Sermon in a nutshell: Acts 4:32-37 “They shared everything they had!”
I have shared the principles found in the book of Acts in the Bible on how to make a Christian community.
1. It starts with our self-identity. We know that we are all sinners. We have no reason to boast about all that we have done because everything comes from God.
2. We then move from that self-identity to the acknowledgment of God’s greatness. God is willing to die on the cross to save sinners like us. God is able to give new and eternal life to those who seem helpless and are hopeless.
3. Once we accept these two principles, we are free from obsessions and possessions, as the Bible tells us.
The Bible says that all the believers were one in heart and mind. How could they have one heart and one mind? Because they shared the above-mentioned principles, they could be one in spirit. No one assumed being better than anyone else. No one claimed special privilege or status. Everyone shared what they had because their possessions did not belong to them, but to God.
This is not the Communist Principle. The Communist party encourages the poor to take from the rich by force through revolution. Christians encourage the rich to share what they have voluntarily. That is the big difference. The Communist party manipulates people’s emotions but Christians inspire people’s spirit. Just think about all of the ministries that our church is doing. No ministry is forced. Everything is done by volunteers. We had a CROP walk last Sunday and collected about two thousand dollars from our church. In our area, more than 20,000 dollars were collected. Nobody used force. We participated in the walk with joy and laughter. This is the power of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus that the Bible is talking about. When this happens, there should be no needy people among us. Where did the early Christians find the money and resources to help the needy? The Bible says that from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had a need. For example, Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and put the money at the apostles’ feet. This happens even today.
From time to time, we have bequests from the church members. Sometimes people make a decision to give their possessions to non-profit organizations or to foundations to help needy people. Sometimes people donate their resources to our church to make our ministry happen. Our church trustees makes a wish list and some people respond to that list and donate money to realize our wishes. We want to grow our music ministry and some people may donate money for that! When we are all filled with the Holy Spirit and accept the fact that all we have is from God, it happens. I dream that our church becomes a place where people share what they have to build up God’s Kingdom together. We will raise the leaders of our country and build up the workers of God’s Kingdome together. Young people will come to our church to learn and grow to be leaders with biblical values, viewpoints, and visions. Elderly people will come to our church and donate their resources to make all that a reality in our church. Would you be a part of this wonderful movement that God started? May God bless your heart! May God bless your life!
1. What is the one ministry that you want to see grow every year?
2. What is the vision that you have for our church?