“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.”
Acts 4:32
Dear HBIC Family,
Lately, God has really been showing me and reinforcing our need for reliance and dependance on him. Our God is enough. God is our all-providing Father. Jesus is our all-loving Lord and Savior. And the Holy Spirit is the always gracious gift-giver. We are also blessed with the Body of Christ, sisters and brothers who journey with us in our walk with God. The Church is also this universal, global body of believers who provides witness and testimony of what God has done, reveals what God is doing right now, and gifts us hope for the work God will do tomorrow.
God is enough in our times of plenty and in our times of need. God is enough in our times of joy and in our times of deep sorrow. God is enough in our times of triumph and in our times of struggle. God is enough in our times of healing and in the midst of our suffering. God is enough, in our listening and in our speaking, in our prayers and in our heart’s cry, in our wars and in our peace. Our humanity as created beings can often be summed up by what we lack or where we fall short; our reality as sons and daughters of our God is that God is enough!!
It is not enough for us to know that God is enough, we must also believe it. It is not enough for us to only be thankful for how God has been enough, we must also trust that God is enough today. Our reliance on God is based on our faith in God, and that faith helps us to know that God will always be enough. I keep learning all of this through the two greatest gifts Jesus left behind after returning to heaven – the Spirit and the Church. God is enough because the Spirit lives in us, emboldens us, and enables us to live and love like Jesus. The Spirit makes the Church enough.
This week, as we continue exploring our current series, Acts: The Church Then and Now, we will look at what it means that God is enough, as embodied by the Church. The story of Ananias and Sapphira really begins at the birth of the church – a community and family where believers put God and others first and willingly shared their possession and resources. Their story, however, ends in lack of faith in God and the community and family they had joined. To prepare for this week’s services, I would like to invite you to read and meditate on Acts 4:32-5:11. As you reflect, I would like to ask you to focus on the following questions:
What does this passage say about God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)?
What does this passage say about followers of God?
Where in your life is God calling you to believe and trust that he is enough?
Where in your heart do you need to grow in complete trust in God?
What does this passage say about followers of God?
Where in your life is God calling you to believe and trust that he is enough?
Where in your heart do you need to grow in complete trust in God?
It is almost impossible to read the Ananias and Sapphira story and not be shocked by its severity. This week, however, I find myself asking, “What must it have been like for the early believers back then?” They surely knew of stories in Scripture where God acted mightily. They surely knew the severity of lies, deception, and worshipping God…but not with your whole heart. But this was unprecedented in the new community. Nevertheless, they learned what it means that God is enough, and what it means that we are to give to God with our whole heart.
Our God, who is enough, asks us for complete trust and reliance in him. One way we do that is by knowing that all we are and have belongs to God. In life and in community, in word and in practice, in faith and complete trust, may we give all of ourselves to God – completely, and every single day.
God bless you all.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Hank (Acts 4:32)
Pastor Hank (Acts 4:32)