Pastor Blaik J. Westhoff,
Scripture: Acts 4:32 – 5:16
Sermon Questions:
1. Ask yourself, “Where am I like Barnabas (loyal to my brothers and sisters in Christ)?”
2. Ask yourself, “Where am I like Ananias and Sapphira (disloyal to my brothers and sisters in Christ)?”
3. Where have you seen loyalties within the church “build up” or “tear down”?
4. Loyal followers of Jesus are other-centered, self-giving, and encouraging. What areas within your relationships do you need to improve your loyalty?
Further Study:
2 Samuel 9 (NIV)
David and Mephibosheth
1 David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” “At your service,” he replied. 3 The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?” Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.” 4 “Where is he?” the king asked. Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.” 5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel. 6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, “Mephibosheth!” “At your service,” he replied. 7 “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.” 8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” 9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.) 11 Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s[a] table like one of the king’s sons. 12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet
1. Why was David so determined to show kindness to Mephibosheth?
2. Look up the stories that intertwine the lives of David and Jonathan. How do these stories affect David’s loyalty?
3. How did Mephibosheth become injured? Was it his fault? What role did loyalty play in his injury?
(Answer to last week’s question. “I Know Whom I Have Believed” #714 in the Hymnal)