Come, let us sing to the Lord!
….Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come to him with thanksgiving.
….Let us sing psalms of praise to him. Psalm 95:1-2 NLT

Acts 2:37-41 (<<click here to read the passage)
When I preach, I try to be careful. I, first of all, want to be sensitive to what the Lord wants me to communicate. And I also strive to not make my sermons too lengthy. I always format my sermons to a font of a certain type and size (I don’t have to be able to see it quite a bit above the pulpit!) Another thing that helps in my ability to see my sermon is I use 1.5 line spacing. I find that it’s easier to not lose my place. (I single space Scripture because I read it word for word.)
So, all in all, with that layout, my sermons are usually 7-8 pages long. Sometimes they’ll get up to 9 pages, but not too often.
One thing that I never worry about is if I happen to have a lot more passages of Scripture than normal. My philosophy is that directly using God’s words has a greater impact on the hearts and minds of my listeners than anything I might add!
After Peter’s sermon, which by the way was full of Old Testament Scripture and was divinely inspired by his being filled with the Holy Spirit, his words pierced his listeners’ hearts (NLT). The Amplified Bible says they were cut to the heart. v37a
Hebrews 4:12 has this to say about God’s word,

For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. AMP

That passage is brought to life in today’s passage! It pierced them and caused them to exclaim to Peter and the other disciples, “Brothers, what should we do?” v37b NLT
I will let Peter’s response speak for itself,

“Repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways, accept and follow Jesus as the Messiah] and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ because of the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise [of the Holy Spirit] is for you and your children and for all who are far away [including the Gentiles], as many as the Lord our God calls to Himself.” v38-39

We can feel impacted by God’s word, but we can’t leave it at that. We must act! Just pulling a few words from the Amplified Bible points to action – repent – change – turn – accept – follow!
God’s word must motivate us! We can’t leave it at, “Ow! That hurt! Oof! Man, that stepped on my toes! Ugh! That cut ran deep!”
It may sound pretty silly but staying where we are doesn’t get us anywhere! We have to move! We have to go! We have to do! Those actions don’t save us – only Jesus’ actions can do that! – but those actions reflect that action on our hearts, souls, and minds!
Jesus, move us! Amen!

Jan 9th, 2022, Sun, 6:49 pm