FALL: Part 4 (By Matt Williams)

Posted on Oct 25, 2018 in BLOG |

For the month of October, we have been looking at four of the many signs that screams, “Christians are here!” through the acronym of FALL. “F” stands for FELLOWSHIP, “A” for awe, “L” for linked, and the final “L” is for love. Yet get this: if you read Acts 2:42-47, you will not find the word “love” mentioned anywhere. But if you look close…you’ll see it; it’s in there.

You can see it in the fact that they had all things in common, selling property and possessions to share with anyone and everyone in need. That’s love!
You can see it in the way they moved from house to house fellowshipping with gladness and sincerity. That, too, is love!
You can see it by the favor they had for one another. By the way, the Greek word for “favor” means “loving-kindness.”

So you see, although the word “love” is never used in this passage of Scripture, the people’s actions and openness to each other demonstrated it. They demonstrated daily that they were followers of Jesus Christ of Nazareth by their defining characteristic… LOVE (see John 13:35).

Is that true of us? Would our defining characteristic be love? Many times, if a church is not careful, it can become a country club of exclusive membership. It may be true that persons coming in will often meet the requirements (i.e. receiving Christ as Savior, attend the membership class, etc.), yet once they become “members”, will they find welcoming, open arms or small groups of four to six closely knit people who don’t share life with these new souls.

You see, the new church of Acts screamed loudly, “NEW CHRISTIANS ARE HERE!” How do I know? Look at the words that Luke the physician chose: (a) Everyone – verse 43; (b) all those – verse 44; (c) all things in common – verse 44 (d) sharing with them all – verse 45….and the list goes on. They understood that the foremost indicator that Christians are in the house…is LOVE!

Nothing has changed for over 2,000 years – love continues to be the defining characteristic that separates us from the rest of the world. Yet, sometimes it’s the one characteristic that is most often ditched when life is tough. Don’t let that happen to you or to PHBC. Let love be spoken here and demonstrated in every situation. Let the world know that CHRISTIANS ARE HERE!