Do not think that when God is present, joy and fun and relaxation can't be, let's just

be so radically God-centered that everything has to do with God, that we don't feel

attention in ourselves between playing with our family and praying with our family.

The kids don't feel like, oh no, we're going to pray, you know? But rather, of course we're

going to pray. We just had a great time playing together. It was a gift of God.

If you are like me, you really want to be God-centered like that. So what is the dynamic

that produces that kind of God-centeredness? John Piper drills down on that very question

from Acts 2, 42 to 47 in this episode of Light and Truth. This sermon was originally preached

at Bethlehem Baptist Church on December 2, 1990. This is a glimpse into the earliest Christian

church and what kind of life they live together. And I want us to learn some things from it this

morning. In a few minutes we have left here. I want us to see how Luke put this text together.

And what he wants us to get from it. Verse 42 looks to me like a summary verse that is unpacked

in the next verses 43 to 47. So let's read verse 42 and then see how Luke unpacks it as he

describes the way these things are lived out. Verse 42 says that they were devoting themselves,

these new believers, were devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, the

breaking of bread and prayers. Those four things. Now in verses 43 to 47, in one way or another,

those realities are addressed or unpacked. So let's take them one at a time and see how

that's the case. First, what about the apostles' teaching? And they devoted themselves to the

apostles' teaching. Verse 43 mentions the apostles. It doesn't mention their teaching but let's

read that and see what that contributes. It says, and fear came upon every soul and many signs

and wonders or wonders and signs were done through the apostles. So the apostles are mentioned

here, even though the teaching isn't mentioned and fear is mentioned and that triggered in my

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