Acts 2:38-41 (NIV) - “Peter replied, ‘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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call.’ With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”

We know at the time of Pentecost there were 120 believers gathered in the upper room and we see in this passage 3,000 people were added to their number that same day. In the Great Commission, Jesus told the eleven disciples to “go and make disciples” and this is a command that was likely told to these new believers. What a testimony they would be taking back to their towns, spoken by them in their different languages…this good news was meant for sharing and spreading.

For many of us, our testimonies begin with small group, a place where we encountered and came to experience God’s love and rescue over our lives. A place where we learned what it meant to be a disciple of Christ and made decisions to live as Christians. Many of us grew through the years and now are the ones helping to lead others to live this way. Only a disciple can go and make another disciple; therefore you’ll only have other disciples if those who are disciples go. In small group, we are making disciples and continuing this growing of believers.

As the early church experienced life together, more people were added and cared for resulting in more believers going out. From 3,120 disciples, we see the following references on how the church was growing.

Acts 4:4 - the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.
Acts 5:14 - more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.
Acts 6:1 - In those days when the number of disciples was increasing
Acts 21:20 - “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed”

Response:  Let’s pray for the adding of those being saved and baptized in our churches. Let’s pray for the Spirit-lead and Spirit-empowered going out to make disciples - for divinely appointed meetings of persons to invite into our small groups. You can also worship with “Your Love Awakens Me”.

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-AK