Day #212: Acts 2:42-47

BACKGROUND:

This first report of the newborn church describes early church worship in the first decade of the church. The three thousand new believers joined with the other believers. That is, they gathered with others of like mind and faith. Devoted themselves implies that they were regularly, continually persisting in the activities that follow. These activities form a practical map for not only the day-old church but for any church of any age.

The apostles’ teaching was central to the content of what was to be studied. From the beginning the early church was devoted to hearing, studying, and learning what the apostles had to teach.


Sharing in the Lord’s Supper refers to communion services that were celebrated in remembrance of Jesus and patterned after the Last Supper, which Jesus had eaten with his disciples before his death.


Books about church planting, church health, and church growth are popular. Seminars about the church abound, with pastors and church boards eager to copy the techniques of a successful pastor or a fast-growing congregation. The following paragraph is a snapshot of the church a few days old. At Pentecost, after the coming of the Holy Spirit, the gathering of 120 exploded! In one day three thousand people came to faith in Christ. Now what do they do? This handful of verses provides a concise summary of what the early church was about; it provides a model that can be applied to the modern church, as well.

People were filled with awe, as they saw the hand of God at work. This awe was partly caused by the many miraculous signs and wonders performed by the apostles. The “wonders” were fabulous miracles that evoked awe in those who saw them. The “miraculous signs” were given to authenticate the message and the messenger, pointing observers toward a divine source of the miracle or a divine truth. Here these signs and wonders authenticated the apostles’ message, identifying it as divine truth.

Of the thousands of Jews who had made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Pentecost, many may have come as early as Passover (fifty days earlier). Now they were extending their stay in Jerusalem even longer to learn the basics of this newfound Christian faith. Many would likely need financial or physical help from those who lived in Jerusalem to be able to remain this long. When a need arose, believers would sell their possessions to help those in need. This practice of sharing everything they had was likely a response to that specific need.

With these words this marvelous chapter comes to a close. Luke pointed out the everyday nature of the church’s meetings. Believers were gathering both at the Temple (that is, in large groups, possibly for apostolic teaching) and in homes to celebrate the Lord’s Supper and, presumably, for fellowship, the sharing of needs, and prayer.

The early church was marked by joy. Two final statements reveal two significant results of the presence of this regularly meeting, money-sharing, miracle-working, Bible-studying, God-praising group: The watching community was favorably impressed (the believers were enjoying the goodwill of all the people).

The watching community was coming to faith (and each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved). These are two measurable results of any church that is living like the early church. Note, too, that the credit for the salvation of souls is not given to Peter’s preaching, the apostles’ miracles, or the Spirit’s manifestations—it was the Lord who was adding to their number daily.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

#8. WE MUST MOVE OUT WITH GOD’S MISSION

The people of this first church had a call. They remembered the Great commission “Go! Go into all the world and make disciples!” That’s the very first thing they were told in Acts. “Wait for the Holy Spirit and then when He comes and you’re given His power, you’ll go be witnesses.” They initially started sharing the faith and the church at Jerusalem started getting bigger and bigger. But God had never said, I want just the church in Jerusalem to be big. He said, I want you to go not to just Jerusalem but Samaria and to Judea and to the uttermost parts of the world.

But they didn’t do it. They didn’t spread the gospel. So God has to bring a little pressure to get them to spread. You know how He taught them to take the message to the whole world? Persecution. He brought persecution to the church and notice what happened. “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church of Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered through Judea and Samaria.” Notice that: the pastors stayed home but all the people were scattered into Judea and Samaria. Why? Because that’s where He wanted them to go. Where they went they gossiped the gospel. They shared the good news. V. 4 “Those that had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”

We’ve got to get out of the church buildings and into the market place. Most Christians do absolutely nothing for Jesus Christ outside of the four walls of the church. It doesn’t relate. Like Christianity is just something to do on Sunday, something to do in a building. A lot of churches rate your spirituality by how many meetings you attend. If you come Sunday morning you’re a good Christian. You come Sunday night you’re a super Christian. You come to Midweek Prayer Service you’re a spiritual giant.

I’ve often wondered if you cut out all the meetings what would be left for most Christianity? Jesus never said, “I came that you might have meetings.” He said, “I’ve come that you might have life.” Where is life lived? In the market place and in the family.

The reason why most Christians don’t share their faith with anybody is because they don’t know any unbelievers on a close basis. They spend all their time with believers. They’re so busy down at the church building or in so many Christian meetings they don’t have time to just stay home and have a bar-b-que with your neighbor. Or somebody from work. Or somebody from Little League. Or somebody from Kiwannas. Or somebody from aerobics. Or somebody from school. Meeting those people.

We are called to be salt and light. Have you noticed how many parables of the Bible deal with penetration? Salt penetrates meat. Light penetrates darkness. A key penetrates a door. Leaven penetrates bread. Christians are called to penetrate society. What good is salt in a salt shaker? No good. We’re to get out there among unbelievers. The great reversal: Jesus said, “Go and tell.” We’ve reversed it to “Come and hear.” That’s the great reversal. We have to meet people on neutral ground. Start where people are and not where we want them to be.

The problem is that the longer you’re a Christian, the fewer non-believers you usually know. You spend more of your time with believers. You must intentionally say, “God, help me develop a friendship with an unbeliever.” Do that intentionally. “Help me to develop a friendship with an unbeliever so that I can share the good news.”

In Korea, many of you might not be able to join a church there. One of the requirements for membership in most Korean churches is you have to have won somebody else to Christ first. You have to bring them with you. When you come to join the church, you’re asked, “You say you love the Lord. Who have you told about Him?” The only promise of power in the New Testament is Acts 1:8 “You will receive power to be witnesses.” Not to sit and soak and sour. But to move out for mission.

I believe that anybody can be won to Christ if you just discover the key to his or her heart. Out there every person is an island. You establish a beachhead on their life by meeting a need. You as a believer, must first look around at the people in your life and say, “Who do I even have contact with that’s an unbeliever?” If you don’t have any contact, you can’t share the good news with them. Once you’ve decided who it is, write their names down and start praying, “Lord, help me to see what’s the key to their heart.” It may be a problem with their kids. It may be loneliness. It may be a bankruptcy or unemployment. It may be stress on the job. It may be a question about a friend who died. Everybody has a hidden hurt. Count on it. Everybody. When you find that hurt and you begin in love to share Jesus Christ and how He can meet that hurt, you will build a bridge into their life and Christ can walk across and enter his life. That’s what God’s calling you to do. Scatter us.

My prayer is that God will not have to bring persecution on Church of the Valley to get us to spread out. But that we will intentionally see. It’s not enough to say “I’m going to heaven” but my family and friends and everybody else needs Christ too.


Listen folks, you can sing in heaven. You can pray in heaven. You can read the Bible in heaven. You can worship in heaven. You can fellowship with other believers in heaven. You can have fun in heaven. But two things you cannot do in heaven. One of them is sin. And the other is share your faith with an unbeliever. Witness. God did not leave us here to sin. But He left us here to tell other people about Christ and to tell them of the good news so that they might go to heaven.


We will be the New Testament church when we do these things. We magnify the vision of God. We pray like they prayed. We be filled with the Spirit and we be generous with each other. But when we move out in mission, that is the calling of the core that you are part of. Bob Pierce used to say, “Lord, let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.” The problem today is we let our hearts be broken by trivia. Somebody lost the lottery, or whatever. What counts is the folks who will pass into eternity in the next 24 hours. That ought to motivate us. I am a believer and I know I’m going to heaven. Nothing can take that away from me. But between now and when I go to heaven, I want to take as many people with me as possible. I hope you’ll commit to that same thing.

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.

Day #211: Acts 2:36-41

BACKGROUND:

Peter concluded his message with a solid review of his main point: So let it be clearly known by everyone in Israel that Jesus was both Lord and Messiah. In the prophesied plan of God, this Jesus of Nazareth had been crucified by the Jews, raised from the dead, and exalted to the throne of God. AMEN!

The crowd was stunned! They asked the question that warms the heart of any messenger of the gospel: “What should we do?” Peter was ready with the answer. Peter presented a fourfold challenge:

Turn from your sins—In other words, “repent.” It is a basic and wholehearted change of mind that results in a change of purpose, direction, and values. The words, each of you, remind the listener (and modern reader) that this message is for all. Everyone needs to make a decision about Christ. His offer is the only effective solution for the sin problem that plagues every descendant of Adam.

Turn to God—In addition to turning from sin, people must turn to God. It does no good to turn from sin without turning then to the one who can solve the sin problem.

Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins—For believers, baptism is visible proof of repentance and commitment to follow Jesus, the Messiah. The idea of baptism for the forgiveness of sins does not mean that baptism results in forgiveness of sins but rather that forgiveness of sins as a result of accepting Jesus as Savior should result in a baptism—an outward display of an inner conviction. Repentance, not baptism, is what brings forgiveness.

Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit—Only through the coming of the Holy Spirit into believers’ hearts can they truly experience forgiveness of sin. The “gift of the Holy Spirit” (not multiple or varied gifts but rather a singular gift) is the Spirit himself. The Holy Spirit is a gift from God. As Jesus had promised, he is the Comforter and the one who guides his people.

Luke (the author of Acts) recorded no more of Peter’s words to the gathered crowd except to say that Peter kept talking for a long time, warning and pleading with the people to be saved. And oh what a response! Three thousand people believed and took the step of faith in Christ and were baptized—they took that first step of obedience, publicly identifying themselves with Christ. And they were added to the church; that is, they immediately joined the fellowship of believers.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what i have read today?)

#7. WE MUST MOBILIZE EVERY MEMBER FOR MINISTRY.

That means put people into action. Acts 6 says, “In those days the number of the disciples were increasing. The Grecian Jews among them complained against those of the Aramaic speaking community because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, ‘It wouldn’t be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom and we will turn this responsibility over to them and we will give our attention to prayer and ministry of the word.’ This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, tuimon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the Apostles who prayed and laid hands on them. So the word of God spread and the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly.”

Seven lessons that we learn from Acts 6.

1. A growing church is Biblical. It says, “In those days the number of disciples were increasing.” Obviously, we’ve looked at that in many places in Acts. If a church is not growing, it’s not healthy. Healthy things grow. Unless there is a circumstance in the community that they’ve already reached everybody there. We’ve said that if there is one person who doesn’t know Christ, we’re going to keep growing. A growing church is biblical.

2. Church growth causes problems. It says that there were “rumblings of discontent.” That’s true in any church. Sometimes people come to me and say, “Pastor Mike, we’ve really got a problem in this church.” I want to say, “Which one? I’m aware of about a hundred which one are you talking about?” They say, “You may not recognize this but there’s this need.” Of course we recognize it. We live with it day and night. But there’s always the time lag of training people to take that ministry or getting the resources to fulfill that ministry – whatever.


3. Problems are always unmet needs. It says “The Greek speaking Jews claimed their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.” But I noticed that the pastors didn’t go out and start saying, “We’ll add that on to our job description.”

4. Pastors cannot do it all. Their response to this need was, “It wouldn’t be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.” It’s a legitimate need but it’s not one that God called us to meet. What’s the answer?

5. Lay ministers are to assist the pastor, those who are in leadership. They said, Chose seven men, full of the Holy Spirit and we’ll turn the responsibility over to them. It’s interesting, that if you read these names in Acts 6, Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus. These are all Greek names. What they did was they chose men who would have a heart for Greek women to meet their needs. Like ministers to like. He said choose these people and we’ll turn this responsibility over to them.

6. The pastors are to focus on praying and teaching. He said, We will give our attention to prayer and teaching of the word. When I came to COV, I made a covenant with our church that I’ll make sure the people are well fed. That’s been my goal since that time. I also said back then and I say again today - If you’ll do the ministry which God has called you to do, and If I make sure you’re well fed, there's no telling how much God will bless this church.

7. The result of lay ministry was more growth. It says, This proposal pleased the whole group so the word of God increased rapidly, the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly. There was mobilization. In many churches, all you’re expected to do is attend and give. That’s basically it. If you show up and give that’s all that’s expected of you as a member.

Those are really two minor issues related to what God really wants to do in your life. This set and watch syndrome is like a sports game on TV – 22 people on the field desperately in need of rest and 75,000 people in the stands desperately in need of exercise. They say, Let the professionals do it and we’ll set on the sidelines and cheer and support them. We have allowed this to influence us in the church and in a lot of churches they’re saying, “Let the professionals do it. We’ll cheer them on Go Pastor! You’re doing a good job! Get back out there!’” But God says No, Mobilize every person for ministry – pastors and staff are to equip. We have to mobilize every member for ministry.

Let me ask you today - what is the ministry that God has equipped you and gifted you to do? Are you doing it? I love you guys. Stay faith. Stay the course.

Day #210: Acts 2:25-35

BACKGROUND:

Peter continued his witness to Jesus’ Messiahship by quoting from Psalm 16:8-11, written by King David. He explained that David was not writing about himself because David had died and was buried; his audience would have walked right past his tomb many times in their pilgrimages to Jerusalem. This quote from Psalm 16 and the one from Psalm 110:1 were both prophesying Jesus’ resurrection. The emphasis is that Jesus’ body had not been left to rot in the grave, but had been, in fact, resurrected and glorified. Peter wanted his audience to realize that David was not speaking of himself in these psalms but rather of the Messiah.


If David was not speaking of himself, then he was speaking as a prophet; he was writing about one who would be resurrected from the dead. The oath looks back at Psalm 132:11 and 2 Samuel 7:15-16, recording the promises God made to David that one of his descendants would sit on David’s throne as the Messiah. David did have children who ruled, but this promise was for someone to be on the throne for eternity. The Jewish listeners of Peter’s day understood the words of this Psalm, as well as others, as referring to the Messiah.

Peter had one more major point to make: this crucified one, the resurrected one, is now the exalted one, who occupies the throne of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand (Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Peter 3:22). Not only is Christ the predicted one in the Psalms, not only had he risen from the grave, but he now sits in the most authoritative, sovereign position in the universe. That is why Jesus had the authority to pour out the Spirit with results that the audience could see and hear.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

Let's continue our look at the eight things that we need to do as a church here at COV, so that if we do these things we can expect God’s blessing on our church as much as they saw a blessing on the church in Jerusalem.

#6. WE MUST MODEL CHRISTLIKE GENEROSITY

Liberal giving is what I’m talking about here. The New Testament church in Jerusalem was a giving church. Acts 4:32-37 says, “ All the believers were one in heart and one in mind [there’s unity again]. No one claimed any of that which was his possessions as his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and grace was with them all. There were no needy persons among them.”

I think that’s probably one of the greatest epitaphs a church could have. Could you image if people could say that about COV? No needy people among them. America has got the idea that the government owes me welfare, the government took over welfare when the church advocated it. There’s nothing in scripture that says the government is to provide welfare for the people. Nothing. But there’s lots in scripture that says the church should be the welfare agency. Why? Because there’s accountability. In 1 Thessalonians it says if a person isn’t willing to work, they shouldn’t eat. It doesn’t say if they can’t work. Obviously, some people can’t work. It says if they won’t work. If they won’t work then they won’t get welfare.

It says “From time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them and brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet and it was distributed to anyone as they had a need. Joseph a Levite from Cipriot who the apostles called Barnabus which means Son of Encouragement…” How would you like to be called that? Son of encouragement. That’s your nickname. “… sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.”

People read this and say this sounds like Communism. No, it’s not Communism at all. Communism says what’s your’s is mine and I’m going to take it. Christianity says, What’s mine is your’s and I’m going to give it. Big difference. This was not forced on anybody. People were generous. Why? Because they were like Christ.

Notice there were four results of their generosity.

Acts 4:32 says there was unity in the church. All believers were of one heart and mind because they were all sharing with each other. Generous giving promotes unity.
There was a spirit of love. They shared everything they had.

Acts 4:33 says it was a powerful testimony to the community. “With great power the apostles continued to testify of the resurrection and grace was among them all.”

Acts 4:44 says there were no needy people. This is one of the most overlooked factors in the church in Acts. It was such a generous church. They had such a spirit of generosity that in the next chapter we have the story of Aninias and Sapphira. What was the problem with Aninias and Sapphira? They lied about their giving. They pretended they were giving when they weren’t really giving and it says God killed them. They lied about their generosity. They were pretending to be generous but really they weren’t generous at all. And it says God struck them down. I wonder if God did that today how many people we’d have next Sunday?

Why in the world did He do that? Of all the things He could have got upset about why did God get upset about the fact that people pretended that they were giving and they weren’t? These were leaders in the church. Because God wanted to preserve the Spirit of Christlike generosity that was being exemplified in the previous chapter. And He didn’t want it squelched.

Look at Acts 2:45. “Selling their possessions and goods they gave to anyone as they had a need.” God blesses the giving church. I’m not talking about people who are tithers. I’m talking about givers, who give more than a tithe, who are generous. There are more people who want to give than we have people to give to. Because of that, you cannot out give God. And the more we become a funnel and say, “Lord, use this church to bless the community,” God blesses us. Just like we teach that you cannot outgive God personally, it’s true as a church. You cannot outgive God.

What does that mean for COV? First let me say that I am humbled by the generous people of our church. I am blown away by so many of you who are faithful to God with you finances. Thank you.

I also want to let you know that we as a church have some needs. We're behind in our year to date giving. We have managed our resources well, but we are coming to a point where we are looking at having to make some cuts if the trend does not change. I'll be sending a letter to the congregation about this shortly, but in advance of that, I would ask you to pray about what God might have you do to meet this need. See a need - meet a need.

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.

Day #209: Acts 2:14-24

BACKGROUND:

Peter, the early spokesman for the Twelve, seized the opportunity and shouted to the crowd. Peter explained to the people why they should listen to the testimony of the believers: because the Old Testament prophecies had been entirely fulfilled in Jesus , because Jesus is the Messiah, and because the risen Christ could change their lives.

Peter answered the accusation that they were all drunk by saying it was too early in the day for that. He then proceeded to tie the event the crowd had just witnessed to the words of the prophet Joel, quoting from Joel 2:28-32. The last days include all the days between Christ’s first and second comings; it is another way of saying “from now on.” Peter was reminding these Jewish listeners that from prophecies like this one recorded by Joel, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people, they should recognize the event they had just witnessed as the work of the Spirit. It would be to all kinds of people—Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor—not just to kings and priests.


The coming of the Messiah, the miracles, and the events described by Joel were all well-established concepts to these people of Israel (the Jews). Now all that remained was for Peter to connect those events to Jesus of Nazareth—the teacher many of them had heard and seen, the teacher who had been crucified. Peter began this sermon by stating that God himself had publicly endorsed Jesus by doing wonderful miracles, wonders, and signs through him. Certainly many of the gathered crowd had seen or heard of the famous ministry of Jesus.

With little forewarning Peter suddenly accused his Jewish audience of an awful participation in the Messiah’s death. This is a perfect presentation of God’s sovereignty and people’s responsibility—both in the same sentence. God’s prearranged plan was his sovereign will to bring salvation to people through the death and resurrection of Christ. Though God’s will is sovereign, he works through people and events of history. Even putting Jesus to death fulfilled God’s plan.

Peter was saying that they were at least culpable because, as Jews, they had missed their Messiah and had allowed their leaders to kill him. Thus, they were guilty by their relationship to the actual murderers. Peter was pointing his finger at the crowd and shouting, “You nailed him to the cross and murdered him.”

But the murdered Messiah had not stayed dead. God raised him back to life again, and many people could testify to having seen the risen Christ. This was a powerful statement because many of the people listening to Peter’s words had been in Jerusalem fifty days earlier at Passover and may have seen or heard about the crucifixion of this “great teacher.” Jesus’ resurrection was the ultimate sign that what he said about himself was true. Without the Resurrection, no one would have any reason to believe in Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:14). Peter phrased it appropriately: death could not keep him in its grip.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

We continue to see eight things that we must do today in our church, so that if we do these things we can expect God’s blessing on our church as much as they saw a blessing on the church in Jerusalem.


#5. WE MUST MAXIMIZE THE POWER OF PRAYER.

Forty-eight times in the book of Acts it says, “they prayed.” We will have power like the book of Acts when we pray like the book of Acts. In the New Testament, there was James the Apostle. His nickname was “camel knees”. It’s like surfers who are fanatics. They’ve got big knobby knees because they’re on their knees riding their surf boards so much. James was a man of prayer so much they said he got these big knobs on his knees. They called him Camel Knees because he spent so many hours in prayer. That was the kind of believer he was.

Spiritual warfare requires the use of spiritual weapons. Notice Acts 4:31 - “After they prayed the place they were meeting was shaken.” When was the last time you were in a prayer meeting like that? “They were all filled with God’s Spirit and they spoke the word of God boldly.” We must maximize the power of prayer if we’re going to be like the church of Jerusalem.

What does that mean for us here at COV? We will start praying more corporately. Starting next Wednesday night (8/3), we will have three Wednesday nights of prayer and worship. We'll be asking God to pour out His Spirit on our church and use COV to be a lighthouse in the San Ramon Valley. We'll be praying that God reaches people for salvation. We'll be praying for God to be honored and glorified in and through His people. My prayer this morning is that you'll carve out time in your very busy schedule to join us. Let's build a praying church here at COV.

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.

Day #208: Acts 2:1-13

BACKGROUND:

In Old Testament times, the Spirit of God came upon isolated individuals or smaller groups, only on special occasions, and only in a temporary way to help them accomplish God’s purposes (Exodus 31:3; Judges 14:6; 1 Samuel 16:13). As the apostles were gathered together in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost, the time had come for the fulfillment of Christ’s promise to send his Spirit completely and permanently upon all believers (Luke 24:49; John 14:16-17, 26; 16:5-15).

This marvelous outpouring of God provided the supernatural power for believers to take the life-changing message of the gospel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). This is the day Christ made good on his promise to send the Helper, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit who would take up permanent residence in those who put their faith in Christ. And what a day it was! God’s individualized pouring out of his Spirit into the lives of 120 believers resulted in the effective pouring out of his story, changing the lives of three thousand people in one day!

The day of Pentecost was an annual feast celebrated on the day after the seventh Sabbath after Passover (Leviticus 23:15-16). Since the date was determined by the passing of a “week” of weeks (seven weeks), it was often called the Festival of Weeks. The word “Pentecost” means “fifty,” so named because this festival was celebrated fifty days after Passover. Pentecost was one of three major annual festivals celebrated by the Jews (along with Passover, fifty days earlier, and the Festival of Shelters about four months later). Jesus was crucified at Passover time, and he ascended forty days after his resurrection. The Holy Spirit came fifty days after the Resurrection, ten days after the Ascension.

What happened this day would forever change the world.Suddenly, as the believers were gathered, they heard a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm. The wind is a good analogy for the Spirit: it is not seen, though its effects are, and it can be found everywhere in never-ending supply. The sound filled the house where they were meeting.


At this point in this wonderful scene, Luke recorded that everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages. The “filling” that occurred on Pentecost is called a “baptizing” (1:5 and 11:16) and a “receiving” (10:47). “Baptizing” or “filling” can be used to describe the basic act of receiving the Spirit. It can be understood to refer to the first occurrence of the Spirit indwelling a believer. Acts 1:5 looks forward to this day; Acts 11:15-16 refers back to it. Here, four short verses record it.

In principle, the filling of the Holy Spirit can be distinguished from the term “baptism” of the Spirit. “Baptism” is the theological, objective term referring to the Spirit’s initial work in a believer’s life, beginning the relationship, and—like water baptism—is not a repeated act (Acts 11:15-16; Romans 6:3; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Colossians 2:12). The believer who has taken this initial step of Spirit baptism must, however, continue to take advantage of the Spirit’s active work in his or her life. That phenomenon is described in the New Testament as the Spirit’s filling.

At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was made available to all who believe in Jesus. Believers receive the Holy Spirit (are baptized with him) when they trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. The baptism of the Holy Spirit must be understood in the light of his total work in Christians:

The Spirit marks the beginning of the Christian experience. No one belongs to Christ without his Spirit (Romans 8:9); no one is united to Christ without his Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17); no one is adopted as God’s child without his Spirit (Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 4:6-7); no one is in the body of Christ except by baptism in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13).

The Spirit is the power for the new life. He begins a lifelong process of change as believers become more like Christ (Galatians 3:3; Philippians 1:6). Those who receive Christ by faith begin an immediate personal relationship with God. The Holy Spirit works in them to help them become like Christ.

The Spirit unites the Christian community in Christ (Ephesians 2:19-22). The Holy Spirit can be experienced by all, and he works through all (1 Corinthians 12:11; Ephesians 4:4).

These people literally spoke in “other languages” - a miraculous attention-getter for the international crowd gathered in town for the feast. All the nationalities represented recognized their own languages being spoken. Jews believed that spoken prophecy had ceased with Malachi, the last of the writing prophets. They believed that from that point on, God spoke through the Torah as interpreted by scholars and teachers. So this was truly a remarkable day for the church, fulfilling Ezekiel 37:11-14.

The believers could speak in these other languages because the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. This is the clear teaching of the New Testament—that the Holy Spirit sovereignly determines which gift(s) a believer will have (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11).



SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

Eight things that we need to do, so that if we do these things we can expect God’s blessing on our church as much as they saw a blessing on the church in Jerusalem.


#3. WE MUST MULTIPLY SMALL GROUPS.

Acts 2:46-47 says, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple court and they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.”

There is a two-fold ministry: “in the temple courts” and “from house to house.” If this church had approximately 100,000 members where in the world would they meet? In those days you didn’t set down to worship. You stood to worship. And Solomon’s courts (the Temple courts) would hold about 50,000 people. They’re enormous. They probably had double services at the First Baptist Church of Jerusalem. But it also says they met from house to house in small groups.


#4. WE MUST MAGNIFY OUR VISION OF GOD.

Acts 4:24. The apostles had been taken prisoner and questioned before the Sanhedrin and they came back and they prayed. Notice the kind of prayer they prayed. “When they heard this they raised their voice together in prayer and said, `Sovereign Lord, You made heaven and earth the sea and everything in it. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant David. Why did the nations rage and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand, the rulers against the Lord and against the anointed one.’”


They are saying, “God, there are rulers and there are leaders and there are people against You but You’re in control. You’re the sovereign Lord. You made everything in heaven and on earth.” We think we have difficult times and distractions and disturbances and problems in meeting. It’s nothing compared to persecution, which is what they experienced in the New Testament church. People were actually being put to death for being a Christian. Yet they’re saying, “Sovereign Lord.” They got a vision of God’s greatness.

We are children of the king. We’re on the winning side. We’ve read the last chapter. We know how it’s going to end. People say, “How come you don’t get discouraged with all the difficulties and delays and postponements. All this stuff we’ve had problems with.” Because we are ultimately the winner. We chose a cause (actually He chose us) that we can’t lose. We can’t lose! So the idea of “Hold the fort!” mentality of “We’ll just hang on ‘til Jesus comes and wave our little hankies and worry. The devil’s out there roaring like a lion.” Yes, but he’s toothless and he’s on a chain.

Jesus Christ has broken our chains and Jesus says in the Bible, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Are gates an offensive weapon or a defensive weapon? They’re defensive. You build gates to keep people from getting at you. So when it says, “… the gates of hell will not prevail against it,” it’s not saying that Satan is attacking us. It’s saying that we’re attacking hell with squirt guns!! And we’re trying to snatch people right out of the jaws of hell.

There are a lot of churches that want to play it safe. They get as far away from unbelievers as they can so they don’t get tainted. I want to get so close to hell that you can smell it! Right on the edge of the cliff. That’s where you set up your rescue station. Just as they’re about to fall off the cliff, you grab them. You need to live your life in such a way that you’re so close to the edge that you’ll fall off unless Jesus Christ holds onto you. Don’t be afraid to go out on the limb. That’s where the fruit is. Don’t be afraid to rock the boat if Jesus Christ is the captain of the boat. We are on the winning side. We need to magnify our vision of God. Isn’t it neat how after you’ve worshiped, how small your problems seem in comparison? They kind of shrink. The tool for magnifying our vision of God is worship. When you focus on God, the circumstances seem to be inconsequential to His greatness. He’s got all the resources we need. That’s never been the problem. It’s just what are you expecting Him to do.

Let's be this kind of people and this kind of church. I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.

Day #207: Acts 1:12-26

BACKGROUND:

Following the instructions of Christ, the disciples stayed in Jerusalem. The upstairs room seems to have been a specific and well-known place. This probably was the same room in which they had eaten the Last Supper with Christ (Luke 22:12), as well as the location of many of the post-Resurrection appearances. At this time it became the first meeting place of the church.

Peter, who had taken a prominent role among the disciples throughout the Gospels, continued in that leadership role. Peter put the events concerning Judas’s betrayal and suicide into biblical perspective by explaining how it was necessary for the Scriptures to be fulfilled, and then he called the believers to the task of choosing Judas’s replacement, something he likewise said was necessary. Peter gave a great lesson in healthy biblical leadership: it is a combination of insight from the word of God and corresponding practical action. Peter’s reference to King David refers to the Spirit-led predictions recorded in some of David’s psalms, such as Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8.

It is hard to believe that someone who had been with Jesus daily could betray him. Judas had received the same calling and teaching as everyone else. Though chosen to share in the ministry by Christ himself, Judas hardened his heart and joined in the plot with Jesus’ enemies to put him to death. Judas remained unrepentant to the end, and he finally committed suicide. Although Jesus predicted this betrayal and bitter end, it was Judas’s choice. Those privileged to be close to the truth are not necessarily committed to the truth.

Matthias was chosen to be the twelfth apostle. That may seem odd because Paul (who is also called an “apostle”) is not mentioned here. Remember that all of this occurred prior to Paul’s conversion. Paul’s calling was unique. To begin with, he did not meet the qualifications spelled out by Peter. Thus, though Paul was not technically one of the Twelve, he clearly was designated an apostle with authority equal to any of them.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

Eight things that we need to do, so that if we do these things we can expect God’s blessing on our church as much as they saw a blessing on the church in Jerusalem.

#1. WE MUST MINISTER WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT’S POWER

Acts 1:4 says, “Don’t leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift My Father promised which you’ve heard Me speak about. John baptized with water but in a few days you’ll be baptized with the Holy Spirit…”

Every Christian is baptized with the Holy Spirit. You get the Holy Spirit the moment you are saved. But this was the first time He’d been given. But we must rely on His power on a moment by moment basis. V. 8 “…You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will..,.” sit around in a group and talk about how good it feels. “…You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be My witnesses.” The power of God is given for witnessing, for ministry, for mission. “… in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.”

The first thing we’ve got to do if we want to have the kind of church they had in the New Testament, we’ve got to have the kind of members they had in the New Testament – Spirit filled members, Spirit controlled members. When you say “Jesus Christ is Lord of my life” and “I’m filled with the Spirit,” you’re saying the exact same thing. To make Christ, Lord of your life is to make the Spirit in control of your life. Jesus and the Spirit and the Father are all one. When you became a believer you didn’t get the Holy Spirit piece meal. In other words, the Father doesn’t come at one time, then Jesus come another time, then the Holy Spirit another time. That would be if you had three gods. But Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the Father are one and when you said, “Christ, come into my heart,” you’re also saying, “Father, come into my heart,” and “Holy Spirit, come into my heart.”

Every Christian has the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:9 says, “If any man hath not the Spirit he’s not even a believer.” The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13 “By one spirit are we baptized into one body.” If you don’t have the Spirit in your life, you’re not in the body of Christ. But you must live on His power on a moment by moment basis.

One of the characteristics of people who try to minister in a church without God’s Spirit is simple – tiredness, fatigue. You end up running on your own steam rather than running on the power of God’s Spirit. So the starting point is we’ve got to minister with the Holy Spirit’s power. He said, “Don’t leave Jerusalem. Wait until you’ve got power.”

#2. WE MUST MAINTAIN A WARM FELLOWSHIP.

Acts 2:42-44 (NIV)says, “They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to the fellowship and the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe and many wondrous and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All believers were together and had everything in common.”

This is a perfect example of fellowship. He didn’t say of the New Testament Christians “See what great buildings they built.” He said, “See how they love one another.” They loved each other. When God has a bunch of baby Christians, He looks for the warmest incubator He can find. The church that has warmth and fellowship and harmony, God blesses that church with new believers because He wants them not in the church of the Frigid Air. But He wants them to be in a warm environment where they can grow.

We are a family. The word for fellowship in the Bible is the word koinonia. Koinonia means being committed to each other as we are to Jesus Christ. When God’s people begin to express love for each other, you have to lock the doors to keep lost people out. People are looking for love.

So they ministered in the Holy Spirit’s power but more than that, they maintained a warm fellowship. Ten times in the first five chapters of Acts it says, “they were unified”. He uses phrases like, “they were of one accord… one heart … one purpose … one spirit .. all united in thought.” Ten times in the first five chapters of Acts it says they were unified. God can overlook a lack of facilities, a lack of program, a lack of leadership. But one thing He will not overlook and that’s disharmony in the church. That destroys more churches more than anything else, when one group gets upset with another group, one person gets upset with another person. Harmony, unity, must be maintained at all costs because the church is fellowship. We need to build fellowship into each other.

That's why as your pastor, I will guard the unity of our church. I will not allow anyone to come in and cause division or sow seeds of discontentment. Titus 3:10-11 says, "Warn a divisive person once and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. You may be sure that such a person is warped and sinful and self-condemned."

Pretty strong words, I know. Yet, we protect the church from devise people so that God will bring others where they will find a unified church and a warm, welcoming fellowship.

Notice the results of fellowship: Acts 2:47 “The Lord added to their number daily.” The result of people being close to each other and celebrating warmth and harmony was that other people wanted to get involved.

Day #206: Acts 1:1-11

BACKGROUND:

The book of Acts, written by Luke, picks up where Luke’s Gospel left off, providing details of the birth and early years of the church that Jesus had promised to build. Together the two books, Luke and Acts, form a seamless account of how the followers of Jesus turned the world upside down.

Before documenting this rapid spread of the gospel, however, Luke asserted two important truths in what serves as an introduction to the book of Acts: (1) the indisputable fact of Christ’s resurrection; and (2) the indispensable presence of the Holy Spirit. Apart from these two strong foundations, the church would be without hope and without power. What was true in the first century is still true today.


Acts 1:8 is the last recorded statement of Christ on earth. It is thus final, authoritative, and of utmost importance. The Holy Spirit is a major theme in Luke and Acts and is the major point of continuity between the life of Jesus and the ministry of the church.

Who is the Holy Spirit? God is three persons in one—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit first became available to all believers at Pentecost (Acts 2). Whereas in Old Testament days the Holy Spirit empowered specific individuals for specific purposes, now all believers have the power of the Holy Spirit available to them.

When the Spirit comes, Jesus told his followers, you will receive power. To do what? To tell people about him. They were to start right there in Jerusalem (1:4). Judea was the region surrounding Jerusalem (possibly including Galilee). Samaria was Judea’s hostile next-door neighbor, a more difficult but equally important place to take the gospel. The ends of the earth may have referred to Rome or the Roman Empire, the world power at that time.

The direction was of primary importance: Beginning from where you are at this moment, take the message of Christ outward, like ripples caused by a pebble thrown into a pond, not stopping at just your city or state but moving on beyond regional influence to the very “ends” of the earth. In other words, reach it all! The disciples took Jesus at his word and went about their task exactly as he directed: they began in Jerusalem, spread to Judea and Samaria, then filtered out across the world to the imperial capital, Rome.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

This week, I want you to look at “The Acts of a Growing Church”. When you think of the acts of a growing church you naturally go to the book of Acts. I want to do two things this week. I want to run through the growth record of the Jerusalem church today and then the rest of the week, I want to point out to you eight lessons we can learn from the church in Jerusalem that we can apply to our church today. Fortunately Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, gives us a record – a running total – of how the church grew.

Acts 1:15 “in those days Peter stood among the believers and the group numbered about 120.” That’s how many there were on the first day of the church in the Upper Room, the first record.

Acts 2:41. The Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was given. “Those who accepted His message were baptized and about 3000 were added to their number that day.” 3120 – that’s a pretty good sized church that’s one day old. On the very first day they added 3000. People say, “We want to be a New Testament church.” You’re not a New Testament church until you have at least 3000, because that’s how many they started with on day of Pentecost.

Acts 2:47 "Praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people and the Lord added to their number daily those that were being saved.” That means at least 365 people were being added to the church a year because it says somebody everyday.

So the church is growing from 120 to 3000 then it says they were adding people everyday so we know at least 365 a year.

Acts 4:4 “But many who heard the message believed and the number of men grew to be five thousand.” Anytime you’ve got 5000 men; you have at least another 5000 maybe 10,000 women. And kids. So we’re talking at least 15,000, 20,000 people possibly at this stage.

Acts 5:14 “Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.” In the Greek, this is in the imperfect passage, which means they kept on being added. It’s a repetitive thing. More and more were being added. The church is exploding with growth.

Acts 5:28 The Sanhedrin are arguing with the apostles “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching.” That’s an understatement! Filled the entire city with the good news.

Acts 6:1 “In those days the number of disciples was increasing [or multiplying]” We’ve gone from addition now to multiplication.

Acts 6:7 “So the word of God spread and the number of disciples increased in Jerusalem rapidly.” Rapid growth. And it says a large number of priests came to faith. Jewish priests who were once staunch anti-Christians were now becoming believers.

You can see this growth rate picking up speed, like a snowball getting bigger and bigger. I wish I had time to take you through the whole book.

Acts 21:20 is approximately 25 years after the day of Pentecost in Acts 1. “When they heard this they praised God and said to Paul, `You see brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed.’” And all the result of what it’s talking about in Jerusalem. The word “thousands” in Greek is the word murias literally means tens of thousands. It says tens of thousands of people had believed by this time in the city of Jerusalem.

B. H. Carroll, a famous Bible scholar, in his commentary, estimates that there were probably two hundred thousand members in the Jerusalem church after 25 years. Peter Wagner and many agree. G. Campbell Morgan says a minimum of 100,000. If there had 200,000 members, how big was the city of Jerusalem at this time? In any Bible dictionary it will tell you that in New Testament times that the city of Jerusalem was approximately 400,000 people. What we have here is a church with 200,000 members in a city of 400,000 people. Half the city had become converted. No wonder they said, “you’ve filled Jerusalem.”

If you take that from our standpoint – maybe 300,000 people in the COV Valley, that would be equivalent of having a church of 150,000 members – half the city. There has never been a church that’s grown in ratio like the church of Jerusalem.

This week, I want us - Church of the Valley - to learn some lessons from this church in Acts. As I take you back through the book of Acts, I want you to see eight things that we need to do, so that if we do these things we can expect God’s blessing on our church as much as they saw a blessing on the church in Jerusalem.

Day #205: Proverbs 3:33-35

BACKGROUND:


"The wise inherit honor, but fools he holds up to shame." Proverbs 3:35 (NIV) What does it mean to love an honorable life? A blessed life? That's what I want o talk about today.

Because this is so huge—and I would venture to say that 99.9% of you have never heard teaching, in-depth teaching, on this topic—because this topic is so monstrous. Also, too, know this: that this content, that this stuff is difference-making stuff. It will help you and influence you in every area of your existence. I pray that you find yourself in the spirit of prayer today, that you simply say, “God, I want to open my heart and my life to this teaching.”

Our God is a God who wants us, who desperately desires us to live by the truths and principles of His word. We, as followers of Christ, need to be God-hearted. We need to reflect and to mirror the majesty of who God is. If we know God personally, we should mirror who he is. We should have the character qualities, we should reflect the stuff that God is about.

Luke 6:38 (MB), sets the tone for this morning. It's foundational. It says, “Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.” Don’t you like that?

Give away your life. When you do, God will give back to you. God will bless you. God will meet your needs. God will make a way for you. Folks, the secret to life is giving, not getting. Giving is the key to unlocking the blessings of God. Giving is the key to the abundant Christian life that Jesus promised in John 10:10. And finally, giving is the key to understanding the heart of God.

Romans 8:31-32 says, “If God is for us, who can be against us? e who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Our God is a God who is generous. And because God is generous, we should be God-hearted. We should understand the fact that everything we have comes from God—our gifts, our aptitudes, our abilities, even the material stuff that we have. And because God has given it to us, we should reflect that.

In Mark 8:35, Jesus said -“Only those who give away their lives for My sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live.” What is the key word in that verse?? GIVE! The word "give" is used over 1500 times in the Bible. Why? Because giving is the essence of God and it is the essence of Christianity is giving.

What are you expecting God to do in your life? How much do you want God to bless your life? How much are you expecting God to act on your behalf? If you want the answer to those questions, just look at your giving. Abundant living begins with abundant giving. That's the blessed life. That's an honorable life.

BTW, what does it mean to be blessed? Whenever I say the words “bless” or “blessing” or “God bless you,” here’s what I think. I think of the intangibles: peace, contentment, tranquility of the soul, love, joy. That’s what I think about. And that’s part of it. That’s part of blessing. Blessing, though, is deeper than that. But there's more...

Blessing means to be on the receiving end of the tangible and intangible favor of God. We understand the intangible part—the peace, the joy, the tranquility of the soul, love and all that. We understand that blessing is kind of about stuff we cannot taste and touch and smell and feel.

But, there’s more. God wants to also bless you in tangible ways—materially, financially. He blesses his people with stuff. Isn’t that something about God? He wants to pour out His intangible and tangible blessing in our life. God wants to bless your life. But to be blessed, we’ve got to be bless-able.

You might be thinking right about now, Pastor, what do you mean – am I blessable? I want you to open your bibles this morning to Philippians 4:19. This is one of the 5000+ promises in the bible, and in my opinion it is one of the greatest promises in the Bible.

It’s a promise from God to meet your needs. Listen - "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." God says, "I will meet all your needs.I will bless your life" Pretty awesome huh? You ask then - Then why do people have needs? I see a lot of people who have tremendous needs. I see a lot of Christians who have tremendous needs.

Why aren't they being met? Is God a liar? Is His promise not valid? What's the problem? The answer to the question is that this promise is not for everybody. This promise is not for every Christian. SAY WHAT? With every promise of God in the Bible there is a premise. There is a condition that God says, "If you do this, I will do that."

People want to take the v. 19 promise and apply it to their lives while avoiding the premise/condition of verses 14-18. You cannot claim v. 19 unless you're doing what v. 18 talks about. The context is Paul is talking to a group of Philippians saying "Thank you. You have given sacrificially. And because you have given sacrificially, God is going to take care of your needs."

To understand this truth more fully, let’s look at a guy lived a long time ago. His name was Abraham. He came from a family of idol worshippers. Yet Abraham was a guy who God poured out His blessing on. Let’s read about his life. Genesis 12:2-3. God says“I’ll make you into a great nation. I’ll bless you. I’ll make your name great, Abraham. And you’re going to be a blessing. I’ll bless those who bless you. Whoever curses you I’ll curse. And all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”


Let’s keep going, because Abraham was a man who was truly blessed. In fact, one of his workers said this about him: Genesis 24:35, he said—he’s talking about Abraham here—“The Lord has blessed my master abundantly and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys.”


Abraham was blessed, if you read about his life, He was blessed occupationally, relationally, and financially. Abraham was a man who knew that everything he had came from God. Why did God bless Abraham?


There are several events in Abraham’s life brought out the blessing of God. I want to talk about one. Abraham was old. God said, “Abraham, you and Sarah are going to have a baby.” He was like, “What?” They became pregnant. They had Isaac, the apple of Abraham’s eye. Those of us who are fathers know about that special relationship we have with our sons. You know what God told Abraham to do?
“Hey Abraham, take the life of your son as a sacrifice to me.” Now, just put yourself in his sandals for a second. Here’s Abraham and his son Isaac walking up to the mountain for the whole sacrifice thing. His son is probably, I don’t know, 12or 13 and saying, “Dad, where’s the animal? Dad, where’s the animal? Where is he dad?”


And can’t you imagine the tears and the emotion that Abraham was dealing with? God’s telling him to take the life of his own son. I mean, that just seems weird, crazy. Right before he began to kill his own son, what did God do? God provided a ram, a scapegoat if you will, that Abraham used in place of taking the life of his son. Do you see the giving in Abraham's life? Do you see the sacrifice? This is why God blessed him.

You’d better download this story and truth into your life. Abraham was God-hearted. Abraham was generous with his abilities, and his talents, and his aptitudes, and his money, and his stuff. And the result? God blessed him. I challenge you today - live an honorable life - experience the blessing of God.

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.

Day #204: Proverbs 3:27-32

BACKGROUND:

These verses today include five sample maxims about relationships with others, with verses 27-31 each beginning with the words Do not. These are examples of what it means to be wise. They may be grouped into three relationships: (1) The command Do not withhold good from those who deserve it is literally, “Do not withhold good from its owners.” The idea is, fulfill an obligation such as paying wages to a hired laborer (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:15). Proverbs 3:28 seems to reinforce the point by saying we are also to be generous to the poor.

(2) To harm... a neighbor violates his trust, and to accuse him falsely violates the ninth commandment (Ex. 20:16). To plot translates “to plow,” from which comes the idea of plans being thought up or devised as furrows in a field are plowed. (3) Some people envy a violent man because they see the money he has or the pleasures he supposedly enjoys. But God gives four reasons why such envy is uncalled for: (1) The Lord hates such a perverse person, whereas the upright in contrast enjoys fellowship with God. (2) The Lord curses the wicked but... blesses... the righteous. (3) God mocks arrogant mockers, causing their actions to boomerang on them, whereas the humble receive His grace (James. 4:6). (4) The wise are honored but fools are shamed. These verses show that the words “upright,” “righteous,” “the humble,” and “the wise” are basically synonymous in the Book of Proverbs.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

Today I want to talk a bit about your reputation. Here is the truth - In our world you can make a name for yourself in a million and one different ways.

All you have to do is read the Guinness Book of World Records. Swallow the most goldfish or have the longest mustache or the most consecutive sneezes or the most pimples -- something. As long as you've done the most or the fewest of anything you can make a name for yourself.

My question to you this morning is this - what kind of name are you making for yourself? The Bible says that having a good reputation is important. In fact, in the book of 1 Timothy it says that one of the qualifications for spiritual leadership is to have a good reputation.

It's important to earn a good name in life. That’s what we I want to look at this morning. Ecclesiastes 7:1 (LB) says, "A good reputation is better than the most expensive perfume." And you know what? A good reputation costs more too. It will cost you plenty to earn a good name in life.

Folks, God cares that you have a good name – it’s important to Him. Proverbs 22:1- says, "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." Self worth is more important than net worth. It's better to have a good name, a good reputation, than it is to be a millionaire.


The bottom line of what I want to say today is that the Bible says the key to a good reputation is CHARACTER -- your inner desires, your drives, your motivations, your convictions, the beliefs that motivate you to act and respond in a certain way. Character is what you are on the inside.


Somebody said once that reputation is what other people think you are, character is what you really are. Character is what you are in the dark. Character is what you have left when you've lost everything there is to lose and the only thing you have left is character. It takes a lifetime to build character. The key to a earning a good name in life is to build character in your life.

THE PROBLEM: We're more interested in image than in character. How do I look? What does everybody else think? Am I in style? We're way more concerned with image that character – our style instead of substance.

Today I want us to see five character qualities from the Bible. I guarantee you, that if you will build these five qualities into your life, you will be respected. You'll make and earn a good name for yourself.

Proverbs in 27:21(TEV) says “Fire tests gold and silver; a person's reputation can also be tested.” I like the idea that our reputation can be tested. Let’s do that today - let's use this as a test today so you can evaluate yourself on each of these character qualities and see if you have earned a good name in this life.

#1. A GOOD NAME IS EARNED THROUGH INTEGRITY

The Bible says respect is earned through integrity. Proverbs 17:7 (GN) says, "Respected people do not tell lies." Malcolm Forbes, who started Forbes Magazine, said that integrity is the basis for all true blue success. It is the foundation, the cornerstone. Without it you don't have genuine success. You need integrity.

America is in a crisis of integrity. It is affecting every area of our nation. In the military; we've got people selling secrets for sex and money. In business; we've got Wall Street brokers serving prison terms because of price fixing. In religion; we've got national ministries collapsing due to scandals. Assaulted by sleaze, scandals and hypocrisy America searches for its moral bearings. That is a crisis of integrity. The Bible says if you want to be respected, if you want to earn a good name in this life -be a person of integrity. Don’t sell out, don’t give in, don’t go along with the crowd. Stand firm , even if it means standing alone

Proverbs 10:9 says "The man of integrity walks securely but he who takes crooked paths will be found out." The person of integrity has no skeletons in his closet so he can walk with confidence.

Proverbs 20:7 says "It is a wonderful heritage to have an honest father." Dads, one of the greatest gifts you can give your children is to be a man of integrity so that your kids can say, "When dad says it, it's the truth.” If you want to earn a good name in life it's earned through integrity.

#2. A GOOD NAME IS EARNED THROUGH HUMILITY

Proverbs 29:23 says "Arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected." Arrogance & pride are the causes for most downfalls. Be humble or you'll stumble. 1 Peter 5:5 says, "Clothe yourself in humility." That's really dressing for success. That's never out of style. The Bible also says, "God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. . . . Before honor is humility. . . . Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall."

If you're not humble you stumble. The fact is every person you ever will meet is better than you at something. We're all better at different things. The truth ought to be if I'm really humble, I'll learn from everybody! The evidence of humility is Proverbs 13:18 (GN) "Anyone who listens to correction is respected."

Do you listen to correction? How easy is it for you to admit it when you're wrong? Proverbs 28:13 (LB) says “A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance.” Bottom line, God says if you will come clean about who you are, about what you have done, and if you will start going my way, living by my principles, you’ll get another chance to build your life, buld your reputation, build a good name.


#3. A GOOD NAME IS EARNED THROUGH DEPENDABILITY

We all admire people who can be counted on, who are reliable and trustworthy, consistent, faithful. Proverbs 25:15 says "Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give." Have you ever met anybody like that? "One of these days I'm gonna..." but they never do it. They are long on promises and short on performance. Napoleon once said, "Promise everything, deliver nothing." He would have gotten along quite nicely in our society wouldn’t he have?

Several years ago, we had a building campaign at our church in Mclean, Virginia. The three largest gifts that were promised, none of them were ever given. The folks who said they would do it, didn’t come through. I’ve never forgotten that.

I have been convicted about making promises, as a parent, to my kids and not keeping them. It is so easy when you're tired, busy, or just want to get them out of your hair, to make promises and then later you're too tired to preform. Children begin to say, "Is dad dependable? Is mom reliable? Do they keep their promises? Can they be counted on?"

Psalm 15:4-5 says "He who keeps his oath even when it hurts will never be shaken." Reliability promotes stability. If you want to earn agood reputation in life, it doesn’t come cheap. It will cost you. So you need to ask yourself “Do I keep my promises? Can I be counted on? When I say it, does my word stand?”

#4. A GOOD NAME IS EARNED THROUGH GENEROSITY

Psalm 112:9 says "He who gives generously to the needy and shows kindness will be powerful and respected." Isn’t that an awesome verse? Folks, no one is ever respected for what they've received. They are only respected and honored for what they have given. No one is ever respected for something they've inherited. They are respected and honored for what they gave in life.

How many of you know the name Andrew Carnigie? After retiring in 1901 at the age of 66 as the world's richest man, Carnegie wanted to become a philanthropist, a person who gives money to good causes. He believed in the "Gospel of Wealth," which meant that wealthy people were morally obligated to give their money back to others in society.

When Andrew Carnegie died they were going through his person effects and in his desk they found a small piece of paper that he had written on as young man -- his life goal. Written in his early twenties, it said: "I want to spend the first half of my life accumulating as much money as I can and I want to spend the second half of my life giving it all away." He was so motivated and inspired by that goal that during his lifetime Andrew Carnegie amassed a personal fortune of over 450 million dollars. During the second half of his life, he gave it all away

There's one problem with that -- none of us are guaranteed the second half of life. So if you're going to become a generous person you better start now because you're not even assured of tomorrow. TD Jakes, one of the great preachers of our day said it like this Do your givin' while you're livin' then you'll be knowin' where it's goin'. Give it now. When it comes to giving, stop at nothing to meet the need of others. Become a generous person and you'll make a name for yourself.



#5. A GOOD NAME IS EARNED THROUGH SPIRITUALITY

Proverbs 3:4-6 (LB) says "If you want favor with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgement and common sense, then trust the Lord completely; in everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you, and crown your efforts with success." Basically, this verse says that spirituality brings not only favor with God, it brings favor with man. It gives you a reputation. People are naturally drawn to those who genuinely love God and put God first in every area of their lives.

I am not talking about those who fake it. I am not talking about those who pretend. I am not talking about a pious, sentimental, syrupy spirituality where you go around saying "Praise the Lord!... I was so blessed today, I had a hamburger and it was glorious! But then I went home and my husband grieved my spirit." (She really means "He ticked me off!")

I'm not talking about some super, phony spirituality, but people who are real and genuinely love God are respected even by unbelievers. Folks, it is not by accident that Billy Graham has been one of the ten most admired men in America consistently every year on that list for the last 30 years. He's real and he's a person of integrity. People like Mother Teresa. Even unbelievers admired her because she was deeply spiritual.

Folks, this kind of spirituality doesn’t come cheap. It is earned day after day of meeting with the Lord. It is earned week after week of service and selflessness. It is earned year after year of putting others before yourself.

I love what Proverbs 31:30-31 says "Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears, but a woman who honors the Lord should be praised... She deserves the respect of everyone." You know whay I love it? Because I married a wife who lives out that verse. She has honored the Lord, in quiet selfless service day after day, week after week, year after year for as long as I’v know her.
She has earned a good name through honoring the Lord.


Let’s finish this morning by looking at Proverbs 10:7. It says "Good people will be remembered as a blessing, but the wicked will soon be forgotten." Not to be a downer, but let me ask you, when you die, what are people going to remember about you? What are your kids going to remember most about you? What will they be saying at your funeral?

The Bible says that good people are remembered as a blessing. Wouldn't it be great to die and to have our kids say, "One of the greatest blessings in my life was that I had godly parents. I had parents who were full of integrity. They were humble and dependable. They kept their promises. They were generous. They were givers. They put God first in every area of life.

That's the kind of thing that can happen. Isn’t that great news? But folks, that kind of character takes God in your life. Earning that kind of name in life can happen if you allow His Spirit to control your life. You can build a solid reputation if you will focus on character not image, and you focus on making a life more than making a living.

HOW? It all starts by giving your life to Jesus Christ and making Him #1 in your life! Would you pray this prayer in your heart?

"God, I want to become a person of character. I want to be known, Lord, for the character in my life, not for how much money I had or who knew me or my image. Father, I ask You to make me a person of integrity. I ask You to help me to be open to correction, to realize that I don't have all the answers, to admit it when I'm wrong. Father, would You help me to keep my promises. Help me to have a word that is good and dependable and reliable.

I want my life to count. Father, help me to be a generous person. Teach me to give -- to You and to others -- not with a stingy attitude, but with a cheerful attitude. Father, help me to become a spiritual person, to put You first in every area of life, to trust You completely."

Would you pray this morning, "Jesus Christ I want my life to be a blessing to other people. I want people to be blessed because they were around me and I give my life to You." You may be Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Mormon, Buddhist, God doesn’t care what your background is, and either do we here at COV. But today you need a relationship to Jesus Christ and if you've never opened up your life to Him, in your heart say, "Jesus Christ come into my life and begin making the changes that I want and that You want."

Father, I pray that You would build character in each of our lives for we know that strong churches and strong families are built on character and not on image. Jesus Christ, make us what we want to be and what You want us to be. For we pray it in Your name and for Your sake. Amen.

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.

Day #203: Proverbs 3:21-26

BACKGROUND:

The familiar phrase "my son" introduces a plea that the son embrace valued qualities of character. Sound judgment translates the Hebrew word that is rendered “victory”. Discernment is translated “discretion”.

There are a number of benefits that come to those who heed the exhortation in verse 21. These benefits include life, safety, avoidance of troubles, peaceful sleep, confidence in the future, and avoidance of traps set by the wicked. As i read about those benefits, I am reminded that even if eternal life and heaven were not promised when one receives Christ, the benefits of knowing God and living for God would be enough to surrender my life to God's will and way.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)


When I think about this passage today, my mind shifts to thinking about all the things are kids need before they leave our house. What are all the things kids need to learn before they set out on their own - to carve out their own future and destiny. I'd like to talk about that this morning for just a bit.

The Bible says that one of the goals for parenting is to prepare your kids for life. God intends the family to be a learning center for life. You learn things in your family that you don't learn anywhere else. You learn life's basic skills in the family -- walk, talk, eat ... use a TV remote -- all the basic skills of life you learn in the family. God says we are to prepare our kids for life.

The Bible says this about Jesus in Luke 2:52 "Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and with man." Notice the four ways Jesus grew. Those are the same four ways you, as a parent, have to help your children to grow.

First it says Jesus grew in wisdom. That's mental or intellectual growth.
He grew in stature. That's physical growth.
He grew in favor with God. Spiritual growth.
He grew in favor with man. That's social growth.


That ought to be the goals you have in your family for each of your children, that you help them have balanced growth -- mental, physical, spiritual and social. The Bible is very clear that the primary responsibility of raising children, helping them be prepared for life, is laid at the feet of parents. It's your responsibility. The moment you took part in a conception you got a job description. You took on a role.

Part of that job description is described in Deuteronomy 6:7 "You must teach these commandments to your children and talk about them when you are at home or out for a walk, at bedtime and the first thing in the morning."

This says several things:

"You" -- this is not talking about the government, a preschool, a grade school, a private school, some club, even the church. It's talking about you if you're a parent. You are primarily responsible to prepare your kids for life, not some preschool or anybody else.

"Must" -- this is not optional. It's not, "if you have time for it you must do these things" or "It's OK whether you do them or not." It says "You must..." It's not optional.

"You must teach..." Parents are teaching all the time whether they realize it or not. If your kids are around you, you're teaching them sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally. They're watching every move. You're modeling, exampling, showing how to live. You are constantly teaching. The only question is, "What are you teaching?"

"You must teach these commandments" They are commandments, not suggestions. God didn't give us ten suggestions. He said these are commandments you are to do. As parents there are three areas we especially have to be concerned with in raising kids, helping prepare them for life. Three things, if you get anything taught, you've got to get these down.

1. Relationships. For better or for worse, your happiness in life is determined by your relationships. If you know how to relate to people, if you know how to get along with people, you're probably going to be happy a good percentage of your life. If you don't know how to get along, if you don't know how to relate to people, you're going to be miserable most of your life. One of the most important skills the family teaches is how to relate.

Right or wrong, the way you relate to other people you picked up those skills growing up. Sometimes people grow up in dysfunctional homes and you have to relearn later on how to relate to people because you never learned to relate to people in the right way. You didn't learn how to resolve conflict. You either blew up or clammed up. You do different kinds of inappropriate behaviors so you have to relearn. So as parents we have to teach and we have to model basic things about relationships.

Good relationships don't just happen. You don't just have a good marriage. You don't just have a good friendship. It takes time, it takes work. Relationships have to be built. They are built on things like truthfulness, honesty and vulnerability. It takes communication. You cannot have a relationship without communication. It takes authenticity. It takes massive doses of forgiveness to build a healthy relationship. Because you're going to be hurt and you're going to hurt others. Sometimes intentionally. Sometimes unintentionally. We have to teach our kids how to resolve conflict. They need to see not only when you as a parent have a conflict with your spouse, but how you resolve it. We need to teach relationships.

2. Character. Character is formed in the home. What is character? Character is the sum total of your choices and your habits. As you help your kids develop good habits, they develop good character. If they don't develop good habits, they're not going to have good character no matter what you say. Character is more caught than it is taught. You have to model that.

3. Values. What's really important in life. Whether you realize it or not, your kids are always picking up values from you, whether you teach them formally or not. They're picking up, by just watching you, they're seeing what's really important in your life. Regardless of what you say is important, the way you spend your time and the way you spend your money is what's really important to you. They pick up values in the family. Values about work, about life, about money, about time, about sex, about other people, about the world, about the future, about what's really important, about God. Those values are constantly being communicated and picked up one way or the other.


I know you've heard people say, "I'm not going to impose my spiritual values on my kids. I'm going to let them decide for themselves." Baloney! What that basically says is "God is an option." He is not an option. You are hurting your kids if you say God is an option. As long as they are under your roof, you have the right to impose on them certain standards. When they're out on their own, of course they have to make their own decision. But if you don't force your kids to go to church, where do you think they'll get their values? At school? When you say, "I'm not going to impose my values on my kids" what you're doing is abdicating your authority as a parent. And you're abdicating it to the television. Television is the number one purveyor of values today.

Only 12% of grade school kids frequently talk to their parents, particularly their fathers, about personal concerns. When they become teenagers, only 8% of fathers talk to their teenagers about premarital sex. Only 15% of mothers talk to their teenagers about premarital sex. No wonder we've got teenage pregnancies going rapid today.

By the time a child is 18, on television, he or she has seen over 100,000 sexual liaisons on television. Ninety-one percent of all sex on TV is portrayed as sex outside of marriage. I call that brainwashing. Over a course of one year, prime time tv depicts over 1400 incidences of sex, over 2300 incidences of profanity, over 8000 incidences of severe violence. It's a great source of miseducation. What's happened as a result? Just pick up the paper. We've got grade schoolers taking guns to school and killing each other. Where did that come from?

The Bible says one day we're all going to be judged before God and give an account of our lives. Those of us who are parents will give an account of our parenting roles. Did we care enough to say, this is right and this is wrong, because most kids don't know right from wrong today. Society certainly doesn't know the difference.

In each of these areas I'm going to ask you to evaluate yourself. From one to ten, how would you rate yourself in preparing kids for life if you're a parent. Ask yourself, "What am I teaching? About money? About time? About God? About sex?" What am I teaching unintentionally by my lifestyle? Am I teaching workaholism?

I suggest that you be more intentional. Make a list of the values you think are important, that you value. Then start intentionally sharing those, making sure those come up in the conversation with your kids. Don't just let it go haphazard. Because it's not true that all you need is love. You need God's wisdom.

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.

Day #202: Proverbs 3:11-20

BACKGROUND:

Because wisdom brings happiness and because wealth often does not bring genuine happiness, wisdom’s value far exceeds the worth of precious metals such as silver... gold, and also rubies. Wisdom returns to her possessor a much greater value than anything gold or silver can purchase.

Wisdom, personified as a woman, gives with both hands, that is, generously. Her right hand gives longevity and from her left hand she gives riches and more. Besides giving a long life, wisdom also provides a quality life: pleasantness and peace.
When God created the world, He used wisdom... understanding, and knowledge. If God needed these, then certainly people need them.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what i have read today?)

Some people think that the Bible says that "Money is the root of all evil". It actually says "The love of money is the root of all evil."

God is not opposed to wealth, in fact, many of the people in the Bible were extremely wealthy. Abraham was probably a millionaire in our terms. Job was the wealthiest man of his time. David and Solomon were both the wealthiest men of their time. We know that Barnabas made a lot of money because he was able to give it to the church. Joseph of Arimathea, the man who gave Jesus his tomb, was extremely wealthy. So God is not opposed to wealth, simply for being wealthy. But God is very much opposed to the misuse and abuse of wealth. He wants us to use our wealth wisely, no matter how much or how little we have.


I want to look at the wrong and the right uses of wealth today for just a moment. By the way, everyone in this room is wealthy according to world standards. If you own a car, you're wealthy. If you have more than one change of clothes, you're wealthy. If you own a home, you're in the top 5% of the world. By world standards, by the very fact that we live in America, we're wealthy. Just so you know. We sometimes play the comparison game so much, we fail to remember how we have been blessed.


Proverbs 21:20 says, "The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets." Proverbs 30:24 says, "Consider the ant how it stores up in the winter." This is the principle that the Bible says, we ought to save money faithfully. The average American only saved 4% of his income. The average European saves 16% of his income. The average Japanese person saves 25% of his income. Why do we save so little in America? I think it's because we live for today. We're the Now Generation.

Jesus told a number of parables. Over half deal with money. He talked more about money than he did about heaven or hell. He talks about investment, how the wise man invested his money and the unwise man didn't invest his money. The master came back and said, "You're wicked." It's wicked not to make our money work for us. When we save our money we get our money to work for us rather than working for our money. In order to develop the habit of saving you've got to do two things:

You need to learn to live on a margin. That means live on less than you make. John D. Rockefeller said many times, "Save 10%, tithe 10%, live on 80%." Obviously that worked for him.

You learn contentment. You've got to learn contentment with what we have. If you don't learn contentment you'll spend all the money you have as soon as you get it. My old senior pastor – Pastor Yaeger used to say used to say, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."


What is the purpose of saving? Here's where the Bible differs from the world's thinking in a major way. The world thinks you save money for security. If I could just accumulate a big enough bank account I would be financially secure. The problem is, there is no such thing as absolute security. No matter how much money you've got, you could lose it instantly. \

Everything that I have in life can be taken away from me: my family, my money, my reputation, everything. There is only one thing that cannot be taken away from me and that's my relationship to Jesus Christ. I've got to put my security in Christ and not a passbook account, CD's, stock. We don't save like the world saves simply for security.

Why do we save? The Christian saves for stewardship reasons, not for security reasons. Proverbs 21:20 says "The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets."

Having money saved allows us to be able to help other people when they have a need. We save in order to help others.

That's the right accumulation according to scripture, what about the RIGHT APPROPRIATION. The Bible says in Proverbs 13:11 "Wealth from gambling quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows." What is gambling? A get-rich-quick scheme. In the book of Proverbs, at least six or seven times, scripture teaches us don't get involved in get rich quick schemes. Easy come, easy go. You make it quick, you'll lose it quick.

Proverbs 14:23 says, "Hard work brings a profit; mere talk leads to poverty." Over and over again in Scripture the Bible teaches the value of hard work. It is a legitimate honest way to increase your income by making money honestly through work. If you talk all the time, dream, plan get-rich-quick schemes you're not going to prosper in life. God approves of work as a means to wealth.

Proverbs 11:16 (GN)says, "A lazy man will never have money but an aggressive man will get rich." Proverbs 12:27 (GN) says, "If you're lazy you'll never get what you're after. But if you work hard, you can get a fortune." What matters to God is not so much how much money you make but how you make it.

What does the Scripture say about the RIGHT ALLOCATION? The Bible says we are to spend money wisely. The Scripture says, "The plans of the diligent lead to profit as sure as haste leads to poverty." He's talking about planning your money and planning your spending. We spend 16 years in school learning how to make money but not six weeks learning how to spend it wisely. It is easier to get into debt than to get out of debt. Buy now, pay later. Only 162 easy payments. I've never had an easy payment. They are all difficult.

The number one reason for financial pressure is not that we don't make enough but we don't spend it wisely. The median income in Contra Costa County per family is $85,000. That's incredible. There are people who are making incomes in the high six digit figures but they're still under pressure. It shouldn't be. The problem is not that we don't make enough, but we don't spend it wisely.

Because we do make good incomes in America, it tells me that we're never going to have enough money unless we know how to spend it wisely. The more your income goes up it seems your expenses go up. Our yearning capacity always tends to exceed our earning capacity.


How do you spell relief? BUDGET. Have a budget. Spending money wisely means having a budget. What is a budget? Planned spending. Telling your money where you want it to go rather than wondering where it went. The wise man plans. "The plans of the diligent lead to profit as sure as haste leads to poverty." The opposite of budgeted spending is impulse buying. That leads to poverty. I see it, I want it, I'm going to buy it.

Part of this means keeping good records. Proverbs 27:23 (LB)says, "Riches can disappear fast so watch your business interest closely." God wants us to make money honestly, save it faithfully, spend it wisely.

THE RIGHT APPLICATION. How do we use the influence that money has? We are to give money generously. Proverbs 11:24-25 says, "It is possible to give away and become richer. It's also possible to hold on too tightly and loose everything. Yes the generous man shall be rich. By watering others, he waters himself."

This principle is taught over and over again in Scripture. Give and it will be given unto you. Just like seeds, the more we sow the more we reap. There are more promises in the Bible related to giving than on any other subject. It's incredible what God promises when we learn to give. He wants us to learn to be givers because God is a giver. If we're going to learn to become like God we've got to learn to be giving people.


No matter how wealthy I've become, I'm not financially free until I've learned to give. But if I learn to give I'll be a very happy person. I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.