Simplify: The Secrets of the Church of Acts

So what did the church in Acts have that we are missing today? As I read the book, I see a powerful, dynamic, growing church that was literally turning their Roman world upside down! Then I look back at the American church and well you know.

So what was it that made this group different? The first thing I think they had was an experience.

Point #1: Experience

Acts 1New King James Version (NKJV)
Prologue

1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

Think about what this group of small believers had just went through, and keep mind they are human. First, they were convinced they had found the Messiah, something they had been waiting for all their lives and they had ridden the highs of having Jesus on Earth. But then it all came crashing down, at least that is what is looked like on the outside. I mean Jesus was arrested in crucified and even though he told them it was coming, as in the account with Peter we see that circumstances had trumped faith and they were in the lowest of lows and I am sure they questioned everything they had believed. But then, don’t you just love when God does a “but then”, then He rose from the grave and as we see in first part of Acts above, they had just spent forty days with a risen savior! That is enough to create momentum and energy. And that to me is the first thing a lot of Christians and churches are missing. An “Experience” that creates that kind of momentum and energy!

I pray that each of you on my devotional list has had an experience with God. If not I challenge you to seek Him until you do. For many of us, it quite frankly has been to long since you have had a real experience with God. Then it is time you seek Him and change that! As the American Church in general I am going to spend the next few days in Acts looking at what they had that we are missing, but it would be a great start for God to show up in Churches all across America and that truly have a corporate experience with Him. Even though when he shows up, He has this attitude, He thinks He is God and He will want to do it His way. As humans, we don’t like to give up control and it is that control that we often miss our experience with God. Look for ways as you do through your day today to Experience God in both big and small ways. It could be as simple as stopping to watch children play.

My prayer as I close this morning is that we Experience God today and remember days past when we have Experienced God!