Fellowship: Our Unity and Community

Acts 2:42–47 NASB95

42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

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Intro

Back in college I took the opportunity to go visit some missionary friends from our church who were serving in the Gambia in west Africa. Now when you land in the Gambia you land on the coast and all the amenities that we Americans are familiar with are right there. Our friends weren’t serving on the coast though. We hopped on a bus to go a couple hours inland to the small town where they had been serving for over 15 years. You realize pretty quickly the things we take for granted. One of the things that really stood out to me was the water . Every day water needed to be carried from the well in the middle of the little town to their house. And when I say a well I mean a big hole in the ground with a rope and bucket. It’s manual labor just to get the water out of the well! To go one step further it turns out some bold soul needs to be dropped down the well to clean the sediment out on a regular basis. Thankfully our volunteer service didn’t include going down the well, but it did make me think differently about a lot of things I took for granted. Even now I think back on that experience:

How often do I fill up the kids pool in the backyard without a worry in the world about where the water is coming from. I might have to pay for it, but I don’t have to be dropped down the well or even haul the water home.

How often do I run out the hose and water the garden without a second thought of where the water came from?

All this to say, it’s easy for us at times to take the basics for granted because we assume they’ll always be there. In reality, there’s work to be done to maintain the well and make sure the water is there when we need it.

As we look to these closing verses of Acts 2 I’d like us to see the centrality of the church to our witness. It’s something we may take for granted, but in reality, it requires maintenance and investment if the gospel is to continue to go forth from Jerusalem to Samaria and the uttermost parts of the word.

Now admittedly I’ve titled this series, “How do I share my faith?’, but for this final sermon of the series, I’d really like us to ask, “How do we share our faith?” Our witness isn’t merely what I say in one conversation. Our witness is founded in what we are together, how we worship together, how we bear burdens together, even how we do life together. The closing note of this section of Scripture isn’t pointing to Peter’s great sermon or Peter’s extraordinary witness as an individual. The advancement of the gospel, is ultimately accomplished through the corporate witness of the local church.

For us this morning we might ask ourselves, “How do we invest in the well so that when it’s time to till hard ground and plant seeds we have a well to draw from?”

Put more plainly, “How do we invest in the church - the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit - that when it’s time to call people to repentance and proclaim the gospel we have that well of living water to draw from?

As Paul says,

1 Corinthians 3:6 NASB95

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.

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By the end of our time together this morning we’ll see that when the church is unified in worship, unified in caring for one another, unified in even the ordinary things of life, God is happy cause the growth. When the well is maintained and cared for, when living water goes out into the world through the church being filled with the Spirit as we’ve seen already, we shouldn’t be surprised to see a harvest to follow.

As our text closes,

“And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

When the unity of the Spirit in the church extends from worship to fellowship, the witness of the church is strengthened, and the gospel will go forth.

Unity in worship

Unity in care

Unity in fellowship

Unity advances the gospel

Unity in worship

Vs. 42 really is picking up in the middle of a line of thought, so let’s not forget where we left off. This crowd of onlookers at Pentecost have received the word which Peter has given them. They’ve received that difficult diagnosis, they understand they’ve sinned against a holy God and will face judgement. They’ve repented of their sins. They’ve received the good news of Jesus Christ dying for sinners and rising from the dead. They’ve put their faith in Jesus Christ. They’ve called upon the name of the Lord and received salvation! Having been saved from that perverse generation they’ve been baptized as an obedient expression of their faith - they’ve been welcomed into the church.

Acts 2:41 NASB95

41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.

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Now if I were Peter or any of the other disciples I would be tempted to call it a job well done at this point. There’s joy and celebration unlike anyone had ever experienced before. 3000 people were saved and baptized. What more could you ask for? High fives all around, the church just grew by 30 fold as Jesus puts it. Let’s sit back and relax for a bit.

When people are saved, even when people are baptized that’s certainly reason to celebrate, but it’s only the beginning of making a disciple. The thing is making mature disciples isn’t as measurable as salvations or baptisms. It’s not as glamorous. It takes a lot more time. All of that is true, but making mature disciples, being the church, attending to the unity of the spirit in the body is essential if we’re going to continue to advance the gospel. Believe it or not Jesus gave us a vision for the harvest. He said 30, 60 and hundred fold. By Jesus’ own words the disciples should be looking for more here, but it’s not exactly what you might think.

There are some who might be tempted to turn around and go back out looking for those caught up in that perverse generation, and we do need to do that, but the text here looks inward before more people are called out of darkness. The gospel is going to go forth through this gathering of believers - through the church. The church isn’t just a landing pad for new believers. The church is the launching pad for mature disciples to go out into the world.

So what is it that characterizes the gathering that’s going to continue this gospel witness?

Firstly, we see worship.

Acts 2:42–43 NASB95

42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

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The story plays out just as Jesus intended it to in the great commission.

Matthew 28:19–20 NASB95

19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

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The faithful teaching of the Scriptures according to sound doctrine is the foundation of discipleship, it’s the foundation of the church, the source of our worship and therein the wellspring of gospel advancement.

If we can’t get the gospel right, how do we advance the gospel?

If we can’t defend the gospel, how are we to proclaim it?

If we don’t know how to honor God in worship, how are we to call the nations to honor Him?

Teaching is what anchors the church to the Scriptures. Without that anchor we are easily tossed too and fro by every wind of doctrine. It’s the false doctrines of the world and the wisdom of men that undermine our worship and cripple our witness. The church needs sound teaching - the teaching of the Scriptures if we hope to bring the gospel to the nations.

...

False doctrine also divides. Contrary to what the world may think, sound doctrine actually unites a people in fellowship. The two are working hand in hand. “They devoted themselves to the apostles teachings and to fellowship” The two are not contrary to one another.

One important note here however. This fellowship isn’t based on earthly or selfish concerns. “If you like what I like we can be friends.” Very quickly the text shows us the center of this fellowship.

“they were also devoted to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

Many commentators understand this to be the Lord’s supper, and I agree! These people have not stopped professing their faith. They’ve shared in a common baptism in the name of Jesus Christ and now they share a common meal in remembrance of the body and blood of Christ. They’re devoted to it! There’s no questioning the basis of the fellowship when you walk into this gathering. The one thing these people have in common, even greater than their Jewish heritage, is the body of Christ broken for them and the blood of Christ shed for them. That’s what unites this people! That’s what enables their fellowship. That’s what drives their worship.

This routine profession of their faith together is accompanied by a routine dependence on God through faith in prayer.

The recent conversion of these disciples has not made them self-sufficient. They need the Lord daily to sustain them. They need the Lord to prosper them and continue to advance the work which they’ve begun.

Now there’s a lot of moving parts here and each are worth addressing at length, but if we step back we can see that the unity of the church is rooted in their worship - worship being a fixation on God and all that he’s done and will do as opposed to a fixation on ourselves and what we can do.

If we grow into a pattern of making our faith an expression of what I can be, what I uniquely believe, what I can do, what I need.. we actively work against the unity of the spirit in the church. We actively undermine the worship of the body and our corporate witness.

The disciples from day one are fixated on

God and His Word in sound teaching

God’s people in fellowship

The son of God dying on the cross for our sins in the Lord’s Supper

Our sovereign God in prayer

and I must add the Spirit of God at work in the church confirming the apostles teaching.

Acts 2:43 NASB95

43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

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If we are to be a church that God uses to advance His kingdom we must be united in our worship. Now that doesn’t mean we’re all in agreement regarding every detail of our worship service. Being united in our worship means we are all devoted to and fixated on the glory of God revealed to us in His Word. We’re devoted to the glory of God revealed to us in the cross of Christ that unites us together in fellowship. We put our faith in the glory of God for us when we pray. We look in awe on how God uses our brother or sister for the advancement of the gospel.

Here already we can see the important shift from, “How do I share my faith? to “How do we share our faith?”

Admittedly as a very new seminary student, I was very interested in “my calling and my ministry”. I felt I had a noble vision for what it meant to advance the gospel. I was going to go to unreached people and proclaim the gospel and make disciples! I knew I didn’t have it all figured out which is why I went to seminary but boy did God show me just how little I had figured out. He’s still doing that by the way! I started to realize I had no interest in anyone else’s ministry. I had no biblical vision for equipping the saints to advance the gospel. I had no clear vision of how God intended to use His church to display His glory amongst the nations. If we look at Scripture that vision is really clear!

Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane makes the point really plain, and I believe if we look back we’ll see how Acts 2 really is an answer to Jesus’ prayer.

John 17:22–24 NASB95

22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

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Before Jesus goes to the cross he prays for two things regarding the church in these few verses. That the church would be united in the glory of Christ and that they would see his glory. Right in the middle of this fellowship of worship - this unity of glory and beholding the glory of God which Jesus prays for is gospel advancement! This perfection of unity, this fellowship of worship is for what purpose? That the world may know that You sent Me!

Might we align our hope for the nations with the prayer of Christ and example given us here in Acts 2. If we are to be for the advancement of the gospel to the nations, we must be for the local church.

When we the church are devoted to seeing more of God together, then the world will see more of God in us. That’s what we want!

2 practical considerations for each of us. I think we can all do both of these to some degree.

Set an example. When I see someone devoted to the teaching and preaching of the Word, I’m inspired to join them. I got an invitation just this past week to join a book study with a couple pastors in our association. We all have the same desire to faithfully handle the Word in our ministry, but when we see a brother take that first step we want to join them. Walk down the list here in the text and ask, how can I set an example of devotion to our fellowship? An example of prayer. An example of praising the work of God in other people.

Extend an invitation. Turn that example into words. Would you like to join me in Institute on Sunday? Would you like to help me host a fellowship event for the church? Would you like to lead a time of prayer with me?

In the end, when we set a good example and invite others into that fellowship of worship, we will all see more of God and by His grace the world will see more of God in us.

...

From here on the text extends the unity of the church from what we might recognize as the formal things into the informal things.

So far we have teaching, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper, prayer, the open use of gifts. These are all things you might expect in a formal gathering of any evangelical church today, but the unity of the church goes deeper than that.

Unity in care

Acts 2:44–45 NASB95

44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.

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The unity of the church doesn’t stop at our doctrine, or our teaching, or our worship. Unfortunately, I think our modern times have led us to believe that being apart of the same church is a lot like being apart of the same company. When you join any ordinary company or organization there’s a fundamental assumption that everyone is going to have some kind of common understanding or shared values and some kind of common mission. Common values and common mission. That’s pretty essential, but in most cases there’s a pretty firm line between work-life and home-life. There may not be balance, but there’s a line there somewhere. When we clock out we go home.

When we look at the church we absolutely recognize common values and common mission - there’s a common teaching or doctrine and the great commission, but it doesn’t stop there in the formal gathering. There is no clocking out of the body of Christ. The text says they had all things in common!

Now this clearly doesn’t mean that we don’t own anything anymore as if we can just walk into each other’s homes and take whatever we like. Scripture clearly states that God loves a cheerful giver which assumes at the very least stewardship of something that is then given. All things in common here means there is no aspect of our lives in which we are not united in caring for one another.

In an ordinary organization if someone is having a hard time accomplishing the common mission because they’re overloaded you’ll see a sense of unity there, but when that person has trouble at home with their finances, they have car issues, or they need a babysitter to go on date night - rarely does that work relationship go that far. Everyone clocks out and has to deal with issues at home on their own. Not so with the church!

As Paul says to the church at Corinth

1 Corinthians 12:24–26 NASB95

24 But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, 25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

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The unity found in the church - The unity found in the body of Christ was never intended stop at doctrine, mission, or worship. Without those things unity simply isn’t possible, but that unity extends to the ordinary everyday things of living in a broken world. It extends to suffering. It extends to financial needs, medical issues, car issues, and babysitting. (Thank you to those who’ve been willing to watch the boys so Rachel and I can go on a date!)

These two may feel disconnected, but a crucial part of how we share our faith with the world is how we care for one another. The world should see in us more than just a unified set of beliefs or a unified mission. They should see a unified body of people in which no one suffers alone. To be united in Christ means we are intended to have all things in common. Our common faith extends to a common care for one another that is determined to see the church bear the burden with those who have needs.

Contrary to popular belief, time and energy and resources invested in caring for those members which lacked and suffered and had need does not hinder our witness as the church! The wisdom of the world tells us that we need to be a group of people with the highest of competencies and self-sufficient if we’re really going to accomplish our mission. Too many people with weaknesses and needs and we’re just not going to get anywhere. Consider the false gospel that would follow such a mindset! Consider how our witness would change if we believed such a thing. Come be apart of the body of Christ by the grace of Christ, but don’t fall behind or we’ll leave you behind. There’s too much work to be done... Heaven forbid! Now that’s extreme, but it’s an easy kind of mindset to fall into.

To keep us from falling into that mindset I want us to see the mindset shift away from worldly wisdom we see here in these two verses.

Firstly, there’s a necessary shift from what I need to what I have. Rarely do people give generously if they’re convinced they’re lacking in something. The world is fixated on what they don’t have. They’re mission is oriented around how they can get to what they don’t have as fast as possible. Our mission is fundamentally oriented around what we have been given. We’ve been freely given salvation by the grace of God and so we freely proclaim it and offer it to others. There’s that common faith, but it’s true of our possessions as well. These saints look at all they have, their property, their possessions, they see their abundance and conclude, “I have been given much, and I have much to give.” Unity in our care begins with a mindset shift from what we don’t have to what we do have.

Second, there’s a necessary shift from thinking about what I need to what my brothers and sisters need. There’s a necessary awareness here that only comes from real fellowship. We’ve already established that. They were devoted to fellowship. They were committed to being together and knowing one another and by extension they knew each other’s needs. I need to ask myself this question, “Do I have this mindset when I fellowship with my brothers and sisters?” Am I looking out for my own interests or am I looking out for the interests of others? Am I contributing to the unity of the church by considering the needs of my brothers and sisters as greater than my own? I’d encourage everyone here: When we fellowship together, let’s make sure we have this mindset about us. I’m not here to meet my needs, I’m here to be aware of the needs of this church and see what the Lord has given me to meet that need. It might not be money! Let’s not forget that. It may be friendship. It may be a helping hand with some home maintenance. It may be giving a young couple time to go on a date.

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If we are to advance the gospel well, the gospel needs to knit us together first. We need to be one. We need to be united in our care for one another. Let’s not forget what we are. We’re no ordinary business. There’s no clocking out. We bear every burden of every member of the body together, and that requires a fundamental mindset shift. For many of us, myself included I’m sure there’s a deserving prayer there. “Father set my mind on the things which You have given me and not the things which you’ve not yet given. Turn my eyes from my needs as real as they may be to those of my brothers and sisters. Use me for the well-being of my brother or sister. Use me towards the unity of this church that we might bear witness to Christ together!”

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The close of our passage this morning ends with a unity found in every dimension extending to the most ordinary routines of life.

Unity in fellowship

Acts 2:46–47 NASB95

46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people...

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There’s a little pattern here you might notice, and if we see the pattern I believe we get a better look at the point. I don’t believe the emphasis is on any one facet of the church’s unity but rather the full breadth and depth of the unity they share. Firstly there’s a progression from public worship characterized by an inner disposition (continuing with one mind in the temple) followed by ordinary fellowship. (breaking bread from house to house) Public worship, inner disposition and ordinary fellowship. That same pattern is repeated in reverse order. Ordinary fellowship (they were taking their meals together) characterized by an inner disposition (with gladness and sincerity of heart) returning back to where we started in public worship (praising God).

It’s not a mathematical equation to follow or a step by step process to unity but rather a picture of a mountain scape that gives you the whole picture all at once from the mountains to the valleys and everything in between.

The picture includes time: day by day

It includes settings: the temple and private homes

It includes thoughts, emotions, and actions: one mind, gladness and sincerity of heart, and simply eating together not to mention praising God together.

If I could put it this way, Acts describes 3 dimensions to our fellowship, and there are numerous practical considerations to this picture that’s been given to us here, so let’s take it step by step.

Before we even get into the various dimensions of fellowship here, let’s wrestle with the temptation to fixate on a part and miss the whole. If I had to guess most of us look at this list and tend to fixate on a few of things. I know I do! They’re the things I’m good at. They’re the things I’m most comfortable with. It’s interesting how we tend to think the things we’re good at are the most important things isn’t it?

There are some who may tend to drift toward one mind over gladness and sincerity of heart. For those who are naturally deep thinkers the “one mind” facet of our fellowship may tend to rise to take precedence over the rest.

There are others who may lean the other way and see a greater importance in sincerity and gladness of heart. If you listen to 3 of Jon Pipers sermons you’ll be there. It only takes three. Doesn’t matter your predisposition, “JOY in God is going to be at the top of your list.” I only joke slightly, but in some sense we know it to be true.

We have a tendency to emphasize on one thing over another when in reality they’re both essential parts of the landscape. You can’t have one without the other!

If you’ll bear with me we can go further.

There are those are rightfully and biblically concerned with the gathering on Sunday morning. It is indeed the most important gathering of our week, it should be done according to Scripture, but some may go so far as to say the other gatherings are unimportant. It’s a one and done sort of mindset. Yet, what does the text say? They’re fellowship isn’t exclusive to one day, it’s not exclusive to their gathering in the temple. Their fellowship extends to people’s homes, people’s dinner tables day by day... Even most important doesn’t mean exclusive.

On the other end of the spectrum there are those who think that everything outside of the worship service is what really makes a church! “If you want to have a healthy church just add this particular ministry. Then just wait 5 years and that particular ministry is going to change.” Does that mean we don’t intentionally invest in our small group ministry, of course not.

The point here is to avoid the temptation to fixate on one part of the landscape and say, “This is the key!” If we focus on this one thing we don’t need to worry about anything else.

If we do this well, we’ll make this personal, and that starts with me. I’d be a fool to think that preaching alone could build a healthy unity and fellowship in the church. "The unity of mind around one good preacher is the golden ticket”. No… It’s important!.. but it’s not everything.

Let’s be careful we don’t fixate on that one area of ministry or one area of church life (usually the one we’re most comfortable with) and miss the importance of the whole of the body contributing to all the dimensions of fellowship that are necessary to the life and witness of the church.

When we can let go of that fixation then we can start thinking about growing together in those 3 dimensions.

These are going to be different for each of us so don’t try to capture them all. Maybe write down one or two.

Let’s start with the day by day. This is our calendar.

What does it look like for us to advance the unity of fellowship we have together with our calendars?

I don’t know about all of you, but I can get a little defensive with my calendar at times. I can hesitate to schedule things because deep down I’m asking myself, “What about time for me?” “What if at the end of the week, I’ve given all my time away and there’s nothing left?” That never actually happens does it?

Now of course sometimes that’s for good reasons, but what if we were willing to let down our guard a little bit with our calendars? This time reserved for me - this time that I don’t want to have in common with everyone else - what if that could be used toward the unity of fellowship of the church?

A second dimension - where we gather.

The text shows us temples, houses, and dinner tables.

If you’re sitting here listening to this sermon, it might be safe to say you’re comfortable in the “temple”. We’re used to gathering together in public. Everyone’s on board with the church picnic on the church grounds, but a picnic at my house. That may start to ruffle some feathers and understandably so. We enjoy the comfort of clocking out and being done with work so we can go home and be with our families. We’re not used to bringing coworkers home from work, but again we’re not like any ordinary company. We don’t clock out. This is our family.

What would it look like for you to invite family over for dinner? This family. It doesn’t need to be the whole church. It might be one person. If you’ve never done that sort of thing before start with someone you know well. If that’s something you’re pretty comfortable with, invite someone over you don’t know very well - Invite someone over with the intent to care for them and meet their needs.

A third dimension - ourselves.

Believe it or not food isn’t everything when it comes to fellowship. Being at the dinner table with food is a huge step. Truly, well done if you’re able to get there, but Acts challenges us to go even further. The text calls us to unity in our work (our strength), our hearts, and our minds. This closing verse mentions the unseen which I believe only emphasizes the depth of this fellowship all the more. The eating together, the singing together, the gathering together that’s approachable. The text emphasis the hard part.

We strive to be a people of one mind and one heart sharing the same gladness and sincerity of heart.

Let’s just be honest, we don’t like sharing our minds and hearts with people.

I don’t want people to know how little I know.

I don’t want people to know what my heart is doing!

I don’t want to people to think I’m different because all of this doctrine isn’t plain to me yet.

I don’t want to people to think I’m heartless because I’m depressed a lot of the time.

Oneness of mind as the church isn’t a threshold of understanding that everyone meets.

Oneness in heart isn’t a threshold of joy and satisfaction that everyone meets.

“We’ve all attained to this standard and therefore we’re all united.” No

Just like before we have everything in common and those able to teach - those entrusted with much are to teach those who humbly acknowledge their need for understanding.

In having everything in common those who do know that joy and gladness have a stewardship to share with others. They need to encourage those who are depressed and weary.

When we take responsibility for one another, to teach and to encourage we grow together into the fullness of Christ loving our God together with all our hearts with all our mind and with all our strength.

But it’s not just taking responsibility for others it’s having the humility to admit I can grow in my understanding. I can grow in my sincerity of heart and my enjoyment in God and His church. For all of us, talk to someone. That includes me! Scripture has given us a plurality of elders so that even we can encourage one another and grow in understanding together.

In the end we strive for our fellowship to reach every dimension of our lives. I’d encourage you to pick one.

What would it take to give one more day of your week (maybe not a whole day) but one more day to be with the church.

What would it look like for you to welcome your church family to your dinner table?

Who can you talk to to take that next step toward greater understanding or greater joy in the Lord?

The incredible thing to me here is the fruit of this labor.

You might think this is incredibly introspective. With all this thinking about one another aren’t we neglecting the lost? It’s quite the opposite. We’re maintaining the well so that we can effectively reach the lost as one people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The text says,

“and they had favor with all the people”

The unity in hearts and minds overflows into a unity in fellowship and worship and ultimately to their witness.

“All the people” is a pretty comprehensive phrase. There’s something winsome, satisfying, even attractive about the unity of our fellowship in the Spirit. Even the world can recognize it. That’s not the end of course. The goal isn’t to be liked by the world, which brings us to our last point.

Unity advances the gospel

Acts 2:47 NASB95

47 And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

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When we - the church - are united in Christ - when that unity isn’t relegated to the surface, but extends to every dimension of our lives, we’re more equipped to go out into the harvest. By God’s grace he may use us to see the 60 and even hundred fold, but in the end it was none of our doing. Just like our call to repentance and faith it is ultimately God who calls people to Himself. Though we invest in the unity of fellowship we have in Christ there’s nothing of us that’s going to draw people to us and saving faith. That’s God’s doing. It’s the glory of God in us, It’s the unity of the trinity in us that binds us together as Jesus says in John 17 that the world may know that a Savior has come.

Let’s be faithful and diligent to attend to our witness as the church - diligent to give the whole of ourselves to the unity of this gathering, but in the end we pray according to Jesus’ promise. Lord would you build your church? Use us as your faithful witnesses that the gospel would go forth to Jerusalem, to Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the world. Through our witness may the lost of of this world find salvation.

Let’s Pray.