Week of 11/18-11/24: Redeemed Response: Listening Together to the Voice of God

Day Three: Acts 2:42 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.”

WHERE I LIVE (North Texas), we don’t get much snow and ice, but when we do get the wintry precipitation, it can be a recipe for disaster. This is especially so at my parent’s house, which is in a fairly rural setting. This means that when ice starts to cause problems with the power lines, my parents are some of the last to get their electricity restored. During one particular cold snap my senior year of high school, our family went without power for about 3 days.

Not wanting to get caught in a situation like this again, my dad has now purchased a generator for those rare winter storms. Now when power lines go down, a simple starting of the generator provides energy to run the lights, heat, and TV (the big 3, in my opinion), until the electric company can get everything back and running.

Think about this for a minute. Every single power button and light switch in the house can instantly be restored by simply turning on the generator. This source of energy allows everything else to function. Without it, we are cold, dark, and bored. With it we have light, heat, and excitement. That single generator provides all of those things.

Notice here in Acts how God’s Word serves a similar impact on true Christian community. By being devoted to the Apostles’ teaching (God’s Word), they by extension fellowshipped together, broke bread together, and prayed together. That is, God’s Word essentially served as the life source for the Christian community. The power of God’s Word enabled those early believers to live their lives in close relationships with each other, constantly seeking ways to worship and obey Christ.

We need this same type of community today. We often gather around sporting events and other social happenings, but how often do we gather around God’s Word? We are quite good at fellowship, but we need to examine our reasons for fellowship.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

▷▷Why is God’s Word so powerful?

▷▷How does the power of God’s Word affect your life?

▷▷How can you harness the power of God’s Word to impact the community you have with other people?