Making 2008 Great!

After the ascension of Jesus 120 people gathered and prayed (Acts 1:14).  The question is...what were they praying for?  If you continue to read on through the end of chapter 2, Luke records for us the answers to their prayers.  If we as individuals and as a church will commit to these 8 things, we will see God move in ways we have never seen before.  Here are the 8 commitments:

1.  Pray
    We will accomplish nothing if we do not pray.  It is through prayer that
    we are able to discover God's will.

2.  Pray for Wisdom and Discernment (Acts 1:21-26)
    This early church had to select someone to take Judas' place.  They prayed to     know God's will that they might obey it.  If we do not pray for wisdom, we will not be able to accomplish the other steps to make this year great.  This is first and foundational step.  When we walk in wisdom, we are truly walking in the Lord.

3.  Pray for a Movement of God's Spirit (Acts 2:2-4a)
    Pentecost was brought about by the fervent prayers of God's people.  They showed they were ready through their submission to God through prayer.  God heard their prayer and put his plan for global evangelism into motion.  He poured His Spirit out among those who were ready -- those with wisdom and discernment.  John tells us that we are to test the Spirits.  The only way we can truly know what is from God is if we test the Spirit against His nature.

4.  Pray for Opportunities to Witness (Acts 2:4b-13)
The apostles were filled with the Spirit of God and enabled to witness in the languages of the nations.  God enabled them to share the message of Jesus Christ in a way that people could understand and respond.  We can no longer be silent.  We must give people the reason for the hope we have in Christ.  Our community longs to see real Christians who really believe and follow the person of Christ.

5.  Pray for Opportunities to Preach (Acts 2:14-40)
this is Peter's first sermon.  It was not flashy.  It was not media driven.  Very simply it was his experience with Jesus along with the truth of Jesus.  We see later that as the apostles stood before the Sanhedrin that there were called unlearned men.  They had no formal training.  They had not been to seminary.  They simply studied at the feet of Jesus and did what He did.  It is time for us to stand and preach the truth of Jesus Christ.  There is no time to sugar-coat things anymore.  Preach the Word!

6.  Pray for Growth (Acts 2:41)
When we make the previous six commitments and do them, growth will happen.  It is God's desire for churches to grow.  It says that 3000 were added to their number that day.  God wants churches to grow numerically.  God wants churches to grow by winning the souls of man to Christ, not by swapping members with other churches.  If we are faithful in witnessing and preaching the Word, souls will be saved.

7.  Pray for Spiritual Growth (Acts 2:42-43)
It means nothing if a church is a mile wide and only an inch deep.  We see that these new converts were committed to teaching, fellowship, worship and prayer.  They were modeling what they saw in the lives of the original 120.  They grew spiritually.  They were true followers of Jesus.  They were reproductive -- meaning they reproduced other followers of Christ.

8.  Pray for the Building of Genuine Community (Acts 2:44-47)
Put very simply, the people in this community of faith met each other's needs.  It was not about status or rank or privilege or anything.  It was all about Jesus!  Not only that, but they found favor with all people.  They were reaching beyond their own group an impacting the lives of those that were not a part of them...yet.  The church needs re-establish itself as the center of the community.  That will only happen through impacted lives.

It is the hope of your pastor, staff and church leaders that you will make these 8 simple commitments to make 2008 truly great!