Saints Together Week 1 - Chains & Triumph
Read
Acts 16:16-25
16 Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God.” 18 She did this for many days. Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the spirit, he said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away. 19 When her owners realized that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. 20 Bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews 21 and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had severely flogged them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to guard them carefully. 24 Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-11
9 Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. 10 For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up. 11 Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm?
Summary
When I was a little boy, I remember watching Batman on my black and white tv. My Batman did not have all the armor of todays Batman. He wore blue tights and drove a modified 1955 Lincoln Future. The one thing I loved about watching Batman is that in most of the episodes, he would find himself in trouble. He would be tied up, have to face a group of bad guys, or be facing death. When this happened, I began to look for him, who would that be, Robin. You see Batman was great, but he could not do everything alone, he needed help. Welcome back to Community Group, last week we finished up our Operation Series. I pray that you were able to allow God to work in areas of your life.
This week we will be starting a new series entitled Saints Together. There are a lot of dynamic duos in the Bible. Some worked well together and some had to learn how to work great together. Regardless, being together allowed them to help, edify and encourage each other.
Godly relationships in scripture can help us as we seek Christian Community. We can’t have a Word from God if we are not in the Word of God. Simply because, a Word from God must match the Word of God. When we walk in Christian Community it makes us better because it affects our PERSPECTIVE, PRAYER, PRAISE, POWER, and PURPOSE.
Today we will see how being together helped this duo have the right PERSPECTIVE. It’s easy to lose PERSPECTIVE when you are alone. Not only is our PERSPECTIVE better with someone by our side, but so is our PRAISE. Praise is amplified when there is more than one person doing it.
Let’s look at our scripture passage in Acts 16:16-25.
The first point we will look at is PERSPECTIVE. In Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 we see the benefits of having someone by your side. When that someone has the same faith, shares the same vision and goals as you, it makes life easier. In dark moments, you want someone that will remind you of what is at stake and who you should run to. Paul and Silas were in prison, they had been arrested and beaten. All this happened because they were serving Christ. They were happy to be in prison, not because they enjoyed it, but because of why they were there.
They were on their way to PRAYER when they found themselves in this situation. While in prison, the continued to PRAY and to PRAISE God. Their PRAYER not just encouraged them, it encouraged everyone in the prison. While they were PRAYING and PRAISING, the walls began to shake and the prison doors opened.
When things looked bad and the situation seemed bleak, they chose to PRAY and PRAISE. They choose to PRAY when things looked bad. The chose to trust that God had a plan for them. They chose to PRAY regardless of the circumstances. And when they did this the chains of fear, the chains of doubt, the chains of despair and the actual chains all came off.
PRAYER and PRAISE are choices, and it is our PERSPECTIVE that will take us to them or push us away from them. This world has the ability to change our PERSPECTIVE, Christian Community has a way of reminding us of the One who drives our perspective.
So, what are our next steps:
Invite your Christian Community into your darkest moments.
Expect resistance when God calls us to do hard things.
Maintain healthy PRAYER rhythms
Choose to PRAISE, don’t let circumstances steal your joy.
Salvation
Discussion
How did your PERSPECTIVE change when you accepted Christ? What was the hardest change to make?
Who helps you keep the right perspective? Explain.
How does your PRAYER life change when you face tough situations? Explain.
Who do you share your prayer life with? Who is(are) your prayer partner(s)?
How does PRAISE fit in to your struggles? How should it fit?
Announcements
We are already beginning to plan for next year, please help us pray as we week God’s leading in His CG Ministry.
We will be starting to implement CG Coordinators this year. Each Coordinator will be providing support for their CG and four others. Please pray for our future Coordinators.Let’s continue to pray for each other and send prayer requests through our WhatsApp thread. If you are a CG Leader and are not on our WhatsApp thread please contact Meichelle at meichelle.vasquez@bt.church
Pastor Isuaro Medina
Isauro.medina@bt.church
Cell: (956) 984-9380
