Missions Paul

Acts 2: 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.

Dallas Willard says the joy we pursue is God’s joy and “it is his joy with no small element of outright hilarity in it.”
They ate with glad hearts.
The church was a happy church.
Are you happy? Is your church? It should be!
I’m not asking you if life is easy. I’m not suggesting you are free from problems.
But are you happy?
You must have the gladness of heart.
How can we fight the battles of the Lord if we are depressed and downbeat?
How can we be a light to the world if we do not shine?
How can we set the world on fire if we are dry and cold?
We cannot have a relationship with God and not have joy.
A joyless life is an unrevived life.
Today ask Jesus who broke the bread and looked up to heaven and gave thanks to give you His joy.
Today ask Jesus whose broken body on the cross was the fulfilment of the broken bread to give you the same joy that enabled him to endure it.
Today stop complaining and pick up joy. Don’t let anyone steal your gladness. Life’s too short!

Acts 2:45

“Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need”.

Slow this down and it dawns on you how remarkable this is. Selling what they had or what they could make not for themselves but for others, for anyone, to meet needs.
These were giving people.
Luke says ‘they gave’.
We don’t need more givers. We need more people with the spirit of generosity.
John Wesley lived on £28 pa as a student in the 1720s. When his income rose to £30 he gave £2 away. When it rose to £60 he lived in £28 and gave £32 away. When it rose to £90 he gave £62 away. From the sale of books alone he gave between £30-£40,000.
When he died he left £6, 6 silver spoons and 129,000 Methodists! That is the joy of effective generosity.
‘To anyone’. Such was their spirit of generosity that the criteria for giving was the need of a person. They may not have known who the person was, they could have been anyone. They just gave. Today, we need to know everything about who we are giving to and we need to have control of what our money is being used for. A lot of that is good as it has its roots in the fairness of charity money. But it sometimes fights against the spirit of generosity.
The church needs this to return for the need is plentiful.

Acts 2: 44

“All the believers were together and had everything in common”.

Unity is the very instrument through which the Spirit works:
Tim Keller

There is a lot of talk about unity from those who want everyone to fall into line.
Unity is a great banner when desiring to get one’s own way.
Unity can be at times no more than a silencer.
Sometimes it is only the leader who wants unity and then it’s because they want a quiet life.
And yet when unity flows naturally because of a greater good there is nothing more pleasant.
Unity is painful but when both parties are looking above, the pain is worth it.
If unity is a sign of the Spirits presence and work why do we insist on having our own way? Why do we rubbish people’s names and credibility? Why do we get bigger by making people smaller?
Unity is not all sitting in the same place at the same time doing the same things. But it is about being together in purpose, in action and in the vision.
Unity is finding what we have in common and making sure everything is done for that. It’s not rocket science but if the church has the church in common then unity will be difficult. It has to be Christ and Christ alone. Nothing else will ever bring everyone together having everything in common.

Acts 2:43
“Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles”.

Many young men and women offered to replace the Stams. One leader said “I personally know of hundreds of volunteers of all ages who gave their lives to the Lord for missionary service because of their death” A co-worker wrote to Betty’s parents “A life which had the longest span of years might not have been able to do 100th of the work for Christ which they have done in a day.”

Often awe (wonder) comes about because someone we know achieves or is involved in an activity that is beyond the natural understanding, it becomes outstanding.
For example, are many in the family of God who are suffering for their faith. Being in their presence I often have a sense of awe. They are still human but I have a huge respect for them for they teach me many things.
The Church needs to regain awe.
Here in the early church the awe (wonder) was of Christ. Their wonder of Him led to Him doing more wonders with them. That in itself is the miracle.
May we all have that sense of wonder of Jesus and may it never leave us.

Acts 2:42
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

They devoted themselves …
They attached themselves to, they persevered, they gave themselves to.
When the power of God comes …. There is devotion.

Will you be devoted?

John and Betty Stam in December 1934 were taken to the local prison where some of the prisoners were released to make room for the Stams. In the midst of it, Helen started crying, and a soldier suggested that they kill her, since she was only “in their way.” Then one of the prisoners who had just been released asked why they should kill the innocent baby. The soldiers turned to him asked him if he was a Christian, he denied this and then was asked if he was willing to die for the foreign baby. The man was hacked to pieces for Helen in front of the Stams’ eyes. Thus, Helen was allowed to live.
The next morning, they were forced to march 12 miles to the town of Miaosheo. They stopped for a night, and Betty was allowed to tend to Helen, but in fact hid her in the room inside a sleeping bag. The very next morning, John and Betty were being marched down the streets of Miaosheo to meet their death. Crowds lined both sides of the street. A Chinese shopkeeper stepped out of the crowd and talked to the communists, trying to persuade them not to kill the Stams. They ordered the man back into the crowd, but he wouldn’t step back. The soldiers then invaded his house where they found a Bible and hymnbook. He was then led alongside the Stams to be killed as well for being a Christian. After marching for a short while longer, John was ordered to kneel, and he was beheaded. Betty and the shopkeeper were killed moments later. The baby, Helen was found two days later by a Chinese pastor who took her home and took care of her.

They were devoted? Will you be?

Acts 2:41

Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

3,000 people signed up on that day. Why?

1. They understood the Church and what it was doing, v11.
2. They saw an imperfect man communicate effectively, v14.
3. They heard that behind everything lay God, v17-19.
4. They connected end-time stuff with present day reality, v18-20.
5. They were encouraged by whatever the mess there is a Saviour, v21.
6. They were challenged over the person of Christ, v21.
7. They were taken to the cross and the empty tomb, v23-24.
8. They applied the work of Christ into their present struggle, v25.
9. They desired the joy demonstrated to them, v28.
10. They were moved by confident persuasion, v29.
11. They were listening to witnesses not theorists, v32.
12. They positioned themselves to see the position of Christ,
13. They were cut by the convicting word, v36-37.
14. They saw the word was transferable to the next generation, v39.
15. They were warned, this was not a lightweight message, v40.

May the Church today present those 15 things and may we see a revival of 3,000 added in a day in one place to the kingdom of God!

Acts 2:40

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”

When was the last time you warned and pleaded with someone?
It would seem highly intrusive to warn anyone regarding their approach and belief in the person of Jesus.
To warn could bring division and to plead looks desperate.
But Peter somehow found the words. And he wasn’t brief. He used many words. Sometimes brief is the enemy. We need to take the time to state our case, to prove our point, to bring a persuasive argument that Jesus is the Son of God. To try and convince people that they don’t have to just survive this world we live in but they can save themselves by finding the Saviour.

Acts 2:39

The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

What a simple but incredible verse regarding the promise of the Holy Spirit!

Wherever you are today, you may be far away from Jerusalem where this promise was first made and you are certainly many generations on from that 1st century generation who first received the promise and yet: the promise of the Holy Spirit to you is the same as it was first given.

It doesn’t matter if you are “far off” you should receive like you are the “you” in “The promise is for you”.
The Holy Spirit with you is the same Holy Spirit that was with the first century generation church. Not a watered down, sanitised, all encompassing version of the Spirit. But the same. The unshakeable, confident, powerful and authoritative Holy Spirit is yours. He is with you now.
How incredible!

Acts 2: 38

Peter replied,
a) Repent
b) and be baptised,
c) every one of you,
d) in the name of Jesus Christ
e) for the forgiveness of your sins.
f) And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

a) To lower yourself down you must first turn around.
c) To lower yourself down is for all but you make the journey alone.
d) To lower yourself down makes His name known.
e) To lower yourself down will release a new divine identity.
f) To lower yourself down takes you to the place of receiving from above.
b) Lowering yourself down into baptism has many benefits.

Once baptised it is wise to continue the practice of lowering ourselves down.
Discipleship is not about being seen or being known or being up and on show.
Down is up.

Acts 2:37

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

At the beginning of Peter’s message the people were asking, “What does this mean?” At the end they asked, “What shall we do?”

Any sermon must take the hearer to the place of wanting to do something about what they have heard. For that to happen there needs to be a provocation of the heart.
Some sermons stimulate thoughts.
Others stimulate laughter. Still others stimulate impressive accolades for the oratory skill.
We need sermons which cut to the heart. Sermons that cause people to stop, to pause their journey, that reach into the centre of a person and their activity. A sermon that becomes everything. That demands a response. Where the only reply has to be “what shall we do?”