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Greetings Brethren,

Today's reading is Acts chapter 3.

There are a couple of observations that I have with regards to the birth of the Church:

  1.  The Church was born in fire - Holy Ghost fire.  
  2.  The Church was born in Unity. There was perfect unity on the Day of Pentecost in that Upper Room.
  3.  The Church was born during a season of waiting. The Lord's disciples patiently waited for the Promise.
  4.  The Church had clear, visionary servant leadership.
  5.   The Church was aware of the critical nature of its mission. 
  6.  The Church was strategic. The leaders were involved in filling the vacant position. This was to fulfill the Scriptures and ensure that each worker knew their specific responsibility on the leadership team. It is essential that the members of our team are aware of their responsibilities and how important their function is to the overall success of the ministry. Since so much is at stake, every member of the team must be held accountable to fulfill their responsibilities. We will never have the revival that we pray for until to are prepared to "manage" it. Jesus trained              His Apostles for over three years before they were entrusted to give leadership to His Church.        There are some who believe that ministry can run on autopilot - it can't. Never have... never will.       To have sustained revival we must be intentional. When I speak of revival I am not speaking of the 3 or 5 nights of "revival services" as we call them and then we go back to "regular programming."    Revival refers to a spiritual reawakening from a state of dormancy or stagnation in the life of a           believer. It encompasses the resurfacing of a love for God, an appreciation of God’s holiness, a          passion for His Word and His church, a convicting awareness of personal and corporate sin, a            spirit of humility, and a desire for repentance and growth in righteousness. Revival invigorates and sometimes deepens a believer’s faith, opening his or her eyes to the truth in a fresh, new way. It breaks the charm and power of the world, which blinds the eyes of men, and generates both the will and power to live in the world but not of the world.

Now to the chapter of focus today:

As was customary, Peter and John went to the temple at the hour of prayer. They were Apostles but never thought that they were graduates of the University of Praying. If they didn't know the value of praying before, they would have learned it from Jesus Christ who gave exemplified the importance of maintaining a robust prayer life. Too many of us who are leaders are guilty of placing very little value on our personal prayer lives; this is also seen in the lack of structured congregational prayer in the life of the congregations that we serve.  It is very popular to hear us saying, "Prayer meeting starts at 6:30 pm and the service starts at 7 pm."   I know that we are saying that the prayer meeting is not a part of the service but our language and as well as our absence may convey that idea. 

When Peter and John got to the temple the Lord gave they encountered a testimony waiting to happen that would serve as a platform to preach Jesus Christ and His power to save lives. The testimony waiting to happen was that of the Lame Beggar. The "certain man" was a popular figure in his region because of his handicap. However, he was going to become the first recorded miracle of healing after the birth of the Church.

Peter and John did not know the impact of what was about to happen. However, when they were faced with this opportunity to minister they did. They never flinched. They never wondered if the miracle was going to happen. They had no money but they had dunamis - power, and authority to heal in Jesus' Name. This lame man and a beautiful day at the gate called Beautiful.  This miracle was a blessing for him but also for the ministry of the Church because his healing provided an opportunity for the Apostles to preach Jesus.  The question that the crowd had was who did this undeniable miracle? Peter and John prefaced their sermon by first making it clear that the healing of the lame man was not occasioned by their own power or by their holiness. They powerfully preached that this was done by Jesus Christ who was sent by God. They reprimanded the nation for their unbelief in denying Jesus and choosing a murderer instead. They preached that Jesus was the promised one that the prophets spoke of over many centuries ago. They preached of Jesus' death and resurrection, attesting that they were witnesses of this fact. They pointed to the living miracle that stood in their midst and then called the congregation to repent.

What a powerful message! These preachers were not compromisers, they preached the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  I pray that all of us who are called by God to be preachers would be this bold in dispensing eternal truths.  I pray that we would not miss the God-ordained opportunities to win the lost. I pray that we will not preach our ideologies. The WORD OF GOD is sufficient.  This kind of preaching will cause persecution (which it did - chapter 4)  but it will also fan the flames of revival, providing greater opportunity to the Church to be a witness in our world.

Friends let's seize every opportunity to be a living sign to a dying world. Let's preach Jesus Christ from the pulpit in the buildings that we gather for corporate worship but let's remember that we reach more outside those walls so we must preach His message from the pulpit of our every day lives.

Have a blessed day

Marantha

 

 

 

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