Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 11 09 2023 A Picture of the Early Church

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11 09 2023 A Picture of the Early Church · Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris

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  Most of us eat every day, some of us too much, because yesterday's
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  food is not enough to supply energy for today's needs. Why then, do
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  some of us expect yesterday's portion of heavenly manna, the word of God to
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  keep us through today's challenges. On this program, we are going to change
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  all of that. Let's experience God's words today and receive the power we need
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  to live healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome to your Daily Portion with your host,
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  author speaker, Elle David Harris. Good morning, Good morning, good
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  morning. It is Thursday, November nine, twenty twenty three. Hello,
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  my name is El David Harris. I am your host, and this is
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  your Daily Portion where we give you God's Word every single day, and today
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  is no exception. We are continuing in our Lesson study series. God's Mission,
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  my mission, and our caption for today is a picture of the early
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  Church. The picture of the early Church. It's one of those things.
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  It is the picture that Jesus saw. We'll get into that in just a
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  moment, but first i'd like to say welcome to you and ask you to
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  go over to your Daily Portion dot com, join our online community and click
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  click to say where you are in the world. There's a little box there
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  with a form and it says where are you in the world. That helps
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  me to see how far and why the Gospel through this ministry is being spread
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  into all the world. Also, pick up your Daily Portion book at your
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  Daily Portion dot com. Let's go ahead and pray and then we will get
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  underway. Father in Heaven, thank you for giving us the privilege of opening
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  up your word again today. Please give us your Holy Spirit. Teach us
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  how to love you, teach us how to be the Church that Jesus saw.
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  In Jesus's name, I pray Amen and Amen again. During the pandemic,
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  I was really thinking heavily on the church that Jesus saw because there were
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  so many arguments and fights about how church should look, how we should be
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  worshiping, especially considering the crisis that we were experiencing, and I really wanted
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  to know, like, what did Jesus see when he called us his body?
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  What did he see when he called us the church? And so we're
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  going to the Book of Acts. The Book of Acts, I think is
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  a good starting point. Acts chapter two, beginning at verse fourty one,
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  and I will read from the King James version of the Bible, and the
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  Bible reads. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized. And so
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  the first thing that Jesus saw were people who, well, in this text,
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  I should say, are people who experienced God's word and received it gladly
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  and didn't just get excited. Right. One preacher said, I don't care
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  how high you jump when you worship God. You can jump up and down
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  for all he cared. Right, he said, but when you land,
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  I want to see how straight you walk, because I think the Bible says
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  that straight is the get, straight is the gate, and narrow is the
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  way that leadeth to life right, and few there be that find it,
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  And so yes, receive the Word gladly and then be transformed. In this
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  case we see it through baptism. And the same day there were added unto
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  them about three thousand souls. In the same day there were people who said,
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  yes, Lord, Yes to your will and to your way AH,
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  and turned away from their sins verse forty two. And they continued steadfastly in
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  the apostles, doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread, and in prayers verse
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  forty three. And fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs
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  were done by the apostles, and all that believed were together and had all
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  things come. And you know, I just need to say this. I
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  was at a certain church and one of the elders actually said, and he
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  was an older elder, so he had been in this work for a very
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  long time. He said, Ah, that can't work. Nah, that
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  can't work today. And I said, elder, what do you mean what
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  can't work today? That whole concept of all things common that was then?
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  And I said, but, elder, are you saying that the Holy Ghost
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  does not have the power to transform our lives to the point that we forget
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  ourselves and we are like they were? Then? Are you serious with the
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  latter rain, which will come in a proportion that was greater than that day
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  of Pentecost in the early Church? And he said that that's not that.
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  That can't work. That can't work. I was so disheartened, but I
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  had to stop having the conversation because I was about to preach ooh, long
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  story. But the Bible says that the Holy Ghost was able then, and
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  we know that verily even in our day he is still able. And all
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  that believed. That's the qualifier if we believe and are together. They had
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  all things common and sold their positions in goods and parted them to all men
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  as every man had need, And they continuing daily with one accord in the
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  temple? Are we continually continuing with one accord? Brothers and sisters, even
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  if it's not in the temple, even if it is not breaking bread from
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  house to house? Are we on one accord? See? That was the
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  thing that I saw exposed very very clearly during the pandemic. God's people in
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  some places were not on one accord. We had all kinds of ways to
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  argue about some things that didn't matter, and know there were some things we
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  really did need to resolve. I won't get into those things because then you'll
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  argue with me, and we don't have that kind of time, right Ah.
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  But God is showing us that he had the ability to give them the
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  mind to sell their possessions and goods and parted them as every person had need.
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  And they continually are continuing with one accord daily in the temple, breaking
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  bread from house to house. Did they eat their meat with gladness and singleness
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  of heart? Raising God and having favor with all people, and the Lord
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  added to the church daily such as should be saved. Do you realize that
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  everything I read up until that point really was the way that he was able
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  to add to the church daily such as should be saved. You see people
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  run into the ark, if you want to say, when they see the
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  people inside functioning as true believers. Huh. Without the variances, without the
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  argument showing love and kindness, true consideration for one another, and holiness and
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  not hypocrisy, people are more apt. It doesn't mean that everybody will always
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  do it, but I'm saying people are more apt to join a fellowship that
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  looks like this church that Jesus saw. Yes, persecution will come, Yes,
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  there will be trials and tribulations. Yes, there will be understandings that
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  we will have to dispute and to resolve within our own ranks as we continue
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  to grow in our understanding of the Bible. But the fact is still that
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  God added why because the church did what he said. They tarried, they
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  received the Holy Ghost, and they moved the mission from house to house,
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  from place to place. And his word was pre eminent. And so one
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  of the action steps that I want to consider today comes from verse forty one.
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  Then they gladly received the words they were baptized in the same day were
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  added onto them. About three thousand souls embrace all believers, new believers in
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  particular as our equals. Welcome new members into the fellowship as equals, providing
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  them with the same love and respect and opportunity to grow as everybody else.
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  Number two from verse forty two. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles,
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  doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread, and in prayers. We want to
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  engage in continual learning and fellowship. I will even add discipleship. When I
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  was baptized in nineteen ninety three, nineteen ninety three, No. Ninety six,
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  It was ninety six. When I was baptized in nineteen ninety six,
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  the pastor, Pastor Henry Wright, was going through a year long series for
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  equipping the Saints. And then not long after I was baptized, I was
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  in an evangelism class with Pastor will Smith. Can you imagine? So it
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  was a blessing that God had positioned me early in my experience with him to
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  say, wait a minute, it is not only about me. It's really
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  about love. Fellowship and reaching out from these four walls. And then two
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  more action steps live out your faith with transparency and also and also engage in
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  discipleship and encourage fellowship. Okay, so the picture of the early church,
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  really the church that Jesus saw, is what he wants us to be today
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  right before he returns A wonderful day. Peace. Thanks for joining us listening.
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  Friends. Always remember we cannot live by bread alone, but by every
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  word that comes from the mouth of God. This has been your daily portion
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  with El David Harris. Make it a great day. Yeah,