Week 8: April 13 – April 19, 2008

Chapter 8 + 12: pg. 87-95, 133-143

Topic: Encounter with God, Our Debt to the World

1. When you do the works of God, on whose authority do you act? If we are to require ourselves to going about “doing with power, ...breaking into the impossible – with signs and wonders” what must happen in the faith realm? What will equip us to extend our borders into the miraculous?
2. How does someone have a “personal experience” with God? How does a personal experience lead to understanding? Share a personal experience you have had with God. How did it effect you? Do you find that you are more confident than a year ago?
3. The author tell us how he has visited some cities that are spiritually dark but says it would have been wrong for him to focus on the darkness when he felt oppression. How can focusing on darkness deter us from great works that the Lord wants to do? How are you able to overcome darkness?
4. Jesus was not uncomfortable trusting His disciples with the job of changing the world... Do you truthfully believe Jesus can overcome your shortcomings and still use you to do His Kingdom work?
5. Johnson says we are gates into Heaven (140). Do you see yourself as someone who provides access to another dimension? How does God use you as a vehicle to release the resources of heaven into the calamities of the world? What resources, besides money, are available to you?
6. Describe what being “smeared” by God means to you. How does this smearing affect your daily life? “By looking for chances to serve, we give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to do what only He can do, miracles” (136). Where will you look? And, what might your opportunities to serve look like?