Acts 2:41-47

What is it that the early church did?  They loved.

Love is sacrificial.  It is service to someone or something that costs something.  Love, simply put, gives.  Without giving there is no love – it is impossible!!

Last week we looked into Ephesians 5 which gives us a great example of how to love.  Christ demonstrated his love for the church by giving himself sacrificially.

What marks the church – LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST

When the Book of Acts was written there wasn’t an established church.  Paul was writing to the disciples at Antioch who became known as Christians by the people around them.  ‘Christians’, meant ‘little Christs’ because people recognized that there was something Christ-like about them.

To be a Christian is to be like Christ:
– to think like Christ
– to act like Christ
– to love like Christ

John 13:34
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By loving one another everyone will know that you are my disciples!

Christ gave his life in love for us.  Now he empowers us to do the same – to give our lives in love for others.  It is in this way that we are recognized as his disciples, as “little Christs.”

A disciple is someone who is disciplined in following Christ.  It is not just knowledge.  We can find similarities with staying healthy.  We can be full of knowledge regarding healthy eating and the benefits of exercise, however knowledge alone is worthless unless it translates into action.  To merely know about health but never implement it leaves us struggling.  The same is true of love…

To hear the rest of Ps. Randy Srochenski’s message click here.