ACTS

2:4

2-4:

5

ACTS

2:4

2-4:

5 V

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ch th

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ble

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ect v

ideo

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rit h

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atch

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9i1G

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ou w

atch

ed th

e vid

eo, w

hat s

tood

out

to yo

u?

Act

s 2:4

2-47

: [H

ave

the

grou

p re

ad th

roug

h th

is pa

ssag

e]

Act

s 2:4

2 is

ofte

n re

gard

ed a

s poi

ntin

g ou

t the

“4 m

arks

of t

he ch

urch

”: (1

)The

apo

stle

s’

teac

hing

; (2)

the

com

mon

life

of th

ose

who

bel

ieve

d; (3

)the

bre

akin

g of

bre

ad; a

nd

(4)t

he p

raye

rs.  T

hese

four

go

toge

ther

. Yo

u ca

n’t s

epar

ate

them

or l

eave

one

out

with

out d

amag

ing

the

who

le th

ing.  

W

hat r

isk d

oes a

chur

ch fa

ce if

any

one

of t

hese

is a

bsen

t or n

egle

cted

?  

Take

a lo

ok a

t the

Gre

ek te

rm ‘k

oino

nia’

tran

slate

d as

fello

wsh

ip in

Act

s 2:4

2.  C

onsid

er

the

othe

r app

eara

nces

of t

he te

rm in

the

New

Test

amen

t bei

ng tr

ansla

ted

into

diff

eren

t

wor

ds:  1

Cor

inth

ians

1:9;

10:16

(par

ticip

atio

n); 2

Cor

inth

ians

6:14

(in

com

mon

); 9:

13

(sha

ring)

; Gal

atia

ns 2

:9, P

hilip

pian

s 1:5

(par

tner

ship

); 2:

1, 3:

10, H

ebre

ws 1

3:16

(to

shar

e); 1

John

1:3,

6-7

.  

How

doe

s eac

h ve

rse

help

you

bette

r und

erst

and

the

natu

re o

f the

rela

tions

hip

of ko

inon

ia a

mon

g be

lieve

rs? 

Why

is u

nity

of p

urpo

se a

nd fo

cus c

ritica

l for

the

chur

ch?  

Wha

t wor

ds o

r phr

ases

in A

cts 2

:42-

47 p

oint

to th

e at

titud

es o

f the

mem

bers

of t

he e

arly

chur

ch? 

How

do

they

com

pare

to th

e at

titud

es o

f the

mem

bers

of y

our c

hurc

h? W

hat m

ight

be

miss

ing?

In a

rece

nt fo

rum

bas

ed o

ff a

Chr

istia

n ar

ticle

writ

ten

abou

t mill

enia

ls, a

per

son

with

the

title

“Kra

fty” w

rote

, “I s

ee so

man

y rel

igio

us cl

aim

ing

they

wan

t to

‘go

back

to h

ow

thin

gs u

sed

to b

e’. M

aybe

the

relig

ious

are

n't g

oing

bac

k far

eno

ugh?

The

Am

ish a

re a

good

exa

mpl

e of

com

mitm

ent t

o fa

ith -

it se

ems l

ike th

at e

xist

ence

wou

ld su

it th

e

relig

ious

bet

ter. 

But

that

's no

t wha

t the

relig

ious

do.

Inst

ead

of se

lling

thei

r pos

sess

ions

or l

iving

like

the

Am

ish -

they

do

men

tal g

ymna

stics

to ju

stify

thei

r che

rry-

pick

ing

of th

e m

oder

n w

orld

.” [h

ttp://

ww

w.br

eakp

oint

.org

/

2019

/08/

brea

kpoi

nt-m

illen

nial

s-an

d-th

e-bi

ble-

2/]

W

hat i

s tru

e ab

out t

his s

tate

men

t?  W

hat i

s fal

se o

r miss

ing?

How

wou

ld yo

u

re

spon

d?

Luke

love

s to

use

the

wor

d ‘d

evot

ed’ w

hen

spea

king

of t

he n

ew co

mm

unity

of G

od’s

peop

le, t

he ch

urch

.  D

evot

ion

clear

ly gi

ves t

he se

nse

of a

bin

ding

pro

mise

or a

pled

ge...

som

ewha

t like

mar

riage

vow

s. O

ur liv

es a

re a

bout

bei

ng d

evot

ed to

God

and

to e

ach

othe

r.  T

his i

s ser

ious

bus

ines

s! L

uke

desc

ribed

a g

roup

of p

eopl

e w

ho w

ere

boun

d to

God

and

eac

h ot

her -

- dev

oted

-- ev

en w

hen

it w

as to

ugh.

Suc

h de

votio

n

radi

cally

cont

rast

s the

apa

thy i

n m

any r

elat

ions

hips

toda

y.  L

ifest

yle co

mm

itmen

t is

very

low

: if o

ther

s mee

t my n

eeds

, I’ll

stay

. If t

hey f

ail t

o m

eet m

y nee

ds, I

’ll m

ove

on. I

f I

find

a be

tter d

eal,

a m

ore

fruitf

ul re

latio

nshi

p, a

mor

e pr

omisi

ng ci

rcle

of f

riend

s, I’l

l cut

ties a

nd m

ove

onw

ard

and

upw

ard.  T

he ch

urch

pre

sent

ed in

Act

s sho

ws a

radi

cally

diffe

rent

pict

ure.  

 

Des

crib

e a

time

whe

n yo

u di

d no

t fee

l like

goi

ng to

wor

ship

, or s

ervin

g in

an

area

of m

inist

ry, o

r car

ing

for a

noth

er p

erso

n, b

ut yo

u di

d it

out o

f she

er

devo

tion

to G

od a

nd o

ther

s.  W

hat h

appe

ned

in yo

ur h

eart

and

life

whe

n

you

chos

e to

act

on

devo

tion

rath

er th

an fe

elin

g?  

Wha

t is o

ne a

rea

in w

hich

you

sens

e G

od’s

calli

ng yo

u to

gro

w m

ore

devo

ted

to h

im a

nd h

is pe

ople

?  

Aga

in a

nd a

gain

, in

wor

ship

and

sacr

amen

t, in

read

ing

the

Scrip

ture

s, in

Chr

istia

n

fello

wsh

ip a

nd p

raye

r, w

e ta

ste

in a

dvan

ce ju

st a

little

bit

of th

e co

min

g to

geth

er o

f

heav

en a

nd e

arth

, the

sens

e th

at th

is is

wha

t we

wer

e m

ade

for,

the

new

wor

ld w

hich

we

shal

l fina

lly e

njoy

.  It i

s the

re, a

vaila

ble,

read

y for

all w

ho se

rious

ly se

ek it

. Bel

ievin

g

in Je

sus a

nd in

the

pow

er o

f his

nam

e is

the

way

to w

hole

ness

in th

e 21

st ce

ntur

y, ju

st a

s

in th

e 1s

t. T

he ev

iden

ce o

f thi

s who

lene

ss re

sulte

d in

ove

rflow

ing

abun

danc

e of

grat

itude

and

goo

dwill

. Th

e be

lieve

rs p

raise

d G

od w

ith e

nerg

etic

grat

itude

and

won

the

resp

ect o

f oth

ers b

y the

ir jo

yful

, hum

ble

fello

wsh

ip. 

A vi

bran

t chu

rch

shin

es in

two

dire

ctio

ns: (

1)up

war

d in

ado

ratio

n to

God

for t

he g

ift o

f his

Son

and

Spiri

t, an

d

(2)o

utw

ard

in g

race

tow

ards

oth

ers. 

Bot

h di

rect

ions

are

vita

l!

Act

s 3-4

:5: [

Hav

e th

e gr

oup

read

thro

ugh

this

pass

age]

Luke

beg

an h

is se

cond

volu

me

by te

lling

his

read

ers t

hat h

e w

as g

oing

to re

cord

wha

t

Jesu

s con

tinue

d “t

o do

and

to te

ach”

thro

ugh

his a

post

les (

1:1-2

).  H

e al

so to

ld u

s tha

t

“man

y won

ders

and

mira

culo

us si

gns w

ere

done

by t

he a

post

les”

(2:4

3). N

ow h

e

supp

lies a

par

ticul

ar, d

ram

atic

exam

ple.  

In w

hat w

ays i

s the

enc

ount

er P

eter

and

John

had

with

the

crip

pled

man

expe

cted

?  H

ow w

as th

e en

coun

ter u

nexp

ecte

d?  

How

did

the

crip

pled

man

resp

ond?  H

ow d

id a

ll the

peo

ple

resp

ond?

Pete

r sei

zed

the

oppo

rtuni

ty to

pre

ach.  Ju

st a

s the

Pen

teco

st ev

ent h

ad b

een

the

text

for h

is fir

st se

rmon

, so

the

crip

ple’s

hea

ling

beca

me

the

text

for h

is se

cond

.  Bot

h w

ere

mig

hty a

cts o

f the

exa

lted

Chr

ist.

Both

wer

e sig

ns w

hich

pro

claim

ed h

im L

ord

and

Savio

r. B

oth

arou

sed

the

crow

d’s a

maz

emen

t.  T

he m

ost r

emar

kabl

e fe

atur

e of

Pet

er’s

seco

nd se

rmon

, as o

f his

first

, is i

ts C

hrist

-cen

tere

dnes

s. H

e di

rect

ed th

e cr

owd’

s

atte

ntio

n aw

ay fr

om b

oth

the

heal

ed cr

ippl

e an

d th

e ap

ostle

s of C

hrist

.  

W

hat t

itles

doe

s Pet

er g

ive to

Jesu

s?  W

hat i

s the

sign

ifica

nce

of e

ach

of th

ese

title

s?

Pete

r end

s his

serm

on b

y cha

lleng

ing

his h

eare

rs w

ith th

e ne

cess

ity o

f

repe

ntan

ce.  W

hat b

less

ings

wou

ld fo

llow

if th

ey re

pent

ed (v

s. 19

-26)

?  

How

hav

e yo

u se

en th

ose

resu

lts a

nd b

less

ings

in yo

ur o

wn

life?

Wha

t was

the

resp

onse

to P

eter

’s m

essa

ge b

y the

relig

ious

lead

ers o

f the

day?  W

hat w

as th

e re

spon

se o

f the

com

mon

peo

ple?

(4:

1-5)

W

hat d

o yo

u th

ink i

s Luk

e’s p

oint

in sh

owin

g th

ese

resp

onse

s?

Ther

e is

com

ing

a da

y whe

n G

od w

ill re

stor

e al

l thi

ngs. 

And

thou

gh th

at fi

nal d

ay w

ill

be tr

uly w

onde

rful,

it ca

n be

ant

icipa

ted

with

tim

es o

f ref

resh

men

t now

, in

spite

of t

he

pers

ecut

ion

and

reje

ctio

n fa

ced

now.  G

od’s

Spiri

t is a

t wor

k mak

ing

all t

hing

s new

from

the

insid

e ou

t. W

e ca

n se

e an

exa

mpl

e of

the

com

ing

rest

orat

ion

in th

e he

alin

g of

the

crip

pled

man

and

in th

e th

ousa

nds o

f live

s bei

ng ch

ange

d in

the

early

chur

ch. 

We

can

look

bac

k at w

hat o

ccur

red,

and

ant

icipa

te w

hat i

s yet

to co

me.

As b

elie

vers

, we

can

grow

in o

ur a

ntici

patio

n of

the

Spiri

t’s w

ork i

n ou

r live

s and

gro

w in

the

fruit

he is

seek

ing

to p

rodu

ce in

us.  

Pray

: Tha

nk G

od fo

r the

gift

of h

is H

oly S

pirit

.  Brin

g to

God

any

thin

g an

d ev

eryt

hing

from

whi

ch yo

u ne

ed to

be

resc

ued

right

now

: phy

sical

and

spiri

tual

thre

ats,

pers

isten

t

sins,

wro

ng a

ttitu

des,

rela

tions

hips

whi

ch se

em b

eyon

d re

pair,

seem

ingl

y im

poss

ible

situa

tions

.  Ask

God

to sh

ow yo

u ho

w yo

u ca

n gr

ow in

the

Spiri

t thi

s wee

k. 

Hom

ewor

k:  RE

AD

: Act

s 4-7

and

com

e pr

epar

ed to

disc

uss w

hat y

ou re

ad. 

MEM

ORI

ZE: A

cts 2

:42

They

dev

oted

them

selve

s to

the

apos

tles’

teac

hing

and

to fe

llow

ship

, to

the

brea

king

of b

read

and

to p

raye

r. 

Tip:

Cut

out

the

vers

e an

d ta

pe it

som

ewhe

re w

here

you

will

see

it on

a d

aily

basis

.  Her

e ar

e so

me

sugg

estio

ns: t

ape

it to

your

das

hboa

rd, y

our m

irror

,

or th

e co

rner

of y

our l

apto

p.  S

ay th

e ve

rse

outlo

ud 2

5 tim

es e

ach

day.