BEING HIS CHURCH - Church Activities
Text: Acts 2:41-47
The Passion of the People
“They were continually
devoting themselves”
They had Religious Fervor
and Ardent Dedication
Footnotes:
Contrast TODAY: Little fervor, excitement, anticipation. Little sense of passion about worship or learning. Church for many is a duty, a habit that many wish they could break and would if they could avoid the sense of guilt.
The dedication to a church today is minimal. If you don’t like the music just go somewhere else. If you don’t like the pastor, just go somewhere else. If you don’t like a decision of the leaders, go somewhere else. There is little sense of being truly dedicated to a body of believers. Oh, there are those who may stay for years, while simply biding their time anticipating when they can leave and complaining in the meantime.
They say, “I’m going to leave if this happens, or when ‘xyz’ happens.” Where is the dedication to stay, serve, and be a part of what God is doing UNTIL GOD tells you to leave?
Devoted to certain activities
To the teaching of the Word
To genuine fellowship with one another
To meaningful worship
To the practice of prayer
To sacrificial giving and sharing
To caring for one another
To maintaining genuine unity
Footnotes:
These are the fundamental exercises of the New Testament Church.
Grade our church in these areas. How are we doing?
If you give our church poor grades, may I ask how devoted you are to these activities? You are the church!
Unity Expressed
Coming together with one mind
Sharing meals together in homes
Sincerely glad to spend time together
Praising God together
Having a positive reputation with the public
Footnotes:
John 17:20-23 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
Are you an agent of unity – or a conduit for disunity? Are you sharing encouragement – or complaints.
Are you showing grace and forgiveness, or criticism and judgment?
Are you focused on what you think is right, or are your judgments biblically based, and God-centered?
God's Activity
“The Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved”
Footnotes:
When a church is unified around Jesus and is fervently engaged in the activities of THE WORD / FELLOWSHIP / WORSHIP / PRAYER / GIVING / SHARING & CARING then God is most inclined to bring the lost to them. Love God and Love People, but always Love God, First and Most.