AC 2:36 "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you
crucified, both Lord and Christ."
AC 2:37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and
the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
AC 2:38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the
Lord our God will call."
AC 2:40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save
yourselves from this corrupt generation." 41 Those who accepted his message were
baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
AC 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and
miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had
everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he
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.
Can You Imagine 3,000 people being saved in one day, in one place, in one service?
That’s over half of Clarksville!
That’s what Revival can do to a people. That’s what a group of Spirit Filled,
Spirit led, Spirit Powered people can be used by God to accomplish for His Glory.
Do You want to experience something like that?
Does Your Heart Ache to see such an outpouring of God’s Spirit that People’s lives are
changed and People are saved?
My heart aches for a glimpse, for a taste of what that Day of Pentecost was all about.
And you know what, I have Hope that we will experience it, here, in our church, in our
town, in our own families, with our own friends, with our neighbors. I have Hope because
I know what God can do. And I pray for that breakthrough.
This morning I want you to know that it wasn’t by chance that those people were saved, it
wasn’t a case of being at the right place at the right time. The reason it happened was
because God’s people were doing what God wanted them to do. They were praying.
What were they Praying for? They were praying for the promised Comforter that Jesus
had said he would send. They were praying for the Holy Spirit.
You see Jesus knew that these 120 or so disciples and followers did not have the ability,
they didn’t have the knowledge, they didn’t have the courage, they didn’t have anything
within thier own power to accomplish God’s Will in the world. They may have been
devoted followers, but they would be lost with out the Power of the Holy Spirit in their
lives.
Can I tell you something this morning?
That hasn’t changed in the last 2000 years. If you don’t have the power, that resurrection
power that we celebrated last week, if you are living your life, even a Christian life without
the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, you will not live a satisfying Christian life.
Let me explain.
God’s plan for our lives is not to just to be a lump on the log. Did your parents
ever use that expression? God hasn’t called us to a life of vegetation... a life of just using
up space and oxygen.
My friends His plans for you as a Christian is a plan of action, it’s a plan of a
person who Loves God and People so much that they can do nothing but act.
His plan for us as Christian is MAKE AN IMPACT, using our God given gifts,
and abilities, working together as a Team, Forcing the Light Of God into the Darkness all
around us.
My Friends, We can sit around all day and talk about how Dark it is all over..... but
My Friends, Don’t be afraid, Don’t be dismayed, Don’t be discouraged, We Are The Light
that Shines In the Darkness through Christ Who Lives and Reigns in Us. Amen!
This morning I want you to understand that what God did on the Day of Pentecost was
not a one time deal. God wants to pour out His Spirit today into us and use us the same
way he used the early Church, the truth is we have to believe that it can still happen,
because we have not seen it, and the truth is we have a hard time believing anything we
haven’t seen before. Is that a fair statement?
I want to ask you a Question this morning........ It’s a simple question, but your answer is
so important to our Future. What Kind of Church Will We Be?
This early Church, this group of people at some point decided that they were going to be
obedient to what Jesus had asked of them, which was to wait on Him to send his gift, and
then to carry out His Great Commission. At some point, everyone that was up in that
room decided that What Jesus stood for, What Jesus had taught them was the most
important thing in their life. They made a choice of what they were going to value in this
life.
They choose to be obedient to God, and that was the one constant value or belief that was
holding this group together when God poured out his Spirit upon them.
When they came down from that upper room, they were the same people, but they were
being led by the very Spirit of God, and they continued to be true to their belief that this
Cause that Jesus had died for, was real, and that Jesus was worth living for, in fact He was
worth dying for.
These people became so convince of this belief, that it colored everything else in life.
Everything in thier life fell under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. They were committed.
They were sold out for Jesus.
I’ve read the Scripture to you, you know what happened. Peter, under the influence if you
will, under the influence and the power of the Holy Spirit, spoke with passion to these that
were there, he told them about Jesus, and how they had crucified an innocent man who
was the Son of God. He told them that Jesus didn’t stay in the grave though, and that
now they could be forgiven for thier sins if they would only repent and follow Jesus with
their whole heart. What happened?
3000 people were added to the church that day. 3000 people. Is your Faith Big enough
for 3000 people? Why not?
How Big is your Belief in Jesus?
What Kind of Church Will We Be?
The answer to that is all wrapped up in the size of your Belief in Jesus.
Is Jesus isn’t Everything, then it’s not enough. If your Faith in Him is only good when
things are going your way, then it’s not good enough.
This Early Church was committed to some Core Values that they believed in, and they
practiced. We find them right in our Scripture this morning. Look at v.42
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Very quickly, there are Four things right here in this verse that it says they were
devoted to. They were committed to these things, in other words these things took
priority over other things that might try and get in the way. What were they?
1. They were devoted to the Apostles Teaching.
What were the Apostles teaching anyway? They were teaching the Bible, the Old
Testament, plus they were also teaching what Christ had taught them while He was with
them.
Our Application: I asked you, What Kind of Church Will We Be? I don’t know about
you but I want to follow the example of that Church that God blessed with 3000 new
converts on the first day, and then continued to add to their number daily. God was
blessing them because they were following His Plan.
So we can apply this to our lives, and to our Church. We must Be devoted to
God’s Word. As indivdule Christians we need to Read God’s Word, allow the Holy Spirit
to teach you and to encourage you as you read. As a Church, we are obligated to Preach,
and to Teach God’s Word. It is Central to everything we do. It is our foundation.
2. They were devoted to Fellowship -
This is important in the church, we need each other. The early church met in each other’s
homes everyday the Bible says for discipleship and fellowship. I’m not sure if you realized
this but do you know where this early church met?
They had no building, no multimillion dollor facility. They had some corporate
Worship in the Temple, in other words with everyone together, but for the most part,
church for them took place in someone’s home. We have missed this in the 21st Century.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when we say fellowship? Food right? But that
is the third thing they devoted themselves too, was the breaking of bread together. But
this fellowship was much more that chatting over a meal.
This fellowship had to do with sitting around a living room and sharing what God had
done for them that week. It involved accountability to one another, it involved praying for
one another. This was a fellowship that centered on talking about Jesus not the weather,
or the sports. This fellowship involved a bond between this small band of people that
could not be broken, it was a Family Bond. True Fellowship is uniting of souls through
Christ.
The third thing we find that they devoted themselves to was the Breaking of Bread
together. - Some would argue that this means taking communion together, others says it
means simply eating a meal together. The truth is it doesn’t matter which one of those is
meant, the idea is the same.
In Eastern Culture, when you have someone into your home for a meal, the relationship
takes on a whole new level of intimacy. They become a part of your household, they are
under your protection, you become responsible for their safety.
They devoted themselves to breaking bread together because they loved being with each
other, they also realized that Christ wants us to have this intimate relationship with our
Brothers and Sisters. A 24 hour friend.
The Forth item that the devoted themselves to was Prayer-
This is self explanatory for the Christian, Prayer is our number one option. To Know God
is to talk with Him.
For this early Church, these were some of their Core Values, the things that they devoted
themselves to do, everyday. It wasn’t a job to do, this was their life, it became who they
were.
Your Core Values are what determine what you do, how you behave, what you
say, how you act. We are going to learn more about that tonight, I invite you to come and
be apart of this exercise on Core Values.
What about Our Core Values? Are we devoted to God’s Word, to Fellowship, to
breaking bread together, to Prayer?
