June 17, 2025 • 28 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A
little later in the program, we'll tell you how you
can get a copy of doctor Graham's book Angels. But first,
here's the message the empowered Church.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Take God's word and turn with me to the second
chapter of the Book of Acts, and we're going to
look at the closing passage of the great second Chapter
of Acts, the day when three thousand people were born again,
birthed into the Kingdom of God, and became a.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Part of God's Church.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
So beginning of verse forty two of Acts, chapter two,
they devoted themselves to the apostles, teaching and fellowship, to
the breaking of bread and the prayers, and all came
upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being
done through the apostles. And all who believed were together
(00:59):
and had all things in common. And they were selling
their possessions and belongings, and distributing the proceeds.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
To all as any had need.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking
bread in their homes, they received their food with glad
and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
All the people.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And the Lord added to their number. Day by day
those who were being saved, they continued in their walk
with God because salvation was just the beginning. It was
an amazing beginning when so many came to Christ on
(01:41):
the very first day of the Church. But now the
church continues to know and to grow what they in,
what they believe, and what they are to do for
the Lord Jesus Christ. Alan Redpass said, the salvation of
the soul is the miracle of the moment, but the
making of a man of.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
God is the task of a lifetime. So we see
the making.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Of men and women of God as together we grow
in Christ. So what does the empowered Church look like?
As we go back centuries and centuries ago, to the outset,
to the originality of the church.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
What are we to be and to do today?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I want you to notice several important factors regarding.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
The empowered Church.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Number one, the empowered church is an established congregation. An
established congregation, for it says in verse forty two, and.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
They who is the they?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Well, obviously, the they is comprised of those who have
been born again, those who have been saved that day
and then grew in their faith. In other words, this
congregation was established, but with a membership and a part
partnership in the gospel, they were saved, and that is
(03:04):
how you become a member of the church.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Now, when Simon.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Peter preached the message of salvation that day, there was
deep conviction of sin, for they were stabbed to the
heart and said, brothers, what will we do? Verse thirty
seven says they were cut to the heart. They were
under deep conviction of sin, and this is vital. And
as a result Peter said, repent and be baptized, every
(03:29):
one of you for the remission of sin, and.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
So not only was their conviction of sin, when they
came face to face with their own sinfulness before God
and what Christ has done upon the cross for us
and in the power of the resurrection, then they could
receive Christ and have a brand new life. So there
was conviction of sin, and then there was conversion of life.
(03:57):
Verse forty of chapter two, Peter said, save yourselves from
this perverse, this crooked generation, this generation that is going nowhere.
In other words, come out of the world and the
direction of the world is taking you and follow Christ.
Get off the broad road that leads to destruction and
(04:19):
get on the narrow road, the way and follow Christ.
Has there been a time, a place, a definitive moment
in your life when you have received Christ, having repented
of your sin, turning from your sin, and trusting in Him.
This is absolutely vital, It is critical. It is essential
(04:40):
not only to you, but to the Church itself. Notice
that when Peter preached, he spoke of those who were
called and too salvation Act Chapter two, verse thirty nine.
For the promise is for you and for your children,
and for all who were afar off. Now everyone is included.
Everyone can come in, everyone whom the Lord, our God
(05:04):
calls to himself. You see, there is a divine side
to salvation in which God calls us unto himself. And
therefore you cannot be saved just any time you choose
to be saved. God makes the first move. God takes
the first step. God calls us into salvation. God is sovereign.
Salvation is of the Lord, and this is the divine
(05:25):
prerogative of God as he calls us unto himself. This
is the divine side when God opens the heart. And
right now the spirit of God is at work in
people's life wooing you, bringing you to a place of decision,
calling you to faith in Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
This is why it is very important that.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
You never resist the work of the Holy Spirit in
your life, that you never blaspheme the spirit of God
by saying no and know and know and know, because
what you say no too long enough you get very
good at and your heart can become hard. And God says,
my spirit will not always strive with man, and is
possible to say no and know and know and know,
(06:06):
and so resists the work of the Holy Spirit in
your life, that finally it would be impossible for you
to hear the call of God. That's why the Bible says,
if you hear his voice today.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Do not harden your heart.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
So there is the divine side, but there's also the
human side, and this is in perfect balance in the scripture.
What God does and what we do. We are to
respond in faith. We are to respond because God has
made it possible for all to come in and the
blood of Jesus Christ, God's son is powerful enough, strong
enough to cleanse from every sin. For every one. The
(06:44):
question is, has your life been transformed? Do you know Jesus?
This is how the church is established. The church is
not a club or a religious organization. The church is
the body of believers, the follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly,
the empowering church is marked by an enduring dedication. That's
(07:09):
why Verse forty two says, and they devoted themselves to
the apostles teaching, and to fellowship, the breaking of bread,
and to prayers.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Now what is the apostles teaching?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Well, obviously the apostles were instructing believers regarding the Old
Testament scriptures. When you read the message of Simon Peter
here in chapter two, it is chock full of scripture.
And all of the messages of the Book of Acts
are full of the Old Testament scriptures. So no doubt
they would have been teaching the Old Testament the Word
of God. But not only that, What did Jesus say
(07:45):
to the apostles that they were to make disciples and
to teach them what all of the things that I
have commended you. So when the apostles were teaching and
instructing these believers, they were talking to them of Jesus,
of his life and of his teachings, of what Jesus
commanded them to do essentially the Gospels. And of course
(08:06):
this is before the Gospels had been written down, so
they are telling the Gospels. They are teaching the gospels,
so they're instructing them concerning the Gospels.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
And then of course the apostles were.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Given spiritual illumination and inspiration in order to give the
Scriptures and the New Testament. The epistles, the letters of
the New Testament were written by the apostles, so in
oratorical form, in verbal form, they are giving them the
New Testament. So they are teaching them what just write
it down the word of God. When you read the
(08:38):
apostles teaching just right there God's word.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Instruction in the Word of God.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Now, this is vital to the spiritual health of every believer,
and certainly to the health of the Church.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
To know and to grow in the.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Word of God should be the purpose and the passion
of your life. It should be the commitment and the
devotion of God's Church.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I like what Bible teacher and pastor John MacArthur said
about this.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
He said, a believer should count it a waste today
when he does not learn something new from or is
not more deeply enriched by the truth of God's word
every day. We should dig deeply into the Word of God.
They devoted themselves. This is the dedication. The fact is
(09:40):
many are out of church today and have dropped out
of the fellowship of the church because they no longer
are focused on God's Word in their life, and church
is a casual, convenient experience for them. But look at
the difference of these believers then and so many of
us who claim the name of Christ today. They were passionate,
(10:01):
they were fired up, They were committed to the Word
of God and growing in their faith in him. I
would challenge you to be a student of the Word
of God, he continued, In the word of God, there
is a vast indifference and sometimes ignorance of the Word
(10:24):
of God among those who profess the name of Christ.
Commit yourself to the study of the Word of God,
and not just for your head's sake, but for your
heart's sake. I know there's some people who say, well,
I don't need all that doctrine, I don't need all
that teaching.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
You know, Jesus is enough for me. Well, Jesus is enough.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
But it is Jesus who taught us to dig deeply
into His truth and in his word, and when so
many are coming at us today with vain religion and
falsephel pilosophies a life, we need to know what we
believe and why we believe what we believe. We learn
that in the Word of God. This is why we
(11:10):
are committed to you're.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message the
Empowered Church. In his book Angels, Doctor Graham takes you
through scripture to explore how angels serve, protect and point
us to the power of our Savior. We want to
send you this powerful book today to thank you for
your generous gift to help PowerPoint end this current year
(11:32):
of ministry on June thirtieth as strong as possible. This
is so important. A two hundred thousand dollars matching grant
has been offered by generous friends, which means every dollar
you give through June thirtieth will be doubled. Call one
eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven. That's
one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
(11:55):
You can also text the word angels to five nine
seven eight nine. Don't let stress rob you of peace.
It is possible to break the destructive group of stress
on your life and enjoy the peace and abundance God
desires for you. That's what doctor Graham helps you do
in his booklet Breaking Free from Stress. We want to
send you a digital download of Breaking Free from Stress
(12:17):
when you sign up for email updates from PowerPoint Today.
Just go to PowerPoint dot org slash stress and sign
up today. Now let's get back to today's message, the
empowered Church.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
There is the word of God, devoting yourself to it,
but not only you see, they not only devoted themselves
to God's word, knowing and growing in God's Word, but
experiencing God's presence in their lives on a daily basis.
That's why when you read the second chapter of Acts
here that verse forty two tells us that they continued
(12:52):
in fellowship and the breaking.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Of bread and prayers or the prayers.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Now, the breaking of bread had to do with eating
meals together, and often when they would eat meals together
in their homes, they would stop also to share in communion.
And most likely this is illustrative of that experience of
communion of remembering the Lord's death and his resurrection. So
(13:21):
they committed to that, and then there was prayer Prayer
is always a privilege and a priority in the church.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Not a PostScript.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
If you're talking about power in your life, spiritual engagement,
if you're talking about the empowered church, you must consider
prayer because prayer invites the presence and the power of
God into our lives, into our families, and into our church.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
If we want God to move in our life, we
must pray.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Remember this, that God invites us and invokes us to pray.
Jeremiah thirty three to three. Call unto me, and I
will answer you and show you great and mighty things
which you do not know. Just stop and remember think
right now that all mighty God invites you into His
(14:23):
presence and promises his provision and.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Power when you pray.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
These believers were given to prayers. You see, they were
not only transformed by truth, but they were tasting, They
were touching the presence of God. Ask God to strengthen
your prayer life. Even as the disciples came to Jesus
and said, Lord, teach us to pray.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
You notice in verse forty two it says the prayers,
the prayers. There's a definite article there.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Now in churches like ours, our prayers are free flowing
and spontaneous when we pray. Rarely does someone read a
prayer because we are concentrating, of course, always on making
sure that our prayers are offered from the heart. But
there's a balance to this, and I discovered that own
(15:24):
balance in my life as I have been learned not
only to write my own prayers as a part of
my devotional life, but also to read the prayers that
others have offered. The prayers. You see, these early believers
were praying the prayers. Not only did they pray spontaneously
and extemporaneously from their hearts, but the prayers that were
(15:44):
given in the scripture. God has given us many prayers
in the Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament. And
if you want your prayer life to be strengthened, pray
the scriptures. Pray the prayers of the Bible. Pray in
the scriptures themselves. And I've also discovered through the years
of my own devotion life the prayers of others. You
can go online and just google in prayers, make sure
(16:05):
they're Biblical prayers, make sure their New Testament prayers, make
sure their prayer is given in Jesus' name. But there
are many books of prayers and lists of prayers and
prayers that you can pray that will strengthen your devotional
life and your walk with God.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
There is so much.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Depth and strength in the prayers that are prayed. So
those you think we may need a little ballance, why
we pray from the heart, and we pray from our souls,
our own words. It is valuable. It is helpful to
pray the prayers that we have been given. We want
(16:44):
to run so fast from ritual that often we have
missed the blessing of the prayers. So they were praying together,
and I would encourage you to enrich your prayer life
in every way possible. So you see, there is this
enduring dedication in the teaching of God's word, and the
(17:09):
touching and the tasting of God's presence in the breaking
of the bread, in the offering of the prayers. Not
only an established congregation established in Jesus Christ by believers
who are baptized in his name, and not only this
enduring dedication as they devoted themselves, but there is an
(17:31):
enriching participation. For in verse forty two, we read the
word fellowship, and later on in this same passage we
read of the Disciples, verse forty four. All who believe
were together.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Look at it.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
They were together and had all things in common. They
continued in the fellowship. Now most people don't know what
fellowship is. We think that fellowship is coffee in the
hallway after church. But fellowship in the Bible is much
better than that. It's much deeper than that. It means
(18:05):
to hold in common. The word fellowship coinanea means to
share life together. And of course, our fellowship, according to
First John, is with God, the Father and his son
Jesus Christ. We have fellowship with God, and therefore we
have fellowship with one another. We share a common Lord,
(18:26):
and we share a common life, and therefore we are
brothers and sisters in Christ. We have fellowship in this
family of faith. We are more than a collection of
strangers or even a collection of friends. We share a
common life, a common Lord, and a common labor, because
(18:47):
in reality, fellowship in the church is a shared mission.
We share the mission of Christ. And this fellowship is
so critical that we are bonded together, that we believe together,
that we belong together. Satan desires to disrupt and even
(19:08):
to destroy the fellowship of his peak yet Jesus said,
we are to be one, one in heart, one in spirit,
one in soul, one in faith, the oneness of our participation.
And notice in this they were willing to give that
others may have their needs met, and they were willing
to serve so that God could reach people and touch
(19:31):
people's lives. This was an enriching participation. And I want
to encourage you even as the scriptures in Hebrews ten
twenty five says, not neglecting to meet together as the
habit of some, but encouraging one another. The fellowship of
the church, there's nothing like it in all the world.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
But not only that.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
The final thing I want you to see in this
picture of the church, in every general this is a
cross generational from generation to generation experience. See then an
expanding celebration. As you read the rest of the passage.
Here you read of the church together, sharing Christ, worshiping together.
(20:16):
But there is a verse here that I want you
to note, which is verse forty six, which says, in
day by day attending the temple together, that is, in
public forums, they were still there in the court of
the Gentiles, a vast, large place where they could worship together.
The Lord Jesus Christ. Then the breaking of bread, this fellowship,
and this communion.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
There in their homes they.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Receive their food with glad and generous hearts. And then
it goes on to say that they were praising God
and having favor with all of the people. I love
this with joyful spirits and with sincere hearts. The word
that is translated verse forty six, generous is it's the
(21:01):
only time this word is used in the New Testament,
and it's a word difficult to translate.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
It's a word which.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Has its root in the idea of without rocks or
without stones.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
You say, whatn't on earth? Does that mean without rocks?
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Well, of course this was a seafaring community and ships
would come in, and if it was smooth sailing, it
was because there.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
Were no rocks.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
They were without rocks, so there was smooth sailing without rocks.
And the idea here is that they were sailing high,
wide and beautiful for the Lord. It was smooth, they
were in a groove, spiritual, they were focused, and they
(21:51):
were favored by God. They had it all together and
it was all working together. This is the church, a
spirit filled church, empowered, which is growing and joyous and
winsome in their witness and sharing and caring and loving
(22:11):
and living for Christ, full of Jesus and full of
His spirit. There is liberty and worship. There is a
loving fellowship, and there is a life giving witness. There
is powerful worship in this church, worship that is joyous
and celebrating and yet filled with awe and reverence. And
(22:35):
that's always the balance we need to maintain in our worship.
There are times that we can't move, we are so
deeply touched by the spirit of God. Just as Mary
sat at the feet of Jesus and worshiped him at
his feet, sometimes we just sit at his feet and
worship him. There are other times we rise in celebration
(22:56):
and we stand in honor of His glory and his
power in our life. There's a time to stand, there's
a time to sit. The styles of worship are not
nearly as important as the heart of worship. If our
hearts are joyous in Him. We must make sure that
in our worship that is not all about self absorption
(23:16):
and my personal worship experience, but that is always about Jesus.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
And honoring Him.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
And let me remind you that worship is preparation for heaven.
When we worship God here and now are getting ourselves
ready for the celebration of Heaven.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
That's the church.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
And there's joy in this. There's excitement in this. And
as a result, because this church was healthy, it was reproducing,
because the scripture says they were adding daily those who
should be saved. This was a soul winning church. Their
witness was positive and productive in the world. It was
(23:57):
with favor in the community. See how they love want
to not just look at how much they love God.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
This is the church you're listening to PowerPoint with Jack
Graham and the message the Empowered Church. On June thirtieth,
we will close our books on another year of ministry,
and it's critical we end strong. That's why generous friends
have stepped forward with a two hundred thousand dollars matching grant,
which means every dollar you give by June thirtieth will
(24:27):
be doubled. Your gift to help meet this grant in
full is so important. We'll send you doctor Graham's powerful
book Angels. It's our special gift and thank you to you.
This encouraging book reveals what Scripture says about God's messengers
and how their presence reminds us that Heaven is always near.
Request your copy when you call and give today call
(24:48):
one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
That's one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
You can also text the word angels to five nine
seven eight nine. That's angels to five nine seven eight nine.
And don't forget to visit Jack Graham dot org where
you can shop our eastore, give a gift online, or
(25:10):
sign up for doctor Graham's free daily email devotional. Our
website again is Jack Graham dot org. And also be
sure to sign up for doctor Graham's podcast Bible in
a Year pastor what is your PowerPoint for today?
Speaker 2 (25:26):
We're talking about the power of spiritual engagement. So let
me ask you a question. Do you want to be
fully engaged and empowered to live the Christian life? I
really believe you do, and yet I find so many
professed believers in Christ today are disconnected from one of
the main sources of encouragement empowerment, which is the local church.
(25:46):
The reason for this can be many, but the fact
is many many Christians aren't having an impact on the
world for Christ because they're trying to live the Christian
life on their own, in isolation, cut off from a
local group of others, learning, growing, worshiping Christians. So what
about you? Are you actively involved in a local church
where Jesus is Lord, where the Word of God is taught,
(26:10):
where you can learn and grow in your faith, where
you can develop as a disciple, whether you can share
your witness with others. I'm not asking whether or not
you attend church, but are you spiritually engaged in the
life of that church. Are you doing more than just
showing up on Sunday mornings. What I'm asking you is
whether or not you are connected to the Church of
(26:31):
the Lord Jesus Christ, and are you a part of
making a difference in your community and in the world
For Jesus. Just like a bald up fist has more
power than one little finger, so do you and I
have more power as Christians when we stand in unity
together in the name of Christ. A church united is
a force to be reckoned with in our generation. In
(26:53):
the Book of Acts, we read about people who were
fully engaged and committed to each other, and therefore they
were in arranged and empowered to live the Christian life
and then they turn the world upside down. That's the
Church of the first century, and I'm praying that the
Church of the twenty first century will be like that church,
empowered and making a difference until Jesus comes.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
And that is today's power Point. Remember when you give
a gift of ten dollars or more to PowerPoint, we'll
send you doctor Graham's book Angels as our thanks. Call
one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
That's one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
You can also text the word Angels to five nine
(27:37):
seven eight nine and join us again next time as
doctor Graham brings a message about how the power of
Jesus transforms lives and how it can change yours too.
That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with
Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministry.
Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A
little later in the program, we'll tell you how you
can get a copy of doctor Graham's book Angels. But first,
here's the message the empowered Church.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Take God's word and turn with me to the second
chapter of the Book of Acts, and we're going to
look at the closing passage of the great second Chapter
of Acts, the day when three thousand people were born again,
birthed into the Kingdom of God, and became a.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Part of God's Church.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
So beginning of verse forty two of Acts, chapter two,
they devoted themselves to the apostles, teaching and fellowship, to
the breaking of bread and the prayers, and all came
upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being
done through the apostles. And all who believed were together
(00:59):
and had all things in common. And they were selling
their possessions and belongings, and distributing the proceeds.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
To all as any had need.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking
bread in their homes, they received their food with glad
and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
All the people.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And the Lord added to their number. Day by day
those who were being saved, they continued in their walk
with God because salvation was just the beginning. It was
an amazing beginning when so many came to Christ on
(01:41):
the very first day of the Church. But now the
church continues to know and to grow what they in,
what they believe, and what they are to do for
the Lord Jesus Christ. Alan Redpass said, the salvation of
the soul is the miracle of the moment, but the
making of a man of.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
God is the task of a lifetime. So we see
the making.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Of men and women of God as together we grow
in Christ. So what does the empowered Church look like?
As we go back centuries and centuries ago, to the outset,
to the originality of the church.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
What are we to be and to do today?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I want you to notice several important factors regarding.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
The empowered Church.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Number one, the empowered church is an established congregation. An
established congregation, for it says in verse forty two, and.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
They who is the they?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Well, obviously, the they is comprised of those who have
been born again, those who have been saved that day
and then grew in their faith. In other words, this
congregation was established, but with a membership and a part
partnership in the gospel, they were saved, and that is
(03:04):
how you become a member of the church.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Now, when Simon.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Peter preached the message of salvation that day, there was
deep conviction of sin, for they were stabbed to the
heart and said, brothers, what will we do? Verse thirty
seven says they were cut to the heart. They were
under deep conviction of sin, and this is vital. And
as a result Peter said, repent and be baptized, every
(03:29):
one of you for the remission of sin, and.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
So not only was their conviction of sin, when they
came face to face with their own sinfulness before God
and what Christ has done upon the cross for us
and in the power of the resurrection, then they could
receive Christ and have a brand new life. So there
was conviction of sin, and then there was conversion of life.
(03:57):
Verse forty of chapter two, Peter said, save yourselves from
this perverse, this crooked generation, this generation that is going nowhere.
In other words, come out of the world and the
direction of the world is taking you and follow Christ.
Get off the broad road that leads to destruction and
(04:19):
get on the narrow road, the way and follow Christ.
Has there been a time, a place, a definitive moment
in your life when you have received Christ, having repented
of your sin, turning from your sin, and trusting in Him.
This is absolutely vital, It is critical. It is essential
(04:40):
not only to you, but to the Church itself. Notice
that when Peter preached, he spoke of those who were
called and too salvation Act Chapter two, verse thirty nine.
For the promise is for you and for your children,
and for all who were afar off. Now everyone is included.
Everyone can come in, everyone whom the Lord, our God
(05:04):
calls to himself. You see, there is a divine side
to salvation in which God calls us unto himself. And
therefore you cannot be saved just any time you choose
to be saved. God makes the first move. God takes
the first step. God calls us into salvation. God is sovereign.
Salvation is of the Lord, and this is the divine
(05:25):
prerogative of God as he calls us unto himself. This
is the divine side when God opens the heart. And
right now the spirit of God is at work in
people's life wooing you, bringing you to a place of decision,
calling you to faith in Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
This is why it is very important that.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
You never resist the work of the Holy Spirit in
your life, that you never blaspheme the spirit of God
by saying no and know and know and know, because
what you say no too long enough you get very
good at and your heart can become hard. And God says,
my spirit will not always strive with man, and is
possible to say no and know and know and know,
(06:06):
and so resists the work of the Holy Spirit in
your life, that finally it would be impossible for you
to hear the call of God. That's why the Bible says,
if you hear his voice today.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Do not harden your heart.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
So there is the divine side, but there's also the
human side, and this is in perfect balance in the scripture.
What God does and what we do. We are to
respond in faith. We are to respond because God has
made it possible for all to come in and the
blood of Jesus Christ, God's son is powerful enough, strong
enough to cleanse from every sin. For every one. The
(06:44):
question is, has your life been transformed? Do you know Jesus?
This is how the church is established. The church is
not a club or a religious organization. The church is
the body of believers, the follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly,
the empowering church is marked by an enduring dedication. That's
(07:09):
why Verse forty two says, and they devoted themselves to
the apostles teaching, and to fellowship, the breaking of bread,
and to prayers.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Now what is the apostles teaching?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Well, obviously the apostles were instructing believers regarding the Old
Testament scriptures. When you read the message of Simon Peter
here in chapter two, it is chock full of scripture.
And all of the messages of the Book of Acts
are full of the Old Testament scriptures. So no doubt
they would have been teaching the Old Testament the Word
of God. But not only that, What did Jesus say
(07:45):
to the apostles that they were to make disciples and
to teach them what all of the things that I
have commended you. So when the apostles were teaching and
instructing these believers, they were talking to them of Jesus,
of his life and of his teachings, of what Jesus
commanded them to do essentially the Gospels. And of course
(08:06):
this is before the Gospels had been written down, so
they are telling the Gospels. They are teaching the gospels,
so they're instructing them concerning the Gospels.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
And then of course the apostles were.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Given spiritual illumination and inspiration in order to give the
Scriptures and the New Testament. The epistles, the letters of
the New Testament were written by the apostles, so in
oratorical form, in verbal form, they are giving them the
New Testament. So they are teaching them what just write
it down the word of God. When you read the
(08:38):
apostles teaching just right there God's word.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Instruction in the Word of God.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Now, this is vital to the spiritual health of every believer,
and certainly to the health of the Church.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
To know and to grow in the.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Word of God should be the purpose and the passion
of your life. It should be the commitment and the
devotion of God's Church.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I like what Bible teacher and pastor John MacArthur said
about this.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
He said, a believer should count it a waste today
when he does not learn something new from or is
not more deeply enriched by the truth of God's word
every day. We should dig deeply into the Word of God.
They devoted themselves. This is the dedication. The fact is
(09:40):
many are out of church today and have dropped out
of the fellowship of the church because they no longer
are focused on God's Word in their life, and church
is a casual, convenient experience for them. But look at
the difference of these believers then and so many of
us who claim the name of Christ today. They were passionate,
(10:01):
they were fired up, They were committed to the Word
of God and growing in their faith in him. I
would challenge you to be a student of the Word
of God, he continued, In the word of God, there
is a vast indifference and sometimes ignorance of the Word
(10:24):
of God among those who profess the name of Christ.
Commit yourself to the study of the Word of God,
and not just for your head's sake, but for your
heart's sake. I know there's some people who say, well,
I don't need all that doctrine, I don't need all
that teaching.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
You know, Jesus is enough for me. Well, Jesus is enough.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
But it is Jesus who taught us to dig deeply
into His truth and in his word, and when so
many are coming at us today with vain religion and
falsephel pilosophies a life, we need to know what we
believe and why we believe what we believe. We learn
that in the Word of God. This is why we
(11:10):
are committed to you're.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message the
Empowered Church. In his book Angels, Doctor Graham takes you
through scripture to explore how angels serve, protect and point
us to the power of our Savior. We want to
send you this powerful book today to thank you for
your generous gift to help PowerPoint end this current year
(11:32):
of ministry on June thirtieth as strong as possible. This
is so important. A two hundred thousand dollars matching grant
has been offered by generous friends, which means every dollar
you give through June thirtieth will be doubled. Call one
eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven. That's
one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
(11:55):
You can also text the word angels to five nine
seven eight nine. Don't let stress rob you of peace.
It is possible to break the destructive group of stress
on your life and enjoy the peace and abundance God
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send you a digital download of Breaking Free from Stress
(12:17):
when you sign up for email updates from PowerPoint Today.
Just go to PowerPoint dot org slash stress and sign
up today. Now let's get back to today's message, the
empowered Church.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
There is the word of God, devoting yourself to it,
but not only you see, they not only devoted themselves
to God's word, knowing and growing in God's Word, but
experiencing God's presence in their lives on a daily basis.
That's why when you read the second chapter of Acts
here that verse forty two tells us that they continued
(12:52):
in fellowship and the breaking.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Of bread and prayers or the prayers.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Now, the breaking of bread had to do with eating
meals together, and often when they would eat meals together
in their homes, they would stop also to share in communion.
And most likely this is illustrative of that experience of
communion of remembering the Lord's death and his resurrection. So
(13:21):
they committed to that, and then there was prayer Prayer
is always a privilege and a priority in the church.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Not a PostScript.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
If you're talking about power in your life, spiritual engagement,
if you're talking about the empowered church, you must consider
prayer because prayer invites the presence and the power of
God into our lives, into our families, and into our church.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
If we want God to move in our life, we
must pray.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Remember this, that God invites us and invokes us to pray.
Jeremiah thirty three to three. Call unto me, and I
will answer you and show you great and mighty things
which you do not know. Just stop and remember think
right now that all mighty God invites you into His
(14:23):
presence and promises his provision and.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Power when you pray.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
These believers were given to prayers. You see, they were
not only transformed by truth, but they were tasting, They
were touching the presence of God. Ask God to strengthen
your prayer life. Even as the disciples came to Jesus
and said, Lord, teach us to pray.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
You notice in verse forty two it says the prayers,
the prayers. There's a definite article there.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Now in churches like ours, our prayers are free flowing
and spontaneous when we pray. Rarely does someone read a
prayer because we are concentrating, of course, always on making
sure that our prayers are offered from the heart. But
there's a balance to this, and I discovered that own
(15:24):
balance in my life as I have been learned not
only to write my own prayers as a part of
my devotional life, but also to read the prayers that
others have offered. The prayers. You see, these early believers
were praying the prayers. Not only did they pray spontaneously
and extemporaneously from their hearts, but the prayers that were
(15:44):
given in the scripture. God has given us many prayers
in the Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament. And
if you want your prayer life to be strengthened, pray
the scriptures. Pray the prayers of the Bible. Pray in
the scriptures themselves. And I've also discovered through the years
of my own devotion life the prayers of others. You
can go online and just google in prayers, make sure
(16:05):
they're Biblical prayers, make sure their New Testament prayers, make
sure their prayer is given in Jesus' name. But there
are many books of prayers and lists of prayers and
prayers that you can pray that will strengthen your devotional
life and your walk with God.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
There is so much.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Depth and strength in the prayers that are prayed. So
those you think we may need a little ballance, why
we pray from the heart, and we pray from our souls,
our own words. It is valuable. It is helpful to
pray the prayers that we have been given. We want
(16:44):
to run so fast from ritual that often we have
missed the blessing of the prayers. So they were praying together,
and I would encourage you to enrich your prayer life
in every way possible. So you see, there is this
enduring dedication in the teaching of God's word, and the
(17:09):
touching and the tasting of God's presence in the breaking
of the bread, in the offering of the prayers. Not
only an established congregation established in Jesus Christ by believers
who are baptized in his name, and not only this
enduring dedication as they devoted themselves, but there is an
(17:31):
enriching participation. For in verse forty two, we read the
word fellowship, and later on in this same passage we
read of the Disciples, verse forty four. All who believe
were together.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Look at it.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
They were together and had all things in common. They
continued in the fellowship. Now most people don't know what
fellowship is. We think that fellowship is coffee in the
hallway after church. But fellowship in the Bible is much
better than that. It's much deeper than that. It means
(18:05):
to hold in common. The word fellowship coinanea means to
share life together. And of course, our fellowship, according to
First John, is with God, the Father and his son
Jesus Christ. We have fellowship with God, and therefore we
have fellowship with one another. We share a common Lord,
(18:26):
and we share a common life, and therefore we are
brothers and sisters in Christ. We have fellowship in this
family of faith. We are more than a collection of
strangers or even a collection of friends. We share a
common life, a common Lord, and a common labor, because
(18:47):
in reality, fellowship in the church is a shared mission.
We share the mission of Christ. And this fellowship is
so critical that we are bonded together, that we believe together,
that we belong together. Satan desires to disrupt and even
(19:08):
to destroy the fellowship of his peak yet Jesus said,
we are to be one, one in heart, one in spirit,
one in soul, one in faith, the oneness of our participation.
And notice in this they were willing to give that
others may have their needs met, and they were willing
to serve so that God could reach people and touch
(19:31):
people's lives. This was an enriching participation. And I want
to encourage you even as the scriptures in Hebrews ten
twenty five says, not neglecting to meet together as the
habit of some, but encouraging one another. The fellowship of
the church, there's nothing like it in all the world.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
But not only that.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
The final thing I want you to see in this
picture of the church, in every general this is a
cross generational from generation to generation experience. See then an
expanding celebration. As you read the rest of the passage.
Here you read of the church together, sharing Christ, worshiping together.
(20:16):
But there is a verse here that I want you
to note, which is verse forty six, which says, in
day by day attending the temple together, that is, in
public forums, they were still there in the court of
the Gentiles, a vast, large place where they could worship together.
The Lord Jesus Christ. Then the breaking of bread, this fellowship,
and this communion.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
There in their homes they.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Receive their food with glad and generous hearts. And then
it goes on to say that they were praising God
and having favor with all of the people. I love
this with joyful spirits and with sincere hearts. The word
that is translated verse forty six, generous is it's the
(21:01):
only time this word is used in the New Testament,
and it's a word difficult to translate.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
It's a word which.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Has its root in the idea of without rocks or
without stones.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
You say, whatn't on earth? Does that mean without rocks?
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Well, of course this was a seafaring community and ships
would come in, and if it was smooth sailing, it
was because there.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
Were no rocks.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
They were without rocks, so there was smooth sailing without rocks.
And the idea here is that they were sailing high,
wide and beautiful for the Lord. It was smooth, they
were in a groove, spiritual, they were focused, and they
(21:51):
were favored by God. They had it all together and
it was all working together. This is the church, a
spirit filled church, empowered, which is growing and joyous and
winsome in their witness and sharing and caring and loving
(22:11):
and living for Christ, full of Jesus and full of
His spirit. There is liberty and worship. There is a
loving fellowship, and there is a life giving witness. There
is powerful worship in this church, worship that is joyous
and celebrating and yet filled with awe and reverence. And
(22:35):
that's always the balance we need to maintain in our worship.
There are times that we can't move, we are so
deeply touched by the spirit of God. Just as Mary
sat at the feet of Jesus and worshiped him at
his feet, sometimes we just sit at his feet and
worship him. There are other times we rise in celebration
(22:56):
and we stand in honor of His glory and his
power in our life. There's a time to stand, there's
a time to sit. The styles of worship are not
nearly as important as the heart of worship. If our
hearts are joyous in Him. We must make sure that
in our worship that is not all about self absorption
(23:16):
and my personal worship experience, but that is always about Jesus.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
And honoring Him.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
And let me remind you that worship is preparation for heaven.
When we worship God here and now are getting ourselves
ready for the celebration of Heaven.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
That's the church.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
And there's joy in this. There's excitement in this. And
as a result, because this church was healthy, it was reproducing,
because the scripture says they were adding daily those who
should be saved. This was a soul winning church. Their
witness was positive and productive in the world. It was
(23:57):
with favor in the community. See how they love want
to not just look at how much they love God.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
This is the church you're listening to PowerPoint with Jack
Graham and the message the Empowered Church. On June thirtieth,
we will close our books on another year of ministry,
and it's critical we end strong. That's why generous friends
have stepped forward with a two hundred thousand dollars matching grant,
which means every dollar you give by June thirtieth will
(24:27):
be doubled. Your gift to help meet this grant in
full is so important. We'll send you doctor Graham's powerful
book Angels. It's our special gift and thank you to you.
This encouraging book reveals what Scripture says about God's messengers
and how their presence reminds us that Heaven is always near.
Request your copy when you call and give today call
(24:48):
one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
That's one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
You can also text the word angels to five nine
seven eight nine. That's angels to five nine seven eight nine.
And don't forget to visit Jack Graham dot org where
you can shop our eastore, give a gift online, or
(25:10):
sign up for doctor Graham's free daily email devotional. Our
website again is Jack Graham dot org. And also be
sure to sign up for doctor Graham's podcast Bible in
a Year pastor what is your PowerPoint for today?
Speaker 2 (25:26):
We're talking about the power of spiritual engagement. So let
me ask you a question. Do you want to be
fully engaged and empowered to live the Christian life? I
really believe you do, and yet I find so many
professed believers in Christ today are disconnected from one of
the main sources of encouragement empowerment, which is the local church.
(25:46):
The reason for this can be many, but the fact
is many many Christians aren't having an impact on the
world for Christ because they're trying to live the Christian
life on their own, in isolation, cut off from a
local group of others, learning, growing, worshiping Christians. So what
about you? Are you actively involved in a local church
where Jesus is Lord, where the Word of God is taught,
(26:10):
where you can learn and grow in your faith, where
you can develop as a disciple, whether you can share
your witness with others. I'm not asking whether or not
you attend church, but are you spiritually engaged in the
life of that church. Are you doing more than just
showing up on Sunday mornings. What I'm asking you is
whether or not you are connected to the Church of
(26:31):
the Lord Jesus Christ, and are you a part of
making a difference in your community and in the world
For Jesus. Just like a bald up fist has more
power than one little finger, so do you and I
have more power as Christians when we stand in unity
together in the name of Christ. A church united is
a force to be reckoned with in our generation. In
(26:53):
the Book of Acts, we read about people who were
fully engaged and committed to each other, and therefore they
were in arranged and empowered to live the Christian life
and then they turn the world upside down. That's the
Church of the first century, and I'm praying that the
Church of the twenty first century will be like that church,
empowered and making a difference until Jesus comes.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
And that is today's power Point. Remember when you give
a gift of ten dollars or more to PowerPoint, we'll
send you doctor Graham's book Angels as our thanks. Call
one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
That's one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
You can also text the word Angels to five nine
(27:37):
seven eight nine and join us again next time as
doctor Graham brings a message about how the power of
Jesus transforms lives and how it can change yours too.
That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with
Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministry.
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