First Signs of Growth - Living a Devoted Life
Acts 2:38-end
Introduction
Setting:
- Pentecost
- Peter’s sermon
- Promise of the Holy Spirit to all people
- Sons & daughters prophesy
- Young men see visions
- Old men dream dreams
- Male & female servants prophesy
- V.36 let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord & Christ
- Response – “What shall we do” (v.37)
Peter calls on them to:
- Repent – this was message of John the Baptist & Jesus
- Be baptised
- In the name of Jesus Christ
- For remission/forgiveness of sins – not that it effects it but is symbolic of it
- You shall receive the Holy Spirit
- 2 gifts: forgiveness & the Holy Spirit
- Joel prophecy coming true in their hearing – the gift of the Holy Spirit
- To you
- Your children
- All who are far off
- As many as the Lord our God will call
- Be saved from this perverse/corrupt generation
Result: 3,000 became Christians that day – impressive growth.
Making Disciples
Imagine the apostles first response – what do we do now with all these people?
Devoted themselves to:
- Sound doctrine
- Devoted themselves to the apostles teaching – now found for us in the bible
- Uniformity of belief about the person of Jesus very important
- Based on eye witness accounts
- Fellowship
- Greek = sharing of lives
- “Breaking of bread”
- Importance of shared communion
- Discipline of prayer
- Corporate prayers essential feature of Christian discipleship, as well as private
Signs and wonders validated the apostles leadership and teaching (v.43)
Early Christian life:
- Together/united
- “One in heart and mind” (4:32)
- Had everything in common – shared life in every respect
- Use their material resources to help one another in need
- Daily prayers in the Temple courts – they were good Jews
- Breaking of bread in one another homes – Christian worship begins in their homes as they gathered together
- Eating together in gladness and sincerity of heart
- Praising God
- Having favour of all the people
Result: The Lord added to their numbers (to the church) daily · those who are being saved
Application
What was happening, causing this church growth?
· Running Alpha?
· Visiting door to door?
Not so much an evangelistic outreach as living out their new life as brothers and sister in Christ.
· Devoted to truth
· Devoted to Jesus
· Devoted to worship
· Devoted to prayer
· Devoted to one another
o Fellowship
o Support
And it was God who made the church grow!
What are we missing?
Has God changed?
If not God – who?
I believe that word “devoted” is significant. It means:
· Committed to
· Set apart for
· Dedicated to
· NKJV – continued steadfastly
The early Christians continued steadfastly in their commitment to:
· Truth
· Jesus
· Worship
· Prayer
· One another
Could it be that when we are similarly devoted we will see the similar consequences?
When I examine my own life I recognise how feeble my devotion is and - I can’t help thinking I am not so different to everyone else.
· We long to see the signs and wonders we read of in the Acts of the Apostles
· We long to see the transformation of our society and our world
· We long to see people come to faith in Jesus
But we must first long for each one of us to be devoted to Jesus; to worship; to prayer; to truth and to one another. Not giving lip service, but giving total service to the Lord who calls and saves us.
What would that look like in your life this week?
For the first Christians it meant:
read Acts 2:42-47
The example of the early church is as much a challenge to me as it may be to you – and I want to put it into very concrete terms.
Will you recommit yourself, or as in this passage, devote yourself, today, to Jesus, as demonstrated in the 5 things we have seen in the early church?
1. Devoted in a discipline of consistent, regular, daily prayer
2. Devoted and faithful in diligent learning of the truth of the gospel through regular reading of the word of God.
3. Devoted through regular and faithful attendance at corporate worship and prayer
4. Devoted in deepening of your fellowship with believers through regular attendance at your Small Group, meeting in one another’s homes – or joining one if you are not in one!
5. Devoted through sacrificially serving the needs of your fellow believers and others through the use of your resources of money and time.
Will you do that?
Maybe, just maybe, when these things characterize our lives and our church, the Lord will add to our number daily those he is saving.
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