HOW SHALL WE LIVE?

Sermon Notes, September 16, 2012

Pastor Jan Sinozich

Pastor Jan’s message was titled “How Shall We Live?”  The scripture text was Acts 2:42-47.  The Book of Acts is about the action of the Holy Spirit, executing God’s plan.  The movement is the Holy Spirit.  The advance of the gospel is God’s plan.  The heroic exploits are carried out by the apostles.

The Opportunity:  Act on it.  The first church received, retained, and acted on the principles that Jesus presented to them.  They’ve repented, been baptized and received the Holy Spirit.   Now what?

The Question:  Embrace it.  They’ve accepted salvation through Jesus Christ.   They’ve publicly declared that they are followers by being baptized.  Now they have another question: How shall I live?

The Lifestyle:  Be devoted to it.  In verse 42 we see that the new believers devoted themselves (holding to a certain course of action with a steadfast fidelity) to the teaching of the apostles, to fellowship, to prayer and breaking of bread.  In John 8:31, Jesus told them that those who hold to his teachings are really his disciples.  The apostles knew Jesus’ teachings, and they taught daily in the synagogue.  Their teaching became the New Testament.  They were devoted to fellowship (spiritual food), the fellowship of shared faith, shared salvation, and shared divine nature.  Their proclamation of Jesus as Israel’s promised Messiah set them apart.  They were “morphing”, being transformed.  They developed the disciplines of the Apostles’ teachings: they took communion together, remembering what Jesus did for them. They prayed together; prayer unified them and was their defense against division in the body. They shared everything with one another.  Their devotion to God was so great that He spilled out in everything they did.

God’s plan was to empower the people through repentance to love God, through lifestyle to love others, and to spread the gospel to the “uttermost parts of the earth” to save the lost and disciple the saved.  The Messiah came to build a personal relationship with people.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, true, authentic community flows. God’s supernatural love enables us to love others.  We are to seek Him and he will make things happen, the things He planned for us to do.