Acts Part 15. Acts 4:32-5:11. The Deadly Dangers of Hypocrisy

The Bible was not written down originally with chapters and verses in it. In the 1200s, a bishop named Stephen Langton divided the New Testament into the chapters we use today. Three hundred years later, and fifteen hundred years after the New Testament was actually written, a printer in Paris began printing Bibles with the verse divisions that we use today. The point is, the verse and chapters are just handy tools so that we can all agree on what part of the Bible we are looking at. These divisions were not inspired by God. In many cases, the divisions make sense when we consider what the text is actually saying. But sometimes they don't – as is the case in this portion of Acts. It seems to me that next section to study is Acts 4:32 through 5:11.

Briefly, what we have here is this: Even after the threats of the religious leaders, the believers are continuing to preach about Jesus boldly. They are continuing to do everything we learned about in Acts 2:42-47. Not only are they bold in preaching, they are bold in continuing to live as the Holy Spirit has led them to. Specifically, the believers are still using their goods and possessions for the kingdom of God. They are selling things when there is a need, and giving the money to be used by the disciples wherever it is needed. One outstanding example of this is a man named Joseph, whom the disciples called Barnabas. “Barnabas” means roughly, “one who encourages.”

We are given another example, however. And that is of a couple named Ananias and Sapphira. They also sold a field. But they only brought part of the proceeds, and kept some of it back for themselves. When Ananias brings the money to Peter, the Holy Spirit shows Peter what he has done. He has some harsh words for him, and Ananias falls dead. Later, his wife comes in and Peter gives her a chance to come clean. She doesn't, and Peter pronounces that she will die too, and she does, immediately.

This piece of scripture is one of the most troubling in the entire Bible. It looks to me like the Holy Spirit killed two people because they didn't bring enough money to the church. There are a few places like this in the Old Testament, but we can deal with those more easily. Those events are examples of God showing his Holiness, and showing us how much we need Jesus to make things right between us and Him. But in Acts, Jesus has already come. He has taken care of the Holiness problem that kept people so separate from God, and merited such severe and swift punishments. So why in the world did this happen now?

As I read this passage, I keep looking for the missing piece, the element of the story that will suddenly make everything clear and understandable. Luke, when he wrote, obviously felt that his readers (who were living 20-30 years after these events) would understand without further explanation. So we need to do a bit of “reading in between the lines” and look at things that might only be hinted at, or implied in this passage.

First, it seems clear from what Peter says in verses 3-4, that no one was forced to sell their possessions, or to bring the money to the church. This was a voluntary thing, and people did it as they were led by the Holy Spirit to do so. If they chose not to do it, that was fine too. The issue with Ananias and Sapphira was what they said to the apostles about it. In verse 8, Peter asks Sapphira, “tell me, did you sell the field for this price?” So the issue does not seem to be so much that they didn't give all their money to the church. Instead, the problem is that they said they gave all the money, while actually they did not. In other words, they lied.

Now, some of us may say, “Aw shucks! They were struck down by God for just telling a little lie about how much of their money they gave?” It's true, that doesn't seem to be much easier to swallow. But I think there is even more to the story. What, exactly was the nature of the lie?

There are two implications here. First, in verse 32 its says

“Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but instead they held everything in common.”

But this was not really true in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. They did believe that their possessions were their own. They did not hold everything in common. And yet, they pretended that the opposite was true. They were following an external form, so that they looked like everyone around them, but they weren't really that way in their hearts. Since Peter makes it clear that they did not have to sell their field or donate the money, why did they do it? Most likely, so that others in the church would look up to them, the way people looked up to Barnabas. They did it for their own glory. They did it to appear holy and righteous when they were not. They were lying to others, to themselves, and to the Holy Spirit about the true condition of their hearts.

Second, it appears that the believers did not immediately sell all their possessions, but rather, from time to time, as the Holy Spirit prompted them, they would do this. The disciples had the attitude that everything they had was the Lord's, and to be used for his purposes. And when it seemed there was a need, or that the Lord was telling them to, they would sell stuff and donate the money. So when Ananias comes to the apostles with the money, he is apparently making a claim that the Holy Spirit prompted him to do this. So in this way, he is lying about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit certainly didn't tell him to deceive the apostles about the amount. It is possible that the Holy Spirit did not even prompt to sell the field. In fact, if Ananias thinks it is OK to pretend to be something he is not, does he really even have the Holy Spirit in the first place? He may even be lying about being a Christian.

Peter identifies this as a lie against the Holy Spirit (Act 5:3). He probably remembers that Jesus said some serious words about this:

Anyone who isn't with me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is
actually working against me. Every sin and blasphemy can be
forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never
be forgiven. Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be
forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be
forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come. (Matt
12:30-32)

There is one other place in Acts where someone tries to pervert the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In Samaria, a man named Simon offers Peter and John money to give him the ability to manipulate the Holy Spirit. Peter says:

May your sliver be destroyed with you, because you thought the gift of God could be obtained with money! You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God. (Acts 8:20-21)

So the idea of maligning the Holy Spirit in any way is a very big deal. It isn't clear to me whether God killed Ananias directly and personally, or whether he might have had a heart attack induced by the shock of being found out, and the fear from realizing he has just committed the one sin that can't be forgiven. Likewise, although Peter pronounces that Sapphira will be carried out by the same people who removed her husband's body, that doesn't necessarily mean that somehow the Holy Spirit caused her death.

However, whatever the cause of the death, this piece of scripture is here to tell us something. I think at the core level, God used this to show everyone in a physical way, what happens to those who pretend to have a relationship with Jesus, but actually do not. Pretending, for Ananias and Sapphira, resulted in death. Most people who pretend to be Christians in this day and age (but are not really) do not end up dying so dramatically. But they are just as dead inside as Ananias and Sapphira are physically.

While Jesus was here in the flesh, he had many conflicts with the Pharisees and religious leaders of his time. The heart of his issue with them, was that they were outwardly righteous, but inwardly, in their spirits, they had nothing to do with God. Ananias and Sapphira were the first Christians who attempted to be like the Pharisees. Outwardly, they were righteous, but in their spirits they were dead. The Holy Spirit showed the church the true spiritual condition of such people, by allowing their physical condition to match what was going on inside.

The message seems to be this: “Don't let this happen to my church! Don't come together and pretend to know me when you don't! Walk by my Spirit, not by outward appearances.” Maybe a plain a simple way to put it is this: spiritual hypocrisy=death. For Ananias and Sapphira, that death was physical. For everyone who pretends to belong to Jesus but doesn't really know him, that death is spiritual.

If you don't really know Jesus, you are still welcome to participate in the life of our church. We only ask, for your own sake, that you don't pretend that you know him, if you really don't. And there is good news. I don't know why Ananias didn't have a chance to repent. Sapphira was given a chance, and she chose not to. But in the other instance we looked at, from Acts 8:14-24, the man named Simon did repent, and we have every reason to believe that he was forgiven, and entered into a true relationship with Jesus. The same can be true of anyone else who has been pretending, without the reality of knowing.

Acts Part 13: Acts 3:1-26.

A few times in the past, I have mentioned the ancient writing style, or literary device, known as “chaiastic structure.” Sometimes this way of writing was used to record a whole book. Other times it was just used as a way to structure stories or make individual points. Chaiastic structure begins with the first point, and then makes the second, and then proceeds to the main, or central point. Then the second point is repeated, and finally the first point is also reiterated.

This way of writing serves to help reinforce each of the points. It also highlights the main point, which stands alone in the middle of the passage or story. It appears as though Luke used this way of writing to tell us about what happened one day when Peter and John went to the temple. This is recorded in Acts chapter three. By the way, this doesn't mean that Luke made up these events. It just means he is telling us the story in such a way as to highlight certain points. In fact, it isn't clear to me that Luke deliberately structured the story like this. It may be, actually, that the Holy Spirit arranged the events and words of that day so that the message would be so clear to all who heard about it later.

As Peter and John approach the temple, they encounter a lame beggar by one of the temple gates. Luke tells us that this man spent a lot of time begging in this particular area – so much so, that most of the people who were there that day, recognized him. He is a beggar by necessity and profession, and so he asks Peter and John for money. Most likely he held out some sort of cup or container towards everyone who went by; probably he did this in a repetitious, impersonal and hopeless sort of way. One interesting thought is that Peter and John have almost certainly passed this man before. Acts 2 tells us that they were in the temple courts very frequently at this point in time. They've never paid much attention to him in the past. But for some reason, this time, they actually notice him. Peter says something that I believe contains a profound truth (Acts 3:6):

“I have neither silver nor gold, but what I have, I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

This is the heart of the first point in Acts 3: Jesus wants to bless people through his followers. And we need to be very clear on what this means. It does not mean, Jesus wants you to bless people. No, Jesus himself seeks to bless people – he wants to do it through you – but the blessing comes from Him, not you. Too often, we see the lack of our own resources, and then say, “well, I can't bless this person.” However, Peter and John do not have any resources of their own that can make much of a difference in this man's life. That doesn't bother them. They know that Jesus wants to bless the man and they know that Jesus can bless the man. So Peter speaks out in faith, and trusts Jesus to provide the blessing. He can bless others through us too.

The result is startling. The lame man is healed. Of course, he is ecstatic. Not only does he love the idea of being whole for the first time in his life, he also starts trying out his new legs – jumping and leaping. And with every leap, he praises God. Naturally, this draws some attention to him and to Peter and John. Pretty soon a crowd gathers, and they recognize the lame man. This isn't the type of miracle that is open to a lot of doubt and dispute – they all knew who the man was. They knew his condition. They'd been seeing him there for years. And so they were astonished.

Peter sees the crowd and begins to speak. He starts by making the second point in this passage – the miracle and the blessing that comes with it, is all about faith in Jesus. You notice Peter doesn't say: “God has blessed me to be able to provide healing for this fellow today.” That's often how we credit God these days. We say “God made me able to do it.” But not Peter. He says, “I didn't do it at all. This miracle came from Jesus Christ, through faith in his name.”

Peter keeps talking, and he gets down to the heart of the matter. He says basically this: “You denied Jesus, you killed him, when he was the source of all life. Therefore, repent, turn away from your stubborn ways so that your sins will be wiped out and seasons of refreshing may come from the Lord.” This message – that people have rejected Jesus, and they should repent and be forgiven – is the central point of Acts 3:1-26. That's not surprising, because it is the central point of the whole Bible. Since Adam and Eve, every single human being has rejected God, and every single sin has to be accounted for, by Jesus' crucifixion. He didn't have to die for his own sake. He died for our sins. So, in a very real sense, we are the ones who are responsible for his crucifixion – just as much as the Jews and Romans who put him to death. We killed him, because if we hadn't rejected God, he wouldn't have to die. It's true enough that if you were the only person in the world who would repent, Jesus would have chosen to die for you. But that also means that your sins alone were enough to kill Jesus.

This should be cause for true repentance. In this day and age, people often acknowledge their sins pretty freely. We say “I'm no saint,” or “I never claimed to be perfect.” That's fine. But that attitude is not repentance. What Peter is saying, is that we need to approach God with humility and sorrow and a willingness to turn away from sins, to turn away from rejecting God, to turn away from serving ourselves or serving anything at all except God. That is the essence of repentance: to turn away from everything except God. From that point on, everything else you receive or experience or do in life comes through God. If you have never repented like this, the time to do it is right now. When God sees that attitude in our hearts, his forgiveness and refreshing are immediately there for us.

In verse 21, Peter repeats the second point he made: it is all about faith in Jesus. This time he approaches the subject from the perspective of some of the Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. He alludes to Isaiah 53 in verse18, and quotes Deuteronomy 18:15-18 in verses 22-23. as well as Genesis 12:3; 18:18 and 26:4 in verse 25. The point is, as before – this is all about faith in Jesus. The healing miracle is about faith in Jesus; the Old Testament is about faith in Jesus (verse 24); repentance and forgiveness is all about faith in Jesus.

Finally, we end up where we began. When Peter and John healed the lame man in Acts 3:6, it was because they knew that Jesus wanted to bless others through them. In Acts 3:25 Peter quotes something that God said to Abraham three times: “And in your seed, all the families of the earth will be blessed.” The “seed” spoken of here means “descendant” and it refers to Jesus. Through his people, starting with Abraham, Jesus wants to bless the whole world. In Genesis 12:2 God says very clearly to Abraham that he was supposed to be a blessing. Paul writes that we are the spiritual descendants of Abraham; our relationship with God is on the same basis as God's relationship with Abraham (Romans 4:11-16). Peter reiterates the idea here: like Abraham, we are supposed to be available to God, so that God can bless others through us.

There are all sorts of possible implications for us. The first and most important is repentance. If you have never turned away from everything else, and turned to God, that is the message for you here today. There is no other way to true life. Even those of us who have given our lives to Jesus, still need to periodically turn away from the things that clamor for our allegiance, and reiterate our desire for God to really be God in our lives.

For others, maybe the application here is about the centrality and importance of faith in Jesus. It is easy to get caught up in what Jesus does for us – like the people in Acts 3, who were excited by the miracle of healing. However, the point is not what he can do for us, but rather who he is, and living in relationship with him.

For me, one of the most powerful messages here is that I am supposed to allow Jesus to bless others through me. The blessing comes from Jesus, not my own strength. I shouldn't be judging my own resources to see if I have what it takes to be a blessing. Instead, I should be listening to the Holy Spirit, to see if he wants to work through me in any given situation. I need to be available to him for that.

Let the Holy Spirit speak to you today through this scripture.

Acts part 12 (Acts 2:46) Single Purpose

This is a sermon that I am even more scared to preach than the one about the believers selling all their possessions and sharing. The reason I am afraid to teach on these few, apparently innocuous verses, is that I don't want people to get mad at me. You've probably heard about the ancient practice of killing the messenger who brings bad news. I feel a little like that sort of messenger. The topic that this verse raises may cause some people to feel guilty. Others may feel like I'm picking on them, or trying to be demanding. So please, as we approach this topic, keep some things in mind. First, I am approaching these verses, to the best of my ability, the way the Holy Spirit is leading me to. In other words, I am the messenger, not the originator of the message. I have said before, and I'll say it again: I try, to the best of my ability, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to simply teach what the Bible really says. I don't ever prepare a sermon with someone specific in mind. Second, if you feel angry or guilty as a result of what I say here, please ask the Holy Spirit to shed light on it for you. Maybe He does want you to repent and change the way you are living. Or maybe the devil just wants to make you feel bad, even though you are already living in the center of God's will. The Spirit can sort that out for you, if you ask Him.

So, what in these verses could possibly have me so frightened to say it? It is a tiny little phrase in Acts 2:46, that is often poorly translated in modern English Bibles. I will take a stab here at giving you a fairly literal rendering of it. I will italicize the two phrases that I think are so important here:

And day by day, devoting themselves with one mind in the temple, and breaking from house to house, bread, they were sharing food with exultation and singleness of heart...”

I have often mentioned that it is extremely important, when studying the Bible, to consider the context of any verse or passage. In context, this verse and the passage it falls in, are telling us something extremely important about the first disciples. And that is this: they lived for a single purpose. We've explored the meaning of the word devoted in previous weeks. How could these disciples be devoted to the apostles' teaching, devoted to fellowship, devoted to prayer and the breaking of the bread – unless their very lives were focused on these things? How could they possibly have sold all their goods and possessions, and be filled with a Holy fear of God unless they were living with a singleness of heart; living with one simple purpose?

You might be thinking: Is that all, Tom? Just that the disciples had a clarity of focus in heart and mind? What's so scary about that?

Well, consider this little modern day parable:

Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the Truth. We can't even keep them from conservative values. But we can do something else. We can keep them from forming an intimate, abiding experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken.

"So let them go to church, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that experience in Jesus Christ. This is what I want you to do, demons. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day.

"How shall we do this?" shouted his angels.

"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent countless schemes to occupy their minds," he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend; then borrow, borrow, borrow. Convince the wives to go to work and the husbands to work six or seven days a week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work.

"Over stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive, to keep the TV, the VCR and the CD's going constantly in their homes. Fill their coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, sweepstakes, mail order catalogues, newsletters, promotional offers, free products, services and false hopes.

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their ‘relaxation’ exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them ever go out in nature. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead. And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotions.

When they want to do something for Christ, give them so many options and good things to do that they quickly become exhausted, and never get around to doing what is best and needful. Crowd their lives with so many good causes that they have no time to seek power from Christ. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family unity for the 'good of the cause.'"

It was quite a convention in the end. And the evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, busy-rushing here and there. Has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge.

For my part, I believe the devil has been pretty successful with this strategy in America. When I first started in full time ministry in 1991, I was a youth director. I had an eighth grade confirmation student who was about 6'3” tall. I kept inviting him to youth meetings, until his dad came and talked to me. “We have to do basketball,” said his dad. “You see, he's obviously tall, and he's not done growing yet. But if he doesn't play in Jr. High, then he won't make the team in High School. And if he doesn't make the team in High School, he won't make it in college. And if he doesn't get a college basketball scholarship, he'll probably never be able to go, and he will definitely never be a pro-ball player. So we just don't have much time for church stuff.”

I found, to my shock, that a lot of parents had this same attitude – not always so blatantly, but it was there, in various forms. I don't think it has gotten better over the years. We have to have the kids in t-ball, baseball, football, soccer, piano lessons and swimming. If we don't, we feel like we are somehow depriving them. Men and women have the same approach toward their careers sometimes. We have to work hard and get ahead, or we won't be...ahead. As a people, we tend to live scattered lives, running from work to extra-curricular activities for our kids, or to various social commitments we've made, collapsing every night exhausted and maybe occasionally wondering why God doesn't help us out more. Is it possible, that God might refrain from helping us with things he doesn't particularly want us to be involved in? Or is possible that we don't receive his help, because, frankly, we don't have time for it?

Let me say right up front, that I know churches can contribute to the problem. We can pull together so many good programs and activities for people – but are they really the things God has for us? I've known people who were far too busy attending church conferences and functions to actually live their lives for Jesus. You see the problem is this: we are involved in so many good things, we don't the have time or energy for what is best. Extracurricular activities are often good. Social events are good. Work is good. But have they replaced what is best?

These first disciples show us a different way of living. Their minds are in one accord. Their hearts are dedicated to a single, simple purpose. I've outlined that simple dedication before: To experience the Real Presence of Jesus, living in Real Relationships with People, fulfilling the Real Purpose of making new disciples of Jesus.

Now, I want to make something clear. The first Christians generally had to work at some job or another to put food on the table. Some of them were even slaves. So I'm not talking about quitting your job or ignoring your responsibilities. Paul writes about this to the Thessalonian Christians:

In fact, when we were with you, this is what we commanded you: “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.” For we hear that there are some among you who walk irresponsibly, not working at all, but interfering with the work of others. Now we command and exhort such people, by the Lord Jesus Christ, that quietly working, they may eat their own bread. (2 Thess 3:10-12)

So the Lord recognizes that we have to make a living. And it isn't a matter of becoming a monk and withdrawing from all life either – if we did that, how could we interact with people in such a way that we were involved in making disciples? However, I think there is a real challenge for us here. What are we living for? And, even more to the point: does the use of our time reflect a singleness of heart and mind?

Especially in America, living with a single purpose has enormous implications for the way we use our time. I am convinced that most of us try to live with more than one purpose in life. When I try to do that, if I was honest, my purpose in life could be described as: “ To serve God, and to be comfortable.” The first part is OK, but that “to be comfortable” makes it a dual purpose. And that causes problems when the purposes conflict with each other. What if being comfortable isn’t conducive to serving God, or vice versa? Others might want to “serve God, and have a good career” or “Be a disciple, make disciples, and achieve certain financial goals.” There is nothing Biblical about this. Sometimes, God makes his servants comfortable. Sometimes he gives them fulfilling careers, or wealth. But we need to pursue God – not the other things. If He wants to give the other things also, well and good. If not, can we still say, “well and good”? You see, when we try pursue more than one simple purpose, we get tired and burned-out.

Others of us really do live to “be a disciple and make disciples”. But we fall into the trap of doing many good things, instead of the two or three best things. We might run all over town participating in workshops, ministries and conferences – all good and wonderful things. But often these wonderful spiritual things, keep us from truly connecting with Jesus, and concentrating on the two or three things that will be most effective, and are most important. Many times, perhaps almost always, we need to turn down the good things for the best things; the non-essential for the essential. This is the crucial and difficult task in learning to orient our lives around a single purpose: saying “no” to things that are good, but which are not best, or essential.

As best we can, we are trying to build our church around this principle. You notice we don't have a lot of programs and activities. That's because our desire is that we come together on Sunday, and then interact with each other and minister together in our home groups, living our lives together with singleness of heart and purpose. How can we show the love of God to a person in a practical way if we are all just too busy? How can we devote ourselves to fellowship if we don't have time to make a phone call, or drop by the home of someone in our group once in awhile? Sometimes, maybe we technically have the time, but we're too exhausted by our other activities. The answer is not to force yourself to do more. The answer is to live with singleness of heart and purpose, and learn to say “no” to things that are not essential to that.

“I'm just too busy” is usually an acceptable answer in America. Sometimes we even admire busy people. But I think that would have been a strange and foreign sounding concept to these first believers.

I believe that this challenge to live with singleness of heart is actually a gracious offer from God. Martha had a bunch of things to do. She was very busy. She bustled around, worried and upset, uptight, stressed. Her sister Mary sat quietly and at peace, at the feet of Jesus. Martha complained. But Jesus said to her:

""Martha, dear Martha, you're fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it — it's the main course, and won't be taken from her." (Luke 10:41-42 The Message)

You see it is hard and draining to live for more than one purpose, or to live for the purpose that isn't the Lord's. Martha didn't have time for both cleaning the kitchen and sitting at the feet of Jesus. So what does Jesus say? Don't clean the kitchen. Now, if you are like me, a clean kitchen might be important to you. You might have to make some hard choices and say “no” to things that are really good, but not best. However, when Jesus invites us to singleness of heart, he is inviting us to slow down, to experience grace and peace. It is worth it. Won't you accept that invitation today?

Acts part 11 (Acts 2:46-47) Small Group Life

We are going to spend at least two weeks on these two verses. Oftentimes, it seems that the Lord manages to pack a lot of meaning into little space. Acts 2:46 is one of the first places we get any sort of hint about how the New Testament church was organized. If you notice, they had no programs. Instead, they lived and spent time together as disciples of Jesus in two different contexts. A church planter named Bill Beckham, calls these two contexts, the two “wings” of the church. The idea behind calling it a “wing” is this: a bird needs two wings to fly forward. A bird with only one wing may get off the ground, but probably will only be able to fly in a circle. In the same way, a church needs both of these contexts (wings) to move forward with the mission of Jesus, which is to make disciples who make disciples. If we only function in one context, we will tend to go around in circles.

The first context was in the temple courts. I call this the “large group wing,” because when they were in the temple, they were all together in a large group. It was probably there that they listened to the teaching of the apostles. They may have had some public worship there too. As faith in Jesus Christ spread to other parts of the world, we find that the believers in other places did not always have a building in which to meet as a large group. In fact, only in Ephesus do we know for sure that the believers had a public meeting place for a large group. Acts 19:9 tells us that they met in a lecture hall.

The second context that these first followers of Jesus had, was the “small group wing.” Acts 2:46 says they gathered from house to house to break bread and praise God. If we read the rest of Acts carefully, as well as Paul's letters, we find that all Christians met together in homes. Given that homes in those days were smaller than they are here in America today, it is obvious that each home group was relatively small. When Saul persecuted the church, he would enter “house after house” (Acts 8:3) to get Christians. In other words he was going from home group to home group. When Peter was released from prison, he went to the church that was gathered at Mary's house. Paul says to the Ephesian Christians:

I did not shrink back from proclaiming to you anything that was profitable, or from teaching it to you in public and from house to house. (Acts 20:20-21)

At the end of Colossians he writes:

Give my greetings to the brothers in Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. (Col 4:15)

At the beginning of Philemon he writes:

To Philemon, our dear friend and co-worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your house.

So, while there was a large group context to churches, the New Testament clearly recognizes that all Christians at that time met for church in homes. The core of their lives together as Christians took place in small home groups. When they really spent time praying, it was in a home group. They reached out to people who did not know Jesus through their home groups. They did works of service with their home groups. The children were trained and raised up in Jesus – in the context of their families and home groups. Many of the tasks and activities that these days we associate with “church” – took place in small groups that met in homes. Spiritual gifts were used in home groups and by home groups. Miracles happened in those houses. People were “saved” (that is, they came to know Jesus) in and through those home groups. Disciples grew in Jesus in those houses. They had potlucks there, and fun and tears and laughter. They didn't have programs – they had joyful communities of disciples who made disciples.

Now both contexts of church were important to them. Even when churches didn't have a regular large group meeting place, they still banded together for certain large group functions or tasks. For example, groups of home churches would join together to support an apostle or a pastor or evangelist – or a team of people like that – who would provide teaching, training, organization and leadership for all those home groups. The groups recognized that they belonged to one another, and they helped each other in doing things that one group alone couldn't do. When and where they could, they met as a large group for worship and teaching.

There is not one church in the New Testament period which owned its own building – other than those believers who owned their homes. And yet these churches, functioning in large group and small group contexts, changed the course of the history of the world. They survived social and political upheaval. They prospered even under persecution. We would not be here today without them.

Most churches in America these days have only the large group context that truly functions. Bill Beckham calls this a one-winged church. A creature which is supposed to have two wings, but uses only one of them, is destined to fly in circles. Churches need both wings.

At New Joy, I think we have a fairly healthy large group wing. The Lord seems to often be at work on Sunday mornings, which is when we do most our large group activity. There are things we can do to “tweak” our Sunday times, but overall, I think we are accomplishing the tasks that the large group mode should accomplish. So be at ease. Of course we are willing to listen to suggestions, but our leadership team has no plans to make big changes in what we do on Sunday mornings.

Our small group wing, is growing. We have about ten or twelve families who are a regular part of one of our home groups. I think we have enough interest to start more groups soon.

But it isn't just about “having” home groups. It is also about how we view church. I think we all recognize that what we do on Sunday morning is “church.” I want to encourage you to see home groups that way also. It is not just an extra. It is the essential second wing. Without it, we will fly in circles. Where other churches have programs for outreach and service and ministry training and education – we have home groups. Now we do need to make some adjustments in how our small groups function. Some of those changes are about what we do when we meet, and a lot of them are about our attitude toward the home-group wing. We need to be a bit more intentional about being “a real church” when we get together in homes. In our home groups, we can really devote ourselves to prayer – much more so than on Sunday mornings. In our home groups, we can really help each other apply the word of God. We can learn and practice spiritual gifts in home groups, far more effectively than in the large group context. In our home groups, we can encourage the downcast, and visit and care for the sick; we can discuss important questions in a way that we can't on Sunday morning.

Many times, I have been blessed to be there when someone gives her or his life to Jesus for the first time. Almost every single one of those times was either in a home group meeting, or because of a home group. I've seen people who would not come to Sunday morning worship in a gym – or anywhere else for that matter – walk into a home group meeting and happily be in church (the small group wing) for two hours. If we are looking for a proven, effective way to make new disciples, having church in the small group context (in addition to the large group) is it.

So what does this mean for us, practically? First, if you are in a small group already, I will be encouraging your group to make a few adjustments, especially adjustments in how you view the group. No group will be forced to do anything, however. Second, if you are not in a small group, I want to encourage you to get involved in one. We'll probably be starting a new one soon. Maybe we'll even have enough people to start two new home groups.

There are some great churches in Lebanon that have terrific programs. There are some awesome church buildings here too. But by having real and authentic home group church, our little New Joy Fellowship can offer our community something that it doesn't have, by and large, and something which all disciples really need, if we are going fly. The first disciples did it that way, and you simply can't argue with their results. Let's listen to the invitation of the Holy Spirit to imitate them.

Acts Part 10 (Acts 2:43) Fear and Miracles

We have finished with the four things that the first Church was devoted to. I hope you’ll agree with me that on the basis of Acts 2:42, any church and even any Christian ought to be growing in devotion to the Word, Fellowship, Intimacy with Jesus (characterized by the Lord’s Supper) and Prayer. I believe that these things are essential to what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. They are therefore also central to the community life of those who know Jesus. In addition to these, however, there are a few other things that characterized that very first Christian church. I believe that these other things are also meant to be characteristic of all Christians and all churches. The first of these that the text mentions is a sense of awe, which is accompanied by “wonders and miraculous signs.”

The word translated as “awe” in the NIV Bible is actually the Greek word “phobos” from which we get the English “phobia.” In other words, the word means fear. I think that we in modern American culture are afraid (no pun intended!) to use this word in connection with our experience of God. It sounds like the dark ages somehow – “they were filled with fear.” However, it is a Biblical word, and it is used many times to describe people’s relationship with God. A God we fear is not an altogether comfortable God. He is not the kind of God we can control. Now I don’t believe that this whole concept of “fear of God” is meant to be negative. Perhaps the best rendering of the concept I ever heard comes through the children’s books written by C.S. Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia. In these stories there is a character called Aslan, the Son of the Great Emperor-over-the-Sea. Aslan was intended by Lewis to be a picture of what Jesus is like. And one more thing – Aslan is a lion. In the stories, people who haven’t met Aslan want to know what he’s like. Upon hearing that he is lion, one character asks about him:

“Then, isn’t he safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

I think that Lewis has really captured what the fear of God is about. God is out of our control. He is powerful, and, dare I say, even a little wild, like a lion. He isn’t quite safe because of his great power and his complete otherness. But he is good.

I love the outdoors. I like to hike in the wilderness, and I used to spend a lot of time in and on the ocean. These places are beautiful, wonderful and good. They can also kill you in a heartbeat. So, I also have a healthy fear of them. This sort of fear doesn't keep me away from those beautiful places – in fact, in a certain way, it causes me to love them even more. But it also cause me to approach them with preparation and respect.

I think that this was the kind of “fear” that everyone was filled with in Acts 2:43 – the fear of God who is not quite safe, but is good. We Americans are not usually comfortable with this (which is sort of the point). We like to think that we can respect anyone who is worthy of it, but that we fear no one. But when we try to reduce the fear of God to mere “respect” we have lost part of the true Biblical understanding of who God is. Now the “fear of God” is not the same as being afraid of Him. We do not need to fear that He won’t love us or forgive us. But at some level the thought of what God can really do – how completely at His mercy we are – ought to give us a kind of thrilled fear. He is God and we are truly nothing in comparison.

The first Christian church was characterized by this sort of “fear.” I think it probably influenced how they worshiped and prayed in very positive ways – they did not take God for granted. I think this sense of “fear” also made the miracle of their salvation even more wonderful and incredible to them. The fruit of their fear was altogether positive. Their fear of God only led to a greater wonder that He would consider them worth loving and dying for. Personally, I think it heightened their joy at knowing Jesus as well as their thankfulness to him.

Accompanying this very positive fear, were wonders and miraculous signs. I have no doubt that these manifestations of supernatural things helped them to continue in this positive sort of “fear-of-God.” Perhaps three main questions can help us to dive more deeply into this verse: What were the signs and wonders? And, Do signs and wonders still happen today? And, Are we meant to experience them as well?

First, what were they? There is no doubt among any serious scholars that the text is referring to God’s supernatural working. The specific things that He did supernaturally remain somewhat vague in this passage; but we can infer what they were from other passages, with a high probability of being correct. In Acts, we see two primary supernatural manifestations of Gods power: healings and exorcisms. You can bet that these two things were part of what is being referred to in Acts 2:43. In fact, in the passage immediately following this one, the apostle Peter was used by God to heal a crippled man. But Acts also records other things. The great outpouring of the Holy Spirit was accompanied by the miraculous sign of tongues – people from all over the world heard the apostles speaking in their own languages when they preached (Acts 2:5-12). In Acts 12 Peter was miraculously freed from prison. The Holy Spirit gave a word of prophecy to the congregation at Antioch in Acts 13. Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake but suffered no ill effects (Acts 28:3-5). The rest of New Testament also records other sort of miracles, signs and supernatural workings apart from healings and the driving out of evil spirits. The important thing is not really what the specific events entailed – instead the point is that God intervened in ways that were clearly supernatural. Another significant point is the choice of the words “miraculous signs.” The effect of these things was to strengthen the faith of the believers, and to help in bringing unbelievers to faith. Even today, the fastest growing churches worldwide are those where God is doing supernatural things. The first Church clearly viewed the miracles and wonders as portents of God’s presence. The supernatural events gave them opportunities to preach (Acts 3) and often helped convince unbelievers (Acts 8:9-13).

Now, do these things still happen today? I must be fair and tell you that there are people who genuinely know and love Jesus, who believe that God no longer does miracles like these. For theological support, they point out that in this passage, it only mentions the apostles as those who did the miracles, and since the apostles are now all dead, there are no more miracles. They claim that these supernatural actions were merely intended to help the very first church establish itself. Now that the church worldwide is no longer in danger of not being established, miracles aren’t needed. I believe that these people are sincerely misled. There are plenty of other New Testament passages (including some in Acts) which demonstrate that supernatural things are done by God through people other than the apostles. And the truth is, the church needs to be re-established in every generation. The Christian message is no more secure now than it was in the time of the apostles – the gospel needs to be communicated again and again to each generation, or it will be lost. There are plenty of local churches that are closing their doors, precisely because they have not done this. We are certainly not in any less need than the first Christians for supernatural power to assist us in our efforts to introduce people to Jesus.

In addition, the evidence demands that we take seriously the premise that God still works supernaturally. As G.K. Chesterton points out,

There is a choking cataract of human testimony in favour of the supernatural.

The fact is… the believers in miracles accept them (rightly or wrongly) because they have evidence for them. The disbelievers in miracles deny them (rightly or wrongly) because they have a doctrine against them. The open, obvious thing is to believe an old apple-woman when she bears testimony to a miracle, just as you would believe an old apple-woman when she bears testimony to a murder.

You see, if there is only ONE true event out of the MILLIONS of stories about God working supernaturally since the time of the apostles (roughly 2,000 years) then God still works that way sometimes. So, the evidence and probabilities are quite clear that he does.

Now, what is our part in all this? Does God want us to be involved in these kinds of things? If you feel a little thrill of fear at that thought, then you’re on the right track! The answer is of course, YES! God wants to do incredible things through us. Of course sometimes we want to move in the supernatural all the time and never “come back to earth” – that is not God’s plan either. He uses the supernatural for three main purposes: to set people free (either from sickness, emotional pain or demonization); to strengthen the faith of believers; and to help unbelievers come to faith. He doesn’t work supernaturally simply to give us another cool experience. He wants his children to grow to the point where we walk by faith and not by sight. So the first part of allowing God to work miracles is to release control to Him. Many of us who have had some supernatural experience try to control Him by attempting to arrange things so he’ll come do it again. But we can’t make Him do a miracle, and we should not try. Neither should we try to prevent his working because we are afraid. Primarily what he wants from us in the arena of miracles is an openness, a willingness to be used (or not used), and a sense of fear and awe, that at any time He can come and do whatever He wants.

The second thing: we need to ask him. Do we want him to set people free, to strengthen and encourage our faith, and to bring unbeliever to faith? Well, then ask him for a miracle. Ask him to heal someone. Ask him to deliver your friend from addiction to drugs or alcohol. Ask him to encourage someone who is struggling. Ask him to find a job for someone who has lost his. The result is up to God, not to us. He is not a machine that we can manipulate. Sometimes he WILL do a miracle. Sometimes he won't. But, for whatever reason, God has chosen work through us as we are open and as we ask. The best way I know of to PREVENT miracles, is to not ask God for them. So go ahead and ask.

Acts Part 9 (Acts 2:44) Stewardship

All the believers kept meeting together, and they shared everything with each other. From time to time they sold their property and other possessions and distributed the money to anyone who needed it. (Acts 2:44).

This verse teaches us that the first disciples shared all their possessions and financial resources. That sounds pretty radical to me. However, there is an underlying principle here, and I think it is important. The principle is that these believers understood that their time, abilities and possessions were given to them by God, and were to be used as resources for fulfilling God’s purposes on earth. I want to spend some time this week on this particular principle. The term often used to describe it is “Christian Stewardship.”

This week, the verse we are looking at is focused primarily on the financial aspects of that stewardship. I have noticed that a lot of people are very touchy about money. Most folks don't like to talk about it. One time, when I was teaching about money, I made it quite clear that we were on the topic because it is something the Bible talks about, and the way we manage what God has given us financially is an important aspect of our spiritual life. The last time I had even mentioned money in a sermon was six months before that time. Even so, someone came up afterwards and had some strong words for me, and basically called me greedy, among other things, and accused me of nagging people about giving. So before we go on, let me make a few things clear. Please read carefully. First, as a teacher/preacher, I talk about money far less often than Jesus did. Second, as I write this, I have recently received a raise in my salary. I am grateful for that, and I am completely content with what I am making. I approach this subject because the scripture we are studying talks about it – and not because I personally want more money. Third, I have no idea how much any person in our church gives. I never have, and I don't want to know, in case I start treating people differently. Finally, if you have a strong negative reaction hearing a sermon about money, could it be possible that this is because it is an issue between you and God, and could it also be, that He wants to address this issue in your life? One more note: I am aware that we are one week ahead of ourselves with this verse. We're doing it this week because we have a member of our church who also wants to share with you on this subject, and today was originally the only day he could.

Jesus taught extensively about the idea of stewardship. Matthew 21:33-46 recounts the parable of the tenants. Matthew 25:14-30 offers the parable of the talents. Luke 16:1-15 records the parable of the shrewd manager. I encourage you to read at least two of the three this week, so you can get a flavor for Jesus’ attitude about this. The central point in each of these stories (and it is quite forcefully made in each) is that we are stewards of what God has given us in life. It is His, not ours, and we are to take care of it, and use it to accomplish His goals. God’s primary goal of course, is to bring more and more people into a genuine, righteous, loving relationship with Himself. If he’s going to do that, he’ll need to use the speaking gift he gave Peter; the energy he entrusted to Paul; the thoughtfulness that John was to invest; the time that Philip devoted; the willingness that Stephen had; and yes, the money of Barnabas. All that comes from just a few chapters in the book of Acts. He has given you and me many other gifts – time, talents, money, relationships and opportunities. He needs them to achieve his purpose. We were put here to use them for Him.

What does it mean to be a steward? A steward is someone who manages resources that belong to someone else. Usually the owner of the resources wants the steward to accomplish certain goals with those resources. For example, if you use an investment broker, that broker is a steward of your investments. He does not own your money – you do. But your broker manages your money for you, with the purpose of helping you to achieve your financial goals. When all is said and done, your broker is accountable to you for how he invested the money you gave him to use. He needs to give an accounting of what he has done with it. While he is investing for you, he needs to keep in mind your goals for the money. Of course, he is entitled to his fees from what you have given him – after all, he has to have something to live on. However, the money, and the goals are yours. And the broker fees are usually only between 1 and 5 percent.

We are something like investment brokers for God. We are stewards. Everything we own, every ability or gift we have, every opportunity that comes our way and yes, all of our money – really belongs to God, not us. They are given to us simply so that we can manage them according to His goals and purposes. Of course some of it we have to use to support ourselves during our time here as stewards for God. But we should never lose sight of the fact that we are stewards, and all of these resources have been given to us so that we can invest them in reaching God’s goals.

Can you imagine an investment broker who said, “Come and invest with me. I'll use your money for myself, but whenever I can afford it, I'll invest some.” Suppose you actually invested with such a person, and over time, you found out she was investing about 3% of your money, and keeping 97% for her own fees. You would probably look for a different brokerage, one that was closer to the industry standard which is exactly the opposite of that. But suppose you were very generous, and you said to your broker, “Look, let's be reasonable. I am trying to accomplish certain goals with this money. What do you say, you keep 90% of my money for yourself, but be sure to invest at least 10%?” That is ridiculously generous. But suppose the Broker said, “10 percent? I can't afford to live on only 90% of your money! Maybe if you give me more, you can have 10%, but not unless I get more.” No human being I've ever met would invest with a broker like that. But God does it every day. The average American Christian gives 3% of his or her income to church each year. This is very different from what those first Christians did in Acts 2:44.

Now, at this point, I need to make something absolutely clear. Doing things for God, including giving money, does not earn you “brownie points” with him. Being a good steward will not make Him love you any more, and being a bad steward will not make him love you less. We are saved and have a relationship with God simply and only because Jesus sacrificed himself in our place, and we trust him to forgive our sins. Our relationship with God is not based on what we do (or don’t do) for Him – it is based on His love for us, and our willingness to believe in and receive that love.

The reasons to use our resources – including money – for God, are because we love him, because he deserves it, and finally, because there is tremendous joy, peace and blessing for us when we do.

I'd like to share some practical ways that being a steward of God's money works for me. I'm not saying I'm perfect, and it doesn't have to look exactly the same for you – I'm just telling you how we handle it.

First, we give 10% of our regular income back to the Lord. It's our way, and it is a biblical way, of making sure we understand that ALL of it belongs to him. We did this when we were first married and made only eight-thousand dollars in one year. I am confident that we'd do at least this if we made a million dollars a year. Tithing – giving 10% – isn't a law. However, in the Bible there are really two main examples of how believers honored God with their money on a consistent basis. The first is to give 100% of it away (as in this Bible Passage). The second is to give a tithe – which means ten percent. And there are a lot of promises in the Bible connected with tithing. In fact, if you are looking for economic security in these uncertain times, strange as it may seem, tithing is a pretty good place to start. There are a lot of examples of it. It is the only suggestion about regular giving that came from God himself, through Moses and the prophets. And, God promises to bless those who do it. So don't consider it a law. But I think everyone should consider it to be an excellent and practical idea. Remember the analogy of the stockbroker. Is ten percent really too much to invest for the owner of all that you use? If it is, what other benchmark will you use?

Now, if Kari and I just tithed and did nothing else, I would not consider us good stewards. Instead, we try to manage ALL of our money in ways that honor him. We recently got a tax return. Shortly after we got it, we prayed, “Lord, this is your money. How do you want to use it?” Now, I have preached elsewhere about hearing from God. In the meantime, rest assured, that if you really want to hear from him about how he wants to use the money he's given you, you will. You might even be hearing from him right now. On the other hand, if you view your money as your money, and you aren't open to what God might want to do with it, then I expect you will never hear what he is telling you, even if an airplane does sky-writing directly over your house saying, “give some of it away.” By the way, that's what Kari and I heard. So we gave away ten percent of our tax refund.

We recently purchased a couch. It wasn't super extravagant, as far as couches go, but it was a pretty big purchase for us. Before we did it, we prayed, “Lord, all that we have is yours. Our money really belongs to you. Is it OK to use this much for this couch?” I think we heard “yes.”

One more example. Recently, we were forced to buy a different (used) lawnmower. It was a pretty good price, and we felt like God wanted us to do it, but I tried to bargain with the folks who were selling it. They wouldn't budge. For some reason, I felt mad that they wouldn't negotiate, and I wasn't sure we should do it. I took a moment to step away and pray. I don't hear audible voices, but it seemed to me that the Lord brought some things to my mind. It was almost as if we had the following conversation:

God: Whose money is it?

Me (sulky): Yours.

God: “So if they are ripping you off, or if it's a bad price, who is losing on the deal?”

Me: Oh. I see. You are.

I found this to be a relief when handling money. It's not my money, it's his. As long as I am truly open to him, and as long as I am asking him about it and doing my best to hear, he is responsible for it. The decisions are his, not mine. We budget our money, and keep track of where it is going. But I have also found it a tremendous relief to simply ask before almost every major purchase (in our case that is, more than $50) “Lord, is this how you want to use your money?” It takes a burden off me to know that it is his. He is very generous with me. We are well fed (too much so, in my case) and well housed, and most of our articles of clothing don't have holes in them. We get to do fun things from time to time. God isn't a killjoy. But it is his money, after all, and he should be the one who determines how it is used.

Recently we came close to buying a flat panel TV to replace our 19 inch tube model. We both prayed, “Lord, is this how you want to you use your money?” We both felt that he said, “no.” In fact what occurred to us was that if we were going to spend that much on a TV, we should first spend an equal amount on helping the poorest of the poor in the world – people like orphans in foreign countries. So we won't be getting a TV, until we've also spent that same amount on them.

I'm not condemning anyone who buys a TV without first supporting orphans. I'm just telling you how it looks for us as we try to live with the awareness that all we have and all we earn, actually belongs to God.

Finally, as with everything else in the Christian life, good stewardship is “God-thing.” What I mean is, you can’t be a good steward by yourself, any more than you could get salvation for yourself. The first step in being a steward of God’s resources is to tell your client (God) that you can’t do it without his help. Let Him give you the inner strength to reject selfishness and live for His purposes. Let Him give you wisdom in how to use what He has given you. As always, the main thing is simply to be willing and then He can (and will) do the rest – everything from showing you what to do, to even to giving you the motivation to do it.

Acts Part 8: Prayer (Acts 2:42)

Prayer is the fourth thing that Acts 2:42 tells us the first Christians were devoted to. They held closely to it, they committed to persisting in prayer in spite of resistance and struggle. Prayer was a defining characteristic of their lives.

If you have never read a Christian classic, I highly recommend Prayer by Ole Hallesby. It is possibly one of the best books on prayer ever written. As we begin to look at prayer this week, in connection with God’s plan for the church, and for all Christians, consider some of what Hallesby says:

To pray is nothing more involved than to let Jesus into our needs. To pray is to give Jesus permission to employ His powers in the alleviation of our distress…
The results of prayer are, therefore, not dependent upon the powers of the one who prays. His intense will, his fervent emotions, or his clear comprehension of what he is praying for are not the reasons why his prayers will be heard and answered. Nay, God be praised, the results of prayer are not dependent on these things…
For to pray is to open the door unto Jesus. And that requires no strength. It is only a question of our wills. Will we give Jesus access to our needs? That is the one great and fundamental question in connection with prayer.

One of the reasons Hallesby’s book is so helpful is that he takes the mystery and “hocus-pocus” out of prayer. Explained like it is above, prayer no longer seems like such a difficult enterprise. It even seems (gasp!) like anyone could do it.

There are two core questions that arise when we read that the first Christians devoted themselves to prayer. First: how did they make prayer central to their lives? What does a life devoted to prayer look like? And second is the question of methodology: how did they pray? What did it sound like? What “method” did they use?

The first question is perhaps the most important for us. The apostle Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to “pray continually.” How can this take place? How can a life be devoted to prayer? The first thing is to get rid of the idea that prayer is a formalized ritual wherein a person comes to God with a list of petitions and presents them in as spiritual a manner as possible. If that were the case, no one could “pray continually” (even super-Christians have to sleep!) And though it might still be theoretically possible to devote our lives to prayer, frankly it sounds like it would be pretty boring. You’d need to become a monk and have others support you and make knee pads for you. However, as Hallesby says, prayer is simply giving Jesus access to our lives. If we endeavor to be open to Jesus at all times and in all places, we will end up devoting ourselves to prayer. If we make a habit of opening up to Jesus in every situation, we will learn how to pray continually. I don’t want to minimize the power and usefulness of concentrated, deliberate prayer. Even so, we need to see that prayer is more than just the ten minutes we set aside, during which we list our requests and concerns to God. Prayer is a constant, ongoing connection with the Lord, which learns to release every aspect of our thoughts, circumstances and lives into the care of the loving heavenly Father.

Most often we simply think of prayer in terms of those special times when we purpose to pray. We sit down, fold our hands, (or lay them on someone) and then pray. Sometimes, we may wonder why these times aren’t more meaningful, or why we don’t experience more of God when we do it. For some, the answer to this is that they are not praying at any other times as they go throughout the day. What I mean is, some people go through the whole day without consciously giving Jesus access, and sort of keep prayer in its allotted time slot with their quiet time, or at church. In short, many of us only really pray when that is our consciously stated purpose for the time. Now it is important to set aside specific times when we do nothing except pray. But these are supposed to be just the pinnacle times of a whole life that is bathed in a constant referral of things to God. When we begin to live this way, we will start to yearn for times when we are doing nothing but praying, and we will start to experience His peace and presence more fully in those special times. What I’m trying to say is that we need to look at what we call “prayer times” (set aside for prayer and nothing else) as special times, while we give Jesus access at all times. It is true that there is no life devoted to prayer without those “special times” set aside purposefully for prayer alone. But there is also no devotion to prayer if we try to fit all of our praying just into those “special times” only. God designed prayer not just for the “prayer closet” but also for the construction site, the office and the ball field. He made things in such a way that our praying can take up a lifetime, in a very real and useful way. Make an experiment of this during the next week. Try to give Jesus access into whatever you are doing or saying, at each moment of your day. As concerns or people come to your mind, refer them to Him. When you need to make decisions, give Him permission to help you. You may find that sometimes you want to stop for a moment for more deliberate prayer.

The second major question was: how did they pray? Frankly, the only reason this is important at all, is because it can become a hindrance to prayer. Often people are intimidated by considering the praying of other people. We feel that we could never pray like them. In this connection, let’s consider a few more comments from Ole Hallesby:

Prayer is something deeper than words…Prayer is a definite attitude of our hearts toward God, an attitude which He in heaven immediately recognizes as prayer, an appeal to His heart. Whether it takes the form of words or not does not mean anything to God, only to ourselves.
What is this spiritual condition? What is that attitude of heart which God recognizes as prayer?

Hallesby explains that there are two essential conditions that, when taken together, God recognizes as prayer: helplessness and faith. Helplessness combined with faith equals prayer. Helplessness without faith is simply despair. Faith without helplessness is arrogance. But put the two together, and you have prayer.

Prayer and helplessness are inseparable. Consider the helplessness of a baby, which so moves the hearts of its parents. A baby cannot formulate words, but its helplessness and dependence are a powerful appeal to the parents. Just as parents are continually occupied in helping their helpless newborn, so God is attuned to the cries of His helpless, dependent children. God does not “help those who help themselves.” If we ask God for something, but are actually relying on some other source for help, are we really praying? Are we truly depending helplessly on God? This helplessness applies also to our own inability to pray. When we feel so sin-ridden and worldly that we cannot see how our prayers can be answered, our very helplessness arises as a prayer to the Father.

Faith is also inseparable from prayer. Without faith, a person does not even turn to Jesus for help in the first place. Now, God does not need our faith to help Him answer our prayers – He just needs enough faith for us to say “yes Jesus,” to open the door and allow Him access. In case we might feel too helpless to have faith, or be concerned that we do not have a enough faith when we pray, let’s hear again from our friend Ole:

You and I can now tell how much faith we need in order to pray. We have faith enough when we in our helplessness turn to Jesus.

So you see, it doesn’t really matter how the first Christians prayed. They allowed themselves to be helpless before God, and they had enough faith to ask Him in to their lives and into specific situations. That’s all we need to do as well. I honestly don’t think God cares how your prayer sounds. He isn’t concerned about how long or short your prayers are. All he wants is access, and he can teach you how to have a life devoted to prayer.

In the interest of encouraging us to live a life of prayer and also to spend more time in concentrated prayer, I would like to briefly describe how God often responds to the prayers of his people.

You may not be aware, but several scientific studies have been done about the effectiveness of prayer. These studies have found that seriously ill hospital patients have a greater recovery rate, and speed of recovery when Christians pray for them. This is true even when the patients don't know they are being prayed for, and even when the patients themselves are not Christians. The results of some of these experiments were reported a few years ago by Reader's Digest. There is another study, done in 2006, which skeptics like to use, because it seems to suggest that prayer has no effect. But in this study, the “pray-ers” were made to pray a written, standardized prayer. Also, while in the previous studies, only people who called themselves born again Christians prayed for the hospital patients, in the 2006 study, this was not the case. So, actually the 2006 study affirms that the key to powerful effective prayer is not how you pray, but rather the fact that you have a relationship with Jesus. The point is even scientific study affirms what the bible says about prayer.

The Bible gives us numerous examples of people who prayed and saw God respond. Abraham prayed for a child, and received one after it seemed physically impossible. After the apostle Peter was imprisoned, the church prayed for his release, and got it through the intervention of an angel (Acts 12:6-19). King Hezekiah was told he was going to die. He prayed, and the Lord gave him fifteen more years (Isaiah 38). We don't have space here to consider the prayers of Nehemiah, Hannah, Gideon, David, Samuel, Hagar, Jacob, Moses, Daniel or the dozens more stories of God's people who turned to him in helplessness and faith, and saw him answer, often with more than they had asked for.

In prayer, as in the other things we've been studying recently, it is important to remember that part of devoting ourselves to it, means that we persist and keep at it, even over a long period of time. I've seen the Lord answer prayers in amazing ways in my own life. For three years in Minnesota, I prayed for the neighborhood where I lived, that God would save some of those who lived there. Nothing happened until that third year, and then, all of sudden the neighborhood exploded with people who came to faith and who became a part of our church. For five years, the entire time I was in seminary, Kari and I prayed for financial provision, because our expenses were greater than our income. God provided every day of those five years, often answering very specific financial circumstances.

Once a group of us prayed for a lady with Crohn's disease who was scheduled for surgery the next day. When she went in, the doctors did a preliminary exam, and found that now there was no reason to do the surgery. The problem they had seen before was gone. Another time we prayed for a leader in our church, and his back problems were healed. Last spring at our church retreat I began having a kidney stone attack (I have had kidney stones three times, and I know quite well what this feels like). The people there prayed for me, and it stopped almost immediately.

There is an organization called World Mission Prayer League. They have a yearly budget of around $2 million dollars. They do not raise support or ask for contributions. They simply ask God to supply what they need, and he does, every year. When they take on a new missionary, they say, “we'll just put another plate on the table and ask God to fill it.” He always does.

Before our family went to New Guinea as missionaries when I was a child, our visas were denied for six months. Finally my Grandmother called my mother on the phone. “OK, she said. I've finally stopped praying that you stay in the US.” Our visas came through within the week. God had honored her prayers, even though it wasn't according to his ultimate plan.

God answers prayer. It is powerful gift he gives us. James writes this:
Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they should pray over him after anointing him with olive oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours; yet he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land. Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit. (James 5:13-18)

Prayer also makes it easier to serve God. Maybe you don't know if you could share your faith with someone. Maybe you're shy about inviting people to church. Maybe you don't know anybody who isn't a Christian, or doesn't go to church. Perhaps you struggle to find the right words to say to someone who is hurting or needs advice. Even so, you can have a major impact through prayer. If all we do is devote ourselves to prayer, I believe with all my heart that God will have huge impact through our church on Wilson County, Smith County and the world. You can do that – you really can.

Let's take the lead from those first disciples, and devote ourselves to prayer.