Acts (The Church Gets Messy): Life isn’t Fair but God is Good
In this message, Jack Ninaber explores the tension between the unfairness of life and the faithfulness of God. Using Acts 12 as a foundation, we witness both tragedy and triumph: James is executed, while Peter is miraculously rescued. The early church is caught in a spiritual battle, facing persecution while still praying earnestly for God’s intervention.
We wrestle with questions: Why does God sometimes intervene and other times remain silent? What do we do when we pray for healing or breakthrough and the storm still rages? This message doesn’t offer easy answers but instead invites us into deeper faith, honest prayer, and a trust that holds even when life is uncertain.
Discussion Questions:
- How would you describe your current relationship with prayer. What do you think prayer is? Do you believe prayer is effective?
- What do we really mean when we say life isn’t fair? Do you think God is fair? Depending how you answered, how do you reconcile the two?
- How do we reconcile the brutal death of James with the miraculous rescue of Peter – both within the same chapter? Are we meant to?
- Have you ever been tempted to give shallow comfort or explanations when faced with tragedy or unanswered prayer? Why?
- Have you ever been told your prayers didn’t work because you didn’t have enough faith? How did that affect you?
- Explain how you’ve understood prayer before? What would it look like to pray with our whole selves?
- In your own life, where are you praying through disillusionment right now? What from this sermon could you hold onto?
- Have you ever had a moment where you realized, only later, that God had been moving behind the scenes all along?
- Why do you think the people praying for Peter didn’t believe it was really him when he showed up?
- What does it look like to trust God even when we have no explanation – when it doesn’t make sense?
- Where is God calling you to keep praying and trusting, even without seeing the full picture?
- Are you willing to believe that God is still writing the book of Acts today – through you, your church, and your prayers?