Series: Stand Alone
Sermon Title: An idea worth giving your life to……
Passage: Acts 2:42-47
Reno Campus
Pastor Dave Pretlove
Carson Campus
Live Stream Pastor Dave Pretlove
Campus Announcements / Service Moments
Reno Campus
Carson Campus
Series: Stand Alone
Sermon Title: An idea worth giving your life to……
Passage: Acts 2:42-47
Imagine a Community so Beautiful…Where….
A community where Christ is the center of everything.
A community where God’s presence and power are undeniable.
A community where No one feels alone and no one is in need.
A community where There is Overwhelming Authentic joy.
A community where People are contagiously living in the way of Jesus in a way that changes the world.
DISCUSSION | PERSONAL REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
- How vital is your spiritual community to your life? How does it help foster joy?
- Where have you seen miracle works of God in your life?
- How does living our life the way that is described in this passage fuel church growth or people coming to know Jesus?
- What are practical ways we can invite and experience God’s presence and power in our daily lives?
- Define the word devoted. What does it look like to be devoted to God’s Word, fellowship with one another, and prayer?
- How is our willingness to share our money and possessions a reflection of the Gospel?
- Why do you think God calls us to devote ourselves to fellowship and the breaking of bread with one another?
- How would our lives, our communities, and our world be impacted if we truly became people devoted to prayer?
- What do you think Corrie Ten Boom meant with the question, “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?”
- READ ACTS 2:42. Which one of the four values, or activities listed in verse 42 stands out to you as a pillar of strength in your life? Why is that?
- Verse 43 says that “fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.” What type of fear is this? How is this fear different from the fear we often experience which contradicts faith?
- Replicating the community of faith presented in Acts can seem unattainable, but by God’s grace and through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, how can we cultivate a Christ-centered and empowered community within our cultural context today?
- How can our community make a tangible impact on the world around us?
- What difference in our life might we see if we chose to live a life of devotion to God, community, and prayer?
- What does it look like for you to live in such a way that others are drawn to Jesus through us?
- How can you personally cultivate and maintain an atmosphere of authentic joy in our community?
SCRIPTURES TO MEDITATE ON:
RESOURCES:
- VIDEO | MY LIFE IS ENDLESS DRUDGERY… HOW DO I FIND JOY IN CHRIST | JOHN PIPER
- BOOK | THE CHURCH AS MOVEMENT | JR Woodward and Dan White Jr.
- PODCAST | BECOME GOOD SOIL | UNPACKING THE DAYBREAK PRAYER
- BLOG | IMPEDIMENTS TO A GOSPEL-CENTERED LIFE | ERIK RAYMOND
- BOOK | PRAYER | TIM KELLER
MONTHLY SPIRITUAL PRACTICE TO TRY: Worship
Pastor Dave shared about the early church this week. One of the cool things is that they were known as a worshiping church. They worshipped both formally and informally, joyful and reverent. You as a Christ follower have had an experience with the living God. Think about that. God has interacted with you, allow that thought to permeate your soul and move you to a deep response. Worship is a spiritual discipline that is classified as a discipline of engagement. When you engage in worship your are actively shifting your focus off of circumstances, situations and self to engage with God’s presence. Dallas Willard, says it this way. “In worship we engage ourselves with, dwell upon, and express the greatness, beauty, and goodness of God through thought and the use of words, rituals, and symbols. We do this alone as well as in union with God’s people. To worship is to see God as worthy, to ascribe great worth to him.” (The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives p. 177).
Some of our most cherished hymns written by former slaves or slave traders were written to help focus their daily lives on God and off their situations. Or great passages of scripture that provide snapshots of God’s glory and our reactions to it.
This week I encourage you to incorporate scripture meditation for worship. Here are three passages to focus on to provide an intentional shift to God’s Glory.
- Revelation 4:11 NIV – “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
- Revelation 5:12-13 – In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
- Isaiah 6:1-3 – In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:
God’s desire for his people is two fold, one internal and one external, or I like to say vertical and horizontal. The vertical life is our internal ongoing life with God himself. He invites us into a deep meaningful life with him where we know him through personal experience and not just a head knowledge understanding. This requires deep work on our part to reach a point where we trust and allow the Holy Spirit to unearth areas of our lives that impede the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
Out of our vertical life flows our lives hosizontally, or with those around us and in our community. Without the vertical we can not effectively live out a life of authentic community with other jesus followers or live out the mission of being a light in a dark world.
This is why spiritual formation is important. We must deform our previous life and be conformed to our new life in Jesus (Romans 12:2-3). Reducing the noise in our life and in our soul so we can hear the voice of God and allow Him to work in us and through us (Matthew 7:7-8).
God desires a loving union and relationship with you. I encourage you this week to explore the areas of your life that may need to undergo further surrender, to allow God to have more access so you may know Him more and be more effective within the church and your community.