Plugging into the power
TEXT: ACTS 4:31-33
PRAYER
TITLE: PLUGGING IN
INTRODUCTION
ü How many of you know that tomorrow if you want toast in the morning you will not get it unless the toaster is plugged in?
ü Ladies, how many of you realize that if your blow dryer is not plugged in you’ll be leaving your house not looking as good as you would like?
ü To enjoy modern life it is essential that we be plugged in.
ü But there is another perspective to being plugged in.
ü When you think of being plugged in you think of being in control.
ü As Americans we tend to be a people that pride ourselves on our resiliency, our determination and our power.
ü We are often seen as a people that are fiercely independent.
ü Much of the world sees us as mavericks and because of this many do not like us.
ü We are a nation composed of individuals that like being in control and we DO NOT like it when we are not!
ü We are control freaks that like independence and convenience and we simply do not like it when things don’t go our way.
ü So what happens when life goes wrong?
ü What happens when you discover that your resources have played out?
ü What happens when your power source runs
ü What happens when we find out we are NOT plugged in?
ü We find out rather quickly that we aren’t that little energizer bunny we thought we were and it throws our world in chaos.
ü It is then we discover we have some serious limitations.
ü We go about damage control in desperate hopes of fixing things
ü But Clint Eastwood had a unique way of looking at it, he said, “A man has got to know his limitations”.
ü So if we are truthful we must admit that there are times, maybe even many times that we could use help beyond our own natural resources.
ü All of us who name the name of Christ need the power of God working in our lives.
ü Life can be perplexing and of all the uncertainties of life one thing is certain and that is that life is uncertain!
ü Why is it we do not experience the power of God in our lives?
ü Because many of us have compartmentalized our lives.
à There are some believers who think God should get the Sunday portion while we get the Monday through Saturday portion.
à One of our most important areas of need is having the power of God in our Christian life.
à This is no secret. We need power to live the Christian life.
à I know of no one who claims to be able to live the Christian life. Paul certainty didn't!
à It is easy to live the Christian life on Sunday. It is much more difficult on Monday through Saturday.
à There are many places and many times we need this power.
› We need it at home. Living the Christian life at home is probably the most difficult of all places.
› The next most difficult place to live the Christian life is at work.
› This is where we meet failure most often.
à There is another area in which we need God's power and that is in our battle to overcome the enemy of our souls.
› The Devil is as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
› Listen to what Peter said about this in 1 Pet. 5:8.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
à There is one final area where we need God's power on a regular basis and that is to reach a lost and dying world.
à The power we need to triumph is ALREADY available.
à We already have the resources to triumph at home.
à We already have the resources to triumph at work.
à We already have the resources to triumph against Satan.
à We already have the resources to win a lost world.
à We can see this promise of power in the Great Commission
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
à Our authority is based upon the authority that was given to our savior. We operate under His authority.
à We also find this promise of power in the Resurrection (Phil 3:10).
That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
à This power WILL NOT fall out of heaven and land at your feet!
à The acquisition of the power of God is not automatic!
à It is a process, in fact, there are certain clearly defined steps and there is a method to availing ourselves of God's power.
à This process is clearly outlined in our text here in Acts 4:31-33.
à So, how is it we can get plugged in? How is it that the great power of God can be ours?
1. FIRST, GOD'S POWER CAN BE OURS BY FIRST PLUGGING INTO THE POWER OF PRAYER.
a. Let's go back and look again at Acts 4:31.
And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
b. Did you notice when God's power fell? “When they had prayed”. Don’t miss this one important fact!
i). Prayer produced some amazing effects. Prayer still produces amazing effects.
ii). Nothing has changed in all these years!
1). The place where they prayed was literally shaken.
2). If we want this church to shake we must enter into serious prayer!
3). If our church is to make a difference we must pray!
4). I am not talking about “Sugar Daddy” prayers!
iii). Notice also these people were ALL filled with the Holy Spirit in response to their prayers!
1). The filling was not limited it was for ALL!
(a). Just as it was for them, it can be ours today!
(b). God is NO respecter of persons. He wants you and He wants me filled with His Spirit and power today!
iv). The message here in Acts 4 is unmistakable. God's power is unleashed through prayer.
1). The truth is, you will NOT and you cannot experience the fullness and scope of God's power without it!
v). The disciples caught a glimpse of this as they saw it at work in the life of Jesus.
1). That is why they asked the Lord to teach them to pray. They wanted it for themselves. Listen to Luke 11:1.
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."
2). Most churches are well schooled in programs, organization, doctrine, teaching techniques, etc.
3). But far too many are illiterates in the school of prayer.
(a). We need to learn afresh the value and importance of prayer.
(b). We need to be like James whose nickname was “Old Camel Knees”
(c). Or like Hudson Taylor who founded an orphanage and fed hundreds of orphans with nothing but prayer!
4). We need to learn how to pray by asking big things of God and expecting big things from Him.
vi). Make no mistake about it. Prayer brings about the power of God into the life of the most insignificant disciple!
vii). But it is also prayer that brings about a holy boldness.
1). The church today desperately needs people today that will pray with a holy boldness.
2). There is no reason in the world why we should not be a confident and bold people.
APPLICATION: WE, AS GOD'S PEOPLE MUST COMMIT OURSELVES TO DISCIPLINED, AGGRESSIVE PRAYER SO THAT WE CAN MOVE AHEAD IN THE POWER OF GOD IN OUR COMMUNITY!
2. SECOND, GOD'S POWER CAN ALSO BE OURS BY PLUGGING INTO THE POWER OF LOVE.
a. Lyrics for an old rock song went something like this, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love”.
b. Those words were in a very secular song but they are Biblical!
c. How important this is! Look again at our text in Acts 4:32.
Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.
d. God's power is unleashed in different ways but the power of love allows us to penetrate even the most difficult of people.
e. Look at the phrase, “were of one heart and of one soul”.
f. True Christian fellowship has as it basis or core, love.
g. All our efforts to reach out and win the lost are useless without love. Listen to 1 Cor. 13:1.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
i). The church has invested an unbelievable amount of money in programs/gimmicks to get people into church to no avail.
ii). The very thing that works the best costs the less-LOVE!
iii). Love is a powerful force. It break down barriers.
1). Some of the hardest people in the world have been won over by love.
2). Hardened men have crumbled at the display of love!
iv). Just how important is this display of love anyway? Listen to John 13:35.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
1). You see, people will not know you are a disciple of Jesus merely by the fact that you go to church.
2). People will not know you are a disciple of Jesus because you send some money to “Feed the Children”.
3). Jesus said others would know we are His disciples by our love for on another!
v). When people look at you who do they see?
1). The face is the mirror of the heart. If Jesus is in your heart do people see Him by looking at your face?
vi). Love looks for the best.
1). It looks for the best in your family members.
2). It looks for the best in your co-workers.
3). It looks for the best in your neighbors.
4). It looks for the best in folk that don’t know Jesus.
5). It even looks for the best in those who do know Jesus.
6). All too often we look for the worst. Why is that?
vii). Love is considerate of others it is NOT selfish!
viii). Love considers others as better than yourself.
h. But most importantly, it is this power of love that produces a passion for the lost in our families and community.
i). The world we live in for the most part has no idea that we love them let alone that Jesus loves them.
ii). Sadly many see us as a bunch of bigoted, selfish church goers who will allow only certain ones into our midst.
i. Love does something else that is truly amazing.
i). Love enables us to put away our differences.
1). It is love that will bring us to the point where we can agree to disagree and move on in the work of Christ.
j. It is also love that helps us keep things in their proper perspective.
k. People are more important than things or programs!
3. THIRD, GOD'S POWER CAN BE OURS BY PLUGGING INTO THE POWER OF WITNESSING
a. Let's take one last look at our text in Acts 4:33.
And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
b. Here we find something else that will unleash the power of God in you life. Did you see the key that unlocks it for you?
And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
i). Witnessing is forgotten at best, ignored at worst.
ii). Friends, when you team up prayer, love and witnessing you literally unleash a powerhouse!
iii). These people became a powerful force to contend with.
iv). They became extremely powerful witnesses for their Lord and so can we and so should we!
v). These people in the early church did not witness to the power and effectiveness of their church.
vi). They didn't even witness to the power and effectiveness of the preacher.
vii). They spent their time witnessing to the power of the cross and the resurrection.
viii). Remember again what Paul said,
That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
c. As the storm clouds gather on the horizon of our world, it becomes more and more apparent that evangelism is the need of our time.
d. The church in America is on the decline. 80% of the churches in America are either stagnate or are declining.
e. The church has been hypnotized by our culture.
f. We have caved in to the movements of culture and political correctness. J.B. Phillips hit the nail on the head when he translated Romans 12:2 this way.
“Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold”
g. We have demoted the Word of God to the level of literature.
h. Perhaps that is why the church is so powerless.
i. The church today has little or no influence.
j. There is no influence because there are so few witnesses.
k. Christians that are in love with Jesus, Christians that are willing to love at the expense of themselves, Christians that will witness are needed in a big way today!
l. When we dedicate ourselves to prayer, love and witnessing we will become a proven, unstoppable force!
CONCLUSION
à Consider the great accomplishments of the early church.
à Without technology they have put us to shame.
à They chose to stay with the basics and turned their world upside down.
à We would do well to get back to basics ourselves!
à Do you want God’s power in your life?
à Do you want the tools to handle life’s up’s and down’s?
à Then let’s get back to the basics.
w Prayer.
w Genuine Christian love.
w Witnessing.
à Will you sign on?
à Let us shake our world!