The Movement: The Name

Acts 5:17-42
The apostles rejoiced that they were worthy of suffering for the Name of Jesus.
If the movement is from God, nothing can stop it. We need to be on mission for God,  we will succeed.
What should we do?
- The main purpose of our lives as followers of Jesus is to advance the gospel to the end of the earth.
- We need to love our neighbors. Lk 10:27 I need to be more intentional about reaching out.
- We need to open our mouths and talk about Jesus. The most loving thing we could ever do is share Jesus with others, especially those we care about.
- We need to change our prayers and focus from:God keep us safe, to:God make us dangerous.

The Movement: Holy Spirit 101

The Holy Spirit was front and center in the early church. Acts 1:8, 2:1-4, 4:8-12, 4:31

Who is the Holy Spirit? One God who exists in 3 separate persons. Isa 40:25 - we cannot fully understand God. Gen 1:1-2; Mt 3:16-17; Jn 14:16-17; Acts 1:8, 2:1-4, 2:33*

What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Eph 5:15-18 - be affected by the Holy Spirit, let your life be different because you're under the influence of the Holy Spirit. We can be filled with the Holy Spirit every day, over and over again.

- What should be a normal, beautiful, unifying part of following Jesus is often considered abnormal, scary, and divisive.

- We live our lives and operate our churches without the Holy Spirit and have convinced ourselves we are okay.

- We need to stop and ask God to fill us with the Holy Spirit (His Spirit).  If we do this we will love people and want them to follow Jesus in a good way, not like it's a project.

- We need to listen to the Holy Spirit. God's Spirit speaks to us in many different ways. If what I hear benefits others or if I find myself arguing with it, it's probably the Holy Spirit.

The Movement: Bold

Acts 3-4
3:13 the miracles are to point to Jesus
4:29-30 give us great boldness to speak for you, God
We need to be bold for Jesus and speak the gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Pray for boldness and a focus on Jesus and the gospel.

The Movement: Humble beginnings

The early church loved Jesus, loved other people, and were concerned and active about sharing Jesus with others. Acts 1-2

Do I really believe what I say I believe? Do I act on what I believe? What do I do with the things I believe? Am I allowing the Holy Spirit to work through me?

The Movement:
- involved passionate followed of Jesus, Lk 9:23-24, 57-62
- the power comes from God
- people couldn't stop talking about Jesus
- is local and global, Acts 1:8
- there are no "lone rangers"
- the stakes are high
- Jesus is coming back! Acts 1:11

The Habit: journey to an acquired behavior: Evangelism

Evangelism - the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness.
Disciple - a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure...
- the expectation of evangelism: Mt 4:18-20, Lk 19:9-10, Mt 28:19-20
- the importance of evangelism: Mk 16:15-16 heaven and hell are real and we need to share that with others, Mt 40-42, we need to have an urgency to share the gospel
- the process of evangelism:
--- tell your story. Jn 1:40-42, the most powerful thing you have is your own story. Be genuine.  Why don't we do it? Because we're afraid. Ro 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9-10, 10:13
--- bring them to Jesus
- the power for evangelism comes from God, not us
- the reward of evangelism: you get to have other people in heaven with you that might not have been there.

The Habit: journey to an acquired behavior: Prayer

The Habit of Prayer. Prayer seems crazy - actually being able to speak with God.
Prayer is one of the most important things we can do. Prayer is not about us, it's about God.
Mt 6:5-13 Don't be a hypocrite when you pray. Don't babble, my father God knows what you need even before you ask.
Carve time out in your schedule and make a special place where you can get alone with God and pray.
Our Father - we should stop right there and be in awe. God is everything.
Your kingdom come - trust God that whatever He does is good. What is most important is not what I want, but what You want.
Jas 5:16 the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. - as we do this more, we will pray smarter prayers, aligned with God's heart.
Give us our daily bread - be thankful for what we have, that our provision comes from God.
Forgive us - confession of our sins. We also need to forgive others.
Lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil.
Declare God's greatness.
Surrender your will.
Acknowledge your dependence:
- provision
- pardon
- protection

The Habit: journey to an acquired behavior: studying God's Word

Habit - An acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it becomes involuntary.

The Habit of studying God's word. The number one way God speaks to us is through his word. 2Tim 3:14-17 All scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. Jas 1:22-25 Let God's word change us and make us better.
Why wouldn't you spend time in God's word, reading his love letter to us, allowing him to seep into our lives and make us better.
Training is long-term, and something we do BEFORE the moment we need it. This  in order that we are ready and equipped when the time comes. God uses his word to train us in righteousness.
How  we do this?
- SOAP scripture, observation, application, prayer (January: stay today with Prov 12, read a chapter a day. February: read a chapter a day in Acts) read a chapter, write about a verse you read, write about how to apply that verse, pray about it.