It's interesting the amount of benchmarking and model swapping and idea stealing that goes on in the church world. We all do it. We read the latest and greatest book, grab the next big idea, slap the newest sticky word on everything we do (Missional) and then wait for the next latest and greatest book to come out so we can start all over again. We watch other big churches to see what they're doing. And we piece meal our strategies together, a little from here, a little from there, and then wonder why we always end up in the same place - waiting for the next latest and greatest book to come out, again.
What did the Acts 2 Church know? They certainly couldn't have gleaned ideas from other churches. They were the first. What did the Acts 2 Church have? They certainly did not have extensive manuals and leadership models and the latest and greatest small group curriculum.
What then, did the Acts 2 Church have?
1. The Acts 2 Church had "Jesus' Teaching".
And more than that. Most of them walked with Jesus, were right there with Him. They not onlyheard His words first hand; they felt His touch, they breathed in the scent of His clothes, theyshared of the same bread and drank of the same wine. They were intimately connected with the Son.
2. The Acts 2 Church "Witnessed the Resurrection".
Not only were they with Him in life as He lived and taught; they were with Him in death as He suffered and saved. Then, after witnessing the death of their Savior, they were with Him in His resurrection and viewed first-hand the fulfillment of His promises afterward witnessing His ascension from earth to heaven as He promised the Holy Spirit.
3. The Acts 2 Church had the "Power of the Holy Spirit".
Perhaps what we most lack today is a true understanding of the work and power of the Holy Spirit. We easily pray, "Lord send Your Spirit; Let it have it's way." When in fact, the Holy Spirit isnot an IT; the Holy Spirit is a HE. And we often misunderstand the Holy Spirit's leading. Perhaps more in certain circles than others, the Holy Spirit is viewed as a pocket genie. Rub Him when you need Him and He'll open up that front row parking space, get you a sweet deal on a new car, and make you a millionaire.
I suppose Jesus got everything He asked for, it just happened to be a front row parking spot on a rough wooden cross with huge, heavy nails forced through His hands and feet to make sure He didn't lose his spot. And He worked miraculous miracles through the same power that lies in us today, but they were always for other people, not Himself. And thinking back to His baptism, right after the Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove and His Father God announced that in His Son He was "well pleased", the Holy Spirit didn't lead Jesus into a position of honor but into thedesert to be tempted by the devil for forty days. Some initiation that was! Thanks Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit isn't an IT, He's a person. And He is powerful. He is the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead and He has been given to us until Jesus returns. He is our counselor, our comforter, our best friend, our guide to all truth, our power to overcome all sickness and disease and every temptation and sinful desire.
We don't lead the Holy Spirit and make Him do what we want Him to do. He leads us. And often into difficult and ugly places. Without Him, there is no formula, no leadership model, no small group curriculum and absolutely no amount of skill or leadership ability that can build an Acts 2 Church. There is only one way to be the church that God intended for us to be. That is,
We must be intimately connected to the Son,
unshakably emboldened by His Resurrection
and abundantly led and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
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