Sermon Guide

The Fifth Act
Week 10 | Risk + Reputation

Teaching Text

Acts 9:36-43

In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed.

Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

Sermon Recap

This Sunday, Pastor Keithen Schwahn continued our series through the Book of Acts, The Fifth Act, with a teaching from Acts 9:36-43, the story of Peter taking a risk of faith that resulted in raising Tabitha, a faithful disciple of Jesus also known as Dorcas, from the dead.

He began with our current context: New York City’s central ethos is reputation, and aesthetic value and cultural prestige are often valued more highly than usefulness. We often find ourselves asking: What am I known for? What do people think of me? This desire for recognition is not inherently wrong—it speaks to a deep human longing to be affirmed and known, because we were created for recognition by an eternal source. However, a culture that worships reputation, this desire easily becomes toxic and exhausting. We may strive for influence, curate our images, and measure our worth through how others perceive us. This false system forms a gap between who we feel we are and who Jesus says we can be.

This passage reveals a different way to live through both Peter and Tabitha’s choices. The early disciples were not motivated by reputation but by a desire to imitate Jesus. Their reputation wasn’t built on status but on the spiritual authority entrusted to them by Jesus. Throughout the book of Acts, we witness them doing the work Jesus did: casting out demons, healing the sick, and proclaiming the Kingdom of God. In this story, Peter is invited into one of the most staggering acts of imitation yet: raising someone from the dead, something he had only seen Jesus do and only read about in the accounts of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. Pastor Keithen posed that the challenge before Peter held that same internal gap many of us wrestle with and find filled with fear of others’ opinions, self-doubt, lack of experience, or disappointment. Only through the Holy Spirit, we are called to fill that gap with consecrated confidence—a posture of full submission to God, surrendering our reputation and being willing to risk for the Kingdom.

Peter embodies this attitude by stepping out in faith, without waiting to feel perfectly qualified and despite his experiences so far, and ends up confronted with the reputation of Tabitha. Known in her community for doing good by helping the poor and clothing widows with garments made with care and dignity, she had a reputation not only as a faithful disciple of Jesus, but as an advocate for the marginalized. She leveraged her skills and her social position to restore honor to those whom society disregarded. Even as a woman and a widow—roles with little status in her time—Tabitha lived a life of potent, Kingdom-minded faithfulness. Peter, filled with consecrated confidence, goes on to imitate Jesus and raise Tabitha back to life, demonstrating a key truth: proclaiming the Kingdom and demonstrating the Kingdom often go hand in hand. The same Spirit that empowered Jesus is available to us today.

Pastor Keithen closed with two invitations regarding reputation. First, that we might live a life of potent faithfulness, using our skills and surroundings to bless others—even if we never get recognition for it here on earth. Second, for us to be willing to risk our reputation for the sake of imitating Jesus. We shouldn’t avoid acts of faith because they might fail or cost social standing, but instead be more concerned with imitating Jesus than how others perceive us.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  • If you had a day off with no responsibilities, how would you spend it in the city?

  • Ask someone in your group to read the teaching text, Acts 9:36-43, out loud. Then, ask at least one of the following questions:

    1. What words, phrases, or images stand out to you?

    2. What do these verses reveal about God's character?

    3. What do these verses show about the role of faith and risk in the life of a disciple of Jesus?

  • 1. In what area of your life do you feel most prone to lean on, or protect your earthly reputation?

    2. Is there anyone in your life in New York that you see living out of consecrated confidence? What do they do that stirs your faith?

    3. Is there a time in your life where you stepped out in faith and risk? How did it go?

    4. How can you encourage one another to continue laying down your reputations even in the face of resistance?

  • Pastor Keithen talked about the idea of consecrated confidence. In what area of your life might God be calling you to step out in boldness? Read 2 Timothy 1:7 and spend some time praying for each other against a spirit of fear and for a spirit of power, love and sound mind.

    1. Can you share a recent situation where you sensed the Holy Spirit leading you to take a risk or step out of your comfort zone? Did you obey, and if so, what happened (or if not, what held you back)?

    2. What practices help you personally to listen to God’s voice? Is it silence, journaling, worship, nature, Scripture meditation, etc.? How might you carve out more space to hear Him in this season of life?

    3. Where do you feel tension between your desire for control/security and God’s call to step out in faith? How can the CORE group support you in taking a next risk (however small) in obedience to the Spirit?

    4. John Wimber’s quote talks about being “empowered to do the stuff” of the kingdom. What do you think “doing the stuff” (the works of Jesus) could look like for ordinary believers? Have you experienced or witnessed a “demonstration of God’s power” that strengthened your faith? Share and discuss how supernatural signs and listening to the Spirit relate to advancing the Gospel.

LEAN IN | THE NINE DISTINCTIVES

Space + Risk

  • Spend a few minutes as a group waiting on God in silent prayer. Afterward, share if you sensed the Holy Spirit saying or showing anything (maybe a Scripture, a picture, a phrase). This is a safe space to practice hearing God. What was that experience like for you?