Filled Up Series

FILLED UP

Acts 2:1-13

S: Holy Spirit—the Church Begins

Th: Freed to Minister

Pr: DISCIPLES OF JESUS ARE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT.

?: How? How does this happen?

KW: Steps

TS: We will find in Acts 2:1-13 three steps that describe how the church began and how disciples of Jesus are filled with the Spirit.

The ____ step that describes the beginning of the church is the…

I. EVIDENCE

II. EFFECT

III. EXPLANATION

RMBC 02 September 01 AM

COMMUNION:

We come here today because we stand at the cross.

Like Mary…

Like John…

…standing at the base of that old rugged cross.

Then, it was a matter of shame.

Today, we glory in it.

I will glory in the cross

Where my Jesus was crucified.

Through his blood I stand forgiven,

Cleansed from sin and justified.

I will glory in the cross

I will ever lift it high

As a banner for salvation,

As the standard for my life.

We are united together because of the work of Jesus.

Those of us that know Jesus are invited to share in the elements of the table.

If you do not know Jesus, that is, you have not received Him as your Savior and Lord, you do not trust Him with your life, that is, you have not been changed by the message, just let the elements pass by.

Please wait until the time comes when you do have that personal relationship with the Lord Jesus.

We practice “communion” because we are to remember the death of the Lord Jesus.

We take the bread to remind us that it was by the body of our Savior that our salvation came.

He died in our place.

He became our substitute.

We take the cup to remind us that it was by the blood of our Savior that our salvation came.

He died for our sins.

He became our sacrifice.

Being led in prayer by _______________________, let us take a moment and thank Him for favoring us with his mercy, love and kindness.

(Prayer)

The apostle Paul writes, "The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."

Let’s partake together.

____________________ will now come and lead us in prayer.

Again, the apostle Paul writes, "In the same way, after supper he took the cup saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."

Let’s partake together.

INTRODUCTION:

ILL Notebook: Birth (calf birth)

A man was helping one of his cows give birth, when he noticed his 4-year-old son standing wide-eyed at the fence, soaking in the whole event. The man thought, "Great, he’s 4 and I’m gonna have to start explaining the birds and bees. No need to jump the gun, I’ll just let him ask, and I’ll answer." After everything was over, the man walked over to his son and said, "Well son, do you have any questions?" "Just one," gasped the still wide-eyed boy. "How fast was that calf going when he hit that cow?"

Well, that is a mystery!

But the truth is…

Birth is a mysterious thing.

Many of us have had the experience of waiting for that baby to be born.

We come up to the due date, and he or she shows quite an unwillingness to leave their place of comfort, no matter how uncomfortable the mom is.

Babies tend to come on their own timetable.

As we come to our passage today in Acts 2, we observe that the birth of the church happens on God’s timetable.

TRANSITION:

But first let me say…

1. Today is the beginning of “discipleship month.”

This is our second year of taking the month of September to have an emphasis on discipleship.

But why do we so this?

The answer is really two-fold.

The first reason is wrapped up in who we are.

We are disciples of Jesus.

We are His followers, and it should be our goal to be fully devoted followers of Jesus.

The second reason is that we are commanded to be disciple-makers.

The Great Commission tells us that we are to make disciples.

We have the enormous responsibility of introducing others to Jesus and see that they too become faithful followers of the Lord.

This year’s theme for our discipleship month is “Freed to Minister.”

2. We are “freed to minister” the gospel as His light in this world.

Our year long theme has been, “My Life as God’s Light.”

It has been our goal to be God’s light in this world.

We are able to be God’s light in this world because we have been freed to do so.