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So Acts chapter 2, verses 42 to 
47, the fellowship of the 

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believers. 
They devoted themselves to the 

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apostles teaching and to 
fellowship, to the breaking of 

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bread and to prayer. 
Everyone was filled with awe at 

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the many wonders and signs 
performed by the apostles. 

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All the believers were together 
and held everything in common. 

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They sold property and 
possessions to give to anyone 

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who had needs. 
Every day they continued to meet

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together in the temple courts. 
They broke bread in their homes 

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and ate together with glad and 
sincere hearts, praising God and

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enjoying the favour of all the 
people. 

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And the Lord added to their 
number daily those who are being

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saved. 
So yeah, we are carrying on in 

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this series in the book of Acts 
this morning. 

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And for those of you who haven't
been around the last few weeks, 

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and especially for those of you 
in Sunday club who've been doing

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different things in Sunday club,
let me just remind us all of the

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big idea of this series in the 
opening chapters of Acts. 

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So according to the book of 
Acts, including the passage 

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we're looking at today, Our 
Calling as Christians, our 

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mission, our purpose in life as 
a church family is that we are 

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witnesses for Jesus in the real 
world, in the power of the Holy 

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Spirit. 
So our purpose, Our Calling, our

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mission, according to Acts, is 
that followers of Jesus are 

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witnesses for Jesus in the real 
world, in the power of the Holy 

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Spirit. 
And again, if you weren't here 

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last week, last week we looked 
at the first bit of Acts chapter

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2, which was the day of 
Pentecost. 

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On that day in the city of 
Jerusalem 2000 years ago, there 

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was a sound like the blowing of 
a violent wind. 

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There was what seemed to be 
tongues of fire that appeared 

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over the heads of the disciples,
and we're told all of them were 

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filled with the Holy Spirit we 
saw last week. 

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That was the day when God by his
Spirit came to dwell with his 

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people. 
Jesus promised his Holy Spirit 

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would come. 
And last week we saw Jesus kept 

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his promise. 
He poured out the Spirit on his 

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people so his people could live 
as witnesses for him in the 

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world in the power of the Holy 
Spirit. 

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And so we come to our bit this 
morning. 

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It's the last little bit of Acts
too. 

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Quite short passage. 
And the writer of Acts is a man 

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called Luke, and he wants us to 
ask for a question when we get 

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to the end of Pentecost. 
And it's this, What does a 

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spirit filled church look like? 
So the spirits come at 

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Pentecost, but what does a 
spirit filled church look like? 

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What should we expect when the 
Holy Spirit is dwelling with his

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people? 
Because after Peter's sermon 

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last week, the church in 
Jerusalem is pretty massive. 

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Now we're told it's over 3000 
people are now in it. 

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That's verse 41 from last week. 
So what evidence do we see of 

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the presence, presence of the 
Spirit and the power of the 

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Spirit in this early church? 
Because I see, I mean, someone 

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might think well, Pentecost, we 
could see the presence and power

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of the Spirit. 
There was this violent wind 

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blowing. 
There were tongues of fire over 

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the believers heads. 
Maybe that is how, you know, if 

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the Spirit is present, we should
expect to see those things all 

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the time. 
So if you come to Ave. on a 

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Sunday, you'd expect to see 
little flames of fire above the 

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heads of believers and a violent
wind blowing, not just because 

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the doors are open, it's because
the power of God is blowing 

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through the place. 
Is that what a spirit filled 

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church looks like? 
But actually I want to say we 

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get a slightly different picture
in this bit in Acts 2. 

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Now Luke does mention wonders 
and signs here verse 43. 

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If you look down at that, 
everyone was filled with awe of 

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the many wonders and signs 
performed by the apostles. 

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But he doesn't mention tongues 
of fire or a violent winds. 

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Actually, Luke wants to see that
the evidence of a Spirit filled 

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church, it's maybe a bit less 
dramatic than the day of 

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Pentecost, but actually in many 
ways it's a lot deeper. 

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It's a deeper move of the Spirit
that changes people in community

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together. 
So we're going to see that a 

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spirit filled church in Acts 2 
might not have all those amazing

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signs that Pentecost did. 
That was sort of a unique 

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moment. 
But actually Luke wants to see 

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there's lots of evidence we can 
see in a believing church that 

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the Spirit is present and he is 
at work in that church. 

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And these are signs we want to 
see and pray for in our church 

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family at Ave. 
Because when it comes to the 

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Holy Spirit, it's very easy to 
get obsessed as Christians with 

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like the so-called supernatural 
signs, the spirit that is you, 

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tongues of fire, signs and 
wonders speaking in, in tongues 

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and also with the spirit can be 
very easy to get very 

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individualistic. 
Well, well, what gift of the 

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Spirit given me? 
What, what can I, what bit of 

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the spirit do I get? 
How come I don't have the gift 

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that that person has? 
But actually what Luke wants us 

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to see in this bit of Acts 2 is 
the power of the spirit in 

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community. 
It's not about just individual 

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believers having the spirit. 
It's about the whole people of 

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God having the Spirit dwelling 
among them and he's changing 

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them and making them more like 
Jesus as he lives with us. 

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So as Kate says, we're going to 
break up this passage a bit 

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across a few bits. 
But what does a spirit filled 

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church look like? 
We're going to see that it looks

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like a learning church. 
That's verse 42. 

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They were devoted to the 
apostles teaching to look like a

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loving church. 
Verse 42, they were devoted to 

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fellowship. 
It looks like a thankful church.

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They were devoted to the 
breaking of bread and it looks 

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like a praying church. 
They were devoted to prayer. 

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So I want to see that the 
evidence of the Spirit. 

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We can see it in the ordinary 
daily life of a local church 

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made-up of ordinary men, women 
and children who are trusting in

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Jesus and who by his Spirit 
Jesus is changing us to be more 

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like him in the way we listen to
him, learn from him, love each 

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other, give praise to Him, and 
then trust in Him for our life 

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together. 
So let's look at that first 

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heading. 
Now that spirit filled church is

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a learning church. 
That's what we see first of all,

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in verse 42. 
They devoted themselves to the 

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apostles teaching. 
So the early church in Jerusalem

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says, look, they were a church 
absolutely committed. 

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They wanted to learn everything 
they could about the living God,

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about Jesus, about what Jesus 
had done for them and what it 

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means to live for Jesus in this 
world. 

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So the apostles mentioned there 
at this point in Acts, the 

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apostles were the 12 apostles. 
They were Jesus closest friends 

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when he was here on earth. 
They were the eyewitnesses of 

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his life, death and 
resurrection. 

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They were given unique authority
by Jesus to proclaim the gospel 

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and protect the gospel. 
And they were given unique 

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authority by Jesus to do that. 
And that's what we learn in the 

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way that Luke describes them. 
Verse 43, if you look down, it 

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says Luke tells us people were 
filled with awe at the many 

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wonders and signs performed by 
the apostles. 

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And next week, if you're here, 
we're going to look at one of 

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those wonders and signs in Acts 
chapter 3, when when Peter the 

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apostle heals a lame beggar in 
the temple. 

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So at this point in the story of
Acts, it's the apostles who are 

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performing wonders and signs 
here. 

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So back in verse 22 and when 
Peter's talking about Jesus, he 

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says Jesus was empowered by God 
to do miracles, wonders and 

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signs. 
And now after the coming of the 

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Spirit, the apostles have got 
that same power of God at work 

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in them. 
And at this point, it seems 

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those signs and wonders are 
performed by the 12 as God's way

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of showing these people have my 
authority. 

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Listen to them as if you were 
listening to me. 

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That is the unique authority the
apostles had at this point in 

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the book of Acts. 
Now, later in Acts, signs and 

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wonders are performed by people 
other than the apostles. 

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We learn about Stephen and 
Philip, two other leaders who 

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weren't apostles, who performed 
miracles. 

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We learn about Paul of Tarsus 
when he becomes an apostle. 

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He's called by Jesus and he 
performs miracles and signs. 

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But at this point in the 
church's life, it's the church 

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needs to see the apostles, the 
12 are the ones with authority. 

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They need to listen to when the 
apostles speak about Jesus. 

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And what's all that got to say 
to us today? 

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We're not living 2000 years ago,
but actually as a church family 

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at Ave. we want to learn from 
the apostles. 

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We will learn everything we can 
about God, about Jesus, about 

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the Holy Spirit, about what it 
means to follow Jesus in this 

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world, about the message we have
for the people around us. 

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We're committed to learning from
the New Testament. 

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That's the second bit of the 
Bible the Acts is in. 

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That is what the apostles wrote 
down about what they had seen 

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and heard about Jesus. 
And we're committed to learning 

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from the Old Testament, the 
first part of the Bible, because

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Jesus told the apostles. 
The Old Testament points to me. 

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It's all about Jesus too, and we
need to see that actually this 

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eagerness to learn from God's 
Word is actually a work of the 

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Holy Spirit. 
It's not natural. 

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It's what the Spirit does in us 
when we follow Jesus. 

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There's a bit in one of the 
gospels where Jesus is getting 

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ready to go to the cross. 
It's the night before He goes to

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the cross, and that night He 
tells us that was a lot about 

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his life, death, resurrection, 
and about the Spirit who's going

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to come. 
And in John 16, he says this 

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Jesus speaking, I have much more
to say to you disciples, more 

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than you can now bear. 
But when He, the Spirit of truth

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comes, He will guide you into 
all the truth. 

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He'll not speak on His own. 
He'll speak only what He hears. 

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See the Holy Spirit, he is the 
author of the Bible. 

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The Spirit is the one who 
inspires and speaks through the 

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human authors so that we can see
Jesus in the Bible, So we know 

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the Bible is reliable and living
and it's for us. 

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The Holy Spirit speaks to us 
through the scriptures. 

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He opens our hearts to the truth
of the scriptures. 

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He helps us understand the 
scriptures. 

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He is the Spirit of truth says 
Jesus. 

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And I see that's an amazing 
thing for any Christian. 

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I mean, just I don't know if you
people have got a favorite book 

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here, but I mean sort of books 
that I, I love when I was, I 

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loved reading the Harry Potter 
books and they were right. 

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Lord of the Rings, Narnia, I 
dabble in a bit of Jane Austen 

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sometimes Pride and Prejudice 
quite good. 

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00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:40,720
Roald Dahl books, Matilda BFG. 
Now someone said to me, I want 

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to say, imagine you're sitting 
reading your favorite book and 

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actually the author of that book
sitting next to you. 

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Some of those authors you might 
want to spend time with, some of

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you might not, but still imagine
the authors that you go, What 

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did you mean when you said that?
What about this bit CS Lewis 

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with with the lion and Aslan? 
What about this bit JK Rowling 

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00:10:57,240 --> 00:10:59,640
with horcruxes? 
What about this bit, Jane 

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00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:01,880
Austen, about marriage and 
stuff? 

200
00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:05,280
What, what did you mean? 
What did you mean? 

201
00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:09,280
And actually, the author can 
tell you what he or she meant. 

202
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And it's exactly the same for 
Christians. 

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There's something we do every 
Sunday. 

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00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:17,400
So Kate and I in that little 
corridor and we were praying 

205
00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,080
that that God by a spirit would 
speak to us through his word. 

206
00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,320
It wouldn't just be, oh, that's 
some interesting facts that the 

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Holy Spirit would speak to us 
through his word. 

208
00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,200
We do that every Sunday because 
we know we need the Spirit, the 

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00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:32,880
Spirit of truth, to open our 
eyes to what God is telling us. 

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00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:35,200
And we do that when we're on our
own. 

211
00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:37,520
We should do that on our own. 
Somebody's maybe if people read 

212
00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:39,160
the Bible on their own, 
somebody's you can just go, I've

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00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,080
got like 5 minutes, quick, 
quick, quick. 

214
00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:43,400
But actually we should always 
stop for just a real moment and 

215
00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:46,680
go, Lord, by your Spirit, would 
you speak to me through your 

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00:11:46,680 --> 00:11:49,480
word? 
Please show me Jesus today. 

217
00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:51,120
Amen. 
And then we read. 

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00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:56,680
So actually we want to be a 
learning church in the power of 

219
00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:59,960
the Spirit. 
Jesus has sent us, poured out 

220
00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:04,200
his Spirit so we'll understand 
more about who God is, who Jesus

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00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:07,120
is, who the Spirit is, what the 
gospel is, what it means to live

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00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:10,000
as Jesus witnesses. 
We want to do that on Sunday 

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00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:13,080
mornings and Sunday club in our 
home groups, on Tuesday morning 

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00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:14,880
Bible study in young adults 
groups. 

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Wherever we are, we want the 
Holy Spirit to speak to us 

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through his word so we can learn
more what it means to live for 

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Jesus and be like Jesus in this 
world. 

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My disciples, if you love one 
another. 

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So actually a really key part of
a church's life is we share life

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together. 
We actually invite the people 

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outside of the church to come 
home to the God who loves them 

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and who made them and to join a 
community of people who are 

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seeking to follow that living 
God in this world in the power 

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of the Spirit. 
So our message for people 

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outside the church in a lonely 
and suffering world is you are 

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not alone. 
God has come near to us through 

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his Son Jesus and thy through 
the Spirit. 

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And there is a community waiting
to welcome you made-up of 

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brothers and sisters in Christ 
who are very different in lots 

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of details, but who have 
everything in common because 

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they trust in the same Jesus. 
And actually, that's our message

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to one another in the church as 
well. 

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You are not alone. 
We always know times when when 

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things are hard, when we feel 
like we're alone but actually 

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look as challenging and 
encouraging. 

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Churches like Ave. 
Be family together, walk towards

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each other and walk with one 
another in this world. 

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Pray for one another, open your 
homes to one another, share life

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together. 
When we don't do that, we begin 

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to think I am on my own and no 
one else is struggling like me. 

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No one else is like me. 
Everyone else is so different to

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me. 
But but Luke assures us here we 

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have more in common as followers
of Jesus than we do those 

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divisions. 
Those divisions are real. 

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Those distinctions are real. 
But actually we have everything 

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in common because Jesus came and
lived and died and rose again to

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welcome us home and so that we 
then are in a place to welcome 

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others home to God. 
And a really practical way they 

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did that. 
Luke tells us verse 45 is the 

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early church gave generously to 
one another. 

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So they shared life together. 
They were in each other's homes,

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but also we're told they sold 
property and possessions to give

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to anyone who had need. 
And we're going to see in the 

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opening chapters of Acts that 
when when the believers did 

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this, they weren't compelled to,
that there wasn't a command. 

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It wasn't like a a commune idea.
You have to sell everything. 

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People would sell things and 
they'd be then free to do what 

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they wanted with that money. 
In chapter 5, we're going to 

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learn about a couple that tried 
to lie to the rest of the church

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and claim they were giving more 
than they actually were with 

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pretty disastrous consequences. 
But here it's people willingly 

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going. 
I have got things that other 

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people could use. 
I've got ways of helping that I 

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want to use to help other 
people. 

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As the believer shared life 
there, they thought, well, I can

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maybe help with that. 
I could. 

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I've got a bit of advice on 
that. 

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Or I can actually come over and 
give you a hand with that. 

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They sell property and 
possessions. 

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They give to anyone in need. 
They were generous with what 

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they had. 
And why are they generous? 

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Because in the gospel, God is so
generous to us. 

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These believers knew that God 
owed them nothing. 

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They used to live as enemies of 
God, but God in his grace 

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welcomed them home to himself, 
and now together they could use 

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the gifts and skills and 
possessions they had to bless 

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other people the way God had 
first blessed them in Jesus. 

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It's worth thinking, who were 
the people in need in verse 45 

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primarily? 
Probably they were other 

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believers. 
Again, this is a big church. 

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3000 plus. 
So they're helping each other as

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believers, but I think very 
quickly in the book of Acts we 

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see that that generosity 
overflows the people outside the

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church too. 
Look at verse 47 says the 

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believers enjoyed the favour of 
all the people and the Lord 

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added to their number daily. 
Those who were being saved the 

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world around would see the 
generosity of the Christians to 

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each other and they'd want a bit
of that. 

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They'd go, I want to know more 
about that. 

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Again, in the early Roman world,
when Christianity was still 

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technically illegal and 
persecuted, lots of Roman 

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observers notice, see how the 
Christians love each other. 

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It was a huge drawing point for 
people outside the church. 

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So this is what Luke wants to 
show us here is that as a local 

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church here at Ave., we want to 
be a loving church in the power 

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of the Spirit because the way we
love each other is a reflection 

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of the love we've received from 
God. 

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We are generous and called to be
generous because actually God is

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even more generous than we ever 
will be and he wants us to 

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follow his lead. 
And that kind of links with the 

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the third commitment we're going
to look at really briefly, which

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is that this is a thankful 
church because we're told they 

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were devoted to the breaking of 
bread. 

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And in a moment, actually, we 
are going to break bread and 

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take wine together to celebrate 
the Lord's Supper. 

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Now, there's a bit of debate 
about this. 

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First, some people think maybe 
this is another reference to the

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breaking of bread in each 
other's homes. 

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It just says they were eating 
together, spending a lot of time

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together. 
That's probably part of it. 

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Also, Luke does say the breaking
of bread. 

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So he maybe is talking about in 
particular the Lord's Supper. 

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And I think he probably is 
referring to both, actually, in 

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the early church, that Lord's 
Supper, taking bread and wine as

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we're going to do, would have 
been part of a larger meal in 

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people's homes. 
There weren't church buildings 

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at that point. 
But actually here with the 

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breaking of bread, Luke is 
showing us the early Christians 

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regularly remembered, celebrated
and received from God the saving

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grace of Jesus demonstrated at 
the cross for them. 

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Because the Lord's Supper is a 
really precious gift to 

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Christians. 
We take the bread, we break it, 

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remembering Jesus body broken 
for us. 

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We take wine and drink it, 
reminding ourselves of Jesus 

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blood shed for us on the cross. 
The Lord's Supper is a picture 

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of the gospel, and it's 
something meant to help us 

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remember God, but also to thank 
him, and where God meets with us

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and welcomes us afresh with all 
that he's won for us through 

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Jesus. 
And that's a precious thing, 

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because forgiveness is what we 
all need. 

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Think of the 12 apostles in that
early church. 

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Every one of them had sort of 
run away and abandoned Jesus 

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when he was arrested. 
They had no illusions. 

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They were great, strong people. 
They knew they needed 

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forgiveness. 
Think of the 3000 people who 

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joined the church in Pentecost. 
Then a lot of them have been in 

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the crowd a few weeks earlier 
shouting crucify him, crucify 

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him. 
They had been enemies of Jesus 

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and now Jesus was welcoming them
round his table. 

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This was a thankful community 
and you, God didn't owe them 

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anything, but he lavished his 
welcome and grace and 

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forgiveness on them and they 
wanted to receive that and give 

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thanks to God for that which is 
this final sign of a spirit 

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filled church that Luke tells 
us. 

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This was a praying church. 
Verse 42, he says they devoted 

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themselves to prayer and we've 
seen that again and again in 

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this series. 
If you've been here at all, 

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prayer is at the heart of a 
spirit filled church as follows 

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of Jesus. 
We need to learn we can't do 

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this on our own. 
It's not about how wise we can 

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be, how clever we can be. 
Actually, we need God's Spirit 

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to help us and lead us as 
witnesses for Jesus. 

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And why is prayer so central to 
your life? 

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Live for Jesus in the power of 
the Spirit. 

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Well, because prayer reminds us 
that we are connected to God and

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we need Him. 
There's a there's a writer that 

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that put it a bit like this in a
book I was reading recently. 

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He just wrote this. 
A life of walking by the Spirit 

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is a life of prayer, and a life 
of prayer is a life of walking 

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by the Spirit. 
Prayer is a refusal to do life 

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in our own strength and 
ingenuity. 

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It's a plea for help from above 
and within. 

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Remember, the Spirit lives in 
followers of Jesus. 

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Prayer demonstrates a heart that
is hungry for God's presence and

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intervention in our world. 
In the same way, walking by the 

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Spirit is a lifestyle that 
depending on God, not ourselves 

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for life and breath. 
Prayer is the heart of walking 

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00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,320
by the Spirit. 
You're going to be really 

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rubbish at the end is if you 
thought actually we've got to do

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all these characters of a church
and it's up to us. 

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We've got to be a learning 
church, got to really work hard,

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be a loving church, work hard 
actually in all these things, 

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Jesus wants us to come to him 
and ask for his spirits help in 

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them. 
If we want to be a learning 

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church, we need the spirit to 
open our eyes to what God's 

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00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:05,840
telling us in his words. 
If we want to be a loving 

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00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:08,080
church, we need the spirit to 
take away our natural heart of 

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stone and give us a heart of 
flesh that beats for God and 

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beats for other people. 
If we want to be a thankful 

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church, we need the Spirit to 
show us just what Jesus has done

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for us and how we can praise Him
for a spirit filled church is a 

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church that praise.