(Excerpt from Peter Marshall—"Were you there")
("The [afternoon sun was sliding into its gentle decline] over the City of David. Already pilgrims, and visitors pouring in through [the north and south gates of the Temple; elbowing their way past those milling around in the grand court yards and those congregating under the shade of Solomon’s Colonnade.] There were the aged, stooped with years, muttering to themselves as they pushed through the throngs, and there were children playing…calling to each other in shrill voices [as they ran in and out of, and in-between dozens of adult islands scattered throughout the court of the Gentiles and the steps that led into the Court of Israel.] There were men and women too, carrying burdens, baskets of vegetables, casks of wine, water bags. And there were trademen with their tools. And there, under a narrow canopy, a merchant shouted his wares in a pavement stall.") And here, as we pass through the Gentile court, and ascend the steps into the court of Israel, we prepare to enter the temple Gate called Beautiful…to enter into God’s house…to be near to the awesome glory and splendor of the Creator…to worship and pray… here to the left, and there to the right are the afflicted…the crippled…the handicapped…the blind…the feeble minded…the twisted…the paraplegic… the withered…
One who has been crippled from birth is being carried…at forty years old… to the temple gate by his family…just like he is everyday…to beg from those going into the temple courts to pray.
Before you can look away…he looks your way. Before you can look away…he asks for some money. Before you can look away… your friend grabs you just above the elbow and says, "Do you remember what Jesus did at times like this?" Turning to your friend you see that mischievous grin creeping up the sides of his face. And strangely, you’re inspired by the thought. What would Jesus do?
It’s no accident that these kind of people littered the beautiful ornamental gates that led into the presence of God. It’s no accident. Who have you served today? As you enter into your private place of prayer daily, who are the beggars at your gate? Whose faces do you see? What physical, emotional, spiritual needs populate the steps as you push passed all the busy-ness and clutter of your job and family to make your way into the Holy of Holies within your heart?
In Acts chapter 3, we see Peter and John on their way to the temple to pray. And as they are working their way through the crowd, a beggar is being carried to the gate to beg. He sees them- and calls out for some money… a hand-out…
The cry for help is heard by Jesus’ own. And Jesus’ own don’t have a dime to spare. Let’s note that this man doesn’t harass Peter and John. There are hundreds here. His cry is to anyone who will hear and respond. He has asked Jesus’ own, but he is asking anyone and everyone with an ear to hear and a cent to spare. Let’s note that, because verse 4 tells us that Peter and John looked him square in the eye and said, "Look at us."
When Jesus did something for people, He did with purpose and intent. When someone came to him, "Lord, my daughter’s sick…" "Take me to her…" or "Never mind, I’ve already taken care of it."
"Hey, Philip, did you notice how many folks we have here on this hill…about 5,000…they’ve got to be hungry…let’s feed ‘em."
Only one time do we see Jesus being "surprised"…Mark 5:30.
Jesus was on a mission. He never pursues the spiritual issues of a person’s life until he meets the physical or emotional need. Jesus knew that the carnal mind, the mind unchanged by God’s grace, has its focus locked on the needs of the body: Hunger, hurt, helplessness…How do convince a man that his soul is condemned and headed straight for hell unless he accepts God’s grace by faith—when his daughter is dying of cancer? – When the last meal he ate was scraped out of somebody’s trash can? -- When he’s trapped in a bottle? -- When his home is filled with people who hate him; who keep a log of every moral and financial failure? When his wife is filing for divorce? -- When he’s been out of work for a month? When he can’t pay his rent? When he’s trapped in a wheelchair because his limbs don’t respond to his brain anymore? How do you expect a man to fear a hell he’s never seen when he’s living in a hell everyday?
There’s only one way to get their attention. Jesus knew what it was. Meet the need. Heal the wound. Satisfy the hunger. Embrace the unloved.
"Look at me." Peter said.
If we are going to capture anyone’s attention, we’ve got to do something that no one else can or will do for them. Jesus did. And we are practitioners of Jesus. Attorneys practice law. Doctors practice medicine. Some of you believe I practice my preaching on you once or twice a month… :^) Believers practice Jesus.
"Look at me." Peter said.
Verse 5 of Chapter 3: So the man gave them his attention [Why?] because he expected to get something from them.
Let’s not waste people’s time. Let’s not waste people’s trust. Let’s not waste what little emotional reserve they have left…
If we are going to call out to folks: "Hey, look at us! We have something for you! Hey, Look over here, we can do something for you! Hey, look at me! I’ve got an answer for you…"
Deliver.
They looked your way. They went to lunch with you. They showed up to Sunday School or morning worship. They let you into their home. They brought you a prayer request. They asked you about a hard teaching of Jesus…
Deliver.
If we as a church, or you, as a believer, have their attention, understand it’s because they expect something from you…from the church…from Jesus Christ…from God…
And you better not disappoint them. Because I said…you said…we said…
"Look at me."
Verse 6: "Then Peter said, "Silver and Gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."
And that’s where all the trouble began. Switch over now to Chapter 4.
How did the Peter and John get into so much trouble? Preaching? No. They were just on their way to the Temple. Praying? No. They hadn’t had a chance to do that yet. That’s why they were going to the Temple.
Look at verse 3: "They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. Verse 7: "They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: ‘ By what power or what name did you do this?"
Do? What did they do? They were practicing Jesus!
Luke, the author of the book of Acts, has taken his Minolta camera with the extra wide lens and snapped a picture of the Church of Jesus Christ. You’re looking at it now. It’s Acts chapter 4. If you want ever want to see a picture of all that Jesus hopes and expects for His church - there it is.
Here is a congregation of believers hard at work in the business of Jesus! They are not struggling under the burden of the busy-ness of the Church. A church that is encumbered with too many programs and committee meetings is a church that has moved away from the Biblical model of God’s plan. Like the writer who missed his deadline. His publisher called and said, "Well, I take it you didn’t finish the book." "Oh no," the writer said, "The book is finished. I’ve just misplaced the ending and lost the plot." If we don’t look, smell, sound, and act like the church is Acts chapter 4, we’ve got a bestseller trapped under a pile of clutter.
We have a commitment to be a Believer’s church. We have an obligation to be a church that is practicing Jesus.
Ok. So what exactly is a "Practicing Church?"
A practicing church is a philanthropic church. It’s a church that meets needs. A church that serves people. A church that feeds, that cleans, that works, that counsels, that cooks, that heals, that frees, that stands up with a loud voice against injustice…a church that’s not afraid to get its hands dirty.
But there’s more. It’s not just about serving and meeting the needs of our neighbors and community.
We’re not going to get "seized" by the authorities like Peter and John if we just doing good works in our name. We don’t ruffle any feathers when we do it in the name of the Church of the Nazarene. But start working and serving and loving in Jesus name and watch the dust fly…
A practicing church is also a proclaiming church.
You see…
We can talk about Jesus.
The only thing less threatening than doing good works in our name, is to do absolutely nothing and spend our spare time talking about Jesus. As long as it’s philosophical ramblings that don’t affect people where they live, we’ll get no response from the anti-Christ sentiments of the world.
We can even talk to Jesus. After all, many will tell us, you can talk to God or Jesus or Allah or Buddha or Vishnu, or the Goddess…whatever you want to call it…we all pray to the same thing anyway…
But all of a sudden there’s a problem when we start doing Jesus things that serve another…when we start being Jesus in such a way that the needs of our neighbor get met. All of a sudden there’s a problem when we start acting like Jesus – doing what Jesus would do – being the person Jesus would be in each and every life we touch. And not just acting, being, and doing – but giving credit to the source of our giving heart…the source of our time or money…the source of the wretched experiences that enabled us to shed real tears over one who is suffering through a pain we know too well.
Read along with me, Chapter 4, beginning in verse 7…
"7. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: "By what power or what name did you do this?"
8. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people!
9. If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed,
10. then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.
11. He is "`the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. ’
12. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
13. When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
A practicing church gives credit where credit is due.
"It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth…whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed!"
It is by the name of Jesus that this couple stands before you today still married.
It is by the name of Jesus that this church is paid in full to its tithe to the General church.
It is by the name of Jesus that this man stands before you surrendered fully to God’s will for his life.
It is by the name of Jesus that this family is talking to each other again.
It is by the name of Jesus that this woman is free from alcohol.
It is by the name of Jesus that this boy can read.
It is by the name of Jesus that this young woman who the doctors declared unable to have children stands before you with a baby cradled in her arms.
It is by the name of Jesus that this man stands before you in the pulpit this morning. Rich Hadley, suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder, and a poor self esteem, and the scars of a sinful, wicked life, once a slave to pornography, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ preserved, restored, pardoned, and ordained to preach the good news of God’s wonderful grace available to every man by faith alone – a grace I could never, ever hope to earn or deserve. It was Jesus – all Jesus. It was His work, His spirit, His never giving up on me, His ever reaching out His perfect, clean, sinless hand to a man trapped in the sewer of sinfulness; covered in the filth of destructive pleasures and the stink of selfishness. He reached down and pulled me out. He took my old heart and gave me a new, clean one. He gave me a robe of righteousness. He took the nasty rags I was dressed in. Then He put them on. And nailed them to a cross. And the blood that flowed put Clorox to shame as it washed away every filthy stain.
A proclaiming church is group of believers who aren’t ashamed to say "I can read because of Jesus. I can get my work done because of Jesus. I can feel my worth because of Jesus. I can preach, I can teach, I can heal, I can help because of Jesus. I can go to heaven some day because God raised Him from the dead and my soul is healed."
If a church is a practicing church that serves and proclaims, it will know it. Because a church that heals…a church that educates…a church that clothes and feeds… a church that embraces and does it solely and completely and only in Jesus name will become a Persecuted Church.
Beginning in verse 14:
"14. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.
15. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together.
16. "What are we going to do with these men?" they asked. "Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it.
17. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name."
18. Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
19. But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.
20. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."
Church, if we are not under attack, it’s because we’re not in the war. Can I say it any plainer than that? If people aren’t stomping on their hats about us, something’s wrong. I don’t know about you, but I want to be a church that people are talking about. I want to be part of a church that can’t help but serve every need in the name of Jesus—that can’t help but be caught up in the problems of our community – that can’t help getting involved with struggling teens, struggling parents, struggling families, struggling schools, struggling cities and saying, "Look at us. We don’t have any money to help treat the symptoms, but we’ve got the cure straight from the cross and His name is Jesus of Nazareth—He licked death and hell, what’ve you got that’s so tough?
A church like that will stir up a swarm of people screaming, "Don’t speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus!" A group of people who practice Jesus will never be a "politically correct" church. When the spokespeople of our society say "Tolerance" they’re saying, "Don’t speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus." When our media cries, "Freedom of Speech" it’s saying, "Don’t speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus." When our governmental leaders say, "You must be politically correct" they’re saying, "Don’t speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus."
Can you imagine? Can you imagine being a research scientist that has discovered a sure-fire cure for every kind of cancer. Then having the Federal Drug Administration tell you, "ok, you can market your medicine, but you can’t say it’s the only cure for cancer, since that would take away people’s ability to choose between your drug and the other drugs that only relieve the symptoms of cancer or slow down the progression of it. You can market your medicine, but you can’t take literature on it to cancer patients for them to read over and consider after you’re gone. You can market your medicine, but you can’t tell them the name of it. If they ask the name of it, then you can tell them, but otherwise no.
Folks, that’s censorship. It’s what the Church in America has been told for many decades now. And you know that. And you know that it’s persecution. It’s imprisonment of the spoken and written word. Your testimony. Your witness. Your proclamation has been taken hostage. But you know that. But the question is, is it happening to you right now? Is it happening to you when you walk to the grocery store….when you pick your kids up from school…when you make worship or Bible study a higher priority than a school activity…when you insist on praying with your kids outside the school doors before you turn them over to someone else’s influence…Is it happening to you when you share at work how Christ changed you on the inside and made you a totally new man or woman… If your church is not feeling the pressure of persecution…If your family is not under attack from the anti-God, anti-Christ people of the community, if you are not being told not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus--- then we aren’t practicing Jesus. We’ve got the sign out front: "BELIEVER: Jesus practitioner"…but the door’s locked, the lights are off and nobody’s home.
Our battle cry should be verse 20: "We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard!" It’s not our fault. We can’t keep quiet! This stuff is too good! We should have T-Shirts that say, "It’s a Jesus thing…You wouldn’t understand."
But the truth…the shameful truth…is that we haven’t been believers who practice Jesus. We haven’t been servants…we haven’t been meeting needs…we don’t give a cup of cold water in His name much less tell folks to get up and walk! So we have no good works to credit to Jesus. We have nothing to proclaim because faith is all on paper and we haven’t experienced it – we haven’t lived it. So we won’t say "we can’t help speaking about what we have seen and heard", because we haven’t seen or heard anything to speak about! Do you think the believers in Acts chapter 4 would have something to say if someone asked, "Does anyone have a testimony? What has Jesus done in your life this week?" What would you say? What if I asked right now? How many have experienced Jesus this week because they were Jesus to somebody this week?
If you’re not under persecution right now – spiritually, literally at war with the world – then you must love the world, because if you loved Jesus the world would hate you. Jesus said it. There’s no gray area to explore. If you’re not under persecution, then I can guarantee that you have no testimony, and if you have no testimony it’s because you haven’t been Jesus – you haven’t been on that cross - you haven’t served someone in selflessness- in sacrifice -- you haven’t bankrupted yourself emotionally, spiritually, physically, or financially the way Jesus did for others when He walked the earth. Like He did for you on that cross so long ago.
If we had persecution. If it was personal—in our face – not in our general direction as Christians – but right up on our doorstep, then we could join our believing brothers in Acts chapter 4 as a persecuted church that is a Praising Church.
A Practicing Church is a Praising Church.
Let me ask you this… When can God manifest His strength when we never show our weakness? If we are not in danger of losing our values, our beliefs, our faith, our livelihood, our loved-ones, our lives – what do we have to lose? Where is your faith if you have entrusted nothing to Him? If you haven’t put it out there on that limb - just outside of your reach: your finances, your children, your spouse, your church, your convictions…If you haven’t taken them out of your strongbox and placed them deliberately and squarely in God’s hands – you will never know joy in your relationship with God. You will never mature in faith. You will never have peace. What an awesome, impossible responsibility that you have taken on. A job that you never had to do. Do you think for one minute that you can preserve, protect, and prosper your treasures better than God? Wild fires sweep across our lives constantly. For the man or woman that hordes the possessions in their own care, there is the constant struggle: what do I let go? What must burn up so I can save something else. Frustrated lives. Angry, bitter people. Why does God insist on taking things away from me! Why can’t I have my children, saved, sanctified, in church and growing in grace, and have, this day, my daily bread, and a car that’s not in the shop, or wife or husband that’s home right now because they want to be near me. Why do you make me choose God? God never makes you choose. The wild fires of life happen. Sickness happens. So doctor bills come. Mechanical things break. So cars end up on blocks. Natural disasters occur. So material things are swept away. Every man and woman was given a free will, so that they could enjoy a relationship with God based on mutual choice, not a predetermined selection by God where he makes us His elect whether we want it or not – a kind of Spiritual rape where He forces His will on us. And so, our children or grandchildren sometimes take the path that leads to eternal damnation. The wild fires of life rage. And if you find yourself surrendering one thing to save another, you can be assured that all that you have has never been placed in the protective, all-knowing, all wise hands of the Father. Whatever we lose or forfeit in His service He has promised to repay. When we surrender our lives to Him, our treasures are laid up in heaven – far away from the wildfires of this world. Our treasures are bound up in His will. The desires of our heart will be ours, because they are the desires of His heart. That’s why a practicing church that’s a persecuted church will be a praising church. When we come to a place where we know that we know that we know that whatever is happening is happening for a reason - a reason that perhaps God only knows – a reason that furthers the Kingdom of God – a reason designed to teach us, to grow us, to empower us to serve…Praise happens.
Look at verses 23 - 28
23. On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.
24. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
25. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: "`Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
26. The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. ’
27. Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.
28. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
There is power…There is peace…There is praise when we stop kicking and screaming against the waves that want to drown us in that stormy sea called life. The believers of Acts Chapter 4 – the Christians who practice Jesus learned well the lesson from Gethsemane. "Not my will but yours be done." Jesus prayed, "If there is any other way – let this cup pass from me—but not my will – yours be done." Not one of us this morning stand any where near the exalted place of Christ – the only begotten Son of God—perfect, sinless…If anyone had grounds to plead His will against the Father –Jesus stands alone on that privilege. What makes us entertain the notion for even a moment that we deserve, or know enough, or can see far enough ahead, or have enough merit in righteousness to say to God in word or deed, "Not your will, Father, not what you want for me or to happen in my life, not your will, but mine be done." God help us. Jesus said, "Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done." The same lesson is given to us in the Lord’s Prayer – "Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…" I don’t care what you heard some tv preacher tell you, or what you read in some book from a Christian bookstore – The believers of Acts chapter 4 are not praising under persecution because they planted their $100.00 seed of faith in the John the Baptist memorial prayer club! They are rejoicing, not under earthly prosperity, but under physical persecution! They are not praising because they took in 2 million dollars worth of pledges and built a building for Jesus. They are singing they are praising they are worshipping God because He is sovereign and in spite of all the bad stuff, they can see clearly God’s hand in it, over it, and under it! They have assumed the spiritual floating position—on their backs with their eyes fixed on heaven—in the middle of this angry sea with 100 foot waves crashing all around, tossing them around, rolling them over, and taking them under – and they rejoice by practicing Jesus even to the Father in heaven. Because they have trusted everything to Him completely, they are free to float on the Sea of God’s good will, unafraid of whatever shore they may wash up on; riding on the tide and the waves with anticipation of what lies ahead – in expectation of what God will do next – not to them or for them personally, but according to His will for the church and the Kingdom of God. Folks, that’s surrender. That’s a sanctified heart – completely severed from selfish prayers and anxiety –fully trusting in God for everything so that nothing robs us of giving all the glory and praise to Him; so that nothing steals our attention away from praying "Your will be done on earth, in my life, in my home, in my church, in my community…my country." Free to proclaim Jesus Christ, because we have nothing in this world that can be taken away. Our hearts are in heaven. Our focus is on Christ. What can they do to us? What can they take from us? So we are free to Praise God in our persecution, free to preach Jesus Christ and the power of life changing Grace, free to love and serve one another and all mankind – doing and saying and being just what Jesus would do.
The believers in Acts chapter 4 were not slaves to a "name and claim it" theology or an " earthly prosperity" or "health and wealth" theology. They were devoted to a "Practice Jesus" theology.
Don’t believe me?
Verse 29 and 30:
29. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
30. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
They didn’t pray, "Lord, give us a victory over the powers of darkness…Give the home office of the Sanhedrin to build a new Praise Tabernacle! Strike down your enemies so that they cannot afflict or torment your people…"
No! They prayed, "Your kingdom come, your will be done!" They prayed, "Enable us to be Jesus to everyone we meet!" They prayed, "Father, build your church and please, please, please put spiritual hammers in our hands and let us help!"
Listen to God’s word! "enable your servants to speak your words with great boldness!"
If you’re gonna speak with "great boldness", you hafta have three things:
A message
Someone to hear it
And a place to say it where it offends somebody.
So, the believers in Acts chapter 4, the model, ideal church of God prays. A Practicing church is a Praying Church. And what do they pray for? Health and wealth? Prosperity?
No!
They pray, "Lord, keep the faith alive in me. Let the Word of God live in me so that I have a message to share."
They pray, "Lord, send someone to me, or send me to someone. In your great divine will, arrange a meeting so I can share this message. And send them soon! It’s like a fire shut up in my bones! I can’t help speaking about what we’ve seen and heard! Lord, all these folks are getting tired of me…they’ve heard it all before! Send me to someone new!"
They pray, "Lord, send me someplace where I need the power of the Holy Spirit. Send me somewhere where I have to depend on you to give me the words and the boldness to say it. Send me where they don’t want me and don’t let me leave until they can’t get along without YOU. Let me offend somebody into the kingdom of God! Replace my fear of sharing the good news about grace with boldness in the face of those who sneer…those who laugh…those who throw stones at me…those who ignore me…those who make fun of me…those who just don’t get it."
But they don’t stop there. In verse 30 the push on…
"Stretch out your hand to heal, and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
"Lord, empower us to be Jesus to everyone we meet. Heal…multiply a widow’s oil or bread or fishes so she can eat…drive out evil spirits so Your spirit can reside within…Give sight to the blind! Give dancing legs to the lame! And if you’re looking for a hand to work through, since Jesus is sitting up there next to you….let it be mine. If your looking for a hand to wash the dirty bodies of the elderly and invalid, let it be mine. If you need a hand to hold the hand of someone who just can’t seem to get it right, take mine. If you need a hand to wrap around a grieving mother who’s just lost her son—take mine. If you need a hand to nail to a cross, so someone else will live; so that others will know that my Jesus is real and what He did in my heart is real - let it be mine."
They pray that God would enable them, empower them, equip them with every good gift and opportunity to do what is difficult…to do what is selfless…to do nothing less and nothing more than God’s will. A church that is a practicing church is a praying church – praying "Thy Kingdom come – Thy will be done."
And don’t you, strangely enough, God answers those kind of selfless, consecrated prayers. Because, as we see in verse 31, a practicing church is a Powerful Church.
"31. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."
God will empower a right heart.
God will empower a right heart.
God will empower a right heart.
A right heart is heart like Christ.
It is a serving heart
A sensitive heart.
A heart that seeks the opportunity to serve and to share God’s grace.
It is a praising heart
A heart that prays solely God’s will be done in everything.
It is a heart empowered by the Spirit of God to be pure and holy.
Only through this kind of heart can a believer met every human need just as Christ would do.
Are we ready to be a practicing church? Can we hang the sign out over the door? Believers: Jesus practitioners.
Do you think I’ve misrepresented the passage? Look down at verse 32. All the believers were one in heart and mind. Why? Because they all had the mind of Christ; a heart for the things of God. That is the only thing that will ever unite men in this world! Look around, you don’t have to be a sociologist to figure it out. Men cannot agree for the cause of world peace. They can’t agree for the cause of Conservation. Only for the cause of Christ can men be united in heart and mind. That is a miracle in itself. It testifies to the power of God to change a man’s heart and life in a real way.
Verse 32 goes on to say "No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had."
Don’t think that this verse is disconnected from the rest of the passage. They only knew this kind of freedom from possessions, from material things because they freed themselves through Christ. Now they are free to love one another…to serve each other…to be totally separated from the world and connected to God because their hearts were selfless, sanctified hearts on fire for Jesus. They practiced Jesus by being a serving church, a proclaiming church, a persecuted church, a praising church, a praying church and an empowered church.
Make the prayer of the believers your prayer today. Claim it and make it your own. Take yourself to school through the Holy Spirit; let Him cleanse every selfish thing from your heart so that you can practice Jesus as only true believers do.
