Hey, this is David Platt. I want to invite you to something I look forward to every year.

Secret Church. This night exists to help us identify with many of our brothers and sisters around the world who have no choice but to gather in secret,

often at great risk, just to open God's word. Once a year, over 50,000 believers around the world gather online

with one intention to study scripture for six hours, to be shaped by it, and to pray for our

persecuted brothers and sisters. This year, we'll study the life of Elijah. We'll pray specifically

for those who are suffering for their faith

and will act together to make Jesus known among the nations.

Early registration of the best rate is now open until February 17th.

Register at radical.net slash secret church.

You are listening to David Platt Messages, a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from

pastor, author, and teacher David Platt.

I'll go ahead and give you a heads out.

The text we're about to look at, if I can be completely honest with you, is a text that I have wrestled with the last two weeks.

This whole idea of different to make a difference, what does it really mean to be different like the early church?

This text is going to stretch and it's going to challenge us and it's going to ask us, do you really want to be different like this?

It's going to show us a pretty steep price and at the same time it's going to show us that it's worth it to be this kind of church.

So what we're going to do is we're going to see some characteristics in the early church that made that community different.

And we're going to see some questions that we need to ask

ourselves at the church at brick hills based on this picture acts chapter 2 verse 42 this is a

passage that many of you've been memorizing you could you could quote it with me and says this whole

picture of the new testament church they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching to the fellowship to the breaking of bread into prayer everyone was filled with all and many

wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles verse 44 many of you have been

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