In Acts 3-4, we see the story of the lame man sitting outside the temple. Peter and John pass by and instead of giving him money, they get him to walk. Much better.
As they enter the temple, the man is leaping and praising God. He is also clinging to those that reached out to him. And with the great thing that happened, enemies of Jesus are against it completely.
Here are some things to note about this proclaiming church:
As we continue our study in Acts, we come to the topic of the family church. While Acts 2:42-47 is descriptive in nature, it does have some activities in which all churches should emulate.
Here’s the description of what the Church looked like after Peter’s message at Pentecost:
Week 2 in our study of Acts and we come to see what the empowered Church looks like. What could happen when the Spirit of God radically changes lives in a congregation?
One of my mentors, Chuck Lawless, once taught me that the scary thing about many people is how much “ministry” they could actually do in their own power. Natural talents and gifts could be so visible that it appears that God is blessing something when in actuality, maybe it’s just worldly success. It could be simple influence.
I don’t want to settle for influence. I want the Spirit of God.
I’m teaching through the Book of Acts this semester. I’m not teaching at Lander this Spring, but I am teaching a survey of sorts. I’m teaching it in 3 places: 1) College group at our house on Wednesday nights, 2) worship team practices on Wednesday nights, and 3) this blog. I will be sharing some insights here weekly.
I’m teaching on Acts for a few different reasons: 1) it’s a book of the Bible, 2) it’s really good, 3) we are tragically neglecting the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and 4) I have never known such a time as then when Christians were more confused concerning what the Church really is.
We are clueless to what the Church really is.
In church, we want any change in you that happens to be change that lasts for a lifetime. If we can’t apply the message, we are wasting our time in learning the truths (James 1:22-25).
We don’t want to make shallow commitments. We want to start walking in this truth, and we want to be faithful for the long haul. Oftentimes, we get bogged down in our past mistakes or our shallow commitments. But God is more concerned with your future than your past.
Let’s learn from Peter’s example. His words and actions changed from time to time and reveal some of our own tendencies. Look at how quickly his words and actions change:
One of your children’s most beloved books in your home might soon be your high school yearbook. Your children know you as a responsible (or somewhat responsible) adult fully equipped with bills, a job, and a minivan, yet before they ever knew you, a lot of your life had already been lived. Seeing your extracurricular activities, fashion statements, and funny hairdos in your yearbook open up an entire new world to them concerning your life.
For many of you reading this article, you also became a Christian before your children were around. Even if you became a Christian later in life, your personal testimony is not information that they inherently receive. The greatest story you will ever tell your children will be God’s story of how he brought redemption to mankind. The 2nd greatest story will be how your story intersected with God’s story – the story of your salvation.
As your children grow, they will have different levels of doubt concerning the Christian faith. You might even experience a child arguing with you concerning your personal beliefs.
While they may resort to arguments, they can’t argue with results. One of the greatest ways to teach your children concerning salvation and walking with Christ is by sharing your personal testimony with them.
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