Read Acts 2:1-41

What words or phrases stand out for you in the text? Make a note of them in your journal. If the text prompts you to think of something else outside the text – another scripture, or a story, or idea about God (theological concept), make a note of that in your journal and return to the text before you.

Read Acts 2 again, this time attending to your feelings. What do you feel in the text, about the text, or from the text? Mad, Glad, Sad, Scared, Angry, Confused? Imagine yourself in the story, knowing only what those present might have known. How do you respond? What is your reaction if you are one of the disciples who is suddently gifted with this new power to proclaim the might works of God in foreign languages? What if you are Peter, suddenly sensing an urge to preach publicly about something new and unknown. What if you are someone in the crowd – one of these visiting Jews from another secular culture and you witness this strange experience and then hear Peter’s sermon giving new meaning to your ancient faith? Have you ever asked, when confronted with a deep and startling truth, “What do I do now?” How about when Peter says, “Save yourself from this corrupt generation!” What did he mean then? What might he mean now? How do you think the church has misinterpreted that over the centuries and to what effect?

Finally, as you go back over all this, perhaps even reading the text for a third time –
What virtues are stirred in you, if any – faith, hope, love?