Are You Devoted?

Earlier this year, from January to August, we went through the Book of Acts during the Sunday morning sermons. The main reason I felt God led me to preach on Acts is because He wanted to challenge us at New Heights to be more like the first church described in that book. In case you have forgotten, Acts describes how 12 men filled with the Holy Spirit and given a mission by God, turned the world upside down in a generation. The same possibility lies before New Heights if we are willing to follow the example of the early church in Acts!

One area where I see a big difference between New Heights and the church in Acts is how they seemed to have a deep desire to be together in fellowship as often as possible. Look at Acts 2:42-47, “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 43A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved” (NLT). This is the type of church God wants New Heights to be! This is the type of church that can turn our community and world upside down! No where in these verses is there any hint of these early Christians declining to meeting together because of being tired in the morning, just not feeling like it, more important things coming up, unbelieving family members discouraging them, conflicts with work schedules, hobbies, sports, etc.

Verse 42 says the early Christians were “devoted” to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship. “Devoted” has a deeper meaning than “committed.” Committed is something you do in your head. It means “to obligate or pledge oneself” (Webster). Devotion, however, has to do with our hearts. When we are devoted to something, we do it because we long for it in the depths of our being. God wants us to be “devoted to the Apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship.” This is unmistakably describing our local church. Devotion is a trademark of any disciple of Jesus Christ. A disciple is someone who is devoted to Christ, His church and His mission.

God wants to challenge you today to have a heart that is devoted to the teaching of the apostles (attending Sunday sermons at church and small group Bible studies) and the fellowship (brothers and sisters in the Lord at New Heights) and to the mission Christ has given us (to transform our community and world for Jesus Christ). If your heart just isn’t there, if you prioritize other things above church, ask God today in prayer to give you a heart that is devoted to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship. The eternal destiny of hundreds or even thousands in our community may lie in the balance! Let’s become a devoted church today!