Acts 2:36-47 [+/-]Acts 2:36-47
[36]Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain
that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom
you crucified."
[37]Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart,
and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers,
what shall we do?" [38]And Peter said to them, "Repent and
be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit. [39]For the promise is for you and
for your children and for all who are far off, everyone
whom the Lord our God calls to himself." [40]And with many
other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them,
saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation."
[41]So those who received his word were baptized, and there
were added that day about three thousand souls.
[42]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. (ESV)
One of my most special childhood memories is young couples coming to our house to meet with my father about building their dream home. They would ordinarily bring a picture of that home and my father could look at the picture and tell them about how much that home would cost. It was then that the happy faces turned to horrified glances as the couple saw their dream home collapsing right in front of them. It was about that time that my father would say, let me take your picture and develop a blueprint for you. I will design a floor plan based on what you have here, and then we will work together to get what you want for the price you can afford. The smiles returned. He would always somewhere near the end of the conversation tell every young couple the same thing; I can hear him even today: You need to know two things before we even begin. First, you have to build at least three houses before you ever you get what you are looking for and second, you need to understand that the day I give you the key to your new house, you will walk in that day and find something that you would have changed if you had to do it all over again. You could see they doubted him, but he was never wrong about that basic building truth. They would leave; he would always begin immediately to work on the blueprint.
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