Acts 2

Acts 2:42-47  And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

⁴³ And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.  ⁴⁴ And all who believed were together and had all things in common.  ⁴⁵ And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.  ⁴⁶ And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,  ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Saturday mornings are always a little hectic for me.  I teach two group fitness classes with only 10 minutes in between classes.  I have to quickly put away equipment and get myself to another room to set-up and change clothes real quick.  Typically my second class starts a minute or two late…which my participants are very gracious about.  Today more stress was added by a fellow instructor letting me know that my second room was having issues, the lights weren’t working right, the sound wasn’t working right, and the outlets weren’t working – so the fans weren’t working.

Great.

So – I went upstairs and figured out what the sound issues were…a secondary volume knob had been turned down.  After turning it up, the sound was fine.  They are doing construction in the room next door, so three of the walls had no power…but the fourth wall did.  After getting an extension cord, I was able to plug in one of the fans.  The overhead lights were working fine, but the spot lights that we use during class wouldn’t work…two out of three isn’t bad.

After class I had a conversation with one of the gym owners who had come in due to the loud concerns of the other instructor.  He shared with me the upgrades the gym was making and why things weren’t working as usual.  He also shared the plans for the future – changing some things around in order to make them better.  I’m super excited about some of the plans I found out about this morning!!

The biggest challenge?  Some of the instructors who have been there for years like things the way they are.  The gym has been “working” for years and changes aren’t needed…at least not in their eyes.  I believe some of them are taking these changes and upgrades as personal affronts; as if these new things are insulting all the work they have put in over the years.  When in reality the reason the owners are putting in all this time and money is because of this very success – trying to make it even better!!

Sometimes I think we struggle with this same thing within the church.  Young people start making new suggestions or new leaders come in and start making changes and upgrades.  It’s not that what has been done in the past hasn’t been good; the changes are made to build upon the successes in the past and take things to the next level.  But those who have been around for many years often see these changes as an insult and are outraged at the suggestion that things could be better.

All this to say – we need to make sure our eyes are where they need to be…on Jesus.  Our passage today helps to remind us what the important things are; what we need to be focusing on as a church.  We need to be learning and growing in our faith, fellowshipping and building one another up, praying, and helping those in need.  We can worship and pray in a room with pews and with chairs.  We can grow in our faith with organ or a praise band.  We can help those in need with traditional Sunday School or small groups.  We need to keep the main thing, the main thing and be thankful and rejoice when God attends us and provides new things.  With change comes more opportunity.  With more opportunity comes leading more to Jesus…which is the main thing!

Isaiah 43:18-19   ¹⁸ "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.  ¹⁹ Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

I’m praying for you as God is doing a new thing!

Pastor Amy