Giving Up On Being God Series

A PEOPLE WITH PURPOSE:

GIVING UP ON BEING GOD

Acts 2:42-47

S: Church

C: Purpose of the Community

Th: A People with Purpose

Pr: WE ARE DEVOTED TO THE TRUTH.

?: Why?

KW: Reasons

TS: We will find in our study based on Acts 2.42 three reasons why we should be devoted to the truth in Scripture.

Type: Propositional

The ____ reason is its…

I. AUTHORITY (II Timothy 3.16)

II. LIFE (Hebrews 4.12)

III. MESSAGE (John 3.16)

PA: How is the change to be observed?

• We are to be diligent in its study.

• We are to be obedient to its command.

• We are to hear God speak.

Version: ESV

RMBC 22 January 06 AM

INTRODUCTION:

How well do you know the Bible?

ILL Bible: quiz

Let’s start with a multiple choice…

The book of Hezekiah comes before…

a) Isaiah

b) Jeremiah

c) Zechariah

Well, the answer is (d) which is none of those, because Hezekiah is not a book in the Bible.

Which sport is mentioned first in the Bible?

a) Baseball

b) Tennis

c) Shuffleboard

It is (a), for in Genesis 1.1 it states, “In the big inning…”

Who is the first person to play tennis in the Bible?

a) Noah

b) Jacob

c) Joseph

Well it was (c) Joseph because he served in Pharaoh’s court.

How about some short answer…

Which Bible character had no parents?

Joshua, son of Nun.

And…what kind of man was Boaz before he got married?

Ruth-less

TRANSITION:

Our theme for the year is “A People with Purpose.”

And I hope that you have noticed that our theme verse for the year is Acts 2.42.

It is in Acts 2.42 we discover that…

1. The early church was characterized by devotion and purpose (Acts 2.42).

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (NIV)

Last week, we considered the phrase “to the fellowship,” and discussed the importance of community in the church setting.

This week, we are studying an earlier part of this verse – the apostle’s teaching.

As we noted two weeks ago, the apostles taught from the Hebrew Scriptures, probably a Greek version that scholars call the Septuagint.

But they had much more to go on.

They had lived with Jesus, so they shared His sayings and stories about Him.

They taught the importance of His death and resurrection.

And they explained the priority of godly living.

Of course, they began to record these matters.

They wrote them down.

And all these writings were gathered together in what is now called the New Testament.

As the church progressed, they possessed the conviction that the writings o the apostles carried the same weight of the Hebrew Scriptures.

That is an understanding that we share today as well.

When it comes to having a devotion to the apostles’ teaching, this is something that is true for every Christian.

You know, I understand that I have a wonderful calling and a terrific job.

I have the opportunity to study the Bible for a living and teach it to you and encourage you to live it.

But the study of Scripture is not just for teachers and pastors.

It is essential for every Christian to devote themselves to the study of God’s Word.

That is a strong statement, and I hope you understand that…

Let me repeat that…

It is essential for every Christian to devote themselves to the study of God’s Word.

You see…

2. The Word needs to get into us (Colossians 3.16).

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

I have been working on some memory verses lately and this is one of them.

I tell you, this phrase, dwell in you richly, has captured my heart

God wants His Word dwell inside of us, to live in us.

And He wants us to live there richly – a lot – abundantly.

But here is the problem, if you and I are not spending time getting the Bible in us, we will never know its truth.

ILL Bible: Barna

According to a Barna Research Group survey, less than 50% of Americans open the Bible in a given week. 82% think that “God helps those who help themselves” is directly from the Bible; 63% cannot name the four Gospels; 58% do not know that Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount; 52% do not know the book of Jonah is in the Bible.

Those are kind of scary statistics.

But, as Christians, here is where we must stand…

3. WE ARE DEVOTED TO THE TRUTH.

This morning, the question we want to ask is “why”?

Why are we devoted to the truth found in the Bible.