Church
I'm excited to be a part of a Church plant - to simply share the elements of Church (Scripture, baptism, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer, worship, meeting the needs of others, caring for the poor) with a group of committed Believers.
When you start thinking about Church planting, the book of Acts is the place to start. I (Kate) started reading Acts this week, and this part always encourages and challenges me:
"Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common....There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need." Acts 4:32-35
Cool! But have you ever read the story following this passage, in Acts 5:1-11? Check it out here.
Did you catch that?! Ananias and Sapphira sold their property to give money to the poor, but instead of giving all of their money, they kept a portion of the money for themselves. And because of that - the fact that they lied about how much they'd sold the property for and kept a portion for themselves - they died immediately. Immediately!
I mean, they sold their stuff, they sold their property. They were giving it to the poor. But they lied and didn't give all of their money to the poor, so they died.
They died.
I think those are pretty intense ramifications, don't you?
Do you think Peter felt bad that they died because he called them out on the lie?
Why do you think that they lied about it in the first place?
Do we trust God enough that we'll sell all of our possessions and give all of our money for the good of others? Or do we think that we need to keep a portion so that we can take care of ourselves?
What do you think?
When you start thinking about Church planting, the book of Acts is the place to start. I (Kate) started reading Acts this week, and this part always encourages and challenges me:
"Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common....There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need." Acts 4:32-35
Cool! But have you ever read the story following this passage, in Acts 5:1-11? Check it out here.
Did you catch that?! Ananias and Sapphira sold their property to give money to the poor, but instead of giving all of their money, they kept a portion of the money for themselves. And because of that - the fact that they lied about how much they'd sold the property for and kept a portion for themselves - they died immediately. Immediately!
I mean, they sold their stuff, they sold their property. They were giving it to the poor. But they lied and didn't give all of their money to the poor, so they died.
They died.
I think those are pretty intense ramifications, don't you?
Do you think Peter felt bad that they died because he called them out on the lie?
Why do you think that they lied about it in the first place?
I am thinking about our stuff and our money....
What do you think?
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