Discussion Questions

Dean Taylor says Pentecost was “the birth of the church” and that the true fruit of revival is “the birth of a called-out people…being a church”; what does that claim suggest about what God is aiming at when He pours out His Spirit, and how would it confront revival stories (ancient or modern) that end in personal excitement but not a formed community? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If Pentecost shows the church being born, what does that say God wants when He pours out His Spirit? How does that challenge revival stories that stir people up but never form a real community?

In the first Zurich meeting (Jan 21, 1525), the Hutterian Chronicles says “fear came over them,” they fell on their knees, and “neither flesh and blood nor human wisdom compelled them”; how does that description shape your understanding of what God’s presence feels like, and what does it imply about the difference between Spirit-compelled obedience and human-driven religious impulse? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does the Zurich meeting story teach you about what God’s presence feels like? How is Spirit-led obedience different from people just getting religious on their own?

The lesson repeatedly describes whole towns responding (Zollikon daily communion and frequent meetings; St. Gall’s “procession” tradition replaced by idol-turning and river baptisms of 500+); what early-Christian assumptions about discipleship, time, and church life are embedded in “daily communion” and meeting 3–4 times a week, and what would it expose about the normal rhythm of many modern churches? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does “daily communion” and meeting 3–4 times a week show they believed about following Jesus and church life? What does that reveal about how often most churches meet today?

Dean highlights that by 1529, 12,000 left homes to go to Moravia, and he asks, “What has God wrought?”; what does this suggest about God’s power to loosen people from security and property, and where do you see modern Christianity (including evangelical “freedom”) struggling to produce that kind of costly obedience? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does it show about God’s power when thousands left their homes and property to move to Moravia? Where do you see Christians today struggling to obey when it costs that much?

When Dean describes a Lutheran revival producing oath-refusers who then “met with the very tiny last spark of the Hutterites,” took their writings, and “the entire Hutterites known today have been revived from that people,” what does this say about God’s willingness to use unexpected sources, and how should that affect our instincts about purity, “our stream,” and learning from others? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does this story show about God using surprising people or groups to bring renewal? How should that change how we think about “our group,” staying pure, and learning from others?

Dean claims Satan repeatedly tries to corrupt revival, giving Münster as the example that made the “true church look” terrible; how should a church discern between Spirit fruit and chaos without quenching God, and what safeguards (biblical or communal) seem implied by his repeated emphasis on “focus on Jesus Christ” and “the all things of Christ”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How can a church tell the difference between real Spirit fruit and harmful chaos without shutting down what God is doing? What “guardrails” are suggested by keeping the focus on Jesus Christ and “all things of Christ”?

Leonard Bowens logged 10,200 baptisms by name and date, and Dean contrasts how Methodists celebrate circuit riders while Anabaptists forget Bowens; what might forgetting these stories reveal about what we honor, how we define “success,” and what kinds of leaders we’re tempted to platform today? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If we forget leaders like Bowens but celebrate others, what does that say about what we honor and call “success”? What kinds of leaders are we most likely to promote today?

In America, John D. Roth is quoted about people “quickly giving up” Jesus-teachings like war, oaths, and slavery, and Dean ties decline to meeting only once every two or four weeks; how does that connection challenge modern assumptions that minimal gathered life can sustain serious obedience, and what concrete patterns would need to change if a congregation wanted to resist drift? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How does the link between weak obedience and meeting only once every few weeks challenge the idea that a little church time is enough? What specific habits would a church need to change to avoid drifting?

Christian Kaufman’s baptism class (1759) was rushed—“That’ll do…they have no time to spare”—and an ex-Mennonite warned against baptism-for-marriage pressure; what do these accounts suggest God cares about regarding voluntary conviction and conscience, and where might your church culture subtly pressure people into outward steps without inward reality? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What do these baptism stories suggest God cares about when it comes to free choice and personal conviction? Where might your church pressure people to take outward steps without real inner change?

Dean contrasts “slaying in the Spirit” in the 1750s (people collapsing under conviction of sin) with what he calls a “fancy thing” today, and he links revival phenomena to deep self-introspection; if the “Jesus fire” Heinrich Dirks describes (knowledge of God + truth and love + eternal life + Holy Spirit) were truly kindled among us, what would repentance and assurance look like in practice, and what parts of our current spirituality might be exposed as shallow or performative? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If the “Jesus fire” was really burning in us, what would real repentance and real assurance look like day to day? What parts of our faith today might be more for show than truly deep?