Hold Everything Lightly
Bradon: Can we be honest?
Jon: Of Course! Always
Bradon: Sometimes the Bible is really confusing and has some Really out there stories!
Jon: Oh does it ever! Coming up on our next episode we are going to be reading and learning one of those stories!
Discussion Episode
Acts 4:32-5:11
About the Story
Jon: Yeah, there are some strange things going on. But, you’ll see, as we continue to go through the book of Acts, it gives reason for the story, it helps us understand the whole, larger, narrative!
Bradon: I hope so because right now the narrative feels very much like a treasure map… with some burnt-off pieces.
Jon: Well, let’s all go through it together and see where we land. Sound good?
Bradon: That sounds great! Our story brings us to acts 4: 32 – 5: 11
Jon: The First bit of this story is interesting, it really gives us an overview of how the growth of the church is really taking off because of the work of the disciples in sharing the story of Jesus.
Bradon: It talks about the coming together and unity within the church.
Application
Jon: Okay so with that in mind, what do you figure our takeaway from today is? The story has a lot of working parts, which we often see, so what is one thing we can focus on to learn from. Even if that doesn’t fully cover the whole story.
Bradon: I think the point that really stands out to me is the fact that people were able to hold everything lightly.
Jon: Hmm, interesting. Go on
Bradon: Well those who were able to do so, hold everything lightly were able to really bless the disciples and help the ministry that was so important to them. They were seeing lives changed! Pretty awesome stuff.
Jon: and those who weren’t able to hold everything lightly, like Ananias and Sapphira?
Bradon: well I think that is where the consequence comes in. They were unable to recognize the sovereignty and strength of God. they lied to Him and to His people and tried to hold onto worldly wealth and objects.
Jon: through greed, dishonesty, and hypocrisy, they died.
Bradon: Exactly, and even today, as we said earlier, it seems like we are so unwilling to let things go or hold things lightly if they will make our life even the slightest bit inconvenient.
Jon: it is hard! And it would have been hard for the people in the story too. They recognized though that God was the one giving them and providing them with those things, so they were able to give them away, knowing that he would continue to provide for them.
Bradon: that’s a huge shift in perspective for them! And this shift would have been much more than just an inconvenience, it would have altered their way of life pretty drastically for a time!
Jon: it definitely would have!
Bradon: so once again, just to reiterate, Hold everything lightly.
Jon: what has been given to us by God can be easily given back to Him with joy and praise.
