Text: Acts 4:32-5:11
I) Living Like Christ: Gospel Centered Community (Acts 4:32-37)
- Description: One Heart and One Soul
- Depiction: putting others needs before your own
- Example: Barnabas
Ephesians 5:1-2 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Philippians 2:1-8 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
II) The Danger of Sin in Gospel Community (Acts 5:1-11)
III) The Fruit of Gospel Community
- The powerful preaching of Christ
- Great grace upon the people of God
- Swift discipline of sin
- A correct Fear of the Lord
IV) Conclusion: What brings everything together? Jesus!
John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Discussion Questions: How do we live Christ-Like in all of the varying communities that God has placed us in? How do we modify the way we are currently living and realign with the example of Christ-Like living we see in Acts? What would this look like in our lives in 2018? How can we be more mindful of sharing Jesus within the community links that we have with non-believers?