When you sin, how quickly do you repent? David held on to one of his sins for over a year! And his words in Psalm 32 are that it ate him up. He was physically affected because of his sin. Finally he couldn't take it anymore, and stopped trying to cover up his own sin. He confessed it and found that when he did – the LORD covered his sin for him! So he tells us: "Don't do what I did! Repent IMMEDIATELY!"
Our hearts are begging us to seek the face of God. It’s what we were designed to do, and it’s where so much idolatry happens. In our flesh, we try to fill that emptiness and longing with lots of other things. David recognizes that his heart is pointing him to Yahweh, and so the one thing he wants more than anything else is not deliverance from his enemies, perfect health, or long life; he wants to live every single day of his life in the presence of God.
The focus now shifts from Peter and James to Barnabas and Saul, with Saul/Paul being the main character from here on out. The gospel continues to spread, made up of these key items – Worship, Obedient Faith, Community, Discipleship, and Readiness for Spiritual Warfare.
The church seems to be growing exponentially, when all of a sudden King Herod attacks the church and kills one of the apostles. That seemed to please the Jews, so he arrested the Most Wanted of the Christians – Peter. They hit their knees in an overnight prayer service, and God answered in the most unusual (and humorous) way.
We celebrated 5 years as a church just a few weeks ago, and in this message, we look ahead to what’s coming down the road for the next five years. Updates on the building, potential hiring opportunities, sabbaticals, etc
Peter’s message presents the gospel, and God opens the eyes of 3000 people to repent of their sin and turn to Jesus. Now, those 3000 are looking to live out this new identity in Christ as this gospel begins to bear fruit in their lives.
The Spirit came, and a crowd assembled when they heard the noise. But, upon hearing these Galileans speak other languages fluently, they assumed these hillbillies had been drinking before prayer. Peter, now filled with the Spirit, stands up and corrects them, giving the first explicitly Christian sermon ever given.
As the 120 disciples of Jesus are gathered in the Upper Room, they are together for morning prayer, praying for the Holy Spirit to come, and suddenly, without warning, the Spirit came in power!
Jesus had promised his Holy Spirit will come on the disciples, then he ascended, and now the disciples head back to Jerusalem to wait. What do you tend to do when you have to wait? These 120 disciples waited by praying and making a major decision about who replaces Judas.
Jesus wraps up his conversation with the disciples with a beautiful 3-part prayer – Part one for himself, part 2 for the disciples, part 3 for all who would believe. Key takeaway: Jesus wants us to know the Father, to know his love, and to be unified with each other.