I just wanted to express to all of you my gratefulness for praying for me with these headaches and migraines. The doctor that I saw recently is a neurologist and his specialty is headache medicine. He gave me a new prescription for “preventative” maintenance that seems to be working well. He also gave me a new prescription for when the migraines come on unexpectedly.
Last night I could tell that I was headed (no pun intended) for a migraine. I took the new medication and today I am headache free!
So why would I tell you all of this? Isn’t this “personal” information? Well, yes it is personal. However, it is good for us together to rejoice when one rejoices and to weep when one weeps and to grieve when one grieves and to love as we are loved and so on and so on. It is the gift that God has so graciously given to us – this opportunity to be part of His Body – the Church. Notice what Dr. Luke writes in Acts 2:40-47:
40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. (emphasis added)
What a great passage of Scripture the Lord has given to us to consider as His Church. Notice the words above. Dr. Luke uses words like: they…apostles’ doctrine…fellowship…breaking of bread…prayers…every soul…all…together…all…their…all…they…all…people. Notice that they are all in the plural. The apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayers are a continual thing that the early Church did together. They had all things in common with each other (this means all of their goods were common among each other…they were actually sharing stuff with each other!). Notice also that they found favor with ALL people.
Now you’ve heard me say it before, A-L-L means A-L-L – it means everyone. In this context it meant they had favor with all believers. But there is also an idea that they had favor with all people around them – saved or unsaved alike. They were reaching out together to those who needed to hear the Gospel message of the Lord Jesus Christ (as if there is any other gospel). Verse 41 says there were 3,000 added to the church on this one day. Verse 47 says that the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. So the favor was with ALL men – inside and outside the Body of believers.
So, Beloved, what shall we say to this? I say we ought to be together sharing the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ and, if need be, sharing our stuff with those who in the Church who have need. It is high time that we get busy doing this. “But how can we do this, Pastor?” you might be asking. Well, it’s quite simple really. If you have stuff to share, then share it! We are very fortunate to be a debt-free Church. I know of churches in our blessed State of Texas who are up to their ears in debt. Our Fellowship should never be indebted to anyone or any bank. Why? Because it hinders us from being able to use our resources and materials for sharing this precious Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here’s another thing that we should all be doing. Go to www.freegiftforlife.com and you can write out your testimony and I have 2,000 cards that you can simply hand out with your name on it to send people to this website for free to share your testimony. You might even want to know what verses you can share with someone by using the Romans Road (Romans 3:10, 23; 5:8; 6:23; 10:9-10, 13). You might want to wear a bracelet from the “I Am Second” campaign. This allows you to be able to point people to another website where they can hear testimonies of salvation from the famous to the not-so famous. I had an opportunity to share Jesus Christ with Donnie at Cracker Barrel in Greenville, Texas on Sunday evening. I was wearing one of these bracelets from the “I Am Second” campaign. We have tracts in the office that perhaps you might be able to hand to someone who is struggling with some issue or just needs to be uplifted.
What I’m trying to say is that we – together – can lead others to the Lord Jesus Christ by being who we are. We are Christians. We love Jesus Christ. We love the prophets and the apostles’ teachings. We love to tell the Story. We love to be together. We love to break bread together. We love to fellowship together. We love to pray together.
