Week 1: Introduction — The Wind Begins to Blow

1.Cymbala opens the book by describing the Brooklyn Tabernacle in its early days as a place of failure, debt, and discouragement. What is your initial reaction to a pastor being that transparent about weakness? Does it make you trust him more or less, and why?

2.The title Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire draws on the imagery of the Holy Spirit as wind (John 3:8) and fire (Acts 2:3). What do those two metaphors suggest to you about how the Spirit works — both its unpredictability and its intensity?

3.Cymbala argues from the outset that most churches in America are running on human energy and organizational skill rather than the power of the Spirit. Do you think that's a fair critique? What evidence, if any, have you seen that supports or challenges it?

4.He describes a moment of deep personal desperation early in his ministry when he realized he had no idea what he was doing. Have you ever reached a similar breaking point — spiritually, vocationally, or personally — where you ran out of your own resources? What happened?

5.What expectations are you bringing to this book and this study? What would it look like for God to genuinely answer those expectations?

6.Cymbala's story is set in one of the most difficult urban environments in America — inner-city Brooklyn in the 1970s. How does the setting shape the story he tells? What might we miss if we try to transplant his lessons into a more comfortable suburban context?

7.The book's underlying promise is that God is attracted to weakness and desperation rather than strength and polish. Where does that idea show up in the Gospels or the book of Acts? How does it challenge the way many churches present themselves?