37Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" 38Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39"For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.¡¨ 40And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!" 41So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. 42They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles, teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
43Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 44And all those who had believed „Twere together and had all things in common; 45and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:37-47)
Well, it’s here. A new year has begun. 2002 is in the history books. 2003 lies out before us with 360 blank pages waiting to be written. Are you ready? Have you made your resolutions? Have you set your goals? Are you anticipating each new day, waiting to see what God has in store?
As I shared with you last week, I believe that this year is going to be special. I know, we say that every year. But, I believe it to be true. I believe that God has some wonderful things that He wants to do in our midst and I am praying that this year we will begin to see them happen.
One of the most exciting verses that I can find anywhere in the Bible is the final passage of Acts, chapter 2. Listen to these words. As you hear them, meditate upon them, let them sink in; "And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved."
Is that, or is that not one of the most extraordinary verses you’ve ever read? Every single day, the church was being added to. Every single day, the church was growing. New disciples were being added. People were coming to Jesus Christ in amazing numbers. Revival was running rampant. Lives were being changed. Families were being changed. Neighborhoods were being changed. The whole city was being changed. The power of the Holy Spirit had fallen upon them and they would never be the same.
What we read here is exactly what I believe God wants to do in our lives, in our homes, in our neighborhood and in our community. He wants to bring the same kind of revival to the world today that He brought 2000 years ago.
The question for us this morning, actually for this year, is how did it happen? Did the church do anything special that facilitated the great revival of the first century? And, if it did, can it be repeated today?
The answer to both of those questions is a resounding "YES!"
Take a look at verse 42. This is one of those watershed verses. If you are in the habit of marking your Bible, you may want to take your pen, pencil or marker - whatever you use - and highlight this verse. Listen to what this verse says. It tells us that, "They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles¡¦ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."
This morning, let’s take some time to focus on this verse, to meditate upon it, roll it over in our minds and try to understand how it was that God was able to work through the early church and bring such a tremendous revival. As we do, I believe we will discover what it will take from us to have the same thing happen right here in Southwest Nebraska.
Listen again to the words: "They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."
Luke begins by telling us that the church was ¡§continually devoting themselves . . ." This tells us that the Jerusalem church was a focused church. It was a church that knew what it was supposed to be doing - and it was resolved to be doing it. Luke uses the word devotion; it carries with it the idea of "single-mindedness," "commitment," and "full dedication." Luke makes it sound as if there was nothing else that was important to these men and women. However, we are talking about men and women who had families to raise, jobs to attend to, everyday concerns just like you and me. And yet, God tells us that they were devoted to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."
As we start down the journey that we will call 2003, the question must be asked, "what are you devoted to doing this year?" Some of us set goals, some of us make resolutions - are you devoted to accomplishing those things this year? I would ask you to examine your resolutions for the upcoming year and ask yourself if these four items are on the list.
#1 - Devotion to Disicipleship
#2 - Devotion to Fellowship
#3 - Devotion to Worship
#4 - Devotion to Prayer
The first thing we read about the Jerusalem Church is that they were devoted to the "Apostles’ teaching." That is, they were devoted to learning more about Jesus Christ and walking in their new found faith.
What do you suppose Luke means by "the Apostles’ teaching?"
Turn with me to Matthew 28:19-20. Notice what Jesus says to his Apostles just prior to his ascension into heaven; 19"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
What did Jesus instruct His Apostles to teach? "All that He had commanded them." In other words, the Apostles teaching was about Jesus Christ - about His life, His death, His resurrection and all of his teachings. It included the Sermon on the Mount, the various Parables, the woes to the Pharisees, and all that He had taught them while they were walking through the dusty streets of Galilee and Judea.
Quite literally, the Apostles’ teaching was the Word of God that they had received from Jesus Christ.
Let me sum it up this way; The early church was allowing the Apostles to teach them the Word of God - to train them in how they should live as Christians.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says; All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
You see, true discipleship is based upon the Word of God. This year, if we are to be true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must allow the Word of God to penetrate our minds, our hearts and our lives.
But - and this is important - not only must we know the Word of God, we must live it. You see, a healthy disciple is a man or a woman who is devoted to the Word of God. He or She is a person who not only hears the word, but acts upon it faithfully.
I challenge you this morning to devote yourself to Scripture this year. I challenge you to read it on a daily basis. Study it. Grow in it. Allow it to speak to you. Allow it to change you Allow God -through His word to work something new and wonderful in your life.
But this is more than just individually. Not only is a healthy disciple a man or a woman of the Word - a healthy church is a church that is immersed in the Word also. That is why it is absolutely essential that, as a church, everything we teach, everything we preach and everything we do is based upon the Word of God.
Let’s resolve today that as a church and as individuals we will be devoted to the Word of God.
Secondly, not only must we be devoted to Discipleship, but we must also be devoted to Fellowship. True - Biblical - Fellowship.
The kind of Fellowship that I am talking about here is not coffee and doughnuts fellowship. Biblical fellowship does not refer to a meal after the worship service.
True fellowship is not just about sharing food - it is about sharing our lives. The truth of the matter is, we need each other. None of us will ever grow to full maturity on our own. You cannot become a disciple of Jesus Christ independently of other disciples.
That is why the church is so important.
You see, the church is like a fireplace. It is the place where the logs touch one another so the fire can be maintained. You put one log in the fireplace and try to burn it and what will happen? The fire will go out. If you stack a pile of logs in the same fireplace and then light it, what happens? The fire grows - and the heat becomes intense.
The same is true in the church when true fellowship is going on. When one log burns hot, all of the other logs burn with it. When one log is wet and won¡¦t burn, the other logs that are burning dry it out, heat it up and cause it to burn.
Look at the church in Jerusalem. Day by day, they were meeting in the temple and in their homes. They were challenging each other to learn and to grow. They were witnessing to their friends and their neighbors and their neighbors friends. Whenever there was a need, it was being met. When one family suffered a hardship, the church pulled together and offered to share in the hardship. When one person was in need, the church pooled their resources and met the need. No one was asking, "What¡¦s in it for me," - the question of the day was, "what can I do for you?"
The fact of the matter is, we need each other. Even the best of us can cool off spiritually. Every one of us here has the potential to fall. Every one of us has the potential to fail. Every one of us needs to have a friend who can look us in the eye and say, "You need to work on this."
You know, true fellowship may be the toughest aspect of Christianity. Because fellowship means relationships - deep, honest, open relationships. It means caring. It means sacrifice. Relationships are hard. They take work. They take time.
Fellowship means caring for one another, helping one another, loving one another, being patient with one another and serving one another.
Of all of the things we can do as a church, true fellowship is the one thing that will draw others to us. When we love one another the way Jesus Christ instructed us to, others are going to want to be a part of that. That is why the early church was devoted to fellowship.
As a church, we must be devoted to discipleship, fellowship and 3rd, Worship. The passage that we are looking at this morning, Acts 2:42 says; 42They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles¡¦ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
The breaking of bread is the phrase that I am talking about when I speak about worship. This morning, we are going to participate in "the breaking of the bread." We are going to celebrate communion. Actually, that is not correct. We are going to celebrate Jesus Christ through the communion. We are going to remember what God did for us through His son by offering him as a sacrifice for our sins. We are going to lift Him up and exalt Him. That is worship. Exalting God.
God is the focus of our worship.
Let me ask you a question - did you come to service this morning wondering what you would get out of it? If so, then you came with the wrong motives.
The most important aspect of worship is not what you get out of it, but what God gets out of you.
What do we do when we worship? We celebrate God.
Hopefully, when you walked into the sanctuary this morning, it was because you wanted to celebrate Jesus Christ. Like most people, you probably came with problems and concerns. Legitimate problems and concerns. However, when we worship, we leave those problems and concerns at God’s feet and we celebrate Him.
I truly believe that a church worship service should be a small example of what heaven will be like. When we get to heaven, we won’t be nagging God to do for us - we will be worshipping.
Praising God, worshipping Him and celebrating Him for who He is, is what worship is all about. Worship is our sacrifice to God and there is always a reason to worship. There is always a reason for praise.
Now, I am not saying that we are to ignore our problems, but we cannot allow those problems to distract us from our worship. We cannot allow those problems to take away from God’s glory and majesty.
If we want to see God’s power in our lives and in our church, then worship must become something that we are devoted to as individuals and as a corporate body.
We are to be devoted to discipleship, to fellowship, to worship and finally to prayer. 42They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Prayer - what can I say in a couple of minutes that you haven¡¦t already heard about prayer?
* You know God invites us to come to him as a Father
* You know that prayer avails us to a power that can do more than we can ever think or imagine
* You know about Jesus prayer habits
I guess what I want to ask this morning is, are you devoted to prayer? Does prayer have a priority in your life? Has it become so important to you, that when you fail to pray, you feel as if you have missed time with your best friend?
This year ¡V if we have any hope in becoming a strong church ¡V a church that is making an impact on Southwest Nebraska ¡V then we must pray.
* We must pray when we don¡¦t feel like it
* We must pray when we are too busy
* We must pray when we have spare time on our hands
* We must pray when life is good
* We must pray when life is dealing us some tough blows
* As Paul said, we must pray without ceasing
Plain and simple - in order for Christian Union Church to become a powerful, growing church that is changing lives and homes and neighborhoods and communities - we must pray.
Through the power of prayer, we can become the most powerful force in this area - without prayer, we will die a slow, painful death.
In one area of Africa where Christianity began to spread, converts were zealous about daily devotions. They would find their own spot within the wild thickets and pour their hearts out to God. After some time the spots became well-worn, and paths were created. Soon, one’s prayer life was made public. If someone began to neglect his or her devotional life, it would soon be noticed by others. Believers would then gently and lovingly remind those in neglect, "The grass grows on your path."
May each one of us become a person of prayer. May we - together - become a people of prayer. May the grass never grow on our path.
As I mentioned earlier, we are going to share the communion together. As we do, I would ask you this - will you resolve with me this year to become men and women who are devoted to discipleship, fellowship, worship and prayer? As we remember the Lord Jesus Christ together, as we contemplate his life, death and resurrection, will you devote yourself to learning and growing in your faith? Will you devote yourself to touching one another and helping one another to grow and burn bright for our Savior? Will you devote yourself to exalting Him and lifting Him up for the world to see? And finally, will you devote yourself to making prayer a priority of your life - so the grass doesn’t grow on your path?
