Weekly Rewind (Week 4)

Acts 2:42-47

Torry Campbell

This week Pastor Ken gave us a great word on Acts 2:42-47. He spoke about devotion, influence, and community. He was telling of spiritual growth and the importance of prayer and staying in the Word. We are able to grow spiritually through devotion as we surrender to God’s will. Staying devoted to prayer and the Word is crucial. It allows us to stand firm to the doctrine of God (Acts1:14). Christ tells us to “DIE” to self and submit to the will of God. We have Christ as the ultimate example of devotion. He came and lived a life completely devoted to the will of the Father. Ask yourself, are you willing to “die to self”? To submit to the will of the Father? To be sure, only through devotion is this even remotely possible. We will never meet Christ’s level but, we can achieve what God has planned for us. (Gal 2:20, Eph. 4:22-24, Luke 9:23-24).

The wonderful news is we were never intended to take this walk alone.

With the coming of the Holy Spirit, we have a Great Comforter (John 14:26). God has sent the Holy Spirit and intended His house to be built from “living stones,” (1Peter 2:4-8). It is the people of God with Christ as the cornerstone that make up the Church, not a building. This is why the early Church was willing to give all they had, as we see in Acts 2:45. Their concern was for one another. Something Pastor Ken said that stuck with me along those lines: “Together we are one body able to lift each other up and refrain from the trivial ways of the world.” As a “Body”, we are able to know the needs of one another. We need to be ready and willing to help.

If we live as Christ commands our community will see what God has done in our lives. We must not refrain from going out and preaching the Gospel or loving our neighbor. The question is, do we even know our neighbor? We should give as God has blessed us with. The stronger we are in Christ the stronger we can become in our community. We have been given this tremendous gift of the “GOOD NEWS”. It was never intended to be left with us, per Matt. 28:16-20. We must connect with others in our community. Just as the early church did. Helping them discover the love of Christ!!!!