Acts 2:37-47 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Acts 2:37-47. Let’s go!
Acts 2:37-41 (NIV)
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?”
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.”
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.
On verses 37-41: God uses Peter and his sermon to lead approximately 3,000 new believers to faith in Jesus and to get baptized that day, an incredible move of God. What can we learn from this? Here are a few lessons I learn:
1. When God’s Word is preached well, the end result is that the hearer is “cut to the heart” (v37) – i.e. touched, impacted and convicted in a way that leads them to want to follow Jesus. Speaking of cutting to the heart, that’s why Hebrews 4:12 describes the word of God as “living and active, sharper than any double edged sword, dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” When God’s Word is preached well, the result is not just information but transformation.
2. Notice that these new believers got baptized on the same day that they put their faith in Jesus. You’ll find this to be the pattern in Acts: believe in Jesus and get baptized the same day to declare that faith. If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, rose again and is alive today, but you have not yet been baptized, what are you waiting for? Baptism was never meant to be declaration that you have no more questions or doubts, but simply a declaration that you need a Saviour and His name is Jesus. Baptism is not a graduation but a beginning, the next step to take after placing your faith in Jesus. As Jesus says in Mark 16:16, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Are you interested in getting baptized? Sign up here for more information on baptism and to attend our short baptism class which explains in more detail the meaning and importance of baptism: https://mythrive.
3. Prior to this moment, Peter was more famous for his mistakes and failures than for his successes. Imagine if Peter had given up after any one of those failures? He would have missed the incredible ways that God would use him to lead people to Jesus in Acts 2 and beyond. Don’t let past failures, setbacks and mistakes hold you back. Instead of treating past failures as your gravestone marking your death, see them as a stepping stone to your destiny. God is using your past, even the parts you’re not proud of, to prepare you for something greater in the future.
Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)
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.
On verses 42-47: All of the amazing things that the early church experienced – the sense of gratitude and awe (v43a), the wonders and miracles (v43b), the unity with one another (v44), the sacrificial giving for the needs of others (v45), the joy and gladness of community (v46), the praise to God, the favour of the people, and the daily adding of new believers (v47) – all of these were the result of verse 42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” It wasn’t just the Holy Spirit working on His own, but it was these Christians intentionally making room for the Holy Spirit to work by being incredibly “devoted” (v42) to their church family: following their leaders (“the apostles’ teaching”), committed to meeting with one another (“the fellowship”), remembering what Jesus Christ did through observing communion (“the breaking of bread”), and praying together.
What can we learn from this?
You weren’t made to be on your own as a Christian, but you were meant to thrive in Christian community as a committed part of a local church body.
Also, if you and I and everyone in our church family would be committed to the same 4 things that these early Christians in Acts 2 were committed to, I believe we will see the Holy Spirit move so powerfully in our lives and our church community. If we would be committed to following our leaders’ teaching, meeting together regularly, remembering what Jesus Christ has done for us through communion and praying together, God will do incredible things by His Holy Spirit working in us, and the great blessings we read about in Acts 2 – the sense of gratitude and awe, the wonders and miracles, the unity, the sacrificial giving, the community impact, the joy and gladness of being together, the praise to God, the favour of the people, and the daily adding of new believers – will not just be something we read about, but something we experience for ourselves.
Father, thank You that there is nothing more beautiful than Your church when it is running on all cylinders. I pray that I and every person reading this GAME sharing would be a devoted member of their church family and that together we would see You do, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, things in our day that You are just as amazing as what You did in Acts 2. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
