Go & Tell: The Sent Life of an Ordinary Disciple 

Acts 9:1-22

1. The Specific Assignment God doesn't give us a crowd; He gives us a person. 
2. Ananias is described with one word: disciple 
3. The assignment is specific: a name, a street, an address 
4. Who has the Spirit been pointing you toward?
5. The Honest Fear and the Obedient Step 
6. Spirit empowered witness doesn't require the absence of fear, just the decision to move despite it. 
7. Ananias names his fear out loud and God honors the honest prayer 
8. God restates the mission: Go. This man is my chosen instrument. 
9. The power arrives when you move; not before
10. The First Word and the Sent Life 
11. The first word of grace opens every door. 
12. Ananias walks in and says one word: Brother 
13. Before the healing. Before the explanation. Before he knows how Saul will respond. 
14. This is John 20:21 in practice; entering the world of the person God has sent you to 
15. One conversation. One word of grace. Saul is healed, baptized, and immediately preaching.
16. The Ripple Effect Nobody Saw Coming 
17. You don't need to see the ripple to make the wave. You just need to go. 
18. Ananias had no idea he was visiting the future author of half the New Testament 
19. One ordinary disciple. One obedient yes. Immeasurable, unstoppable impact. 
20. Three questions: Who is your Saul? What is your Straight Street? What is your first word? 
21. Ananias' only qualification. He answered Yes, Lord. That's still all that's required.

REFLECTION/APPLICATION QUESTIONS

1. Luke describes Ananias with one word: disciple. 
2. Why do you think God chose the most ordinary person in the chapter for the most significant assignment in the chapter? 
3. What does that tell you about how God tends to work and what does it say about your own sense of being qualified or unqualified to be used by Him?
4. God gives Ananias a specific name, a specific street, and a specific address. He does not give a general call to evangelism. He gives a specific person. 
5. Think about your own life. Has the Spirit ever given you a specific prompting toward a specific person that you have been slow to act on? What has held you back?
6. Ananias pushes back on God’s assignment and names his fear out loud. God does not rebuke him for this. He simply restates the mission and adds purpose. 
7. What does that response tell you about how God handles honest fear? Is there a fear about witnessing that you have been carrying privately rather than bringing honestly to God?
8. Ananias’ first word to Saul is ‘brother’. This was before any healing, before any explanation, before he knows how Saul will respond. 
9. Why is the first word so important in a spiritual conversation? Think about the person God has put on your heart. What is the word of grace they most need to hear from you before anything else is said?
10. The sermon connects Ananias’ posture to John 20:21 - as the Father sent Jesus, He is sending us. Jesus entered darkness, brokenness, and hostility and spoke grace first. 
11. Where in your own life have you been trying to witness from a safe distance rather than entering the world of the person God is sending you to? What would it look like to actually enter their world?
12. Ananias had no idea that his one obedient conversation would set in motion the ministry of Paul and ultimately the gospel reaching the Gentile world. We almost never see the full ripple effect of our obedience. 
13. How does that truth change the way you think about the risk and the cost of going to your Saul?

QUESTIONS TO ASK WHILE READING SCRIPTURE

What does this reveal about God?

What does this reveal about you in relation to God?

What do you need to do about it?