Bethel Church LJ Podcast

We were created for a relationship with God and a relationship with one another. One of the great deceptions of our age is the belief that we can flourish spiritually while remaining relationally disconnected. God's design has always been relationship.

The gospel is not merely an invitation to receive forgiveness. It is an invitation into fellowship with God and into the family of God. As we walk closely with Him and faithfully with one another, we experience life as God originally intended and display His glory to a watching world.

If God said it was not good for Adam to be alone in a perfect world, how much more do we need one another in a fallen one?

The gospel must be proclaimed. But Paul reminds us that the assignment is larger than speaking alone. The Church is not merely to announce Christ's victory. It is called to demonstrate it.

Through word and deed, proclamation and demonstration, signs and wonders, and the power of the Holy Spirit, the manifold wisdom of God is made known, and the Kingdom of God advances.

May we, Bethel Church, be not only dedicated to preaching the gospel but also committed to fulfilling the gospel assignment through Spirit- empowered demonstration.

Our text gives us a picture of a church devoted to one another. This is a far cry from a Christianity reduced to private belief, occasional attendance, or individual preference. The early believers did not ask, “How little can I be connected and still be considered Christian?” They expressed, by their actions, “How fully can we share life together now that Christ has made us family?”

Yes, our world is different. There are churches on every corner. There are many options. People can leave easily. Preferences can dominate. Commitment can weaken. But the call of Acts 2 remains before us. The church is not merely a place to attend. It is a people to whom we belong. It is a family formed by Christ. It is a body filled by the Spirit.

And if we will recover the devotion of Acts 2, perhaps we will also recover the beauty, power, unity, generosity, and witness of these first believers.

The Christian life can be understood through these three truths:

Kingdom Pursuit - Our responsibility as disciples is to seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness. We pursue God's purposes and reflect God's character.

Kingdom Provision - God's responsibility is to provide everything necessary for the fulfillment of His will.

Kingdom Possession - We live in a fallen world and face a real adversary. We must contend for the manifestation of what God has promised.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all

these things will be added to you.

The power of God lives in you, because the same Spirit who came upon Jesus and stayed has come upon you and stayed. The power is for a purpose — to share the gospel, to make disciples, to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the outcast, and cast out demons. You are the body of Christ. You are His hands and His feet and His voice in a dark world. When you walk into the room, He walks into the room. So, walk out of here today NOT as someone hoping for power, but as someone who carries it — the manifest presence of the living God.

I’ve learned to be still and use wisdom; be sure you’re speaking the word of the Lord and not your own opinion to sound spiritual. Because if you’re just speaking your own opinion there’s no power in it. God is raising up prophetic voices, and you’ll see more come into this region and other places as well, they’re speaking the word of the Lord that’s why there’s been such an attack against prophetic ministry. God is bringing the real deal cause if it’s the word of the Lord it will get something moving, if it's the word of the Lord it will put breath into something, if it’ the real word of God the winds will start blowing and the breath of God will be released.

The Apostle Paul is addressing his impressive religious background and worldly achievements. Before becoming a Christian, he prided himself on his strict adherence to the law, his heritage, and his zeal. However, after his encounter with Jesus, his perspective completely changed.

Philippians 3:7-11

 ⁷ But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— ¹⁰ that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

As we begin to worship Him, His presence begins to emerge from us and fill the atmosphere. The more we know Him and who He really is and where He really is, the more we begin to realize who we really are.

Peter’s sermon reveals that the Holy Spirit is fully capable of drawing, convicting, awakening, and transforming people through the clear proclamation of Christ.

Peter preached. The Spirit openly proclaimed. The Savior boldly confronted sin. Honest calls to souls were urgent. And the result was an awakening.

The church was never called merely to entertain, mirror, or soften the truth to fit culture. Pentecost reminds us that God continues to transform people through the gospel of Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Our task is simply to proclaim Jesus in the power of the Spirit and to trust God to do what human methods cannot.

As we have already seen, the expectation of Jesus was that believers would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. There is a distinction shown throughout Scripture between the Holy Spirit working in believers and the Holy Spirit coming upon believers in empowerment. God breathed life into us and poured out His Spirit upon us so that His Kingdom could move through us into the earth. The Holy Spirit works within believers to bring life, transformation, conviction, and growth. The Holy Spirit also comes upon believers in power for service, witness, ministry, and Kingdom assignment.