Letters to the Church by Francis Chan
Week 9: Chapter 8 — "Powerful"
Read Chapter 8 of Letters to the Church. Primary passages: Acts 4:23–31; 1 Corinthians 2:1–5; James 5:13–16.
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Chan closes his letters with a call to return to a Church that is genuinely powerful — not powerful in the way the world measures power, but powerful in the way that shook the Roman Empire. These questions ask you to examine what you actually believe about God's power in the Church today.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.Chan opens by noting that the early church operated with a level of supernatural power — healings, deliverances, bold proclamation, transformed lives — that most Western Christians have either never witnessed or have given up expecting. Is that a fair description of your own experience? How do you account for the gap?
2.He cites Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 2:1–5 that he came "not with plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." How does this challenge the premium that most modern preaching culture places on eloquence, relevance, and production value?
3.Chan tells stories of miraculous answers to prayer and the power of the Spirit at work in unexpected places. How do you respond to these stories? With faith, with skepticism, with longing? What does your response reveal about your underlying theology of God's activity in the world today?
a.Have you personally experienced what you would describe as a supernatural answer to prayer? How did it affect your faith?
b.If not, has the absence of such experiences affected how much you ask or expect of God?
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