PARTICIPATE WITH THE BODY
Jenna Worsham
Today’s Scripture: “And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.” Acts 4:24, ESV
Theme: When the Church hears what God is doing, we respond and participate through prayer!
YOU ARE THE CHURCH – WE ARE A LIVING BODY
When believers gather, we become a body. By design, the Church was meant to function together. From the moment we gather together, each of us is a contributor; no one is a consumer. When we walk into the atrium and greet each other, as we get our children checked in, as we attend, at the coffee counter, during the worship music, while the weekend message is given, we are the Church.
A PART OF THE CHURCH
The weeks I write devotions, my mindset shifts. I know what the message will be. I pray about the topic; I research and look up scripture. I pray for the speaker. I have a stake in the message. God leads me and teaches me, not just the people presenting on stage. Writing causes me to contribute, to pray, and to participate.
However, I don’t have to write to participate. Participation is a decision. I can pray for the weekend service before it begins. I can serve one service and attend the next. I could gather friends from Life Group to attend together or help prep the building for the services. These actions all help to adjust my mindset. Feeling connected to the body is a result of that participation. God intends for us to contribute and receive when we gather together as a Church. You are needed. If you miss a week, we missed you because your assignment was left unattended - even if that assignment was “just” offering a hug, a friendly smile, or a listening ear.
WHEN THEY HEARD IT
In Acts 4, Peter and John go before the council of religious leaders. They are on trial for healing a crippled man in Jesus’ Name. After they are questioned, the Holy Spirit helps them explain, and they are released. They return to the Church to recount the events of the day. “When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them” (Acts 4:23, ESV). The Church heard the message and “lifted their voices together to God.” Right then, when they heard what God had done, the gathered Church prayed in unison. I imagine they prayed out loud.
TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION ON SUNDAY
There is a special lady at the 9:30am service who affirms and "amens" while our Pastor preaches. If you were at the 11:15am service on the last weekend in October (like I was), you heard Mike Madding talk about how encouraging her feedback and participation is. He even teased that he might hire someone part-time to engage and speak back in every service. Verbal affirmation expresses agreement, shows active listening, is engaging, and engages other listeners. If I were verbally engaging that way, I certainly couldn’t look at my phone, wonder when lunchtime is, or feel excluded. Although I felt too uncomfortable to yell out “Amen” or “That’s good!” right then, I wondered if I, too, could participate during the message.
In the same way that we can verbally engage and respond to our Pastor, we can engage with God while we are listening to a message. God hears our prayers. Is something confusing during a message? Pray for clarity and understanding. Is something relevant to your personal struggle? Thank God for the message and ask Him to help you implement the knowledge you just received. Was there a story, verse, or insight that seemed like it was meant just for you? Thank God for His provision and pray that others would also receive just the encouragement or challenge that they need.
Pray a line of Scripture you saw on the screen. Pray for the Pastor, serving teams, production, and Cove Kids volunteers. You are a part of a body. All of the parts are active and alive: the hand may move the food from the table to the mouth but many parts (from the tongue, salivary glands, and esophagus to the veins, pancreas, and small intestine) help it move from there through digestion to accomplish nourishment for the whole body. Decide to respond to what God is doing and participate in it!
Make It Personal: Pray silently or quietly in response to the next message you hear. Make a decision to be a participant in the larger gathering of the Church. We need you; you are a functioning and necessary part of the Body.
Pray: Here is what the believers prayed in Acts 4:24b-30. Pray it out loud if you are in a place where you are able:
“Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed’ for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
Thank You God for being with us today too. Thank You for Your awesome work and power, yesterday and today. Amen.
Weekly Memory Verse: “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” Luke 11:9-10 (ESV)