More Than Bread Dan Nold (Pastor of Calvary Church)

I want to dance, but even more I want to see those around me dance. When the crippled man of Acts 3 began to dance in the temple, do you understand his crippled place  become the glory bookmark in the chapter of the story entitled, "When the Spirit was  poured out." Where are the bookmarks in your life? What potential bookmarks are  there in the lives of people around you? Places of brokenness external or internal,  places of brokenness that when wholeness comes, they become bookmarks for the glory of God?  Are we praying for the broken people around us. Are we praying that they dance?

I know you want to dance. I want the crippled places in my life to become bookmarks for God's glory...but this story forces me to ask, "Am I praying that God will bring a dance of gratefulness to the lives of those around me?"

As we dive into Acts 3, we encounter one of favorite early church moments, a truly  iconic miracle, the story of a lame beggar who became a dancing cripple. In fact, I’ve  used that as my user name on more than occasion, because in the end, aren’t we all just  dancing cripples?  And I don't know if you've noticed it or not, but when a cripple dances, a crowd begins to form and the church begins to matter.

See I believe that's why Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until God gave  them the gift of His Spirit. He told them to wait until they got what He had to give, because without the Spirit, church doesn't really matter. Without the Spirit we don't have a whole lot to give. But with the Spirit we have more than we know. 

"Wait for the Spirit," Jesus said. Then the Spirit came and the church was birthed.  It was a church of humble power and courageous generosity, a church that lived against the grain of society but loved so deeply many in that culture were compelled to join them. It became a church that beat down the gates of hell to rescue neighbors from darkness. This was the church birthed and empowered by the very Spirit of Christ.

There are many different descriptions, different words, the Bible paints many different pictures to help us understand the Spirit. But one of my favorites is the "breath of God" the wind. It's the Hebrew word, Ruach. It is the breath of God that breathes life into our deadness, that blows fire into our hearts, that brings power for living. And that breath, the breath of God is so for you!

I want to live the uncommon life that comes from an uncommon encounter with the living God.  And as much as I want to see signs and wonders like the healing of bodies; even more I hunger to see the healing and renovation of hearts. I hunger to see the healing of 10's of 1000's of hearts; the kind of wholesale renovation that would lead God to be pleased to pour out a blessing on central PA that cannot be contained in one
heart, one valley, one school, but spills over and draws people from all over world to Central PA to be shaped by God at work

What will it take to get there? A full-on heart devotion to Jesus.

Acts 2:42-47 is the original destination for the church. Don't get me wrong, the Acts 2 church was just as full of imperfect people as we are today.  The Acts 2 church would make mistakes just like we do today. But there was a freshness of Spirit and when that Spirit is let loose in the church, I believe the church is the hope of the world. 

I don't mean a building or a Sunday morning gathering. I mean followers of Jesus let  loose in the world; loving God, loving each other, and loving their neighbors like they love themselves. Because listen, as another pastor once said, "There is nothing like the local church when it is working right.  Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is  breathtaking.  Its potential is unlimited."

If we aren't that kind of church...we have to ask...why not?

What if it's true that God offers us His presence in the same the same way, he offered it at Pentecost? What if a group of people could be so filled with the Spirit that the world was changed...turned upside down? What if what happened in Acts 2, could happen today? Would we want it?

That day in the upper room as the Spirit came, tongues of fire sat upon each head. Fire is a dominant metaphor when talking about the work of the Holy Spirit.  The followers of Jesus saw 120 flames of fire, one on each person. The Spirit gave them a fire of passion for God, for each other, and a passion to share Jesus with others. An encounter with the Holy Spirit will cause our hearts to burn.

Lord would you do it again?!!