The Power of ONE! (Sermon Audio)

This is the audio from the June 5, 2022 sermon, “The Power of ONE”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Text: John 17:20-23, Acts 2

When we respond to the prayer of Jesus to live as those who are one with Him and with one another, we find a power that we would never know alone. It is in Christ that we discover the real power of . . .

Obedience. Acts 1:4-5, Acts 2:1-4, 1 Samuel 15:22-23
- The events recorded in the second chapter of Acts on the day of Pentecost are often looked at as the birth of the church. The power unleashed that day through the activity of God’s Spirit began with the power of obedience. The disciples of Jesus had been instructed by Him to wait until they received the gift promised to them. Their obedience in waiting led to them all being in one place when God’s Spirit was poured out upon them in a mighty way. While our flesh tends to lead us to desiring our own way in everything, God’s calling to us is one that should lead us to obedience. When we learn to obey Christ as our head in everything, we find a power of unity that nothing else can duplicate.
Necessity. Acts 2:36-41, Acts 4:12, 1 Peter 3:10-12
- I suspect there are things that each one of us do that are not because we really want to, but rather because we feel, know, or are convinced that we must. It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention because absolute need can be a powerful motivation. As Peter addresses the confusion surrounding the outpouring of God’s Spirit, he proclaims that what is being witnessed is what the prophet Joel had spoken of many years earlier. From that point he explains Jesus as the fulfillment of scripture and made it clear that God had made this same Jesus that they had crucified to be both Lord and Christ. When confronted with the knowledge of who Jesus really was and what they had really done, the people were cut to the heart and wanted to know what they must do. Peter’s answer was that each person must repent and be immersed for the forgiveness of sin and the gift of God’s Spirit. With the power of necessity at work, about three thousand people responded to the message that day. We live with the power of necessity when we take God’s Word seriously and realize His commands and instructions are not simply good ideas or suggestions, but rather our necessities of life itself.
Example. Acts 2:42-47, 1 Corinthians 11:1-2, 1 Timothy 4:12
- When Jesus prayed that those who believed in Him would be one with Him and with one another, He acknowledged that it was in doing so that the world would know we are His disciples. As the people of the first century responded obediently to the necessity of God’s message, the world noticed in such a way that many saw something they wanted and we read that God was adding daily those who were being saved. In fact, it was noted by those watching that these untrained followers of Jesus were turning the world upside down. When we live with this kind of power of example, we also have the capacity for God to use us in ways that get Jesus noticed. The example of the early church was one of caring, sharing, and serving one another in ways that were not only needed, but could only be explained by the power of God at work in them. We live by the power of example when we let Jesus be seen in everything we do.