Sharing

"No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." Acts 4:13b

For such a short and succinct verse there are a few little sensitive subjects herein; personal ownership, private property, sharing and the concept of 'everything'. As those who live in the most prosperous nation ever we, are motivated often by capitalistic and entrepreneurial themes to an extreme. The idea of personal responsibility loses its depth of meaning if it ends up being "money-grubbing" or "selfish". Ownership can be a good thing as long as we don't start rubbing our hands together and saying, "Mine! Mine! It's all mine!!" There is a small space on the attitude continuum between frugal and unwilling to share.

Isaiah 41:10

"Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand." Isaiah 41:10

Do you ever open your bible at the end of the day (especially if it has been a rough day) and then God just really speaks to your heart ?? Well that happened to me last night…….i was tired, not feeling well and when I opened my bible to Isaiah this is what God spoke to me……….

Never Stop

"Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ." Acts 5:42

This is one of those verses that needs phrase by phrase brief illustration to make a few points. Remember, this is taking place in the midst of persecution and immediately following Peter and John, and the other apostles being flogged. We should take this verse and what the apostles did to heart and imitate them.

How Easy to Overlook

"In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food." Acts 6:1

Don’t ever presume that the early church had fewer problems than we do, today. Where there are people, there are problems. The complaint department was just as busy 2,000 years ago. Whether there was rampant inequality or favoritism in this case, the trouble was created by numerical growth, plus the combining of groups of people who hadn’t been together before. These dynamics not only create logistical issues, they also put pressure on closed systems. Fairness and equal access to ministry programs were also problematic in the Old Testament times.

Bloodguilt

"We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, he said, "and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood." Acts 5:28

The 'name' being referred to in this verse is the name of Jesus. The reference to 'this man' at the end of the verse also refers to Jesus. Early believers had been commanded by the Jews, (you see at this time Christianity is still seen as a sect of Judaism) not to speak of the name of Jesus. The apostles were determined to spread the gospel of the Messiah all throughout Jerusalem and to teach the good news of salvation. The Jewish leaders saw this as an effort to pin on them the death of Jesus. Who is responsible for the death of Jesus anyway? Nobody wants to be saddled with the guilt of His blood, especially His blood.

If It Is From God

"Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." Acts 5:38-39

These are the words of Gamaliel, a Pharisee who is trying to keep peace and buy time, because he knows, how popular the disciples were and feared the people would riot, if the disciples were killed. If you read ahead, they heed Gamaliel’s advice to a degree and only flogged the Apostles. (I know this is less severe than killing them, but still, a steep price to pay for spreading the Gospel).

The Full Message

"At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people." Acts 5:21

The first interesting thing about this verse that should be told is that it was an angel who told them to teach in the temple courts. The angel had opened the doors of the jail they had been thrown into after they were arrested for healing people in Jesus name, and spreading the good news.

Believe in the Lord

"Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their numbers." Acts 5:14

As is the case with the word ‘therefore’, the word nevertheless deserves explanation at the beginning of the sentence. So not only would I answer what the therefore is therefore, nevertheless, I will also explain. Prior to the verse there are many healings, miracles of every description and powerful happenings and though the early church was highly regarded they were also a bit feared, in a respected way. Even though folks were a little leery and cautious of the spiritual power manifested in the early church there were many more coming to Christ and believing on Jesus for salvation.

Testing the Spirit of the Lord

"Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord?" Acts 5:9

There are not many more shocking accounts in the early church than the story of Ananias and Sapphira. It was fairly common practice for people to donate the proceeds of property sales to the apostles for expanding the ministry, and specifically to help with the needs of the poor. This was done with transparency, integrity, generosity, and without fanfare. Bomabas, (Paul’s later missionary partner) and the others had done this. Stan Spaulding is a recent example of the kind of modern day donor, who left the value of his estate to Grace Harbor last year, for the purpose of expanding the ministry of the Church and School. The amount of value is not important, but the heart and attitude of the giver and their purpose is what is the blessing.

Constantly in Prayer

"They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers." Acts 1:14

At Grace Harbor Church, we from time to time hold a prayer vigil. The 3 primary goals of these events are to: 1. Lift up Grace Harbor Ministries before the Lord for His guidance and blessing. 2. Bind our hearts together in unity to glorify Him. 3. Provide an opportunity for everyone to participate however they can.