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Uncommon: 4

The early church was uncommon. It possessed attributes unlike any other community or organization known in their time. Their unity and value system was uncommon and they shared an uncommon story. As a result, they enjoyed the uncommon grace of God. As the text continues, we find another marker of this emerging movement: they had an uncommon sense of generosity.

“There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need. For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means ‘Son of Encouragement’). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles” (Acts 4:34-37, NLT).

We are somewhat caught off guard to read the claim that the church was so generous that it had eliminated all economic need within their group. Because they valued one another over their material possessions, they gave generously, even if it meant parting with a house or a field. I think it’s important to note that they gave with no strings attached. They sold stuff and gave the proceeds to the apostles and allowed them to distribute the funds according to their own discretion. Amazing!

When you think about it, the people of God throughout history have been known for their generosity. Think about your community. What are the names of the hospitals? Here in the 515 we have four hospital systems, three of which are named after the religious affiliations that started them. Think about the colleges and universities in America. Many of those private schools were started by the people of God who held a conviction that education was a priority. Think about the orphanages or the agencies that work tirelessly to serve those in need. Again, the people of God were on the cutting edge of meeting human needs and solving real problems in society. Uncommon!

Generosity not only meets physical needs. It also meets a spiritual need: encouragement. Barnabas is strategically introduced to the reader in this context, and his personal generosity is associated with encouragement. In other words, your generosity serves to encourage others and validates the claims of our faith and the calling of our Lord.

Uncommon: 3

This week I’ve been posting some reflections from last weekend’s message concerning the organic nature of the early church. This counter-culture movement can be evaluated by its external behaviors or by its internal character. I submit that we’ll get farther down the road if we focus on the internal character more than simply mimicking their acts. So far this week I’ve suggested that the early community possessed an uncommon unity and an uncommon value system. You can read the previous two posts to catch up if you need to. Today I want to talk about their uncommon story and their uncommon grace.

As the summary continues, Acts 4:33 states, “The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all.”

I’ve been required to do a few sworn depositions in my life, but I’ve only been called as a witness once in a trial. Either way, I was sworn under oath and asked to state the facts. Interestingly enough, the attorney’s concerned with each case really didn’t care about my opinion. The apostles testified (think taking the stand) to what they knew was true concerning Jesus’ death and resurrection. It was an uncommon story in that it was not fabricated or embellished. It was the truth. The amazing thing about this uncommon story is that the person behind the story had and still had the power to transform lives. If you want to know why the apostles lived the way they did, their story is rooted in the larger story of Jesus. Their preaching was an invitation for others to root their lives in the story of Jesus.

Because of their uncommon character, the verse goes on to report that God’s grace was upon them. They were blessed by God. Those who know me are probably tired of me soap boxing on this, but it seems to be everywhere in Scripture: God’s blessings are not for us to enjoy; they are for us to share. The nation Israel in the Old Testament rose and fell according to their attitude toward their blessings. When we make God’s blessing about us, we begin to think we’re God’s favorite people, not his favored people. God’s favor is not about us. God’s blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others. What Israel missed the early church discovered. Two thousand years later, the principle remains the same.

Uncommon: 2

The emergent band of disciples was attractive to those in their community because they possessed an uncommon unity. Not only did they demonstrate Christian community, they also displayed an uncommon value system. Check out Acts 4:32, “And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.”

Imagine what it would be like to participate in a community where people were more prized than possessions. Their fidelity toward one another was so deep and authentic that they valued one another more than the stuff they owned. They gave one another their full and unconditional support.

While we are prone to help those in our communities of faith, often that help is measured. My dad helped me understand the difference between measured giving and giving with an open hand. Measured giving opens the wallet and shares what the giver wants to give. Giving with the open hand passes over the wallet and says, “take what you need.”

There’s a lot of stuff being written about the power of materialism and the bondage of material things in today’s society. How do we break the bondage of materialism? Maybe the bond is truly broken once and for all when we value one another more than we value our stuff. Maybe the bond is truly broken when we learn to find our identity in Christ instead of in what we have accumulated.

Uncommon

For the past several decades, churches have believed that if they could simply emulate the activities of the early church they could somehow produce the same results. For example, in the early 1970's, a Californian named John Wimber believed that if the modern church could replicate the same miracles that were reported in Acts, evangelism would naturally result. His conviction led to the establishment of the Vineyard Church movement.

Others have looked to the 30 sermons of Acts and believed that if modern pulpits could recapture the persuasive power of oration that people would come to hear the gospel. We have witnessed all kinds of attempts, from the homogenous models of the church growth movement to the purpose driven model to emphasis on church health. But are we foolish to attempt these things? Could it be something deeper?

There are seven summary statements in Acts, the second of which concludes Acts 4. By this time in their early history, the number of disciples is clealy in the thousands. There was something magnetic about this emerging assembly. But was it really due to their actions? I think it was a matter of the heart.

Whether they knew it or not, they were forming a new society that was counter-culture to the status quo of everything else that was occuring in time. The early church was different than anything people had witnessed in government, culture, society, and even religion. These believers were uncommon...not like anything else in their very vanilla existence.

For example, these believers shared an uncommon unity. Acts 4:32 says that the believers were all "of one heart and one mind." In their fragmented world, unity would have been an uncommon dimension of life, as is ours. In fact, I think the only place we seen unity and belonging today is in the world of athletics.

College football season began this past weekend. People love sports, partly because of the sense it gives people of belonging to something greater than themselves. If you talk to a football fan on Sunday and asked them how "their team" did the day before, it is not uncommon for them to reply "we won" or "we lost." Really? Did they play? Probably not, but you get what I'm talking about.

These early believers were part of a magnetic movement that provided opportunity for new additions to belong to a common cause and to others with similar commitments and interests.

This week I want to break down some of the attitudes and values that marked the early church. I think its a grave mistake to assume that if we do what they did in Acts that we'll get what they had. Our focus and study has to be on internal stuff, not the externals.

The Strategically Small Church

It’s about time! That was my first reaction to picking up The Strategically Small Church. Written by small church pastor and Leadership Journal editor Brandon O’Brien, this book was a breath of fresh air in an era that is replete with “how to” books written by big guys about their big places. O’Brien vicariously pushes back against the conventional wisdom of the church growth movement and shares a very encouraging word to those who faithfully plod along.

O’Brien introduces his monograph with some helpful explanation behind the book’s title. A strategically small church isn’t necessarily an intentionally small church, but rather a church that is comfortable in its smallness because it has recognized some of the unique advantages that smallness offers to both congregation and community. Utilizing the strengths of its size, the small church can leverage what it brings to the table and make a significant impact. O’Brien quotes Chuck Warnock, who has said that “small churches are in desperate need of brand revival.” This was an important insight, because the number one problem of the small church is not its size but its perception. Being small is not the problem, according to the author. The problem lies in the insecurity and defensiveness that rises out of the failure to meet the expectations of their selves and others.

According to research in the book, 94% of churches in America are less than 500 in attendance, 177,000 of which are less than 100 in weekly attendance. Just over 5% of churches statistically average between 500 and 2,000, with one half of one percent exceeding 2,000 in weekly attendance. O’Brien suggests that there is a real problem if the 94% of small churches try to mimic the one half of one percent who are over 2,000 each week instead of working within their strengths and giftedness to meet the needs of their communities. The author suggests that small churches should recalibrate the metrics of success. He believes that bigger churches appear more successful because the possess statistics in areas that we already know how to measure. It is easy to put a statistic on church growth, but how does one measure kingdom growth?

The core of the book describes four strengths that small churches need to assess as such and build upon. The first strength that the small church inherently possesses is authenticity. Due to their size, small churches more naturally offer possibilities for personalized and intimate relationships. Small churches are somewhat more transparent, making hypocrisy more difficult to mask. O’Brien encourages the small church to simply stay authentic and to resist the temptation to be something they are not. By avoiding trendiness and business models the small church can maintain a high level of authenticity.

The second strength the writer points out is that small churches are lean. Instead of trying to “become all things to all people,” the small church should seek to do the things that no one else is doing and find a particular niche that the entire church can rally around. Programs should be developed solely on community need and giftedness within the body to exercise those programs. If a small church has members that have a particular interest that the church is incapable of developing, the author recommends that those particular members adopt a kingdom mindset and go serve that particular need through the auspices of a neighboring church.

Strength number three is for the small church to equip its members to serve as the missional presence of Christ through their jobs and neighborhoods. He cites statistics that reveal that people have significantly less discretionary time and income than their grandparents who devoted endless hours and dollars to their churches. Because of this socio-economic trend, O’Brien believes churches can be more effective by training their memberships to serve as they are and where they are rather than developing programs that depend on the church building to serve as the epicenter of ministry. Small churches need to shift their value system from attracting to sending and recognize the importance of making Kingdom contributions.

Finally, small churches should recognize the intergenerational advantages it possesses and use the older generations to mentor the young. This chapter offers the suggestion that small churches not feel pressured to age grade every ministry, but to let the natural blending of both young and old foster a family environment.

In conclusion, O’Brien confesses that the problem of the small church is that the very thing it’s attempting to achieve is the very thing that is undermining the very opportunity it’s been afforded. By exercising the natural strengths due to its size, the small church can, as it always has, continue to make an impact people’s lives and communities.

The Strategically Small Church is an excellent read for anyone in a church under 300. If you are a member of such a church, you’ll benefit deeply by this thoughtful and well written book. I would recommend that you purchase a copy, and after you’ve read it, share it with a friend or your pastor who is a part of a small church. It may be the most encouraging gift you give this year.

Marks of a World Changer: #4 Confidence in the Face of Opposition

So far this week we’ve looked at three marks of a world changer. World changers are people of unwavering conviction; committed to practicing spiritual disciplines; and consistently put compassion into action. The fourth mark is that world changers are confident in the face of persecution. Reading on in the fourth chapter of Acts, the Bible says, “So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, ‘Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.’ The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than 40 years” (Acts 4:18-22, NLT).

When the gospel advances someone is going to become upset. Notice this conflict was not over something insignificant like the color of the carpet or anyone’s musical preference. It was over the core conviction that Jesus had been raised from the dead. The apostle’s affirmed it, but the religious leaders denied it. When they were commanded to “shut up,” the apostles confidently stood their ground and recited their preference to live under the pleasure of God’s affirmation than to comply and conform to the pressure of public opinion.
I think this begs a very provocative question: What would it take to shut you up? What would it take to silence your witness or to stifle your conviction? Those who aspire to change the world in Jesus name cannot be silenced.

The obvious response to this line of thought could be something to the effect of, “This is America…who do I know that suffers persecution?” Good question. Let me encourage you to become acquainted with www.voiceofthemartyrs.com. This website is devoted to telling the story of the persecution of Christians around the world. We presently live in a world with some 171 nations. Of the 171 nations, 54 of them have made it illegal to adhere to Jesus Christ as Lord. The persecution and martyrdom of Christians in the 21st century is at an all time high. But don’t take my word for it. Check it out for yourself.

Some Love for Summer of Love!

Ashworth Road Baptist Church was featured in last week's West Des Moines Living Magazine for Summer of Love. Click here for the article. For more information about Summer of Love, visit our website at http://www.arbcsummeroflove.com!

Marks of a World Changer: #3 Compassion for People

The third mark of a world changer is that they show compassion for people. In the conversation recorded in Acts 4, several points stand out. In verse 9, Peter responds to the interrogation by saying, “Are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man?” Then in verses 14-16 the religious leaders remark to themselves that indeed the man with the congenital disability had been healed.

I think it’s become popular to talk about compassion. But talk is cheap. The thing that separates the catalyst from the rabble is action. Agents of change “do” compassion for those in need.

For 2,000 years the New Testament has nudged the Christian community toward compassionate action. This morning I read the book of James. With the weekend message still on my mind, I smiled at how frequently James pointed out to his audience that faith without demonstration is worthless. “Be warm and be filled” is lip service that is still alive and well today. I believe it’s time for the people of God to put up when it comes to justice issues and dealing with real problems in our communities. Shutting up is not a viable option.

Marks of a World Changer: #2 Spiritual Formation

The second mark of a world changer is that world changers are people who find inner strength through practicing the principles of spiritual formation. Notice Acts 4:13, which states, “The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus” (NLT).

The verse points out three things about Peter and John. First, they were ordinary guys. Fishermen by vocation, in fact. There was nothing extraordinary about them, whether it be physical features, intelligence, eloquence, or charisma. Average Joes, so to speak.
The second thing it points out is that they had bypassed conventional wisdom, which said that you had to have completed Rabbinical school in order to articulate religious concepts. No sheepskin on the wall for Peter and John.

The third thing is that the only distinguishing feature about them is that they had spent time with Jesus. For three years, Peter and John had sat at the feet of the master teacher. They had been with Jesus on good days and bad. They had witnessed miraculous acts performed by Jesus that words could scarcely portray. They had listened intently as he taught with imagery and metaphor. Time with Jesus was the distinguishing mark.

Have you been spending time with Jesus? Spiritual formation is the process that transforms our selfish souls into the Savior’s likeness. Some will speak of spiritual formation as the practice of spiritual disciplines, such as Bible reading, prayer, fasting and the like.

The point is this: many Christ followers expect a 60 minute weekly worship experience to meet their basic spiritual needs. That’s like saying that brushing your teeth or showering once a week is good enough. Or maybe more appropriately, eating food once a week will physically sustain your body’s needs.

World changers are people who make a difference in their environments. They do so because they are spiritually nourished and motivated from a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ.

Seizing Opportunities (part 4)

Peter’s gospel message came as a response to the attention that was stirred by the healing of the lame man. As I posted earlier this week, in Acts, events lead to explanations. With that being said, let me share a couple of points of application as I wrap up this series from Acts chapter 4.

First, God sightings begin by discerning God’s work in your own life. Unfortunately we miss a lot of the “events” because at our very core we are pretty self absorbed. We esteem ourselves as intelligent and hardworking, therefore the blessings that come in our lives we take credit for. Until you begin to intentionally and diligently give God glory for the good things in your life, you may continue your journey and miss the very God who is at work in your life on a daily basis.

Second, let the good things in your life become your platform to share the good news. You’re not lucky. You’re not fortunate. You’re not deserving. You are very blessed. As you discern God’s blessing and give him the glory for those blessings, you’ll find that your opportunities to share the gospel will dramatically increase. And so will your effectiveness.

Summer of Love

Last night's Summer of Love project took some from our church to work with Rebuilding Together, a Des Moines organization helping those in the city do some basic remodelling and rennovation jobs around their homes. Pictured with me above is Matthew Pierce who I worked with finishing the last portion of the house. Did I mention the heat index last night was 110 degrees?! For more information and photos from Summer of Love, check out http://www.arbcsummeroflove.com/.

Seizing Opportunities (part 3)

There’s a guy at the end of the street I’ve noticed recently. He wears a black trenchcoat, a black hat and sunglasses. Standing there at the corner, he holds a sign that reads, “The end is near.” I think that’s the perspective that some people may share regarding the gospel…that it’s nothing more than a message designed to induce blame and shame.

But the gospel isn’t really the gospel until grace is introduced. Grace is the resolution to the dissonant that sin creates in our lives. And while some are unbalanced on guilt, in fairness I think some are unbalanced on grace. But we cannot treat guilt and grace as either/or propositions. The message of the gospel is both/and.

Having dealt with glory and guilt, Peter then moves to the climax of his message: God’s grace. The Bible states, “Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets” (Acts 3:19-21, NLT).

In those three verses, Peter informed his audience of three things that grace would bring to them. First, grace provides forgiveness of sin that eliminates the guilt of the past. Writers point out that in the first century ink contained no acid content. The ink would dry on top of the parchment, but would not become imbedded in the fibers like our permanent ink does today. Ink in the first century was not unlike our modern dry erase markers where if you make a mistake, you just wipe it away. That’s a good word picture of forgiveness…the slate is wiped clean.

Grace also provides refreshment for today. That word is lost on our younger generation today, but those who are my age and older know what refreshments are. Refreshments are served at the end of a meeting or in the middle of a difficult task and offer rest and renewal. Grace recognizes that even though we have been “wiped clean,” life here on earth is still filled with difficult challenges. Grace provides refreshment so that we can continue our Christian journey through life.

Finally, grace promises a future deliverance from the cares and troubles of this world. When Christ returns, he will make all things new. The brokenness we experience in our lives and our creation which has resulted from the fall will be eliminated. We will be delivered and all things will be restored.

Past, present, and future. God’s grace deals with our yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Jesus is glorious, we are guilty, but God’s grace is sufficient to meet every need of our lives. That’s the good news of the gospel.

Seizing Opportunities (part 2)

Peter’s explanation of the gospel in Acts chapter 3 began with him declaring the wonderful glory of Jesus Christ. He then took an interesting twist, moving from the glory of Christ to the guilt that each person carries because of their sin. In Acts 3:14-18, Peter shared a list of accusations. They had handed Christ over for crucifixion, denied and disowned him as Messiah, demanded the release of Barabbas, and ultimately “killed the author of life.” Why does gospel preaching seem to gravitate toward sin and guilt? Why so confrontational?

First, as my father used to say, you cannot be saved until you know you’re lost. Gospel preaching informs the listeners of their grave situation of danger. Sin and guilt have separated all of us from God. Furthermore, we must assume personal responsibility for who we are and what we have done. And in case we ever wonder, ignorance is not an excuse (cf. 3:17). That’s why the preaching of Acts falls on our ears as strong and at times even harsh. Our self righteousness is no righteousness at all.

Second, gospel preaching helps us to understand that we are not like God. We are not even remotely close. Once again as we read Acts 3, Peter begins with the glory of Jesus, and contrasts that glory with our own guilt. This is not wordsmithing, but basic theology. Jesus is glorious and we are guilty, and there’s really nothing we can do about it. It’s the distance between Jesus’ glory and our guilt that makes grace so compelling.

Seizing Opportunities

The Book of Acts contains around 30 gospel sermons that were preached by the apostles. The pattern that we begin to see unfold thus far in Acts concerning the gospel is that events lead to explanations. In other words, a miraculous event is followed by an explanation of the event. These explanations are not explanations of how the event occurred, but rather explanations of who caused the event to happen.

For example, following the healing of the lame man at the onset of Acts 3 the people who witnessed the miracle are astounded and amazed at what they had just seen. Instead of letting people take the miracle and interpret it however they chose to interpret it, Peter saw an opportunity (3:12) and called for everyone’s attention for the purpose of explaining what had just taken place. His explanation became the platform for his second gospel sermon in as many chapters.

Peter began by ascribing glory to Jesus Christ. Here’s what he said: “People of Israel, what is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness? For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this” (Acts 3:12-13, NLT) Giving glory to God is a two step process. It involves refusing to accept any credit and at the same time giving full credit to Jesus.

The apostles expected God to be at work in and around their lives. When they saw God at work, they seized the opportunity and used it as a platform to share good news. Where do you see God at work? Are you taking advantage of those opportunities to share good news?

On the Church Steps: Transformation

“He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them” (Acts 3:8, NLT)

Compassion that moves beyond mere accommodation participates and gets involved in a person’s life. While accommodation can be beneficial, God uses our participation to bring about transformation. Reflecting on the lame man in Acts 3, it is quite obvious that the power was God’s but the hand that raised him up was Peter’s.

If you think about your own life for a minute, every significant transformation that has occurred is covered with the fingerprints of those who have walked beside you through your stuff. Those people loved you, accepted you, were patient with you, challenged you, encouraged you, helped you, prayed with you, advised you, sat silently with you, and were available to you. God is clearly the one who works the miracle of transformation. But He uses others to help in significant ways.

Is there anything more exciting than seeing lives change? Is there any greater blessing than having a hand in God's transformational work?

On the Church Steps: Response

Confronted by a need and an expectation on the door step of the Temple, the story from Acts 2 takes an interesting twist. "Peter said, 'I don't have any money for you. But I'll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!' Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man's feet and anklebones were healed and strengthened" (Acts 3:6-7, NLT).

Rather than meet the expectation, Peter, by the power of the Holy Spirit, exceeded the expectation. I think this raises an important question: How do we respond to the expectations of those on the church steps?

Sometimes we may choose to avoid those expectations. We avoid the expectation by, proverbially speaking, entering the Temple at a different gate. Or, more commonly, we simply don't make eye contact. There's something about eye contact that acknowledges existence and reality. If we don't make eye contact, it doesn't exist in our own reality.

Other times we may choose to accomodate the expectations. This is a simple reponse that meets the need at face value. If the lame man asked for a couple of bucks and Peter and John had given a couple of bucks, no one would have condemned them for that. In fact, in our modern American culture, we would probably celebrate them. But if all they did was accomodate the need, we wouldn't be talking about it today. Commendable? Yes. Worth preserving for 2,000 years in Holy Scripture? Hardly.

Accomodating people's needs isn't all bad, and I don't want to sound disparaging. God's people, clothed with compassion, should seek to meet needs as much as possible. I am pleased to be in a church that seeks to accomodate every request that comes to our steps. Having said that, Peter and John didn't accomodate the lame man's need. Rather they chose to participate in his need.

Participating in one's need means that you roll up your sleeves and get involved with the real issues at hand. Rather than perpetuate a bad situation, they offered to invest in the lame man to the extent that his life was forever changed. They didn't meet his expectation, they exceeded it.

This is where being a Christian can potentially get messy. Granted, the Acts 3 account though powerful, is neat and clean. He couldn't walk. He was healed. And everyone lived happily ever after. But often times our experiences in participating in people's lives aren't so neat. People's lives can be pretty complicated, and the emotional and mental scars from where they are wounded don't go away so quickly. After all, not every need is visible to the eye. Nonetheless, I think Jesus calls us to participate in people's needs. Maybe not everyone's. But certainly some one's. But by God's grace and through the power he continues to make available to us through his Holy Spirit, we roll up our sleeves and do work. After all, that's what being the presence of Christ tangibly is all about.

On the Church Steps: Expectations

What do people who are proverbially on the church steps expect of those on the inside? The story of Acts 3 begins with Peter and John going to the afternoon prayer meeting at the Temple. On the steps of the Temple they encountered a man with a congenital disability, rendering him unable to stand or walk. As the story goes, this lame man was carried to the Temple steps on a daily basis where he would beg for money. To him, Peter and John were just two more guys going to church, so when he saw them he made his repeated request for alms. Picking up the story in Acts 3, the Bible says, “Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, ‘Look at us!’ The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money” (Acts 3:4-5, NLT).

Notice that the lame man expected the people of God to be compassionate. Alms giving was an important part of Jewish piety in the first century. The Old Testament law commanded it, and Jesus commended it (see Matthew 6:1-4). Giving to the poor was a litmus test for faithfulness, so it makes sense that the man sought out the church steps for help.

Notice also, however, that the lame man didn’t really expect the people of God to do much more than toss him a couple of bucks. The story makes it fairly clear that this was his daily practice, presumably because he never received enough to carry him for more than about 24 hours.

Do you ever wonder what people outside the church expect from the people of God who worship inside the church? I think one of the biggest challenges we have in reaching our communities with the gospel is that most of the people inside the church have been going to church most of their lives. Reconcile that with Jesus’ commission to take the gospel to people who have never been to church much, if any at all. I wonder if there is a disconnect between the people on the church steps and the people who are inside the doors? What can we do about the tension between “their” expectations and “our” assumptions? I think that’s a conversation worth having. Tomorrow I’ll post on Peter and John’s response to the expectation they were met with, and how we can respond to expectations today.

On the Church Steps

Acts 2:43 reports that the Holy Spirit was doing miraculous things through the apostles. This insight is helpful as the reader turns the page and begins reading the account of the healing of the lame man in Acts 3. If we didn’t have access to the previous text, we might be tempted to think that this story was a rare occurrence in those days following Pentecost. But I think Acts 3 should be read in light of verse 2:43, giving it more of the flavor of “…for example.”

Acts 3 is a very encouraging passage. It reminds us that the ascension of Jesus didn’t end or reduce the power of Jesus to work in people’s lives. The power that Jesus displayed during his ministry is made available to those possessed and filled with the Holy Spirit. Though Jesus was no longer visibly present in bodily form, he routinely made his presence known through the Spirit. Acts is exciting because it reveals how the apostles and the early adopters to Christianity were learning to walk in rhythm with the Spirit.

So if I had to come up with a main point or big idea for this text, it would be that the power of God was continuing to produce transformation in people’s lives, even though Jesus had ascended.

This past weekend in worship, I wanted to deal with three questions about the text. Question 1: What do people outside the church expect of “the church?” Question 2: How do people inside “the church” respond to those expectations? And finally question 3: What is God’s goal for the process. I’ll pick up the question about expectations in tomorrow’s post.

The Normal Christian Life: Believing

My hunch is that no passage in Acts has been taught or discussed more than the summary that concludes chapter 2. Rick Warren has made a mint from this paragraph in his Purpose Drive Church and Purpose Driven Life, creating a philosophy of ministry and an approach to life through worship, evangelism, discipleship, ministry and fellowship.

In looking at this passage in worship last weekend, I tried to step over the commonly argued themes and point to the process that was at work. While those primary believers were engaged in those purposes, it’s the process that is often overlooked.

The first stage of the process is found in Acts 2:41-42, which reads, “So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayers” (HCSB).

Through the Scriptures, fellowship (literally, “partnership”), the Lord’s Supper (memory), and prayer, the new community were behaving in ways that cultivated faith and belief. Unfortunately, many people quit believing at the point of original faith that leads to salvation. These 3,000 new converts to the gospel expressed faith upon hearing Peter’s message at Pentecost. But they didn’t stop believing. They steadily worked on developing their faith, making God bigger and bigger.

As a result of their steadily increasing faith, “Fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles” (Acts 2:43, HCSB).

Because of their belief, they witnessed the miraculous work of God. Here’s the point. Miracles in the face of unbelief will harden the heart. You would think the opposite to be true, but it’s not. Think about Pharaoh from the book of Exodus. When Moses presented himself to Pharaoh and requested in the name of God that the children of Israel be released from bondage, Pharaoh replied that he did not know God and that he would not let the people go. After that initial meeting, God sent 10 plagues to the land of Egypt—each one a miracle. With each plague, Pharaoh’s heart was increasingly hardened. Miracles in the face of unbelief will harden the heart, not soften it. And miracles happen in the rich soil of faith, not the rocky soil of unbelief.

What are you doing to cultivate belief in your life? Worship and discipleship are wonderful ways to cultivate belief. Just make sure you remember the end game.