Follow-up to May 1st teaching part 2

The first thing we learned Sunday is that the church of Acts (the 120) received power when they were baptized with the Holy Spirit. It was through the power and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that Peter stood up and proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ. The 3,000 who got saved, responded not to Peter, but the working of the Holy Spirit through Peter.

The pastor is just an individual who is called by God and hopefully filled with the Holy Spirit. Do you want to see God doing mighty things in your church family?  Pray for the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon them daily. Pray for their protection and wisdom as they deal with the issues in their own life as well as the life of the church family.

Notice again in Acts 2:47 that it was the Lord who was adding daily to the church those who were being saved. It wasn’t the Apostles. It was the Lord who was doing the work, but it was being done through those whom He saved.

The church in Acts was not following a formula, but they were doing things that allowed for growth to happen in their own lives, thus allowing them to be vessels that God could use to reach the people around them.

All of us have heard over the years that the key to good health is eating right and exercising. One of our brothers in the church has recently been dealing with intense pain in his lower back that has made it hard to stand, sit, lie down without pain. He was sharing today that for the past 3 months he was away from home; he had not done his daily stretches. He believes this is what allowed for the problem in his back to occur. It wasn’t the lack of stretching that caused the problem, but it made it easier for the problem to occur.

What were the believers doing at this time that allowed for the church to be effective and fruitful? Let’s take a look.

We are told in Acts 2:42 that they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. No one told them they had to do these things. They wanted to do them. They had a hunger to learn the word of God. They wanted to share their life with other believers. They wanted to pray with other believers.

Make a commitment to spend time with Jesus every day in His word. Don’t read the Bible to simply obtain knowledge. Read it so that you may draw closer to Him each day.

Develop a healthy prayer life that goes beyond the quick prayers that we often offer. Though we should be praying throughout the day. Make a commitment to spend time with Jesus in prayer. I want to strongly encourage you, if your church has a time for corporate prayer, that you join with them.

Everyone has busy lives. Ask the Lord to show you how you can connect with others in your church family. There may be some who are unable to attend in-person service. Set aside time to meet with them and encourage them. You may like to cook. Invite others to your home to share a meal with you. Maybe it is getting together with someone from the church for coffee.

The church in Acts was effective, fruitful and growing because they received power from the Holy Spirit. But they used that power to minister to one another and to the lost.

If you want to see your church grow, be like the believers in Acts. Devote yourself to learning the word of God and living it out. Devote yourself to prayer including praying with other believers. Devote yourself to fellowship. Connect with your brothers and sisters in Christ wherever and whenever you can.

If you will do these things. If you will walk in the Spirit each day, then you will be contributing to the effectiveness and fruitfulness and growth of your church family.