Tim Piesse - Building Discipleship Culture
Opening Prayer:
Almighty God,
We know You speak to us, Lord.
You are the God who reaches out to Your world, who speaks, who shares, who listens and who guides.
Give us ears to hear You, Father. May we actively listen for Your voice.
May we be disciplined in seeking You. May we persevere.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Key Scripture:
The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
4 Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. 6 I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. 7 Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’
8 “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
9 “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ 10 This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.
11 “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’
15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”
18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Acts 11:1-18
Sermon Summary:
In Acts 10, after much prompting from the Holy Spirit, Peter had gone to the house of the Roman Centurion Cornelius – who, along with his household, became a follower of Jesus after Peter shared the gospel with him. This caused quite a sensation amongst other followers of Jesus because Cornelius was a Gentile. Was God saving Gentiles too now? Had God come to save both Jews and Gentiles? Their big question was ‘is this really a move of the Holy Spirit or is it heresy?’
The other Christian leaders took issue with Peter and what he had done, so they sought him out to talk to him about it in a bid to understand what was happening. At this momentous moment of pressure in the early church, they communicated with someone (Peter) rather than about them.
So in Acts 11:1-18, Peter tells the leaders a detailed account of what had happened and why he had acted in the way he had. Peter takes them through a simple process. He told them the whole story of what happened. He takes the leaders through this process so that they have an opportunity to hear the Spirit’s voice speak to them as they try to work through the situation.
To hear God’s voice, we need to embrace these three ideas:
Hearing God is not complicated. Scripture says this over and over again. Sometimes what God says is complicated, but hearing what he says is not. We don’t need to be perfect to hear God’s voice.
Hearing God’s voice - we can get it right. We can hear what God says and hear it correctly.
Hearing God’s voice - we can get it wrong. Sometimes we don’t hear clearly or correctly. But it isn’t the end of the world (or the end of ever hearing from God) if we get it wrong.
If you want to position yourself to hear God’s voice, then there are three things that help this happen:
Keep turning up in prayer. Long, short, simple, detailed – no matter what, just keep seeking God in prayer.
Start with what God has already said, i.e. read the bible. Reading God’s word helps us hear God’s voice and understand his tone.
Pay attention to what is getting your attention in life. They are often the very things our heavenly Father wants to speak to us about.
How does God speak?
There are many different ways that God speaks. He spoke to Peter in many ways; through a vision, a voice and a prompting. There are certain common things to be found in the ways God speaks to us:
He speaks through His word. It is so important to read, memorise, study his word.
He often speaks through other people. He speaks through advice, through encouragement, through people’s challenge.
He very often speaks through His Spirit: through dreams, visions, impressions, feelings, pictures, thoughts, through passions.
But sometimes the big question we have, even after we have heard (or think we have heard) God say something to us, is how do we know that it’s God? How do we know for sure that it is God’s voice we are hearing and not our own? This is not as clear cut as we might like. The fact is that God is in us, so we need to discern when it’s the Holy Spirit and when it is us. There are three questions we should ask ourselves about what we think God is saying to us:
Would Jesus say this?
Is someone else saying or confirming this?
Are there signs of the Holy Spirit?
When God moves and speaks, He will always cause us to focus our attention and our affection on Jesus.
Discussion Guide:
Part 1: Three Core Truths About Hearing God
To navigate how God speaks today, we must strip away the unnecessary mystique and embrace three foundational paradigms highlighted in the narrative:
Hearing God is not complicated.
Scripture reinforces this repeatedly. While the substance of what God says might sometimes be complex, challenging, or require profound sacrifice, the actual mechanism of hearing His voice is inherently simple. Crucially, we do not need to achieve spiritual or moral perfection to hear our Father’s voice.
We can get it right.
It is fully possible to hear what God says and to interpret it correctly. We do not have to live in a perpetual state of second-guessing, or spiritual insecurity. God is an effective communicator who knows how to make Himself understood by his children.
We can get it wrong.
Because we are human, there are moments when we mishear, misinterpret, or project our own desire onto God's voice. Acknowledging this reality is liberating. Getting a prompting wrong is not the end of the world, nor does it disqualify you from ever hearing from God again. It is simply part of the discipleship process.
Questions for Discussion:
Which of these three truths challenges your current view of hearing God the most? Do you lean more toward the fear of getting it wrong, or the disbelief that hearing Him can actually be simple?
How does knowing that "we don't need to be perfect to hear God" change your willingness to step out in faith when you feel an internal prompting?
Part 2: Positioning Yourself to Listen
Hearing God is rarely about modifying His willingness to speak; it is almost always about positioning our posture to listen. There are three daily disciplines that position our hearts to receive what He is saying:
Keep turning up in prayer.
Consistency overrides methodology. Whether your prayers are long or short, deeply structured or incredibly simple—just keep showing up. The act of regular communication builds relational intimacy.
Start with what God has already said.
If you want to know what God is saying today, immerse yourself in what He has already written; read the Bible. Engaging with Scripture does not just give us information; it trains our ears to recognize God's unique tone of voice and character.
Pay attention to what is getting your attention.
Notice the recurring themes, problems, brokenness, or unexpected joys that consistently pull at your thoughts throughout the day. These are rarely coincidences; they are frequently the very things God wants to speak to you about.
Questions for Discussion:
How does reading Scripture help us discern the "tone" of God's promptings in daily life? Have you ever felt an impression that didn't match the tone of Jesus?
Look back at your past week. What has been capturing your attention? How might God be using those specific circumstances to start a conversation with you?
Part 3: The Channels & Filters of Discernment
God uses a rich tapestry of methods to speak to His people. In Peter's experience alone, God communicated via an external vision, an audible voice, and internal promptings of the Spirit. More broadly, God regularly utilizes three major channels:
His Word: Through regular reading, deep study, and intentional memorization of Scripture.
Other People: Through words of wisdom, encouraging remarks, or necessary, loving course-corrections and challenges.
His Spirit: Through immediate spiritual dynamics like dreams, visions, internal impressions, subtle feelings, mental pictures, passing thoughts, or deep-seated holy passions.
The Three-Question Discernment Framework
Because the Holy Spirit dwells within us, His voice is integrated into our inner lives. This means we must learn to discern between our own thoughts and the promptings of the Spirit. When evaluating an impression, ask these three critical questions:
Would Jesus say this?
God will never contradict his own character. Does the word or impression align perfectly with the love, truth, humility, and justice demonstrated by Jesus Christ in the Gospels?
Is someone else saying or confirming this?
Discernment is safe when it is communal. Does wise counsel, mature spiritual leadership, or a trusted brother or sister in Christ confirm or echo the same thought?
Are there signs of the Holy Spirit?
The primary function of the Holy Spirit's movement is to point away from self and toward Christ. Does this word or prompt cause you to focus your attention and your deep affection on Jesus? Does it cultivate the fruit of the Spirit?
Questions for Discussion:
Which of the three channels (Word, people, or Spirit) do you lean on the most? Which one do you tend to neglect or distrust?
Take a current choice, perspective, or prompting you are processing. Evaluate it through the three-question filter. What clarity or conviction does this process bring?
Practices:
Individual Practice: The Attentiveness Audit
Over the next seven days, keep a small notepad or phone memo dedicated to your daily focus. Each evening, write down two things that uniquely captured your attention that day (a neighbour's need, a persistent thought, a recurring feeling of gratitude, or a specific societal issue). Dedicate three minutes of prayer to each, asking: "Father, since this captured my attention today, what are you wanting to speak to me about regarding it?"
Communal Practice: Encouraging Each Other
To put this into immediate practice, spend five minutes in silent prayer as a group. Ask the Holy Spirit: "Is there a word of encouragement, a scriptural truth, or an impression you want me to share with someone in this room?" Before speaking, test your impression against filter one - Would Jesus say this? If it is life-giving and building-up, share it with humility (e.g., "While praying, I had this thought/scripture for you, see if it resonates..."). Allow the recipient to test it against filter two and filter three.
Additional Resources:
For a printable version of this guide click here.