This page gives you questions and leader’s notes for Acts 4, the chapter where Peter and John are arrested after healing a lame man, then released and return to the believers to pray for boldness. It is written for a small group, a Sunday class, or personal study. Each question is paired with a discussion note so a leader can use the chapter without preparing a separate summary.
Acts 4 at a Glance
The chapter moves through three scenes. First, Peter and John are questioned by the temple authorities about the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years, and Peter answers that the healing came through Jesus Christ. Second, the council debates what to do, threatens the apostles, and releases them, unable to deny the miracle. Third, the believers gather, pray, and are filled with the Spirit, and the chapter closes with a picture of generosity and shared possessions.
Keep that arc in view as you go through the questions. The chapter begins with opposition and ends with unity, and most of its tension sits in the gap between what the authorities want and what the apostles feel they must do.
Observation Questions
Use these first. They ask what the text says, so keep the group in the words before anyone offers interpretation. Read the relevant verses aloud before discussing each question, and invite people to point to the wording rather than summarize from memory.
Acts 4:12
There is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved!”
(WEB)
Read this verse slowly, since it is the chapter’s central claim about the name of Jesus. Ask the group to restate Peter’s point in their own words and notice how it answers the council’s question in verse 7.
Acts 4:13
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus.
(WEB)
This verse shows the council’s response to the apostles’ boldness and their recognition of a relationship with Jesus. It gives a useful starting point for discussing how others notice when believers have spent time with Christ.
Acts 4:19-20
19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves, 20 for we can’t help telling the things which we saw and heard.”
(WEB)
Reading these two verses together captures the apostles’ answer to the authorities and their reason for refusing silence. They work well as a prompt for discussing how faith and obedience fit together under pressure.
Acts 4:29-30
29 Now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy Servant Jesus.”
(WEB)
These verses hold the believers’ request for boldness and for God’s action through the name of Jesus. Reading them aloud before the group prays helps shape the content of your own prayers.
Acts 4:32
The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul. Not one of them claimed that anything of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.
(WEB)
This verse introduces the picture of unity and shared life that closes the chapter. It invites the group to reflect on what unity of heart looks like in their own gatherings.
Memory Verse for Acts 4
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come to you as the believers did in this chapter, aware that the world may not welcome what we say about Jesus. We thank you that you are the Creator of all things and that your purposes are not undone by the plans of rulers. Give us boldness to speak the truth we have seen and heard, and fill us with your Spirit as we open our mouths. Show us the needs among us and help us share what we have with open hands. Make us one in heart and soul, so that our life together points to the resurrection of Jesus. Amen.
