Biblically Based, Christ Centered, Caring Community in Annapolis, MD
Devoted engagement with the spiritual disciplines described in Acts 2:42-47 is not a burdensome religious duty but rather the Spirit-empowered practices by which ordinary disciples experience growing delight in God.
In the New Covenant, God has poured out His Spirit on all believers to empower them so that as they grow in their delight in Him, the Gospel and its blessings will be spread throughout the world.
Acts 1:8; 2:42-47
Because the Father delights to commune with His children, the Spirit draws believers into prayer — first in the gathered worship of the Church, and then overflowing into a daily personal life of prayer — so that their hearts flourish in ever-deepening delight in Christ.
Acts 2:42
God forms and deepens His people’s delight in Him through the Spirit-given gift of fellowship — binding them to Christ and to one another in unity, worship, generosity, and shared mission.
Acts 2:42-47
God feeds and forms His people as the Spirit works through the Word — in the worship of the gathered church and in personal daily devotion — so that their hearts flourish in ever-deepening delight in Christ.
Acts 2:42
Deep delight in God is not primarily cultivated through isolated spiritual practices but through the devoted corporate worship described in Acts 2:42, where the gathered church receives the means of grace that fuel and sustain our personal walk with God.
Acts 2:42
Unlike Old Covenant believers who experienced the Spirit’s presence only occasionally and externally, every New Covenant disciple has been baptized with the Holy Spirit and is therefore fully equipped and empowered to grow in devoted engagement with the spiritual disciplines that deepen our delight in God.
Acts 1:4-8; 2:1-4
We are to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit, Who empowers us for the mission of God in the earth today.
Acts 1:8
Christians are called to be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit, living lives under His control.
Ephesians 5:15-21
The baptism in the Holy Spirit, while theologically distinct from regeneration and justification, occurs at the same time — when we become believers in Christ.
Acts 1:8; 2:38-39; 1 Corinthians 12:13
When we were baptized in the Holy Spirit, we were initiated into the New Covenant, placed into the Church, given spiritual gifts, and empowered to be Christ’s witnesses.
Acts 1:4-5
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the promised experience of the Spirit being poured out, coming upon, and filling God’s New Covenant people.
Mark 1:1-8; John 1:29-34
God wants to fill His people with His Spirit and this is primarily done as we consistently participate in faith with the means of grace He has ordained for His people.
Acts 2:42