Dedicated To The Apostles' Teaching Series

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.