2. The early church had a passion that produced unity.
Verse 14 tells us, “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer” (NASB). This phrase “one mind” in the Greek language literally means one will, one heart, one passion.
What the writer is telling us about these people is that they had all wrapped their hearts around the same thing. What is it? Look at verse three. It says, “He also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (HCSB).
These are the last 40 days Jesus will be on earth physically. And the Bible says every time Jesus got around his disciples, he only talked about one subject: the kingdom of God. What is the kingdom of God?
The kingdom of God is the ultimate eternal redemptive mission of God. Here’s the way we define the kingdom of God at Hope Church: The kingdom of God is God’s sovereign activity in the world, resulting in people being in right relationship with himself. The kingdom of God is the big picture of what God is doing in the world.
If you’re not careful when you go out and get involved in mission and ministry, the church can become the goal. But the church was never to be the goal. The church is a temporary tool established by Jesus to teach people about the King, to disciple them in kingdom living, and then to send them out for the expansion of the kingdom to the ends of the earth. These people in the book of Acts, they wrapped their hearts around that and said, “Everything else we put aside in view of the glorious kingdom being expanded to the ends of the earth.”
3. The early church had a desperation that produced prayer.
The Bible says they got in that upper room and they devoted themselves to prayer, and they didn’t stop praying until God showed up to do what he said he was going to do. I believe God in his sovereignty has chosen to limit his activity to the prayers of his people. No, God doesn’t need us. God doesn’t need our prayers. Prayer is not powerful. The One to whom we pray is powerful. God, in his infinite sovereignty, has ordained that he moves in response to the prayers of his people.
“Prayer is not powerful. The One to whom we pray is powerful.”
You dig deep enough anywhere in the world where God is actively at work, and let me tell you what you’ll find. You’ll find a remnant of people that have sought the face of God in prayer for that to happen.
