Title: Resurrecting Church (Acts 2:43-47/20100926)
Contents
a revival church
Acts 2:43-47
There is a shabby Baptist church in an area in Yuseong, Daejeon. The church is still in its pristine state 10 years later. It hurts my heart not because the church is poor, but because it is failing to revive. Churches, families, and businesses must revive. Revival means an increase in the number of people being saved. Verse 47 of today's text says that in the early church, the number of people being saved increased every day. God is the one who searches for the one lost sheep rather than the 99 sheep. Jesus came to give life to the sheep and died on the cross to pay for the sins of mankind. Jesus wants the church to carry out the mission of saving souls. The early church revived wherever it was built and grew rapidly. In the end, it became the state religion of Rome for the first time in 300 years and conquered the world. How influential would it be? Wherever churches were established, decadence disappeared and souls were renewed. In this way, the church must revive in order to shine a powerful light in the world.
Third, we must strive to gather together. Verse 46 says that the early church members made every effort to gather in the temple. They witnessed the resurrection of Jesus and gave them a wonderful hope and faith. It is the hope and faith of the resurrection. They gathered to pray, to worship. In Acts 1, it is said that they worked together in prayer. Without prayer, without making an effort to gather together, there is no revival. When we focus on prayer and gatherings, the Holy Spirit comes upon us and revival occurs. In Acts 1:8, it is said that when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we will receive power and become our witnesses to the ends of the earth. When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, our mouths are opened and we practice love. In order for our church to revive, we must receive power. For this, we must unite in prayer. We must practice love with one heart. Then the miracle of revival will happen. Let's follow. Becoming the Early Church Let's pray and receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Let's be used as tools of love. Hallelujah!