fusionatl

Okay, so we kicked off the new year last night with "How Far We've Come". And we rolled out this new (yet ancient) concept for life. Acts 2:42 "All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."

Living a life comprised of teaching, community, prayer and action...devoting ourselves to those 4 things. So many times we try and do this and do that while we aren't doing the things that "buy" those things. We try for signs & wonders when we aren't truly loving our neighbor. We want unity but we don't have time to live in community. I'm sick of it all & I want a life that means something, that's filled with purpose, seeing the Will of God come to life in this world. Come on Jesus!

The idea is we get teaching from God, take it back to community (real community that does life together, not just once a week), prayer about it allowing God to fuel His passions inside us, and then go do something with it in the world.

I think this is going to revolutionize everything as we dive into this more over the next few weeks and months.

I'd like to get y'alls input on this. What are your thoughts/feelings/ideas about this way of life?

The message really 'hit home' last night when you mentioned the part about taking it out into the world - acting out the Word in our everyday lives.

You mentioned one thing in particular that I enjoy doing when I'm out and about. I won't go into details as I don't like "tooting my horn" about it.

To sum it up, I felt more empowered to continue doing my part to show the love of Christ to others when I see an opportunity... and if necessary, to create the opportunity.

I've desired this type of lifestyle, and tried living it; specially right after i got sick, but i got stuck somewhere down the road.

Don't know exactly what I missed.

Now, though living a more normal life, feel like i'm in cruise control.

the concept is not new to me,,, but i'm not sure what i'm not getting
u know i think Isaiah 58: 6-9 says the same thing.

anywho.. I love the message.

I thought the message was appropriately timed. What better time to concentrate on what the Christian life is comprised of than the start of the year -- start the year off with good direction.

Those images of "darkness" were a shocking wake-up call to me.

Here are my thoughts on putting teaching, community and prayer into action: I think so many of us find ourselves looking for the next outreach or big event. These outreaches and big events are great, but what about the everyday life? When our churches get together in the Spring to do the big Unite outreach, it's usually the same day as when the rest of Atlanta does Hands On Atlanta Day. So if we're only acting out our faith during "events" then what sets us apart as Christians from the rest of the people in the world who want to do good?

I think we often find ourselves getting caught up in the rushed pace of the world that we can neglect being a light to those we are in contact with on a regular basis. While our participation in official kind of outreaches is important, I think we also need to make sure that we are consistently reaching out to those we work and live with. I think maybe we need to also commit to reaching out to certain people or causes and not pop in and help one or two times. (These thoughts are not pointed at other people . . . they're actually result of self-examination.) What are your thoughts?

Acts 2 is it. I wanted to live an Acts 2 life some time ago, but I gave up on whether it was possible.... I was convicted this Wednesday about the community aspect. Not just knowing people from Wed, small group, and the occasional scheduled activity, but really sharing your life. This message also just emphasized something from this book I'm reading, Shaping History through Prayer and Fasting by Derek Prince, he uses the same passage Mat 5, but saying that we are to be salt, that as Christians we abate the darkness and corruption of the world, but even more so that it can be on earth as it is on heaven NOW if we pray. We don't have to endure wickedness, if we pray, our nation can change, things like abortion will end. I'm excited .

We have to be intentional to not let this vision die. Keep reminding yourself of Acts 2:42. Read it again. Keep doing the Word, keep praying, keep doing what it takes to live in community, keep reaching out to the world around you.

Amen, and Amen...