Good morning dear friends scattered across America who are reading one chapter of God’s Word per day with Dawn and me… through these 150 days of Summer 2019.
Today is Sunday May 5 and before you head off to worship today, I hope you’ll take time to read Acts chapter 4, and contemplate the power of what happened in this chapter.
Peter and John simply cannot be silent. They are compelled to talk about the Risen Jesus Christ to their fellow Jews in Jerusalem, where it all took place only weeks before! You see the response… from 120 who gathered following Jesus’ Ascension, to 3000 who responded to Peter’s message and were baptized, and now in Acts 4:4 the movement has grown to 5000! No special advertising, no marketing campaign, only the life changing truth on fire in the lives of Christ followers and the power of a cripple man healed! God cannot be stopped.
Those of you who were at South Campus with us…this is what was happening as God brought Charlie Hasselbach & Jeanine Hanson back from their hearts having stopped, and spared Glenn Olmstead from ‘the widow maker’ and we celebrated by giving God all the glory… right? And the Holy Spirit kept bringing more people who wanted to be part of a powerful, genuine work of God!
Now look closely at what Peter said in response to the constant questions… Acts 4:10-12, and look at the conclusion of those who heard…it was obvious “these men had been with Jesus”!! Amen… do you and I look like that? Are people saying that about us? Kind of depends on how much time we spend with Jesus regularly, doesn’t it?
Now look at 4:17 “to stop this thing from spreading any further…” That my friends is what is happening today in China, and Sudan, and Mali and India and even in some parts of the United States & Canada!! Efforts by politicians and armies and terrorists and others to shut down Jesus and His promise to “build My Church”! But…you can’t shut down the Holy Spirit of God!
Look at how Peter and John and the other faithful followers of Jesus responded in Acts 4. . .and look what God did! From all around the world today come similar stories. People stand strong in their faith in the face of persecution, and God does miraculous things and the church grows… underground if need be, but it grows!
So as you go to worship this morning, look closely… is it real, authentic, Spirit empowered, God honoring, Jesus celebrating? As Christians around the world watch America, they are crying out to us. . . where’s the passion, the power of God, the intensity, the authenticity…?
Let’s make sure it’s real today, wonderfully, powerfully real as we worship the RISEN Jesus Christ and invite the Holy Spirit to reign over our worship and our lives.
I’m in Philadelphia opening God’s Word and my heart to a small church seeking a renewed passion for bringing the Gospel to the most difficult, darkest places of the world. I’m praying for you from one of the areas of America which needs revival!
I hope we ALL have a GREAT Sunday… an Acts 4 Sunday!!
