Part of Luke’s purpose in writing Acts was to record the growth of the church as, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus continued the ministry He began. The growth of the church - any church - is for the glory of God. It isn’t pastors, programs, or practices that cause a church to grow – it is the Holy Spirit that causes growth as He draws people to Jesus. But, we must cooperate with the Holy Spirit for growth to happen. With that in mind, this passage provides us with three observations about the building of the church.

How do people know that you love Jesus? Perhaps you’ve heard of or seen a bumper sticker, “Honk if you love Jesus!” Anybody can honk, right? So, what are the indicators of your love for the Lord? How do you know if He is at work in your life? Does everyone that makes a noise and a ruckus, love Jesus?

Some people are very skilled at “playing church,” putting on a certain face and speaking through a mask of hypocrisy. Corruption and corrupt ideas can easily worm their way into the church. Passages like this teach us that God is a holy God whose purpose in grace is to eliminate our corruption. The church is not to be a breeding ground for corruption, deceit, and hypocrisy.

Charges levied against Christianity are that it is exclusive, restrictive, and irrelevant. If it weren’t for the resurrection, those charges might be true (1 Co 15:17). But the resurrection changes everything. It has a profound effect on how we should view Jesus Christ and huge implications for the world.

We have a picture in our mind of what the perfect life is like. But that isn’t always the case. When the imperfect family observes the “perfect” family, they wonder, What must it be like? In our text today, Luke shares a story to illustrate that only by walking with Jesus can things truly be perfect.

Over the last decade, there’s been a lot of interest in the subject of how early Christians worshiped and did “church” as new (and older) generations of Christians feel the pull to get back to their “roots” as followers of Jesus. The reality is that there is no prescription of an entire Christian worship service in Scripture, although both Paul (1 Corinthians 14) and Luke (Acts 2:42-47) provide descriptions of Christian worship. Today we’re looking at Luke’s description of the lifestyle and worship practices of the early church.

God speaks in many different ways – through His word, through nature, circumstances, the Holy Spirit, and through the ultimate expression of His word, Jesus. In the book of Acts, God speaks to share the good news with the whole world and encourage believers. The message today is about how God speaks, and carries out what He promises to do.

Before Jesus ascended back to His Father in heaven, He gave His disciples these instructions: “Do not leave the city, but wait for the gift that my Father has promised.” What do you do during times when God says, “Wait.” In this section of Acts, we see the church waiting and preparing for God to act in a powerful way. There are some important lessons that we as a church can learn about prayer, unity, and courage.

As a church we are called to be “driven” by two things. 1) Glorifying Jesus through worship and obedience. 2) Ministering to others and proclaiming the gospel. Throughout the book of Acts, there are people driven by just these two things who are immensely satisfied and joyful. What drives you? What is the mission of your life? The direction of New Testament Christians is simultaneously vertical (as the church glorifies and obeys Jesus) and horizontal (as we minister to others under the guidance of the Holy Spirit).

Jesus teaches his disciples about humility and conflict resolutions within the family of God. Jesus also teaches about how we should display the Godly character of forgiveness in our lives towards those that have hurt us. Being unforgiving hardens our hearts, but through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross we can learn how to forgive others.