Lesson7-Day 1 Healthy Churches Pursue God's Holiness from the Inside Out

Holy litteraly means "set apart." I can many times have a misguided understanding of what is meant by "set apart." This misguided thinking is wrapped up in me think I am "set apart" from other people, as in being better than them. Or, different in a self-righteous way so I am set apart above them. Although there may be a slight truth to this, I think better for me to realize that I am "set apart" by Christ to enjoy and glorify God. Not that I am better than anyone else. I am just as depraived as anyone.

So what does it mean practically to be holy?

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 1 Peter 1:13-15

Peter indicates that holiness begins on the inside with our thoughts, hopes and desires. This day's lesson ends with a question asking us to brainstorm about how FCC can help believers grow in holiness from the inside out. How would you answer that?

Lesson 7 Purified by His Discipline

Hypocrisy - when sincere faith is replaced by the appearance of spirituality.

This text for this weeks lesson Acts 5:1-11 is hard one to understand. Why did God strike dead Ananias and Sapphira?

I have been quizzing my children lately in an effort to have them pay more attention to the sermons. By the way it is working. They know and are actually looking forward to my four questions on the sermon. As I was talking with my daughter this week about the sermon after she had taken the quiz. I asked her what sin Ananias and Sapphira committed. She right away said, "they lied to God." That has stuck with me. My hypocrisy is to appear more spiritual to people around me. And as I am doing that I am lying to the very God I have choosen to worship.

Dana Olson this weekend made the point that it was out of God's kindness and mercy that he struck Ananias and Sapphira dead. God through this act was showing the magnitude of his holiness.

It is of utmost importance that we display authentic faith. That is what attracts others. Remember a few chapters back in Acts, the early believers were characterized by "glad and sincere hearts." Acts 2:46 If we will follow Christ with sincere motives and are real with each other, our church we be greatly blessed by God.

Lesson 6 'Suffering Disgrace for The Name'

I am struck by the lessons comment: Isn't it interesting that their witness was both attractive and repulsive at the same time? They were both a blessing and a disgrace.

I don't know whether it is fair or right to say it this way, so I will pose it as a question. Did the early church gain favor with the 'common' people and upset the leaders/authority figures (Sanhedrin)?

It is important for us to focus on our vision of pursueing Christ reign. This includes people but we can not let people consume us and therefore we are not proclaiming Jesus is the Christ. We begin to proclaim a "watered down" view of Christ.

Just as the lesson states I don't want to be part of a church that is filled with 'nice' Christ followers. I want to be part of a church that will challenge me to pursue Christ's reign with them so that we (I) would be found worthy of suffering disgrace for the name of Christ.

Lesson6-Day 4 'We Must Obey God'

Does this hit at our desire for acceptance? How shallow I am in that I do not have the faith to believe that God has accepted me in an unconditional way that no other person can. Yet, I am more willing to compromise my schedule (equated to obedience) to gain the acceptance and/or favor of some person.

My obedience to God who is totally accepting of me a lot of the time does not get the same concideration. In fact many times the part of my schedule I give up in order to gain favor with man is my relationship with God.

There is a balance here as the lesson points out. It is normal and right to want to please people. We have to win the favor of people in order to witness with them.

The specific obedience being talked about here is sharing Christ. This is an area that there is no wavering. We must share regardless of what other men are saying we should do.

We are in a country in which we have freedom to talk about Christ. Think of counties where this is not true. Were governments put you in jail and/or punish you to the point of death because you proclaim Christ.

God has shown us great favor and yet we (I) am afraid to talk to my "neighbor" about Christ. Do I (we) know what fear is? It is highly unlikely that a negative reaction from my "neighbor" would be more than "don't talk to me about God." Yet, my fear is great enough to keep me from proclaiming Christ.

How do we overcome our fear and proclaim Christ boldly?

Lesson6-Day 3 Shake Us Again Until We Practice a Bolder Faith

Does Jerry Sheveland nail it in this lesson. Our boldness is wrapped up in our vision of God.

I am dumbfounded therefore, I am simply going to type this paragraph from the lesson:

Do we (I) genuinely believe God is Sovereign and capable of bringing all things into submission to his will? Do we (I) genuinely believe Christ when he says, "All authority in heaven and in earth has been given to me. . . and surely I am with you always?" It is our confidence in him that breaks the bonds of fear and sets us free to be bold in prayer and bold in witness.

God, increase my vision of you.

Lesson6-Day 2 Shake Us Again Until We Pray Bolder Prayers

Oh, the timidity of my prayers. I was so convicted by the sarcastic prayer that was offered in this lesson by the early Jerusalem church. Prayers for what I desire, how I understand the situation, safeness of my surroundings - pleasant, comfortable and well-planned.

I was struck by the prayer in Acts 4:29-30:

"Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

Stretch out your hand. . . They asked God to move. Not in a timid safe way. They asked for healing, miraculous signs and wonders. They wanted God to act. In the language of this week they wanted God to act in such a way that people would be "shaken." Another aspect of this that it was not just expecting God to do it. Rather it was the faith and expectation that God would do it through them . . . enable your servants. . .

Whoa! It's ok for God to do it but to use me to do it. Where did I sign-up for that? I signed-up for that when I said yes to the Gospel. By the Gospel meaning to follow Jesus. Jesus lived in perfect obedience to the Father. Caring out willfully the Father's will. I too must be obedient.

God, teach me to pray bold prayers and ask you to stretch out your hand.

Lesson6-Day 1 Shake Us Again Until We Proclaim a Bolder Witness

I find it contrary to my thinking of wear this boldness comes from. Peter and John's boldness flowed from humility, not self confidence. They simply humbled themselves to servently obey.

I am guilt of wanting the rah-rah pumped up feeling of a sporting event. This type of "boldness" is self manufactured and is temperal. It cannot be sustained. I must go throught the same or similar process to muster it up again. Where as, the boldness of God is rooted in the truths of God. They are constant - never changing. I can draw from this regardless of me being exhausted or scared. The truth is always there.

I was struck by the comment in the lesson: Learing to practice boldness is a spiritual growth issue in every believer's life. Did you catch that it is a practice. Not something I must conjure up. It is not magically produced. Rather I must intentionally and willfully practice.

Paul in 2 Timothy 1:6-12 speaks of a spirit of self-discipline before exhorting us to not be ashamed to testify about our Lord. Self-discipline to me relates to practice.

God, give me a boldness that is rooted and derived from your truths.

Lesson 6 Emboldened by His Courage

Dictionary definition of emboldened: to foster boldness or courage in; encourage. So, we are being brought up and nurtured in boldness. This is radically different from the way that I tend to think. My thinking is along these lines. I must muster up the courage and boldness. Draw from within myself the intestinal fortitude (guts) to overcome my fear. Get pumped up!

By being emboldened someone else is fostering my courage. That someone else is God himself through the Holy Spirit.

I pray all of you get excited like I do when I see promises come true in the Bible. In this passage in Act 4 we are seeing played out a promise that Jesus himself gave. In Acts 4 we read from the narative that Peter and John are put in jail (arrested). The next day they are brought before the high priest to give an answer. Acts 4:8 says: Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: . . . This is a fulfillment of a promise Jesus spoke of in Mark 13:11: Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

WOW!!!

Lesson5-Day 5 The Gospel is About The Great Hope of the Believers

Gospel and hope - when I think about those two and how they go together, I sadly must admit that it is mostly hope that I have done what I need to do in order to be "saved." What difference the Gospel is when we think of hoping in what is to come. That being the time when God restores everything as he promised long ago through his holy prophets (Acts 3:21).

As I work through these lessons and I ponder on what the Gospel is, I am coming to the conclusion that the Gospel can be rapped up in Jesus' words "Come follow me" (Mark 1:17). There are many side benefits or more correctly stated using the words of my friend Pat from his comment on previous post "fruit of the Gospel." By "following" thereby living the Gospel I will receive the fruit of the Gospel: forgiveness of sins, humility, grace, joy, gratitude, holiness, righteousness and hope. This is not an inclusive list of fruit. What fruit can you add to the list?

The Gospel is not old news or one-time news, rather it is "good news" everyday as I follow Jesus. Day by day allowing Christ to transform my attitudes, affections and behavior. In order to deliever and effectively share with others the Gospel we must be living in it.

Which leads to another item I have been wrestling with, what is the role of the church more specifically FCC? For definition (mine) church is a congregate of Christ followers. More from me later on that, but I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Lesson5-Day 4 The Gospel is About The Gift of Saving Faith

Faith is so complex. To me it is hard to describe and hard to quantify (not that it can be quantified, but my engineering mind wants to quantify faith).

How do you explain this faith that Peter spoke of in Act 3:16:

By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.

The lesson rightly shows that there are two truths about the man's faith. First, it was faith in the name of Jesus. He trusted that Jesus was who he claimed to be and that he had the authority to save the man from his condition. Second, Peter asserted that his faith came "through Jesus." Saving faith is a gift. Jesus has done all that is needed for our salvation. He even gives us the ability to believe in him.

I very much like the way Jerry Sheveland wrote about what it means to repent. The lesson says: To repent is to turn in faith from the guilt of our sins to God's provision - Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for our sins and rose again to give us his eternal life. Repentance is a change of mind, turning from disowning Jesus to owning him as Savior and Lord.

Repenting is not simply praying a prayer or walking down an aisle and asking God to forgive us of our sins. Rather repentence is an act of Lordship. Saying to Jesus; "I will follow you." The Gospel is to follow Christ not just "forgive me of my sins." "Forgive me of my sins" is a subset or benefit of following Christ. It is part of the Gospel but not the totality of the Gospel.

This week is causing me to think deeply as to what the Gospel is and how we (I) need to communicate the Gospel. What are your thoughts on what the Gospel is?

Lesson5-Day 3 The Gospel is About The Glory of Christ and His Saving Work

Christ the author of life died for my sins and was burried, but overcame death and was raised to life so that I may be reconciled to God. Through Christ's life I live.

When Peter spoke about faith in Acts 3:12-21, he called his listners to believe Jesus is all he claimed to be. A servant of God, Holy and Righteous One and the author of life. This affirmed him as the divine Son of God and exalts the glory of Christ.

If Jesus were anything short of who he claimed to be (which he is not) then through him there would be no life. Jesus had to be worthy of being glorified by God.

Lesson5-Day 2 The Gospel is About The Guilt of People in Need of a Savior

We don't see our guilt. We are a society that preceives ourselves as being "good" people. As long as you don't murder, steal or rape we tend to consider a person "good." Everyone one makes a few mistakes. Nobody is perfect.

Understanding guilt is key to us seeing our need for a savior. I was struck by how direct Peter was in pointing out to the listeners there acts of treason against God.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.
(Acts 3:13-15 bold added)

Then he squelches what I have used as an excuse and I am sure what many of them were thinking also: "I didn't know any better."

"Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders." (Acts 3:17 bold added)

When we deliver the message we need to point out their guilt. Repentence is necessary to become a Christ follower.

Lesson5-Day 1 The Gospel is About The Gracious Plan of God

From the beginning God had a plan and that plan has not changed or been scraped for a secondary plan. Historically the Bible points to and tells (prophecies) of Jesus. God from the very beginning determined that he would send his son Christ to save his people.

The Jews of this time that is the early church were very aware of the prophecies of Christ from the Old Testament. Peter explains to the Jews that the God of Abraham glorified Jesus (see Acts 1:13).

This lesson has an anology of putting a jigsaw puzzle together. What we need to take from the analogy is that everything that happens has its place within the big picture. The big picture being God's gracious plan in Jesus Christ. And not only is it true of history, but is also true of the present time and the future. God's plan is still unfolding as evident by this verse:

He (Jesus Christ) must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. (Acts 3:21)

Lesson 5 Delivering His Message

As Jerry Sheveland related the story of the man who asked the question: "What message has God given you to deliver?" I questioned myself: "Since God has choosen me, what message does he want me to deliver?

Jerry had "the answer" - there is one central message: Jesus Christ, God's Son and our Saviour, crucified, risen and coming again! As the lesson states each of us must understand and articulate God's message.

Regardless of the circumstance, problem, issues or anything, God's eternal plan is unfolding and the key is to refocus on God's purposes and the power of believing in the name of Jesus.

Lesson4-Day 5 A Winsome Dynamic

I looked up the word winsome at dictionary.com and found this word history that gives some insight.

Word History: Winsome people easily win friends, so it is not surprising that winsome and win have a common root. Their shared element win- comes from the Indo-European root *wen-, meaning “to desire, strive for,” and has a number of descendants in the Germanic languages. One was the prehistoric Germanic noun *wini- meaning “friend” (literally, “one who desires or loves” someone else), which became wine in Old English and is preserved in such names as Winfred, “friend of peace,” and Edwin, “friend of (family) possessions.” A different form of the root with a different suffix became Old English wynn, “pleasure, joy,” preserved in winsome. Finally, the verb win itself is from this root; its meaning is an extension of the sense “to strive for,” namely, “to strive for with success, be victorious.” Outside of the Germanic branch of Indo-European, we see the root, for example, in Latin venus or Venus “love, the goddess of love,” and the verb venerre, “to worship,” the source of English venerate.

Spirit filled churches do not exist for themselves. They exist to advance Christ's reign. The four devotions of the Acts church created a winsome dynamic. We are told they "enjoyed the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47)

The Acts church's devotion, showing of genuine love to one another and the joy that they had were reasons the church was attactive and contagious to unbelievers.

If a church is going to be "winsome" here are some characteristics they must show:

• A sense of awe.
• Powerful answer to prayer.
• A united and loving fellowship.
• Unselfish generosity.
• Intimate worship.
• Glad and sincere hearts.
• A spirit of God-directed praise.
• A favorable reputation in the community.

How do you think we at Faith Community measures up to these characteristics?

Lesson4-Day 4 Devoted to Spirit-empowered Power

Praying in God's will versus self-centered desires. Doesn't seem easy to do. But, by doing some of the other things we need to be devoted to praying in God's will flows out of those devotions. We must be devoted to Jesus, the Word and love one another as Jesus loved us.

It makes sense doesn't it? The Holy Spirit has great freedom to guide our prayers when we abide in Christ, his words abide in us and we pray our of love for each other.

This is also why praying together in our small groups and "First Tuesday" makes a lot of sense. When we pray with other Christ followers, we help each other pray in the Spirit. Our prayers reflect Christ's love and truth. We are brought into loving unity by the Holy Spirit as we seek God's will and work together.

Spirit-empowerd prayer is not only Spirit-led, it is "believing prayer." The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to come before the Lord with a spirit of expectation. We come expecting the Lord to accomplish his purposes because we have come in faith to him.

The Holy Spirit prompts and guides us to pray in God's will, and he gives us the faith to pray believing prayers.

Lesson4-Day 3 Devoted to Transforming Worship

They devoted themselves to. . . the breaking of bread. . . (Acts 2;42)

The Jerusalem believers gathered together in their homes and shared meals together. The meal would culminate in a sacred celebration, where Christ was remembered by breaking bread and sharing a common cup. This "breaking of bread" celebration stood at the heart of New Testament worship.

True worship is meant to be a tranforming encounter with Christ. It is both awesome and intimate. We glorify and enjoy an awesome God through an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus.

As we look at the Jerusalem believers we see that they worshiped in large assembly in the temple courts and also in smaller gatherings at homes. In the homes were the more intimate times of breaking of bread and ministering to one another.

Two highlights stand out of worship life in the Jerusalem church. First, their consistency of participation. The same should be true of us today. Are we making worship an occasional practice or a devoted one? Do you make both large-group worship and small-group fellowship a priority on a weekly basis? I challenge you to make worship central to the Holy Spirit's work in your life.

Secondly, we can not help but be impressed by the spirit of their worship. Luke in Acts 2:42-47 says they where filled with awe, had glad and sincere hearts and they where praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.

We worship the Lord in spirit and truth when the Holy Spirit opens our spirits to repsond to God. We sense his glorious might and respond with awe. We experience his love and mercy and respond with glad and sincere hearts. We gather in worship with sinners saved by grace and together we praise God. The Holy Spirit transforms us from the inside out by revealing God's glory and enabling us to respond by giving him the worship he is due. As we worship the Lord, we reflect his beauty and bring his winsome spirit into our relatioinships.

Lesson4-Day 2 Devoted to Caring Fellowship

They devoted themselves to . . . fellowship (Acts 2:42)

All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. . . (Acts 2:44-46)

A Spirit-filled church is marked by members who devote themselves to "the fellowship." Being dvoted to caring fellowship begins with a conviction that Christ calls us to love his church as he loves his church. He laid down his life for us, and now we are called to lay down our lives for each other. Only the Holy Spirit can give us Christ's love for his people.

Romans 12:9-18 lists specific instruction about devoting ourselves to the fellowship.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Here they are some of those instructions:

1. devoted to one another in brotherly love.
2. honor one another above myself.
3. share with thoes who are in need.
4. practice hospitality.
5. bless those who persecute me.
6. rejoice with those that rejoice - mourn with they that mourn.
7. live in harmony - live at peace with everyone.
8. don't be proud - willing to associate with all people.
9. don't repay evil with evil.
10. be carefull to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.

I like the definition of fellowship that comes from the book "Why Small Groups?" edited by C. J. Mahney. Fellowship does not occur unless either you or the people you are meeting with come away with a fresh and/or greater understanding of who God is.

Lesson4-Day 1 Devoted to Apostolic Teaching

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. . . (Acts 2:42)

Every day people gathered in the temple courts as the apostles taught. These men and women had an eagerness to know Christ and to walk in his ways. The disposition, character and fundamental values of these early Christ followers was to devote themselves to the apostles teaching.

We today have access to the apostle teaching through the writtings in the New Testament. The apostles teaching was characterized by:

• Christ centered teaching. It goes beyond biblical principles and life application to the centrality of Christ living and reigning in our lives. Paul said it like this: We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. (Colosians 1:28)
• Life-related teaching. Most of the New Testament was written in response to people's problems, questions, failures and struggles. Like Jesus, the apostles began with people's felt needs and then directed them to their greatest need. To a life that glorifies and enjoys God forever.
• Doctrinal Teaching. The apostles believed theology mattered. In the epistles, you find teaching that based life application on clearly articulated doctrinal truths. They taught truth, corrected error and contended with false teachers. Paul instructed Timothy this way: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. (2 Timothy 4:2-3
• Biblical Teaching. Peter underscored the authority of Scripture with this admonition: Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)

Being devoted to apostolic teaching goes beyond what happens in the pulpit. Mostly it is about you and me and our life responses to God's word. It is about our conviction, passion and devotion to knowing and following Christ.

Lesson 4 Becoming His Church

It is so neat to read in Scripture what happened to the people after Pentecost. These men and women who were faithful to the command to wait. The presence and power of the Spirit produced a community of believers marked by spiritual and relational vitality. The contagious quality of their faith and love turned Jerusalem upside down and ultimately changed the world.

I have had tastes and seen this faith that is so real that love and joy are contagious.

I have to agree that the word I most associate with being Spirit-filled is passion. And this passage in Acts 2;42-47 shows that devotion characterised them most.

Application here is to take the FCC vission statement - We are pursuing Christ's reign in all of life to advance God's kingdom in all the earth for His glory! - and make it my devotion. I have to shape my devotion by integrate my beliefs, values and be intentional in my behavior.

Lesson3-Day 5 Living in the Spirit

A day-by-day, moment-by-moment process of putting off a self-on-the-throne mind-set and putting on a heart of trust in the reigning presence of Christ.

Our desire to be in control. What a struggle I have with this. I definately want to be in control.

Thankfully God is merciful and extends His grace to me daily.

Lord, I desire to be a greater witness of you. Give me the faith to allow your Spirit to control my life. May I be more obiedent to the Spirit.

Lesson3-Day 4 Proclaiming Jesus - both Lord and Christ

Peter in Acts 2:22-36 preaches the gospel message. Key points out of this message are:

Jesus was a man accredited by God.
This was God's set purpose. It was his plan from the beginning.
Jesus would be put to death and raised from the the dead.
He would not be abandoned to the grave.
Jesus is both Lord and Christ.

After hearing Peters message the people asked "what shall we do?" Acts 2:37

Peter's answer was to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. He encouraged and pleaded with them to save themselves from this corrupt generation. 3000 responded.

The miracle of people coming to faith in Christ occurs due to the work of God's Spirit. It also takes witnesses who trust God's Spirit to do this work in the lives of people.

Jerry Sheveland's word that we as individual believers let feelings of inadequacy and fears of rejection silence our witness. As churches we grow inward and self-centered because we really don't believe the Holy Spirit can us us to implact the surronding community. I would add and question whether we even believe the Holy Spirit will.

Let's be faithful so that we do not grieve the Holy Spirit.

Lesson3-Day 3 The Sign of Languages: Empowering Us for Witness

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:4

Why the sign of languages? The Jews gathered in Jerusalem didn't need the gospel preached in other languages to understand the message. There is a twofold message in this miracle of languages.

First, Peter in Acts 2:14-18 pointed to the fact that every believer was praising and prophesying with a special anointing. The univeral anointing of the Spirit indicated the witness of the church was for all believers, not some.

Second, Peter rightly concluded it meant "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Acts 2:21). The context shows he meant languages, cultures, ethnicity, geography, gender and age are not barriers to the gospel. The Jewish believers were to multiply disciples and churches among all nations and tribes.

Pentecost occured on the 50th day after the Passover celebration. The feast was designated the "day of first fruits". It marked the day the people were to bring their offering of first fruits to the Lord. There were 3000 "first fruits."

It is evident to me that not only is it urgent that I be a Spirit-filled follower of Christ. It is also something I must be intentional in action to that end. Likewise the church.

Lesson3-Day 2 The Sign of Fire: Indwelling Us with His Presence

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to
rest on each of them. Acts 2:3

The glorious presence of God abides in each believer. No longer does He dwell in a temple or tabernacle tent. We now have His presence within us and can bring it to the nations. We all have song the childrens song "This little light of mine. I am going to . . ."

Everthing about a Spirit-filled church declares before a watching community: "Jesus is alive and reigning in our midst."

Are we representing Christ well?

Lesson3-Day 1 The Sign of The Wind: Filling Us with His Life.

Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and
filled the whole house where they were sitting. Acts 2:2

Doesn't this take on a powerful meaning or have greater significance to what is happening when we understand that the wind is the same word used for both breathe and soul. Life was actaully breathed into them.

This wind (Holy Spirit) is available and freely given to all who repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.

This makes me crave and prayerfully seek God to fill FCC so that we may be alive in Him.

Father, I desire your breathe of life. Let the Holy Spirit loose in my life and allow me to be cognoscente of Him. And then to act in faithful obedience to His promptings. I give myself to you Lord. Make me alive for you.

Lesson 3 Empowered by His Spirit

Jerry Sheveland starts out with how today church celebrates the "Big Six" days of importance but suprisingly neglect our own birthday that is the day the New Testament church was born. My first experience to Pentecost was in my college days on a mission trip to Dominica. We were there on Pentecost Sunday. They celebrated!

Christ emposers his people to expand the reign through the personal presence of his Spirit. Here are six key truths about the Holy Spirit.

1. The Holy Spirit is sent to be our counselor. John 14:16
2. The Holy Spirit is the personal presence of Christ living with us and in us. John 14:17-18
3. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth who teaches and guides us in the truth of Christ. John 15:26
4. The Holy Spirit is also sent to convict the world of its need of Christ. John 16:8
5. The Holy Spirit comes to help Christ's followers be his witnesses. John 15:26-27
6. The Holy Spirit has come to bring glory to Christ. John 16:14

All of us as followers of Christ are given his Spirit to empower our shared mission as his church.