Acts of Leadership Discussion Questions

Week 2: Deep Community
Pastor Rick Henderson               October 4-5, 2025

The study guide is designed for your individual use throughout the week to get you thinking about the Bible passage and offers ideas for spiritual practices you might consider trying. These discussion questions are designed to help you further process aspects of the passage, as presented in the sermon, with your group.

Discussion Questions for Week 2

1. What’s your tribe (i.e. the fan group you are a part of)? For example, are you a Cheesehead, Deadhead, Potterhead, Dunderhead, Parrothead, Whovian or Swiftie?

• • From the sermon: “These are real communities, just not deep ones.”

2. Rick observed that fan groups unite around love of a common thing, but that doesn’t often translate into loving each other. Why do you think that is? How is loving a thing distinct from loving a person?

• • Both can let you down. Rarely does the thing leave, but people often do. People can be tough. But people can also be incredibly kind and generous.
  • Transition statement: fan groups are almost always a form of what Rick described as “thin, shallow community.” We were built for something more because we are designed to love and be loved.

3. Where/when in your life have you experienced truly deep community, and what made it feel that way for you?
   • You are looking for examples of what a true community will do that is different from your fan group, e.g. be present when you’re struggling; bring you a meal after a birth, death or illness; grieve with you, etc.

• • Some people may have never experienced this, so be careful not to press everyone to answer … and take note of who doesn’t.
  • Are the examples shared connected to Autumn Ridge or to your small group, or are they from previous communities they’ve been a part of? Every answer or non-answer tells you a little about where your group members have been and are now on this journey.
  • The implied next question here is “don’t you want [more of] that in your life?”

Read Acts 2:42-47, 4:32-37, 5:12-16. It may be helpful to remind members of the list of characteristics of the first church that Rick shared:

• Devoted to the Apostles’ teaching
• Devoted to fellowship (purposeful friendship)
• Devoted to eating together
• Devoted to prayer
• Miracles and supernatural power on display
• Happy and fun
• Pervasive unity
• Radically generous
• Highly regarded by nonbelievers
• Irresistible

4. What does “devoting ourselves to the apostle’s teaching look like in 2025?” What is one thing you can start doing to up your game in that area?

• • Part 1: reading and studying the Bible.
  • Part 2: Read it regularly. Study it. (Perhaps share some tools you use for this purpose.) Read through the entire Bible. Memorize key verses. Watch The Bible Project videos.

5. Think about the expectation/trust grid that Rick showed. How would you describe the person in each quadrant, and what are the risks/rewards associated with each? How can we help each other get to – and stay in – the High Expectation/High Trust quadrant?

• Part 1 is simply to refresh and reinforce this part of the sermon. Here’s what Rick said about each:
  High Expectations and Low Trust: unhappy, danger of becoming cynical.
  Low Expectations and Low Trust: meh, danger of becoming complacent.
  Low Expectations and High Trust: happy (feels good), but at risk of becoming a consumer.
  High Expectations and High Trust: loving it; no danger; covenant relationship  you can count on me no matter what and I know I can count on you know matter what.

• In part 2, if people are willing to self-identify, great, but they may not wish to, so it’s better to talk conceptually about this at the outset, and then get more specific when it comes to how we help each other in this area. Keep in mind too, that this grid applies to your group as well, and if some of the members are in one of the Low Trust quadrants with respect to your group, they may be uncomfortable with this question.

6. Rick said that “it’s who we are becoming INDIVIDUALLY and COLLECTIVELY that makes us ambassadors.” Why is it not enough to be a solo, lone ranger type disciple of Jesus? Why is our experience of being part of a community so important not only in our own spiritual formation but also in how we’re meant to impact the people who are with us in our “somewhere?”
   • The last part builds off last week’s question about defining your “somewhere.”

7. Is there anything else from the passage that you found impactful, confusing or challenging that you want to discuss?