Finding Our Value! (Acts 2.41-47)
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So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.
All who believed were together and had all things in common;
they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.
Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts,
praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Intro:
Sometimes.....
.....We can not move forward like we need to
....until we make an update!
Barrel:
Technology allows us to witness updates daily on our mobile devices
....and it doesn’t matter whether we like it or not……..
……..they require us to choose the update feature in order to get the FULL benefit of our devices.
(slight pause)
Now......
......there is a choice to postpone the update for a while
.......but you can only go so long with out selecting update
Because if we go too long we began to experience a deficite or deficiency…..
......and of course we will not gain the FULL benefit that is offered if we continue postponing what is required.
(pause)
And I just believe Freedom.....
........that some of us
......sometime expect the FULL benefit of our lives while we are at the same time POSTPONING the update!
(pause and expound)
And what I love about todays text......
.....is that God decided that it was time to give the Church an update
.......and that’s why this chapter opens the way it does
(pause)
We are introduced to the promise of the Holy Spirit appearing and giving the believers that were present......
........the FULL benefit of what God wanted to do through the Church.
(pause)
And the FULL benefit that God is requiring for the Church to experience....
......is tied directly to Production and Value.
(slight pause)
And Freedom.....
We can’t fully have production and not have a conversation about value.
Because....
......anytime there is something that is being produced the next question is why, and what value does it have or demand on the production?
(pause)
And that’s where this text we read this morning begins to expound......
.......because once God has produced the update
......the Church begins responding by showing us the amount of value they place on what God is doing through them.
(pause)
And as we examine their response to what God is doing....
......i also want to share what Freedom values as a Church as it relates to this text.
Look at it now.....
So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
The bible says.....
....the first response to production shows up by valueing the teaching
....and our first core value here at Freedom is:
To Value learning for the sake of Growth
(pause)
The text uses a word that is phenomenal in describing the level of intentionality by saying......
“They devoted themselves!”
And what that says is....
“They gave themselves to it.......
......and they were eager to do it..”
And Freedom……
……the only way to reverse a deficit is to attack it with Devotion!
(pause)
And not only that…..
…………. but when you are devoted to something nobody has to draw you to it.....
........because you are already attracted so much to it that you approach without being prompted.
Devotion…….
Reminds you where you come from…
(expound)
Devotion……..
Recognizes the path you need to take
(expound)
Devotion………..
Rewards you with way more than you put in
(expound)
And so what happens is…….
We INCREASE the value with our devotion!
(pause and expound)
And the bible says that.....
3,000 people welcomed this Gospel message and were baptized
....and then decided
.......we want to respond by placing value on God’s production by
.....Learning for the sake of growing.
(pause)
And the text says their value on learning included a devotion to increase the value of...
Fellowship
(Koinonia - Gk) this word really promotes what we understand to be participation and sharing....
.......so they were not only present but they were excited to participate with others in their community in growing and learning.
(We value this at Freedom Church)
(pause)
Breaking of bread
As they learned together they grew in more ways than just understanding more of the Gospel....
.....but they shared meals together and created environments so that they could learn more about one anothers personal walk with Christ.
(We value this at Freedom Church)
Prayers
The text says....
As they learned together that involved communal prayer
And I call this.....
Compounded Power
Example:
Oh God We thank you
Oh Lord Have Mercy
(pause)
Freedom......
......can you imagine what happens in Heaven when we as believers are excited about joining our words together with one another and send them towards heaven!?!
(pause)
The bible says......
Those who have been forgiven much…………will love much!
And so this first value is the first level of love responding to Production!
(pause and optional expound)
Look at it now....
Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.
Text says.....
....Because many wonders and signs kept occuring
.....Fear kept coming on everyone!
(pause)
Now the powerful thing about this is that these are not believers who continue experiencing fear....
(pause)
But what the text is sharing with us is that......
There were some other people there that had been invited to experience what was being produced.........
And as they kept showing up......
.....miracles kept happening causing them to be amazed at the power of Gods promise!
(pause)
And so......
.......there was this ATTRACTION that caused the Church to grow in a healthy way that kept producing miracles!!
Freedom.....
........this is what we want God to do at Freedom!
.......we don’t want God to produce one time
.....but we need God to keep producing
(pause and expound on Continual production)
But watch this Family....
Because....
If we want this level of production
.....we have to be willing to get to this second level of value in the next verse.
All who believed were together and had all things in common;
The text says....
3,000 or more people are showing us our next value which is:
To Value healthy and authentic relationship
And....
......this authentic relationship example exposes of one of the greatest features of Gods promise....
(slight pause)
Because remember.....
......these people were born in different countries with various backgrounds
But now....
.......here they are after pentecost and thousands of them
....are being “KEPT TOGETHER”
(pause)
And according to the text.....
It’s their “BELIEVING” that keeps building their authentic relationship!
(pause)
Through Faith...........in Jesus Christ.........
......THOUSANDS become ONE
And.....
......ONE becomes THOUSANDS!
(pause)
Freedom......
Being together in authentic relationship did not make them smaller
.......it made them GREATER!
(pause)
And.......
....We only doubt God when we forget about what he’s already done!
That’s why our FAITH is needed when we come together.....
Because if one or two of us forget......
......two or three ought to be standing somewhere around the conversation to speak up and declare......
“Our God has never lost a battle!”
“Our God can do all things, except fail”
(pause and expound)
Look at it now.......
....because here’s the last area of value that I see being placed on what’s being produced by God.
they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.
Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts,
praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
The bible says......
....there is this spirit of Excellence that shows up in everything they are doing in community.
And the third and final area of value that ties into our core value is:
We value a spirit of excellence in everything we do
(pause)
And the first landing spot for Excellence shows up in verse 45 where it says....
they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.
meaning......
they expressed a spirit of excellence....
In caring (they valued loving those who were in need)
In giving (they valued loving those enough that they intentionally provided)
And in my spiritual imagination......
When God has been so generous to these people in the text it makes it easy to care in excellence towards others.....
(pause and expound)
The second destination of their Excellence appears in verse 46 where it says....
Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts,
meaning....
they revealed a spirit of excellence....
In Commitment (day by day…)
In Worship (spent much time together in the temple)
In Grattitude and Generosity (observed the Lord’s supper, and shared meals together)
And in my spiritual imagination........
I see them saying.....
God all my life you have been faithful!
......and so here’s my response in excellence!
(pause and expound)
The third terminous of their Excellence takes shape in verse 47 where it says.....
praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
meaning.....
they communicated a spirit of excellence......
In attitude (they did all this while praising)
In how they received blessings (enjoyed the good will of all the people)
In growth (Each day.......the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved)
And in my spiritual imagination I see these believers in the text thinking about David’s words in Psalms....
“Surely Goodness and Mercy will follow me all the days of my life”
(pause and expound)
And Freedom.....
It’s wonderful to talk about production......
.......but we don’t really know how great it is until we start responding
(pause)
Because that’s when we begin to show what we VALUE!
(slight pause)
When Mary broke open her Alabaster box......
......and poured the Oil on Jesus’s feet and wiped it with her hair
(slight pause)
She was saying......
“I’ve FOUND what I VALUE!”
(pause)
When Abraham stepped out on Faith and followed in obedience....
......he was saying,
“I’ve FOUND what I VALUE!”
(pause)
And Freedom.....
We love Finding a way to be PRODUCTIVE........
But its in Finding our VALUE that takes our production to the highest level!
(pause)
And that’s why we’re getting ready to spread this message like wildfire.....
.......and that’s why we’re getting ready to turn the power on!
(pause)
Because......
.......Our Value caused God to press the button that said CREATE
(pause)
And……..
……..if we don’t know our value, we will never value anything!
And.......
......Our Values respond to God by pressing the button that says,
We value learning for the sake of growth
We value authentic relationships
We value a spirit of excellence in everything that we do
...........COMPLETION.........