Scriptures: Acts 2:42-47, Luke 15, Acts 2:32

God showed great favor to the early church detailed in Acts 2. Because of their commitment to Christ and obedience to God's Word, their lives together were used by God to accomplish great things. Acts 2:27 says that God "added daily to their number those who were being saved." As the church "does life together" among the greatest benefits is that God uses His body to draw others to Himself. The early church was not a spiritual social club that existed just for the benefit of its members. The early church was a magnet to draw the iron-hard hearts of those outside the church into a relationship with the resurrected Christ, who was the founder of the church. In this message, Dr. Merritt touches on the evangelistic heart of the church--believers reaching out to those who are far from God.

"These people who were doing life together on the inside were witnessing to that life on the outside. Why? Because the resurrection of Jesus Christ had changed everything. In the Old Testament you see evangelism primarily as people without God, coming to God, to become a part of the people of God. In the New Testament, especially beginning in the Book of Acts, you see God’s people going to people without God on God’s behalf to help them become a part of the people of God." --Dr. Merritt

Keywords: evangelism, salvation, witness, church, life, together, Gospel, Philip, Peter, Ethiopian, parable, sheep, lost, found, reach, relationship, Pharisees, approach, faith, Christ, story, testimony