Sunday, September 26, 2021 | Celebrating in Unity

[Music] welcome to sunday school lesson at a glance a ministry of the sunday school publishing board where we focus on teaching engaging application and learning for teachers and students i will be sharing highlights and key points from the adult faith pathway bible study sunday school book and the townsend press sunday school commentary based on the international lesson series we're in the fall quarter of sunday school lessons the title of this quarter study is celebrating god this quarter focuses on acts of worship and praise that celebrate who god is and what god has done for his people this is the last lesson in unit one and unit one is god's people all for praise the lessons in this unit gives examples of persons who celebrated god get your sunday school book bible notepad pen or device and follow along as we take a glimpse into this week's sunday school lesson now let's get started with this wonderful lesson the lesson title for this week september the 26th is celebrating in unity and this is the title in the adult book the title in the sunday school commentary is believers praise god the background scripture is acts chapter 2 verses 32 and 33 and 37 through 47. the print passage is acts chapter 2 verses 32 and 33 verses 37 through 47. the key verse in this week's lesson is they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship to the breaking of bread and prayer and that's acts chapter 2 verse 42 the new international version questions to consider and reflect on as we go through this week's lesson are number one what was peter's message to the crowd on the day of pentecost number two what was the promise the people received when they repented and were baptized and question number three what was so significant about the early church let's take a brief look at the lesson biblical context this week's lesson is in the book of acts in acts chapter 1 jesus told his disciples to wait in jerusalem for the promise of the holy spirit on the day of pentecost they were in one place of one accord they were praying and fellowshipping and waiting fifty days after celebration of the first fruits they celebrated pentecost the passover and pentecost were only about seven weeks apart jews who lived outside jerusalem or farther across the land would make the pilgrimage to jerusalem for the annual feast days many jewish pilgrims would remain in jerusalem to celebrate both sacred festivals this remaining crowd represented a diverse mix of people throughout the region the prominent character in this week's lesson is peter peter and his brother andrew were two of the original 12 disciples and later became apostles of jesus christ peter is the writer of first and second peter traditionally it is believed that peter died as a mortal and was crucified upside down in rome according to acts chapter 2 verse 1 when the celebration of pentecost had fully come there came a mighty rushing wind from heaven and it filled the house where they had where they had gathered and there appeared to each of them tongues of fire after which they began to speak the word of god with boldness and we read this in acts chapter 2 verses 1 through 4. pentecost marks the birth of the church the church was born on the day of pentecost pentecost is the day when the holy spirit came into the world fulfilling the promise of jesus to his disciples they were given divine power to be his witnesses the coming of the holy spirit is the fulfillment of jesus's promise during his earthly ministry jesus promised that the father would send another comforter who would baptize his disciples with power in the lesson today peter was the chief spokesman for the apostles on the day of pentecost delivering the first christian sermon ever preached on the day of pentecost peter having been filled with the spirit stood before the crowd of thousands to boldly declare the gospel by the power of the holy spirit people opened their hearts received the truth and asked how they could respond to the good news peter delivered and we see this in acts chapter 2 verse 37 lesson aims for this week number one understand jesus's forgiveness of sins and the role of the holy spirit in your lives and in the life of the church the second lesson aim discern how the love of jesus and the gift of the holy spirit inspire believers of different backgrounds to share a life of worship care and witness and the third lesson aim plan opportunities for persons to encounter the holy spirit and begin a relationship with jesus christ through the ministries of your church as we continue our glimpse into this week's lesson i'm going to share two key points from each outline in the lesson text and expound some on each one there are three outlines presented in the adult faith pathway sunday school book the first outline is the pricking and that's acts chapter 2 verse 32 and 33 and verses 37 and 38 the second outline is the promise and that's acts chapter 2 verses 39 through 42 and the third outline is the praise and that's acts chapter 2 verses 43-47 let's begin our analysis of the biblical text as we begin with the first outline the pricking and verse 32 reads god has raised this jesus to life and we are all witnesses of it in verse 33 exalted to the right hand of god he has received from the father the promised holy spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear key point number one peter declared the central truth of the christian gospel that jesus was raised from the dead peter tells the crowd about the miraculous resurrection of jesus the messiah to which he and those with him were witnesses they witnessed jesus's death burial and resurrection peter goes on to elaborate on the resurrection and subsequent events by explaining that jesus is now seated at the right hand of god as the promised messiah jesus ascended back to heaven and was exalted at the right hand of god verse 37 reads when the people heard this they were cut to the heart and said to peter and the other apostles brothers what shall we do verse 37 refers to the writing in verse 36 which is not a part of this lesson but reads therefore let all israel be assured of this god has made this jesus whom you crucified both lord and messiah as peter spoke with such power and authority the people's hearts were pricked and they wanted to know what they must do to resolve this grave sin they committed against god peter instructed them in what to do in verse 38 and verse 38 reads peter replied repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the holy spirit key point number two peter appeals to the crowd to repent and be baptized in the name of jesus christ repent means to turn it is having a change of mind and or feeling remorse repentance for salvation requires making a complete turn from the life of sin and confession of jesus as lord and savior baptized denotes a washing or purification baptism is a symbol of what has taken place inside it is the public evidence or affirmation of a repentant spirit water baptism is symbolic of the inward change that has taken place in a person's life baptism alone does not save it represents to the world that a person has made a definitive break from their past and decided to embrace god's gift of salvation in jesus christ second outline the promise peter further explained the promise of the holy spirit which they would receive verse 39 reads the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off for all whom the lord our god will call key point number one god's spirit is now available to anyone who believes god the promise is available to everyone who would receive it young and old male and female and to both jews and gentiles believers receive the holy spirit when they are saved by faith the impartation of the spirit is directed by god himself no apostle or church leader has ever had the power or authority to select who will be saved the door is open for anyone who calls on the name of the lord by faith verse 40 reads with many other words he warned them warned them and he pleaded with them save yourselves from this corrupt generation key point number two peter pleaded with his listeners to accept the gospel message verse 41 reads those who accepted his message were baptized and about 3 000 were added to their number that day the church grew the church grew from 120 to 3120 in one day three thousand persons responded to the word by being baptized and accepting jesus as savior and lord and were added to the church that day many of the three thousand were undoubtedly pilgrims who came to jerusalem for the feast of pentecost the early church was filled with people from various ethnic and social backgrounds the promise of god was and is given upon the confession of one's faith through repentance and reliance on jesus christ for salvation verse 42 reads they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship to the breaking of bread and to prayer the new converts formed a community that came together to receive and study god's word and to unite in fellowship eating and praying together the believers were committed to learning about jesus christ they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching they were committed to being together to fellowship and breaking bread together and finally they were committed to praying together prayer was one of their most powerful spiritual tools the church was strong because they did these things you cannot have a healthy church without the teaching of god's word and prayer also the coming together in fellowship and the breaking of bread the lord's supper and all are all vital to the life of the church third outline the praise key point number one the early christians came together to share their possessions so that everyone's needs were met verse 43 everyone was filled with all at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles verse 44 all the believers were together and had everything in common and verse 45 they sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need verse 46 every day they continue to meet together in the temple courts they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts and verse 47 praising god and enjoying the favor of all the people and the lord added to their number daily those who were being saved key point number two the early christian church grew the new converts formed a christian community they were devoted to one another they continued daily with one accord denoting one heart and having the same purpose the early christians showed love to each other the members of the early church broke bread together daily breaking of bread can refer to both the ceremonial practice of the lord's supper and simply sharing a common meal they went to the temple for daily worship no one lacked anything because they took care of one another the people praised god the lord added dearly to their numbers the early christian church was strong vibrant and unified in summary wonderful things happen when christians come together in christian love and unity christian love and fellowship manifested itself in the early church god added to the church daily as they joyfully praised their lord and savior the believers of the early church were blessed a congregation that follows the example and pattern of the early church has the potential to be a very powerful spiritual force for social and spiritual change wouldn't it be wonderful if our churches today demonstrated the characteristics of the early church in closing thank you for tuning in to sunday school lesson at a glance i hope this glimpse of this week's lesson is helpful to you as you prepare to teach and study god's word for additional information and resources contact the sunday school publishing board don't forget to click the like share and subscribe button sunday school teachers and students check out the 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Channel: Sunday School Lesson at-A-Glance

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Length: 17min 19sec (1039 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021