First Church
Acts chapter one is packed with good stuff but here is what stuck our to me as I read it today. Verse 15 says Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty). This is the first church, 120 people in a room waiting for the first visit from the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to them in His resurrected body and met with them for forty days and then He told them to wait. This is the formula for building pure passion in your life. Just hang out with Christ and allow him to pour into you and then wait for direction from the Holy Spirit. These 120 people were the first church and we are Christ followers today because of their faithfulness. That causes me to wonder if the Lord tarries who will be following Him 2000 years from today because of what we did as a group of believers.
The other thing that jumped out of the chapter and into my face was verse 24. Lord you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen. That is a great way to pray. Lord you know our hearts, show us the way! What did God teach you from Acts 1?
4They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Verse 4 shows how passionately they were seeking the Lord’s will and direction. They would bind together in prayer, constantly. How much more should we do this than we are? Not a check off item for the day or the small group meeting….but really seek the Lord together as believers?
This is what struck a chord in my heart….
Thanks be to the Lord for the message He gives through you. And thanks be to you for allowing it!!
I learned about the gospel of Judas the other day which wasnt writen by him. It claimed that Jesus came to him and told him he must betray Christ to carry out God’s work. Hearing about his intestines and this field of blood in chapter 1 made me wonder about these accusations by the apostles. Did they not know what Judas and Christ knew or is this just another heresy?
What Acts 1-2 tells us, especially in light of Harrah Church core values, is that Passion = Proclamation. If you have the internal fire provided by the Holy Spirit, promoted by an intimate relationship with the living Jesus Christ, you can’t but help proclaim the risen Lord and life in him to others. That passion will not allow you, in all honesty, to have any excuse not to share Jesus with others.
My own lack of passion, my own lack of proclamation, is directly related to my lack of a vital, living relationship with Jesus. How about you?
Dustin its heresy. Here is a link for more information.
http://www.equip.org/articles/the-fictitious-gospel-of-judas-and-its-sensational-promotion
This chapter includes one of the directives that we, or should I say I, find most difficult. Wait. We are an impatient people today. If we get on our computer and it doesn’t work fast enough, we decide it’s time for an upgrade. We go to a restaurant, and if we have to wait for a table, we leave. I wonder if Jesus had told his followers that he would not come back for over two thousand years, would they have continued to follow? God knows our hearts; He knows our weakness; He knows our impatience.
verse 11 really hit home for me. “Why are you satnding here staring into heaven?” I feel like it is so easy to get comfortable in your walk with Christ and we need to be out spreading the word and taking every opportunity to reach those unbelievers. We need to reach those so they can experience this amazing love and share in all of God’s great blessings! We need to be active followers and not just stand here waiting.
Thanks for the site. This is some good stuff!
I wonder if Theopholis was a real person are a name for all believers.
These first chapters of Acts are a great challenge. I pray for the kind
of passion and power that possessed those early believers after the Holy
Spirit came upon them. Thanks for your challenging message last Sunday.
@jinger- me too. I stand around waiting for others to show me what to do, and he’s already told us. The battle is already being fought and I find myself standing here looking at the sky, waiting sometimes.