Four Keys to the New Relationship
From Pentecost on, the church was different. We read no more stories in the New Testament of people casting lots for the Lord’s guidance. We see a different character in people like Peter – intimidated by a maid a few weeks earlier, now boldly confronting the Jews with their sin at the crucifixion and telling them to repent. And immediately after Peter’s first sermon, at which 3,000 people believed, we’re given the keys to having the kind of intimate relationship with Jesus that we wonder about and that Jesus promised before He ascended.
There are four practical elements from Acts 2:42 that describe how to have this kind of relationship with Him:
1. The first people filled with the Spirit devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. Today, that’s the Scriptures. Our New Testament is the apostles’ teaching. The first disciples heard it orally, but it has been preserved for us in Scripture. When we devote ourselves to the Bible, we are devoting ourselves to the apostles’ teaching.
2. They devoted themselves to fellowship. That doesn’t mean they got together for coffee frequently. They weren’t devoted to fellowship itself, but to the fellowship: the group as a whole. They realized that if Christ lives in each person, then each has something both to give and to receive from the others. They understood that they could be Christ to one another.
3. They were devoted to the breaking of bread. That doesn’t mean simply that they shared a lot of meals together, but that through communion they made Christ central to their fellowship. No personality or charismatic leader would get them off track, because when they came together on a regular basis, it was His body, His blood, His work on the cross, and His resurrection that defined them.
4. They were devoted to prayer. Coming together as an organic unity, they were committed to falling on their knees when problems came, saying, “Holy God in heaven, show us what to do.”
They were committed to sitting quietly before the Lord – listening, confessing their sins, offering Him moldable, teachable hearts, and asking Him to provide godly thoughts and relevant Scripture passages to instruct them.
On this day...
- Psalm 24:3-6 - 2011
- Psalms 45:8 - 2009
- Ezekiel 34:26 - 2009
- Job 10:2 - 2009
- Genesis 24:63 - 2008
- John 9:7 - 2007
- volition - 2007
- Absolution - 2007
- Much Every Way - 2007
- Active Prayer - 2007
- Jeremiah 32:17 - 2007
- obsequiousness - 2007
- Luke 6:45 - 2007
- WHAT MY OBEDIENCE TO GOD COSTS OTHER PEOPLE - 2007
- INTERCESSORY INTROSPECTION - 2007
November 3, 2010
…they were committed to falling on their knees when problems came, saying, “Holy God in heaven, show us what to do.”
…asking Him to provide godly thoughts and relevant Scripture passages to instruct them.