{"id":20549,"date":"2022-03-11T22:00:21","date_gmt":"2022-03-12T05:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts_2_29-36-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-03-01T23:13:35","modified_gmt":"2022-03-02T06:13:35","slug":"acts_2_37-47","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts_2_37-47\/","title":{"rendered":"The Way Church Is Meant to Be"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 2:37-47 \u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Acts 2:37-47.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Acts 2:37-41 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n37\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
\n38\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Peter 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.
\n39\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off–for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
\n40\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
\n41\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 37-41:\u00a0 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.\u00a0 What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Here are a few lessons I learn:<\/p>\n

1. When God\u2019s Word is preached well, the end result is that the hearer \u00a0is \u201ccut to the heart\u201d (v37) \u2013 i.e. touched, impacted and convicted in a way that leads them to want to follow Jesus.\u00a0 Speaking of cutting to the heart, that\u2019s why Hebrews 4:12 describes the word of God as \u201cliving and active, sharper than any double edged sword, dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0When God\u2019s Word is preached well, the<\/strong>\u00a0result is not just information but transformation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2. Notice that these new believers got baptized on the same day that they put their faith in Jesus.\u00a0 You\u2019ll find this to be the pattern in Acts: believe in Jesus and get baptized the same day to declare that faith.\u00a0 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?\u00a0 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.\u00a0\u00a0Baptism is not a graduation but a beginning, the next step to take after placing your faith in Jesus.<\/strong>\u00a0 As Jesus says in Mark 16:16, \u201cWhoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.\u201d\u00a0 Are you interested in getting baptized?\u00a0 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:\u00a0https:\/\/mythrive.info\/baptism<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Prior to this moment, Peter was more famous for his mistakes and failures than for his successes.\u00a0 Imagine if Peter had given up after any one of those failures?\u00a0 He would have missed the incredible ways that God would use him to lead people to Jesus in Acts 2 and beyond.\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t \u00a0let past failures, setbacks and mistakes hold you back.\u00a0 Instead of treating past failures as your gravestone marking your death, see them as a stepping stone to your destiny.\u00a0 God is using your past, even the parts you\u2019re not proud of, to prepare you for something greater in the future.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n42\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
\n43\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
\n44\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0All the believers were together and had everything in common.
\n45\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
\n46\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
\n47\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 42-47:\u00a0 All of the amazing things that the early church experienced \u2013 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) \u2013 all of these were the result of verse 42:\u00a0 \u201cThey devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.\u201d\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t 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 \u201cdevoted\u201d (v42) to their church family: following their leaders (\u201cthe apostles\u2019 teaching\u201d), committed to meeting with one another (\u201cthe fellowship\u201d), remembering what Jesus Christ did through observing communion (\u201cthe breaking of bread\u201d), and praying together.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

You weren\u2019t 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. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also,\u00a0if 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.<\/strong>\u00a0 If we would be committed to following our leaders\u2019 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 \u2013 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 \u2013 will not just be something we read about, but something we experience for ourselves.<\/p>\n

Father, thank You that there is nothing more beautiful than Your church when it is running on all cylinders.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Acts 2:37-47.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Acts 2:37-41 (NIV)
\n37\u00a0\u00a0When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
\n38\u00a0\u00a0Peter 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.
\n39\u00a0\u00a0The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off–for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
\n40\u00a0\u00a0With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
\n41\u00a0\u00a0Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 37-41:\u00a0 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.\u00a0 What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Here are a few lessons I learn:
\n\u00a0
\n1. When God\u2019s Word is preached well, the end result is that the hearer \u00a0is \u201ccut to the heart\u201d (v37) \u2013 i.e. touched, impacted and convicted in a way that leads them to want to follow Jesus.\u00a0 Speaking of cutting to the heart, that\u2019s why Hebrews 4:12 describes the word of God as \u201cliving and active, sharper than any double edged sword, dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0When God\u2019s Word is preached well, the\u00a0result is not just information but transformation.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20551,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20549"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20552,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20549\/revisions\/20552"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}