Greater Things
Notes
Transcript
Finding the right connection
Finding the right connection
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
The right connection
++Can be the difference in success or failure
++Opens opportunities
++Brings Hope
How do we find the right connections?
How do we know that it will work?
Is everything a leap into the dark?
Following Jesus
Following Jesus
Some followed Jesus because of a stated benefit.
Some followed Jesus because of a stated benefit.
19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Follow Me
++I will something out of you
21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Follow Me
I will something out of you
++If you want to be perfect
++It you want heavenly treasure
Some followed Jesus for no reason at all.
Some followed Jesus for no reason at all.
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Jesus Christ was a man
++of Influence
++of Power
49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Greater things are coming to you.
Greater things are coming to you.
3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
Just Wait
++Don’t be in a hurry
++The promise is from the Lord
++God keeps his promises
4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
God recognizes
++Our Impatience
++Our Desire for it now
God commanded them to wait.
Greater things are coming upon you
Greater things are coming upon you
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
It was the Power of a Promise
It was the Power of a Promise
Promises from men some say
++cannot be trusted
++are made to be broken.
But this promise
++Did not come from man
++Was not man’s idea
++Came from the Lord
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
It was a promise fulfilled.
It was a promise fulfilled.
16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
Greater things has come
Greater things has come
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Look no further
++The Promise has Come
++He is working in us
++He is working through us
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.