CHURCH SERIES #1:
DEVOTED TO THE APOSTLES’ TEACHING
BIBLE VERSE: ACTS 2:42-47
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
TRANSITION: The book of Acts lays out the foundation of the early church, and quite honestly, the modern church as well. Specifically, these 5 verses here explain perfectly the role of the church and what the church is supposed to be and do. So this next series, which continues our Acts 2 series, will be a look at the specific role of the church breaking down part by part week by week.
THE OUTLINE:
A. Devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.
B. Devoted themselves to fellowship.
C. Devoted themselves to the breaking of bread.
D. Devoted themselves to prayer.
E. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs.
F. All believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
G. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.
H. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.
I. They praised God.
J. They enjoyed the favor of all people.
K. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
POINT OF EMPHASIS: Now, we are going to do some combining, we are going to break this 11 part series down into fewer weeks. But we are going to look at what the apostles did and what we should be doing.
MAIN LESSON
Note: this lesson isn’t so much on the backing of scripture as much as it is about asking students to identify whether they are or are not faithful to the word. Some of the questions are general, but the answers are pretty decent discussions.
QUESTIONS:
1. What does devoted mean?
2. What happens when there is not a firm foundation?
3. Is it possible to tell if someone has a firm foundation?
4. Do you have a firm foundation?
5. What specifically does the scriptures say for us to be devoted to?
ANSWERS:
1. What does devoted mean?
The textbook definition of devote is “to give up or appropriate to or concentrate on a particular pursuit, occupation, purpose, or cause, as if by a vow or by a solemn act.” Technically, being devoted means to make a solemn act to do something. In this case, to make a solemn act or promise to learn the apostle’s teaching.
Following is a story of people who are DEVOTED to making a living despite all the possible challenges:
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A torrent of gray, toxic water spews from a drainage tunnel and surges along the ravine, tumbling along garbage that has fallen from the Guatemalan capital's main landfill 1,000 feet (300 meters) above.
Despite the foul odors, the danger of unstable piles of garbage collapsing and the chance for heavy rain to suddenly raise the water level, dozens of people are busily at work searching for jewelry and other metal scraps knocked loose from the trash.
They call the ravine the "mine," and refer to themselves as "miners."
Every day, about 300 hike to the bottom of the ravine and wade into the water in search of rings and bracelets made of silver or gold. The water sifts and carries away the lighter garbage, leaving heavy metals on the stream bed.
"I make more money coming here than going to a company where they would continually scold me," says 41-year-old Eddie Miranda.
He says he finds scraps worth 150 quetzals, or $20, almost every day.
He got lucky on a recent day. "I found a bracelet with 9 grams (0.32 avoir ounces) of gold. I got 2,000 quetzals ($256) for it."
It may not seem like much, but it's almost as much as the monthly $270 minimum wage in this Central American nation.
At dawn, the scavengers arrive much as if coming to a regular work place. Many are wearing clean, ironed shirts and even whistling. They carry shovels and backpacks filled with their garbage bags, snacks and change of clothes. They leave their dry clothes at an improvised camp and start looking for treasures.
Scavenging, which is prohibited by the government, can get particularly dangerous during storm season. The workers say many have died while trying to pick garbage out of water raging through the ravine.
Dozens perished one day in 2008 when a mountain of garbage collapsed on them.
"The piles of rubbish and dirt bounced off the bottom of the river and dragged me while I was trying to escape," said Antonio Yupe, 32, a scavenger who survived the disaster. "I took a lot of spins. I broke my leg. I don't know how, but I was buried with my face uncovered, so I could breathe until I was rescued."
Still, the "miners" call the dangerous heavy rain "the blessing of winter," because the increased flow of water improves their chances of finding more metal.
If the scavengers don't find jewelry, they collect screws, faucets and other recyclable metal items that they can sell for 85 cents a pound. That amounts to twice the minimum wage for an average trip.
A few yards (meters) from the mouth of the tunnel, 35-year-old Avelino Perez and 19-year-old Julio Leja are up to their necks in water, surrounded by towering mounds of garbage. They push their shovels down into the current to bring up scrap metal, food containers and other objects.
Perez seems happy. He shows off a dirty Roman Catholic cross he has plucked from the bottom. His fingers look burned with acid and his nails are yellow. But he smiles.
"It's gold. I may get 500 quetzals ($65) for it."
These people are crazy in my opinion, but when one’s hope is lost for the opportunity to obtain wealth, you’ll do anything. They are DEVOTED to finding wealth.
What about you, would you wade 10 hours a day in garbage water that could and has caved in on people hoping to find money? Not me. I mean, the medical costs on the diseases that could be received far outnumbers anything I could find.
Now for the transition….WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO GO THROUGH FOR YOUR BIBLE? FOR THE APOSTLE’S TEACHING? No, I am not suggested you sacrifice your immediate health…but…(and here is the tough question folks, so please word this kindly)…ARE YOU WILLING TO SACRIFICE ANYTHING AT ALL?
THOSE OF US WHO ARE NOT DEVOTED…MIGHT…HAVE A POOR FOUNDATION. Agree?
2. What happens when there is not a firm foundation?
The easy answer is, when things do not have a firm foundation, things fall.
Listen to how Pastor James May answers the issue of having a solid foundation…
“The Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy is going to fall. Scientists travel yearly to measure the building’s slow descent. They report that the 179-foot tower moves about one-twentieth of an inch a year, and is now 17 feet out of plumb…Quite significantly, the word "pisa" means "marshy land," which gives some clue as to why the tower began to lean even before it was completed. Also--its foundation is only 10 feet deep!
I want you to notice one very important point concerning this parable of Christ. Whether your foundation is based upon Jesus or not, the rain, floods and winds are surely coming. Jesus said in Matthew 5:45, "...for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." That tells me that just because we trust in Jesus and base our lives upon that sure foundation, that the storms of life are still going to come with all their fury.
If it were true that Christians would never have to face the storm, it would be so much easier to get people to become Christians. How easy would it be to convince someone to accept the Lord as their Savior if you could promise them that life would be a blissful bed of roses and they would never face another trial, test or sickness? People would flock to Christianity by the millions to never have another trial. But, that’s not the reason that Jesus wants them to come. Jesus doesn’t want people to love Him and accept His great salvation just to get the blessings. Jesus wants people to accept Him and live for Him because of who He is and because we love Him. If our commitment to Christ is based only on the good times, then that is no commitment at all.”
3. Is it possible to tell if someone has a firm foundation?
Well, if Jesus is right and we are to identify followers by their fruit, then, our foundation can be seen in one of two areas (the answer by the way is YES, it is possible to a certain extent to tell about someone’s foundation):
A. Can see a person’s foundation by their fruit.
B. Can see a person’s foundation in hard times.
Study the following illustration about Judas, a man who walked with and worked for Christ, and of course we all know the decision he made…
Judas' actions at that fateful Passover in Jerusalem are well-known - but hard to explain. He went to the chief priests and arranged the betrayal of Jesus.
How did he know they would be sending out a military detail to arrest Jesus? Jesus was certainly in trouble after the fracas in the Temple, but he did not seem to be on the run, not if he could sit down and share the meal now known as the Last Supper.
How did Judas even know who to go to, to arrange the betrayal? John suggests that Judas oversaw the whole thing - picking the hour, naming the place, leading the troop of soldiers and police, and standing there beside them while they arrested Jesus and took him into custody.
Jesus is Betrayed with a Kiss, Caravaggio
Why Did He Do It?
Did Judas act with Jesus' consent? The motive for his action remains a mystery.
• Was he disappointed by Jesus, and the direction he was taking? This is hardly a motive for betrayal.
• Was it out of greed? That is hard to believe, in one who had been an intimate friend of the charismatic Galilean.
• Was it to save himself? This could be more likely. He may have believed that Jesus was to usher in a new Messianic age, and then seen his hopes crash to the ground when Jesus fled from the Temple after attacking the money-changers.
Judas, wood carving, Holy Blood Altar, Abendmahl
He may have been aghast at Jesus' attack on the Temple itself - as a Judean, he would have a more profound respect for the sacred nature of the Temple precincts. Jesus had criticized the Temple regulations before, but he had never actually done violence there before.
It may have been too much for Judas, who in this dangerous situation decided to throw his lot in with the authorities instead, to save his own skin. In the end, his betrayal may have been born of fear of the authorities and what they could do to him, rather than rejection of Jesus.
The point here in this issue, is that nobody in their right mind, nobody who has seen the miracles, saw the cleansed lepers, saw the wind and seas obey him, saw the collection of fish, saw the tax coin in the mouth of the fish, saw everything…and still left God’s side!
We CAN NEVER TAKE FOR GRANTED OUR FOUNDATION! NEVER. The scriptures say that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, which means we should always have a concern on our actions, our lives, and on our foundation. If Judas can deny Christ, even more shockingly…if Peter can deny Christ…then we all have to have a healthy glance at our own walks. Right on?
4. Do you have a firm foundation?
This question has no answer technically. This is entirely a discussion question, please ask it, then pry a little bit. Here are some additional questions to go along with this (leaders, I think it’s important for us to examine our own lives here as well).
Read Bible regularly?
Journal what you learned regularly?
Desire to look at scriptures and study them?
Heed pastor’s advice when he gives us something to do from the pulpit?
Able to feed self by reading independently?
Now, there is no set rule and to do list that says a person has a great foundation because a person does a certain thing. But…well…is doing nothing a great foundation?
Friends, we need to be students of the WORD. We need to commit to it. We need to memorize it. And we need to honestly look at ourselves and really check our foundation on this?
5. What specifically does the scriptures say for us to be devoted to?
Not surprisingly, the word “devoted” shows up often in the scriptures, including a bunch of times in the Old Testament specifically towards parts of the law. But here is a solid verse to focus on to end the study:
BIBLE VERSE: 1 TIMOTHY 4:13
Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.
So for those looking for a conclusion final answer, the teaching of the apostles can be disceminated through:
A. the public reading of Scripture
B. to preaching
C. to teaching
Sources:
Dictionary.com, keyword: devote.
May, James. Our Sure Foundation, August 2002, Victory Temple Pentecostal Church of God.
Yahoo.com. Guatemala’s Trash Miners Risk Lives to Find Gold, AP, Alberto Arce, November 4, 2011.