The New Temple Community: God’s Great House Party (Wednesday Night 12/4)

Title: The New Temple Community: God’s Great House Party Big Idea: The early church's life together in Acts 2:40-47 is the fulfillment of God’s covenant plan to form a new, Spirit-filled people—a living temple that reflects His presence and restores His creation.   I. The Bigger Story: A Renewed People 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. 5 His people have acted corruptly toward him; this is their defect—they are not his children but a devious and crooked generation. 4 Oh sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, brood of evildoers, depraved children! They have abandoned the Lord; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they have turned their backs on him. 31 “Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”—the Lord’s declaration. 33 “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin. II. The New Covenant Community 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.  Now I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.  28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand men fell dead that day among the people.  III. The Practices of the Spirit-Filled Community 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures. 6 On this mountain, the Lord of Armies will prepare for all the peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast with aged wine, prime cuts of choice meat, fine vintage wine. 6 As for the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to become his servants— all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold firmly to my covenant—7 I will bring them to my holy mountain and let them rejoice in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”