Secrets of the Success of the Early Church (David Petts)
Sermon Notes
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Acts 4
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.
20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.
22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.
24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.
27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.
28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.
33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.
34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales
35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
A. URGENCY
24 they raised their voices together in prayer to God
Not noise for its own sake – they cared.
Jeremiah 29:13 – You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
How much do we care about holiness, healing, evangelism?
B. UNITY
24 they raised their voices together in prayer to God
homothumadon = with one mind, with one accord, unanimously.
Homou = together Thumos = A strong passion or emotion of the mind
Cf Acts 1:14 They all joined together constantly in prayer
Acts 2:46 Every day they met together in the temple…
C. UNDERSTANDING
They understood the importance of the WORD.
The written Word and how it applied to their situation (Read vv24-28)
“Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.
27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.
28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
The spoken Word (v. 29) Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
More of this in a moment.
D. UNCTION (Anointing)
31 they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Because of ABC)
E. UTTERANCE
31 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
They all did (cf Acts 8:1-4)
(Because of ABCD)
Home Group Activities
- Read Acts 4:18-35 together
- “The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.” (v26). How much opposition to the Church do we see and feel today? Anything from the past weeks in the news for example?
- How much urgency do we sense in our prayers for these things? Do we need to pray that God would help us to care about what he cares about?
- In verse 24 we read that they all prayed together – with one mind, one accord, unanimously. What can we all agree on that we need to pray for in this group? Without being legalistic, let’s make every effort to be physically together in meetings as often as we can.
- The church in this chapter quote scripture in their prayers. What scriptures can we use today in our prayers, or what scriptures have you found useful in prayer? (E.g. using Psalm 23 to thank God for being our shepherd, etc.) If this is a new idea, let’s learn today to start quoting God’s word in our prayers. After all, his word is powerful!
- As a result of their urgency, unity and understanding, the whole group in this passage were filled with the Holy Spirit. Can we pray today / tonight that we will be filled with the Holy Spirit? Does anybody want us to pray specifically for them to be baptized in the Holy Spirit?
- Once filled, all the believers spoke boldly. Let’s pray now that God will give us the boldness that comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit. We need His Spirit if we are to speak into some of the situations we are facing today.
- Prayer – remember to encourage the use of scripture and to pray for the infilling of the Holy Spirit and boldness in spreading the word.
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