#5 - God Moves Through Preaching And Teaching That Honors Him - Acts 2:14-41
Confession…I think so many times I’ve made preaching WAY too complicated.
Peter kept it pretty simple…three things I see that he did that we all can do…
A. He Preached The Word Of God - Acts 2:16-21, Acts 2:25-28, Acts 2:38
People need to be taught the Bible!!! The first recorded sermon in the church is LOADED with Scripture…and Peter made no apologies for it.
(BTW—Peter most likely didn’t have a copy of the Scriptures in front of him…this was from memory, which is a challenge to me as a speaker and leader than I need to constantly be IN HIS WORD…getting to know HIM through it! His Word IS His will…and the more I know it the better I can communicate it.)
One of the disturbing trends I am seeing among some churches today is that the Bible is not preached…heck, sometimes it is even spoken againsts and questioned. (BTW…the questioning of God’s Word in Genesis 3 didn’t work out to well!!!)
I’ve never met a person who screwed up their lives by living according to the Word of God…but I’ve met plenty who have rebelled against it and suffered the consequences.
B. He Was Controlled By The Spirit Of God - Acts 2:1-5
The Bible clearly says that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit…and when that happened he preached a HARD message; in fact, he said some things that some people probably didn’t like and were upset over. (See Acts 2:22-23 and Acts 2:36…whenever you tell a crowd they are a bunch of murderers…I am POSITIVE that someone got upset and complained!)
Some people think that when a person is Spirit filled they are always nice, popular and well liked…this passage proves quite the opposite!
Oh yeah…one more point on this…He was filled with the Spirit of God…which led Him to the Word of God! God’s Word and God’s Spirit work together, not seperately. When we listen to His Spirit…we will be led to His Word…and…
C. He Talked About The Son Of God - Acts 2:24, Acts 2:32, acts 2:38
If we want to see transformed lives in our churches then we’ve GOT to talk about JESUS! We’ve GOT to tell them that JESUS alone paid for our sins…and that through Him we are made right with God!!!
YES, we can talk about marriage, money, purpose and so on—we should—the Bible talks about these things. However, when we tell people how to have a good life without Christ I think we miss the point.
One more thing—when we preach the Word of God under the authority of the Spirit of God and lift up the Son of God…HE CHANGES LIVES! (See Acts 2:37) People were “cut to the heart!” God worked through preaching that honored Him…and I believe He STILL does that today!