believed what is false about ourselves, others, and You. Give us courage to live differently. Make us a people who do not resist Your kingdom, but embody it. Let Jubilee be visible in us. Amen.”

🧭 Final Reflection

End by going around the group:

➡️ What is one lie you are choosing to reject this week, and what truth will you replace it with?