Unity by Dayle Kinney
Acts 3-4
We follow on from last week where we heard about the lame man who was healed at the temple gate. (Acts 3:1-4)
There was great rejoicing about this man who had been lame all his life (he was 40years old).
Peter and John taken into custody and ordered and warned by the Jewish leaders to never again mention the name of Jesus again.
Acts 4:33 – Peter and John went back to their companions and together they prayed and cried out to God and the place shook with the power of the Holy Spirit and they all spoke with renewed boldness.
• Multitudes believed in Jesus and together there was great unity (v32).
• Apostles ministered with great power (v33) and God’s grace was upon them all.
• There was none among them who lacked for anything (34).
This is a picture of the church. It portrays for us what is possible when people come together. It is the power of unity. It is God’s heart for us, for His church now!
The power of God was present – the word power means in Greek “Dunamis” power. This means energy, great force, might, great ability, strength. It is divine power overcoming all resistance. “Dunamis power in Jesus resulted in dramatic transformations.
Points to look at:
Acts 4:23-24
• Peter and John – instead of fleeing for their lives or separating from the other believers on their release from custody, they returned to their companions – the Church (Acts 4:23).
• Raised their voice and prayed with one accord. Highlights the power of focused corporate prayer! (Acts 4:29-30)
• Power of God was present (Acts 4:31).
• Multitudes who believed were of one heart and one soul (v32). Picture of unity!
• The early church grew rapidly and the growing multitude of believers were of:
• One heart – original Greek meaning is “in tune” or “in sync” with one another. All going the same way spiritually together
• One soul – (sometimes translated “one mind”) The deep meaning in original Greek literally means to breath together or to “breathe spiritually together”.
The results of this quality of spiritual unity were they had a common purpose – focused on Jesus and sharing him with others. With great power the apostles were able to minister and grace was upon them all.
God responded to the corporate prayers of God’s people crying out to him together.
This account describes to us what is possible when :
How do we have unity like the early church did?
Ultimately the people had one heart/mind to follow Jesus! Focus was on Jesus not themselves!
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind and love your neighbours as yourself” (Luke 10:27)
Christianity not passive faith, but an active faith, belief, values. You have to put legs on what you believe. What we act upon, not just what we say is what we really believe.
Personalities
We have all been given different personalities and we all have varying ways in which we communicate and live our lives.
Seeking to understand ourselves and others better is an important key in being able to have unity both in your personal relationships and well as our church relationships.
The different personality types ie: sanguine, melancholy, choleric, phlegmatic affect how we process the world around us and how we feel about circumstances, relationships and our communications styles. Seeking to understand our own personality and its strengths and weaknesses not only helps us communicate better but gives us an appreciation of the differences in other people.
The book the Five Love Languages is a helpful tool to understand how and when we feel loved and also how we can express our love for others more effectively. Do you feel more loved when someone; spends quality time with you, gives gifts, has a word of encouragement, serves you in some way, or gives you a hug.
Are you a structured or unstructured person? Are you a people or task focused person? Knowing how we manage everyday life and relationships within these frameworks helps us to better understand ourselves and also how and why we react and act/feel the way we do.
We are all different, but if we try to understand our differences and be thoughtful about how we communicate and do things it enables us to get along together easier.
It won’t solve all the relationship challenges we can face as individual, families or as a church, but if our purpose is to love God with all are and love our neighbour then we are walking in the right direction stronger together.
Acts is our picture of the church – a growing dynamic powerful, self-sufficient, caring for those within it, a witness to those who were yet to be saved. They prayed together, shared together, stood together, and God’s power, grace and favour were poured out. That’s God’s heart for us here today!
Questions:
