In this look at the book of Acts, I am am finding things about it that I would have never uncovered before. It is cool how God uses His word at different times of our lives and then reveals different things that we need to hear. Lately, I have been doing alot of reading about culture, Pop Culture ,and how Christians can have an impact on the world around us with out being overwhelmed by the culture. This is a complex topic and I prayed that God would give me some examples of how the process of impacting culture was accomplished in the Bible. Well, I found it in the book of Acts with out really meaning to! My original intention was to study obedience and now the Lord is also revealing stuff to me through my new venture of studying culture! I will share what the Lord is speaking to me through the chapters ahead, but I would love to see what He might be teaching you individually as you study this with me~
Let’s get going…
Read through Acts 3 (yes, the WHOLE chapter) -we will mainly be focusing on Acts 3:11-26.
As you read, mark in the margin of your Bible any thing you read that seems like Peter and John are making a proclamation. There is no wrong answer here and there are several instances.
Who are they “preaching” to and what is the message?
Peter and John are proclaiming the resurrection of Christ to the Jews. They are also admonishing them for ignoring the prophets and not recognizing Jesus as their Messiah. Basically, they are blaming the Jews for sending Jesus to the cross. But, in the same breath, Peter and John are loudly begging them to repent and await the second coming of Christ.
Would you say that the two apostles are being extremely bold in their preaching? Why?
As witnesses to Christ’s life and resurrection, the two apostles were so passionate about their message of the Gospel, they didn’t care whose toes they stepped on!
Now move on to Acts 4. (the whole chapter!)
Take a look at Acts 4:1-4
There are two main outcomes of all the noise and bold proclamation of Peter and John-what were the outcomes in these verses?
1) Peter and John got the attention of the Sadducees and the high priest!
2) Five thousand came to believe in Christ because of their boldness!
Do you think Peter and John really cared that they were being incarcerated after seeing all of those people come to follow Christ!?
Verse 8 gives us some insite as to where the gumption came from.
What came over Peter?
The Holy Spirit filled Peter and he was not afraid to proclaim the resurrection to these very powerful and important people. These very people threw him in jail for goodness sakes!
We see over and over again instances where the apostles relied only on the Holy Spirit for power to speak and power to do miracles. They fully understood that they could do nothing to further the Kingdom of Christ on their own.
How often do you try to take matters into your own hands? In retrospect, would it have made things easier if you relied on God and asked for help from the Holy Spirit?
Also, don’t miss the role that the Holy Spirit played in our theme of boldness. The two apostles where standing up to the leaders of Jerusalem and unabashedly accusing them of Christ’s death. Do you think Peter could have boldly made these claims in his own flesh and power-NO! It is only through the guidance of the Spirit that he was able to have such an impact with his words.
Christians these days-you and I- are still called to BOLDLY proclaim the resurrection of Christ. By doing this, we can be the salt and light of the world around us and make a difference in the culture. This is a enormous task-impacting the culture. But, again, the book of Acts gives us some insight.
Focus in on verse 24-32. What does verse 32 say of the believers?
They were of ONE heart and mind and they were single mindedly focused on Christ and spreading the word. They were also in one heart and mind as they prayed and petitioned the Lord. What a difference we could make in the world if we all could get over our petty differences and focus on the message of the Gospel-this seemed to work so well for all of the believers in Acts. Why can’t we do the same today?
Back up in verse 29-30. What did the believers ask of God?
The believers asked for Boldness(yes that word again) and for the Lord to do miraculous works and healing. The reason that they asked God to do wonders was so that people would see tangible evidence of Christ and believe.
LIVE IT OUT application:
BOLDNESS and MIRACLES-this is what we need God to give to us and do through us in this day that we live in. It should be the concern of every Christian to want to make a difference in the world around them for the glory of Christ. Is this your concern? Do you even consider what you could do to impact people around your or circumstances around you? The apostles had a single minded, BOLD focus on proclaiming the gospel. They stuck to the message of the cross and resurrection and let the Holy Spirit work through them. As far as miracles and wonderous works of God, boy do we ever need the Lord’s heavenly intervention in the world around us! There are just somethings that we need Him to be BOLD and do amazing things!! Through our BOLDNESS in speaking the truth of Christ, we can LIVE OUT the Kingship of Christ. And, through us and His MIRACLES, Christ the King, will be known through out the earth. Its time for us to step out of our comfort zones and take on the challenge of reclaiming the world around us for the Kingship of Christ! BE BOLD-LIVE IT OUT!!
