Takeaway: Verse 42
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
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Transcription:
Welcome to The Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica Parkerson. This is the place where we meet up to read half a chapter of God’s Word together and remember how loved we are. Jesus extends an amazing invitation to us in the Bible. He says, come to me and I WILL give you rest. This is us RSVPing: Yes!! to that invitation. So, take a deep breath and let’s get started.
Today’s episode is called, “Hopefully Devoted”. Do you remember the Olivia Newton John song, Hopelessly Devoted to You? I think it was in the movie, Greece, or it was at least around that time. Oh boy, we’re gonna talk about being hopefully devoted to the Lord today. We’re gonna jump into the last part of Acts chapter two, but first let’s dive into a word of prayer. Shall we?
Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus. Lord, we want to be devoted to you. Show us what that looks like. Open our ears and our eyes and our hearts to what you want us to hear, see and understand in your word today. We take a moment to just soak up the peace that you provide when we pause the day. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ name, we give this time to you, amen.
Okay. So, we have seen the Holy Spirit fall on the people, right? Everybody is understanding languages they’ve never understood before. The Holy Spirit that Jesus promised would come, has come. Peter preaches this incredible sermon and 3000 people get saved. 3000 people accept Jesus into their hearts, and it’s beautiful. And now a community is growing and they’re learning how to be devoted to Christ, which often looks like being devoted to each other. So we’re gonna dive straight into Acts chapter two, verse 42.
The first verse in this chapter is actually our takeaway verse today. So here we go. “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals, including the Lord’s Supper, and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.”
You know that deep sense of awe that Luke is writing about here in the book of Acts? That can come upon you right now. Just feel it. Know that the God of the universe who made everything you see, the mountains, the oceans, your children. He is with us right now. You are in his presence. The Bible says where two or three are gathered, there he is in the midst of us. So, it, sense that deep awe right now, it’s not just for people in Bible times. It’s for you and me too.
“And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity, all the while praising God and enjoying the Goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.”
Oh boy, I love being part of a small group. And to be honest with you, my husband and I have not picked up with our precious group of friends in-person since the pandemic. We were meeting over zoom for a long time. And I remember one or two occasions where we actually shared the Lord’s Supper, as friends over Zoom. And Mark our leader, and, you know, asked us in advance to have grape juice ready, crackers ready. And there we were on Zoom partaking of the Lord’s Supper, stopping to remember. Jesus said, “Remember me” the night of the last supper, before he was crucified. Before he was buried, before he rose again for you, and for me.
It is such a beautiful thing to be part of a community. And it’s something my husband and I definitely want to be part of again. It’s amazing how life gets in the way, but there have been so many moments of sweet fellowship where God just knits your hearts together through his word, and through the love he has for all of us. And just as the early apostles, who we just read about, shared their possessions, and their lives, we can do that too. We can share our lives, we can share our money when somebody is in need. When somebody needs a meal because they’ve had surgery. Community is huge. And even just sharing this with you today, I’m going, I need to jump back into community.
Maybe you do too. Maybe we can do that together and encourage each other. The Bible says as iron sharpens iron, so one man encourages another, sharpens one another. Community is how, I believe, it’s one way, that we stay devoted to our Lord. Something to think about, right? Okay. Well, next time we are gonna dive into Acts chapter three, can’t wait. Till then, please know you are loved.
Thank you so much for listening to the Bible for Busy People. If you need prayer or you’re ready to go a little deeper in your faith, we’ve posted some resources for you in our show notes. We’d love for you to share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review. It helps us reach even more people with the hope of Jesus. This podcast is part of Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcasts to help you find and live in God’s purpose for your life. Find more podcasts that will recharge you at onpurposely.com.
