Acts: Early Church Devotion

Good morning. It's so good to have you with us this morning. So

glad you're here with us, worshiping with us in person and those and watching

online. We're glad that you're here. Have your Bibles turned with me to

Act Acts chapter two when we was starting in verse forty one, and just

a minute Acts Chapter two, starting to verse forty two, I'm sorry for

forty two. When I was in college at North Greenville and just this week

we're going, you'd be praying first students this week they're going. We're headed

to camp this week with twenty three of us all together for student camp at

North Greenville University. And that's where Brandi and I both went to school.

That's where Brandian and I both met. One day, I was leaving campus

and I always think I was headed to Greenville. North Greenville's right outside in

Tigerville, and I was headed into career or somewhere. And I was going

down this little street and one thing, I guess you know about your preachers,

you know, I kind of can get distracted. And so I was

going down this little two lane road a little distracted and I we were I

think we're bumper a bumper for traffic it was pretty slow, and I just

happened to look over to my left or something. I don't know. I

can't even I do not know at this point what even I looked over to

my left, but I know I looked over my left and looked up and

the car ahead of me had stopped. Well, they stopped way before I

was ready to stop, and I ran into the back of them, just

bumped them a little bit. Again, we weren't going by like ten twenty

miles an hour, and it was a four Taurus station wagon, you remember

those. And about that time I was driving. I don't remember what car

I was driving at that time. I think it was a little accurate.

But I got out of the car and I was like, oh no,

you first thing, go go look out the bumpers. If how much damage

it was wasn't even damage to the car. I think I had a little

license plate tag in front of my car, and the little you know,

the little license plate holder maybe put a little din in there. And about

that time Mama got out of the car, and about the time Sun got

out of the car, and about that time Grandmother, I mean, everybody

just unloaded out of the car and they came to the back of the car

and they were, you know my MoMA. I was like, you know,

you, you know, the car looks okay, are you hold my

neck? My neck hurt a little bit, I said, old, im

in trouble. And then I feel like I've got a little pressure in my

chest. I said, oh no, we're in trouble. And then Johnny

said, you hit my mama. You hit her, You hit her.

She was stopped and you ran right in back and her. I was like,

listen, you know, this is getting out of control. And then

by the time Grandpa comes out, he says, good thing, good and

good thing. It didn't happen last week. Last two weeks to go,

I had an open heart surgery. Starts unbutton his shirt to show me where

he had this. I said, listen, you can just keep that together.

And I'm glad that it happened last week either, And so you know,

we kind of got everything settled down. They said they didn't have any

damage. I didn't have any damages, and we went our own way.

I say that because I tell you that story, because really a lot of

times our life is a lot like that little bump up right. So many

times we in our life. We have the main task of what God's called

us to do, and that's before us laid out ahead of us. And

sometimes we kind of get a little distracted by things in this world. We

get distracted by other things that are happening around us, and sometimes we just

lose sight of the main thing. And with our distractions, we lose sight

of the main things and we end up finding ourselves and some accidents, we

end up finding ourselves in some messes that we didn't we should have never got

ourselves into. And the reason we got ourselves into it is because we lost

sight of the main thing. This morning, as we come to this passage

scripture, I think we the passage, the writers are telling us what was

the early church? What was the main thing for them? What were they

devoted to? What was they what were they committed to? And I hope

today as we u sometimes we get we lose sight or what is the main

church? As church members, what's the main thing for the church? Here

at Bethasda, And I pray today we look at and see what was our

early church really devoted to? What was really the main things for them?

Just to recap before we go in our Passages to day. We've been over

last week, we've been walking for last months. We've been working through the

Book of Acts, and we're in chapter two. And we looked at in

the beginning of chapter two, and the cost had come. It's fifty days

after the Passover, and there's m pilgrimage that all the Jews would make to

Jerusalem. They've come and and they're at Pentecosts. There are one hundred and

twenty believers. They gathered together to meet and worship. And there as they

gathered together, the Bible tells us the Holy Spirit came. Jesus had promised

before he ascended that the Holy Spirit would come, and just said Jesus promised,

holy Spirit came, and it spread light fire among all the believers.

All believers received the Holy Spirit, and all the believers, as they received

the Holy Spirit, spoken in languages and spoken languages that they did not know.

Norn languages, but languages they did not know themselves, and they all

begin speaking things about God in those languages. There were Jews were gathered in

Jerusalem at that time for that for a Pentecost, that festival or that u

And so they gathered together in Jerusalems for that, and they'd been get hearing

Scripture tells us of being hearing these other Jews speaking U and their language,

their native language is things of God. And so the Bible says they kind

of were drawn together where all these hundred and twenty believers were, and they

were hearing them speak in their native tongue. And the Bible tells us and

we focus a lot about this, and they asked two questions, really,

upon hearing the believers speak in tongues or speak in another language, what does

how can this be? How can they speak in these these other languages when

they're Galileans and they're not from where we're from. How can they do this?

How can this be? Bible says they were confused and amaze. And

the second question was what does this mean? What does this mean? Well,

we saw the latter part of chapter two was Peter's sermon, and Peter

spoke up and said, what what did this mean? And he explained what

that meant for the Holy Spirit, what it meant about who Jesus is.

And then last week we finish the sermon of Peter, of Peter calling them

to faith. He called them to put their faith in Jesus first Salvation and

the dest demonstrate their faith through what through repentance and through baptism. Now,

if you look at chapter two, verse forty one, it shows how this

sermon and then all this what happened, how it commenced, how it finished

in verse forty one. So those who received His world were baptized, and

they were added that day about three thousand souls. So the church and one

day went from one hundred and twenty to three thousand and twenty massive explosion of

the church. Well, as we come to verse forty two, this morning,

we're going to see what that early church. What were they committed to?

What were they devoted to? What was the main things for them?

And I pray today as we look at what this first church as it was

kind of the infancy stages of the early Church, what was foundational to them?

What was important to them? I pray today we would evaluate as us

as a church Bethesda and US church members as part of Bethesda, and you

would evaluate what is the main thing, what are we beat are we to

be devoted to? Total? My sermon is early church devotion. What was

the early church devoted to? And what should you as church members, and

what should we as a church, But as they be devoted to that we

might make it the main things. Amen. So let's stand together and let's

read God's Word together. Is that chapter two started at verse forty two.

When'll wead just a few verses here, and the Bible says, and they've

devoted themselves. There's that word, devoted themselves to apostles, teaching and the

fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and prayers. And all came upon

every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles,

and all who believe were together and had everything in common, and they were

selling their possessions belonging and distributing to the proceeds to all as any had need.

And day by day attending the temple together, breaking the bread in their

homes, they received their food with im glad and generous hearts, praising God

and having favor with all people. And the Lord added to their number day

by day, those who were being saved. Let's pray together, Father,

I thank you Lord for this morning, thank you for the gathering of your

body today in person, and those are watching online and on TV, and

I pray today that this message, Lord, would Lord, or be a

reminder to us to get back to the things, back to the basics,

back suit what Lord you've called us to be devoted to. Lord, I

pray you'd forgive us in the ways that we've gotten distracted or have gotten off

course, I've lost focus on what you've called us to be devoted to.

So Lord, lead us to your word today. I pray as we gather

together as a believer, we ask Father, you might meet us in this

place, that you might feel this place, that you might speak through me.

Lord. You know I'm a sinner. Lord, you know I am

weak. Lord, you know I am frail. Lord, you know how

much I need you. Today, said Lord, may you feel me that

you might pour me out. And Lord, Today, as the hearers hear

your message, Lord, I pray they'd be moved by your spirit, moved

by your word. And God, I pray you leave them to how they

apply these truths to their lives, and Lord, that they would live in

obedience to that word. So Lord, lead us through this time of service

worship today and the studying of your word. In your name, we pray,

Amen, you may be seated if you go to the verse forty two.

Now let's go to what happens here and they So they there was a

pronoun. Who's the day they're talking about? The day is the early church?

Right? They is the three thousands of souls that were added to the

church. Right, So that is who they is. What did they do?

And the church devoted themselves to the Apostle's teaching, as we see in

this pastor scripture, it was kind of a two part devotion that we see.

We see this word devoted. This term devoted is the idea of persistence,

persevering in something, something, being committed to something, being devoted to

something. Something. Term we use is it's the it's the idea of having

an ongoing devotion to something. Now, I'll give you an example. I

am a New York Mets fan. Most of y'all know that I've been a

Mets fan since I was nine years old. Nineteen eighty six, and Mets

won the World Series. That's the last time that they've won a World Series.

I just have to say, but even though I have not won a

World Series, then that is still my team. I have Mets T shirts,

I have I listened to the girls have to endure watching a Mets game

almost every day during baseball season. I watched every game, win or lose.

This is a terrible season. And as much as I want to throw

in the towel, I will always be a Mets fan. I love the

Mets, and so I continue. So I'm I tell you that because I'm

devoted. Right since nine years old, I've watched them, I have followed

them. I've you know, I've had their baseball cards. You know,

I followed them and devoted up and down, good or bad. Yeah,

I'm devoted to the Mets. That's the imagery of devotion. Here is something

to be committed, something to persevered, to persist in something, a commitment,

And that's the immagery here. These three thousand were prayer severed in something,

they were persistent in something. Well, while was it that they persisted

in? Was it being a Met fan? No, it wasn't. What

was it? What were they devoted to? Well? Verse forty two really

gives us very clearly here. It gives us what they were persisted in or

persistent in, a persevere in. I think that's very important for you to

hear. Number one. The very first thing that they were devoted to was

a teaching of God's word. Very first thing. Okay, just think in

your mind, foundationally, the very first church ever ever, what were they

devoted to? The very first thing that they were devoted to was a teaching

of God's Word. What was it? Foundational? You say to me,

pastor, what should be the foundational element of Bethasta Baptist Church. If it's

going to model what the first church was modeled after, then the very first

thing that Bethista should be devoted to would be the teaching of God's work.

Foundationally, at the very basics of who the church is, it should be

a commitment to the teaching of God's Word. That's what they were committed to.

I think it's important to remind you that here's you know, scriptures telled

us as church has gone from one hundred twenty to three thousand, and you

can imagine can you imagine we're you know, I don't know how many is

in this room today or watching onlines, probably around one hundred and twenty or

so on campus on hundred, maybe hundred twenty, one hundred and fifty or

so all together, and can you imagine next week we grow from one hundred

and twenty to three thousand. Now imagine that. Now you can imagine one

hundred twenty two hund three thousand. We're gonna think, Oh, we gotta

think of what we're gonna do with parking, right, We've got we gotta

think about what we're gonna do to space. We gotta think about how we're

gonna meet these different needs, what kind of Bible stations we're gonna have,

what kind of different things we're gonna do, what we do well, we're

gonna do to keep them. You can think about what we're gonna do with

music. You can think about what we're gonna do with the children, what

we're gonna do with youth, what we're gonna do with senior adults, what

we're gonna do with all those different things, and all those things are very

very important, right, But for the early Church, the foundational thing for

them going forward was what the teaching of God's word. The growth did not

distract them from the main thing. You hear that the main thing was the

Word of God, And why well, why is that so foundational? Because

Jesus told them that in Matthew twenty eight sixteen through twenty Right now, the

eleven Disciples went to Galilee on the mountain, which Jesus a dread to them.

And when they saw him, they worshiped him. But some doubted,

and Jesus came to them, came to them and said to them, came

and said to them, our authority in heaven on earth has been given to

me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nation bad times, baptizing them

in the name of the Father's Son of the Holy Spirit. And what secondly,

teach them to observe all that I've commanded you. But hold I'm with

you always to the end of age. That was Jesus commissioned to this last

disciples just before he just before he ascended. Right, we know that,

and we know that that great commission is what we entitle. It is what

to go? You therefore right to go, and what baptize they? They've

done that, right, they've now in Jerusalem, they've gone, They've shared

the gospel. Peter has done that. And now what people are being baptized.

Now what's the next part? What teach them? So here it is

you know, you come up and imagine that. Okay, Peter and the

type was got together, said, man, what are we going to do?

We've got three thousand souls. Now, what what are we to do

now with all these people we have? And someone probably saying you, well,

what did Jesus tell us? Jesus told us to go? Jesus told

us to baptize. Oh. Oh, he told us to teach them.

That's the main thing. And so the reason that for you're beginning here,

they're devoted to the teaching of God's Word because that's what it was primary for

Jesus's primarily Jesus taught them to do. It was primary for the early church.

And hear me today, don't don't miss this. It's to be primary

for you. It's to be primary for our church. You say to me,

as a believer and as of a follower Jesus Christ, what should be

the main thing in my life? Devotion to the Word of God. Heard

of a man there was a book, a man who wrote a book.

His name is evangelist is Robert L. Summers or Sumner. He wrote a

book called The Wonders of God's Word. He told a story about a man

He was in an accident in Kansas City. It was an explosion and then

the explosion his face was dismembered. And he lost both hands. The biggest

disappointment to him after that tragedy is that he was a new Christian and he

can no longer read the Bible. And so he heard not long after that

he heard about a lady in England who learned to read the Bible with Breil

Umbrell with her with her lips. He had no hands, his face was

dismembered. But he heard about this lady who could read the Bible with her

lips. So he reached out, got some books, got some books of

the Bible Umbrel. But the mussage his discouragement. He discovered that his um,

the nerve endings in his lip, had been destroyed in the explosion.

He could not read the Bible with his lips. One day he brought one

of the pages of Breil up to his lips, trying to see if he

could feel it, And then just so happened, his tongue touched those raised

characters, and he realized that he could not read them with his lips,

but he could fill them with his tongue. And a flash of thought came

to him, I can read the Bible using my tongue. And that man

began reading the Bible with his tongue, and after a few short times,

maybe a few short years, he had read the Bible four times with his

tongue, a new believer who had a hunger for the teaching of God's Word.

Well, I ask you very simply today as we come to this message,

we talk about getting distracted off what we should be devoted to as you

as an individual, as church member, and we as a church. Where's

your devotion to God's word? What's your devotion to God's Word? I think

there's so many different things in our life that we can be devoted to and

can be good things, but are just distraction. I heard of statistics the

other day that really just has struck struck me and I can't get them kind

of out of my mind. Since at the doctor Sheryl, and I'll tell

you a little bit about him later. He's serving as interims of our academy

now, and he told me that statistics have showed him. And I'm quoting

him, but I didn't write these things, so I could have some of

this wrong. Forgive me if it's not quite accurate. But he explained that

an average child spends forty hours a week face to face with a teacher.

Okay, you think about it. They're in school eight hours a day,

forty hours a week roughly they spend in front of a teacher on average.

A week, that same child, statistic tells us, will spend roughly seven

hours a week face to face with their parents. Time they get home,

they do their school work, they have other things. Actually be one on

one face to face with parents. On average, statists that tells us around

seventy eight hours that they are face to face with their parents. And I

think about that. The same child will spend maybe two to three hours a

week in church, all right, to three hours face to face in church

hearing the word of God. Statistic tells us that that same child will spend

eighteen hours a week on a screen watching something. So the greatest thing that

they're being in contact with in a week is what they're teachers. It's forty

hours a week. What's the second greatest they're screens. Now, I tell

you that only to say we're growing up a generation after us, right that

the greatest thing they're devoted to is beyond their school. They have to do

that or they'll go I don't know, trouble. But the greatest thing beyond

that is what what they're devoted to on their screens. And I tell you

one of the greatest things that we can do for our children listen to his

parents and grandparents and church members. It's teach them to how to be devoted

to the God's and that starts in us modeling that as parents and as grandparents.

We can't tell our children to read their Bibles if we're not reading our

Bibles. You hear me. We can't tell our children to be devoted to

church if we're not devoted to church. You hear me. It starts with

our commitment as parents, as grandparents, as leaders in this church that we

ourselves are devoted to the teaching of God's Word, and we're devoted to in

our personal lives as well. I tell you we live in a day more

than ever that we have lost sight or we have gotten distracted by things in

our world, and we've lost the importance of being devoted to the teaching of

God's Word. The early Church was devoted to teaching of God's words. Secondly,

they were devoted fellowship. This is really important. Look at the scripture

because I want you to see this. This is not Jonathan's ideas or whatever.

This is what God's word says, right verse forty two. And they

were devoted right themselves the church. And it gives in the sentence, it

gives two different things. They were devoted to, first to the apostle's teaching,

right, the second thing and the fellowship. The fellowship. You say,

pastor, what is the second most important thing that we that I do

as a church member, as a believer in Jesus Christ. What's this the

second most important thing for the early church? It was fellowship. It was

fellowship, and that is the idea of gathering together as being devoted to one

another. This word fellowship is the word corneia, like we have the ideal

of corneagree because corneo and the idea is She's seventeen times a New Testament.

It means fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation. It has

the idea of sharing, participating with something. It's fellowship is intimacy, it's

being together. And we see this imagery in this passage scripture that they were

committed to the fellowship of being with the body. It's important for them.

So the second part of being devoted, being devoted to the teaching of God's

word. But second is being devoted to fellowship. Kind of two aspects of

their fellowship. And we see this guy's passage kind of unfolds. He kind

of describes this in a little bit more detail. Look at the passage and

to the fellowship, and here he describes the fellowship to the breaking of bread

and prayer. So what a fellowship looked like? It was a meal?

The bread there is the Lord's suppers communion of having a meal together. We

know that one part of their coming together, it was being together, coming

together over meal, having a meal. That was a core part. Now

we're Southern Baptist, we know how to have a meal together. Right.

Grandpa told me I couldn't be a good Baddist preacher if I didn't like fried

chicken. Right, And so we know the ports of coming together and having

a meal together, and so other Baptist churches are great of having a meal.

But what was the other part of their gap coming together? A prayer?

A prayer was important part of their fellowship. You can see that in

verse forty two. You can see that to the breaking of bread and prayers.

You could see the imagery of the meal in verse forty six, and

day by day they attend to temple together and the breaking of bread, and

their homes they received food with gladness and generous hearts. This idea of coming

together. You know, I think it's important for us to understand it was

very important for a little church to be together, the fellowship over a meal

together, the fellowship over prayer. You know, it's important to have Bible

teaching and to be able committed to that, but it's important part of coming

together. Mirrored Eckerson wrote as some theology book, and this is what he

said about fellowship Christianity, listen to This is a corporate matter and the Christian

life can be fully realized only in relationship to others. Say that again,

Christianity is what a corporate matter, and the Christian life can be fully realized

only in relationship with others. And that is right, isn't it? Being

a believer in Jesus Christ is not to be done in isolation on an island

to yourself, like so many church people are not church people. So many

people in that I've met through my ministry in twenty years plus years. You'll

meet someone and they were once a church member. Used to go to church,

and they said they made a decision for Christ. But they I have

been to church in twenty years. And you talk to them and says,

well, well, you know, I know you used to go to church

when you were a kid with your parents and stuff, and you've may have

made decision, but you have been to church in a while. Well I

don't I don't need. I don't need the church to be a Christian.

But that's just not so. According to the Word of God. Scripture tells

us we are not to forstate the gathering of the assembly period. We don't.

We don't get to take that passage out of the Bible. We don't

get to take a passage like this out of the Bible that were devoted to

the fellowship of one another. Right, it's important. I like what Mark

Dever says in his book called Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. The most

fundamental duty of Christians have in a relationship to congregation is the duty to regularly

attend the gatherings of the congregation. He's right, isn't it? The most

fundamental activity for you as a church member, or you as a believer in

Jesus Christ, is to regularly attend church simple. It's very important. It's

interesting that this is such a foundational principle. How often do we just seemlinely

neglect what is so foundational Personally in our devotional life. We're not devoted to

the Word of God like we should And secondly, let's just be honest,

we're not devoted to church like we should be. We allow any and every

distraction to get us away from being together. And we see that. And

primarily one of the greatest illustrations is this is what's happened since COVID. Right

COVID came and we weren't able to have gatherings together. We all went online

for a month's time, and then we slowly went back into person and since

then we lost twenty to thirty percent of our congregation in any of still today.

And what I say this to all love for those who are watching online.

So many today are still neglecting the gathering of the church for the sake

of watching only online. There is something that God's called you to as a

church member and as a church that's very important. And it's a simple of

coming together and listen, I want to hear you. And I'm saying this

with all love that I can. But folks, sometimes we maybe make it

a priority to make it to church one time a week, but don't ask

me to come on a Wednesday night. Don't ask me to come on a

Thursday night for a small group. But don't ask me to come to a

growth group. I'll give you one hour of a week, one hour of

my week, but I won't give you any other time. I say to

you, church, one of the primary roles for you as members and as

a church is coming together. If we want to get back to the basics

of Bethesda, it's very simple. We got to get back to the primary

of teaching God's word and being committed individually, personally in our lives and corporately

as a church. But the very second thing that we want to do,

if we want to get back to the basis of being what God would cause

us to be, is not forsaking the gathering of the church, not forsaking

the assembly of coming together as a church body. That's what Scripture says.

They didn't neglact. Coming together. Fellowship was important. Scripture says they came

day by day. Would you see third in this passage of scripture? What

else they were devoted to the Bible says in verse forty two. They devoted

themselves the apostles, teaching and the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the

prayers, and all came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were

being done through the apostles. I think the one thing you can take away

from that passage of scripture, listen to what says, and all came upon

every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

I wonder if they would not showed up, if they were not committed to

the fellowship, how they would have missed out on what God was doing.

You know, many times we don't see understanding awe of what God is doing

because just the reality is, we're just not here, and it's hard to

be a part of seeing the wonders and the suns and the amazement of what

Jesus is doing. We lose sight of the awe because we are not faithful.

It's what says, and all who believe we're together and had all things

in common. The other part here in this passive look at verse forty five,

and they were staying only possessions and belonging to distributing to the old proceeds

and in any of need. Part of their fellowship was gathered together. Part

of the fellowship was giving giving to one another. It's a big part of

that. But look at verse forty six and they breaking in their bread and

the homes they received it with their food, with gladness and generous hearts,

and they're praising God having favor with all people. The Bible says at verse

forty six, and day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in

their homes. I think the third part of this early church, they were

focused. They were devoted to the teaching of God's word, devoted to the

fellowship coming together, and that met gathering together, that met giving to one

another. The third aspect of their devotion was evangelism. Scripture says here you

have to see it in this passage. Day by day they attended the temple

together. Now, what is the temple? The temples the Judaism, right,

that's where the Jews were would have sent to God. The Christians they

don't follow Judaism anymore. So why are they going to the temple. You

know why they're going to the temple because that's where the lost people are.

They're in Jerusalem. Everyone in jew Jerusalem is a Jew, and all Jews

don't believe in the Messiah. They're not believers. They're unsaved. And here

this early church, who's three thousand. Now they could say, man,

we got plenty of people. There's one hundred and twenty. There's three thousand,

one hundred and twenty people here. Oh man, that's enough. You

ought to see what happens through the facilities after everybody. You ought to see

the trash. You ought to see. You know that we have all kinds

of stuff going on. We've we've got a plenty of needs that are going

around. We don't have We've got more people than we can handle at this

point. We don't need him so and we've got our steady services. We're

meeting day by day. We're gathering together. We're committed to teaching. We've

got so much stuff going on every day. Oh, we sure don't have

time to be going to that sin. We don't need to go to that.

We don't listen. We don't believe in their messages. We don't believe

in what they're doing over there. We believe Jesus is our source. There's

no point of us going to m the sin of God anymore. We've got

it, We've got our church, and we're mean, we're doing great.

Nope, as much as they were develooted to the teaching, as much as

they were voted to going together, they were devoted at going to the temple,

why to reach unbelievers for Jesus. They were not satisfied with our few.

They were committed to say, you know what, God, we want

more. We want to see more people radically change and faith than you.

And so they were devoted to go to go to the temple to share Jesus

with others. And look at what happens. You see the result of their

effort. Scripture says in verse forty seven, praising God and having favor with

all people, and the Lord added to their number day by day of those

who are being saved. They were faithful, They were devoted to the word

of God. They were devoted to gathering. But they were devoted to going

and telling people about Jesus, going to where the loss were and telling them.

Heard a story of them. A little lady, and she was in

her lived in this neighborhood. Her name was Alice Man. She was a

terror. She was teared to the children, she was teared to the stray

dogs, she was teared to the delivery man. She was just kind of

an old, grouchy, old lady. She would they said that she'd even

use her little garden trolls and her heads trimmers like a weapon to ward off

anybody who came in her yard. Well about that time James and Jean made

her moved in beside miss old Alice, and they decided they were gonna muster

ups the courage to go to her and share the gospel with them. They

went to her and one day to talk to her about the Lord, and

she says, I've been a minute of a church to my whole life.

I don't need the Bible to tell me what to do. So they decided

they was trying to figure out ways to kind of make friends, you know,

make her kind of create a relationship with her and befriend her, and

that she was cold and hard. As much as they tried, nothing they

could do. Their church was doing an evangelistic campaign kind of like who's your

one? And as we've done and ask you to think about one person and

praying for that one person. And I hope you're still doing that. Encourage

you. If you're not think about that, maybe think about one person that

you know that needs Jesus, and I would encourage you to expand that to

ten people that you know in your life or in your community, or in

your church or in your not in your church, in your community, in

your workplaces, in your schools, and pray for those and think about different

ways or you're going to reach them and maybe spend take them out of lunch,

maybe spend some time with them, how you can share Jesus with them.

It's the same thing that had a It was called Operation Andrew, based

upon John one forty two, where Andrew goes and gets his brother or Simon,

and leads him to Christ and unlessen tend people to pray for him,

and ten people there want to invite to church, and Alice was on their

list. But every time they went to her and asked her, every time

they prayed, nothing happened. One summer, they came home from vacation and

they found out Alice wasn't home. Did some research and found out that she

went to a nursing home. She suffered a stroke. So they decided that

they started visiting her in the nursing home. She couldn't run away from him,

and she could chase them away from head shimmers. So they started bringing

her flowers and started sharing news with her. She got to where she because

of the strokes, she couldn't speak. One day, Jim asked her he

could read Psalm twenty three with her, and she shook her head yes,

but as he read, she kind of stared away. They continued to do

that, and suddenly, after sharing more scripture with her, Alice started and

looking right at Jim instead of looking away. One day, Jim looked at

Alice and said, Alice, do you want to receive Jesus as your Lord

and savior? Do you want to be forgiving of your sins? You want

peace with God? She shook her head yes, and there in that nursing

home she bowed her head and Jim let her in a prayer. When she

raised her eyes from that prayer, her eyes were full of tears. It

took twelve years, chip twelve years of faithfully going church. We want to

be there. We want to have the early devotion of the early church.

Let's be devoted to God's word, Let's be devoted to coming together and fellowship.

Let's be devoted to evangelism of going. We've got prayer walks and our

deacons are leading in other things that we're doing in our that we need to

do more in our community, and those are important as church, but it

doesn't negate the importance of you going as individuals to the people in your community,

people in your workplace, people in your schools, and consistently and faithfully

doing it over the long term. They were committed to teaching, they were

committed to fellowship, they were committed to evangelism, and lastly, they were

devoted to worship. I love this passage as we finish up here. It

says in verse forty three, it says, and all came upon every soul

Force forty seven and says they were praising God and having favor with all people.

You know, when they saw God move in their lives, when they

saw the wonders were happening in the church, when they saw souls come to

know the Lord, what did they respond? They respond out of praise.

You know, what should fuel our worship, What fuels our worship should be

our faithfulness to the teaching of God's word. What fuels our worship should be

the regular gathering together where we see God do mighty signs and wonders among the

people. That's in our body and it creates a spirit. Man. God,

you're working in this person's life. In this person's life. God,

I saw this person get saved this week in God because of what I see

you doing in the lives of others, and God, what I see you

doing in my life. God, I want to come on Sunday morning and

I want to give you what praise for the working of God, that what

you're doing in me and what you're doing in my church. God, I

want to come and just give you praise. That was what they were committed

to. Who committed worship, that was out of overflow of what God was

doing them individually incorporately. The trouble is we as a as a world,

and as a church today have lost sight of worship. A. W.

Toza wrote in his book called The Knowledge of the Holy talks about our twenty

century. This is what the loss of sense of majesty has come a further

loss of religious awe and consciousness of the divine presence. We have lost our

spirit of worship and our ability to draw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence.

Modern Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christians who can appreciate and

experience of life and the spirit. The words of be still and Know that

I Am God means next to nothing to the self confident, bustling worshiper of

the twenty first century. He's right, isn't he? We've made worship in

okay, Okay, we start at ten the ten forty five, and that

preacher, he always goes along, so he's going to be probably definitely loved

the team before were done. And then after that then I can go to

cook out of bo jngles, or maybe we'll go this. So we make

it all about a planned time that that's going to be my time of worship,

and maybe he'll do a song that I like, or maybe the preacher

will really be entertaining today and not be so boring and talk about stuff that

I really don't care about. And so we've made it all about what can

I consume and get in and get out and let me get back to my

life and stay. I'm saying, God's Sunday morning is not about what can

I consume? Sunday morning is to God. What can I come and give?

I ask you today as we just close, remind you of Revelation twenty

one. I mean Revelation to Jesus is writing to a church. So it's

a letter just kind of delivered to a church. And and in that letter

he says you, Church, you've done a lot of great things. And

he says, I know your works are told your patient. You've not adored

evil, you've stood against false teaching, You've been patient. But Church,

I have this against you. You've lost your first life. You've gotten distracted

and you're chasing after other things. And he calls the church to what repent,

come back do what you once first did? Can I ask you today

as we close, if Jesus would write a letter to you as a church

member today, what would he say about your devotion? What today would he

call you back to? Maybe the simple? Today you find yourself in a

mess in your life personally, and maybe it's just comes back to the very

simple things that you've lost sight of. What's some things that you need to

be devoted to with the Lord. You're devoted to a lot of other things,

but your devotion to the Lord is not what it needs to be.

Maybe today He's saying to you, man, there was a time when you

were a new believer and you had the hunger like that man who wants to

read the Bible with this tongue. But today is not there anymore. Return,

return back, come back. Come back to your first love of me

and a love for the loss around you. Come back to your love for

God's word. Come back to a love for the church and being here.

Come back to a love to go, and come back with the love of

praise and worship to your God. Would you pray with me? Father,

I thank you Lord for this morning. Lord. Sometimes Lord, we just

need a reminder, And Lord, I pray this morning this message is just

a reminder of Lord, what you've called us to as a church, as

members, Lord, what we are to be, what we are to persist

in and persevere it. Lord, I can imagine and the sound of my

boys. Lord, today, I believe your spirit is spoken, and it's

spoken to a lot of people. And I pray today that and this next

time, as we go to a time of invitation, I pray they'd be

some today that would to respond to the work of your Holy Spirit. Not

Lord, I in any way. Do I want them to respond to Jonathan's

words? Today, Lord, I pray I call that they would respond to

you and what you're calling them to. Lord. Today, Lord, I

pray that your word tells us that who has an ear to hear, let

them hear what the spirit says. And Lord, as those who hear Lord

from you today, Lord, I pray that they would not become hardened like

Alice to Lord your word. But Lord, today, I pray that it

would be a spirit of surrender, a spirit of repentance, a spirit of

renewal of God. I want more of you. I'm tired of not having

things together and making excuses and give justification that's not valid. Lord, today,

I really want more of you, Jesus. I pray you lead us

as a church, Lord, or lead us in this time of response as

Tenant leads us a song. I pray somebody that comes us alter and just

lay some things at your feet. Father, I pray they do that.

Lord. They will be worried about what people are gonna think or Lord today,

they'd be worried about Lord, where they are with you, Father,

what you've called them to. So, Lord, I pray you get people

a freedom to respond Lord openly and publicly. Today in your name, we

pray Amen Jesus pain to