1. We must be filled with the Holy Spirit, just as the disciples of Jesus in the Book of Acts. This was not just a one-off experience, but it is available to everyone today.

• The Jewish believers assumed the experience of Acts 2 was for them alone. Then God poured out His Spirit on a Gentile household. What can we learn from this?
• The Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius’s household while Peter was still speaking. What does that tell you about the connection between truth and receiving the Spirit of Truth?
• If Acts 2 was not a one-off moment, should we expect Pentecost today when the gospel is preached?

2. In Acts 10, they knew that the Holy Spirit had fallen on the Gentiles because they heard them speak with tongues. Tongues is the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but it is the fruit of the Spirit that provides us evidence that the Spirit remains at work in us.

• Peter asked, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” What did “just as we have” mean, and how did they know?
• Tongues is not the Holy Spirit; it is the evidence of the Holy Spirit. Why does that distinction matter?
• Some may have the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit does not have them. What is the difference?

3. The Samaritans believed and were baptized in Jesus’ name, yet had not received the Holy Spirit. Belief alone, even paired with proper baptism, does not in and of itself procure the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

• Paul’s first question to the disciples in Ephesus was, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” If the Spirit came automatically at the moment of belief, why would Paul ask?
• A whole city in Samaria believed and was baptized in Jesus’ name, yet the apostles still sent Peter and John to pray that they would receive the Holy Spirit. Why would they send the apostles on such a significant journey if receiving the Holy Spirit was not essential?
• Belief does not deliver the Spirit, but it does make us eligible to receive it. How does that change the way you understand what happens at belief, and the role that belief holds in conversion?

4. We are not saved by the act of believing in Jesus; we are saved by the Jesus we believe in.

• Belief is essential, but the act of mentally fixing ourselves on a truth is not what saves us. What is the difference between trusting in your belief and trusting in Jesus?
• The sinner’s prayer appears nowhere in Scripture. It developed in the 1600s through the 1900s. Even though so many people accept this as a method of obtaining salvation, we do not see this in Scripture. Why do you think so many people have accepted a method of response to the gospel that isn’t found in the Bible?
• Saving faith obeys. How does our obedience to the gospel reveal and demonstrate our faith in Jesus and His gospel?

5. The gift is free, but it must be received, and receiving is not a work.

• Some say that repenting, being baptized, and receiving the Holy Spirit are “works.” Is unwrapping a gift that has been handed to you a work, or just a part of the process of receiving the gift?
• If someone hands you a gift and you never open it, do you actually have it? What does that say about grace that is offered but never received?
• We aren’t saved by our motives or efforts, but by the grace of God through faith in Jesus’ gospel, as we obediently respond to His invitation to new birth. How do grace and obedience work together?

6. We cannot fill ourselves with the Holy Spirit; only Jesus can, and He has promised that He will.

• By His grace we can believe, repent, and be baptized in His name, but we cannot fill ourselves with the Holy Spirit. Who fills us? And why did God make this something we could not do by ourselves?
• If the filling is His work and not ours, what is our part in the process?
• Jesus has promised to fill all who believe. How does the certainty of His promise change the way you seek and wait for it?

7. Like Apollos, when a truth in the Word of God that runs contrary to our experience and tradition is revealed to us, we ought to receive it with obedience, joy and gladness.

• Apollos was eloquent, mighty in the Scriptures, fervent, and accurate in what he knew. Yet he still had something that was missing. How can someone be sincere and knowledgeable and still be missing something?
• When Aquila and Priscilla took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately, Apollos didn’t argue. He wasn’t contentious. He received it. What does his response teach you about how our heart should be postured when we are confronted with deficits in our understanding and/or experience?
• How do we truly meet Jesus?