Sunday, October 22nd,2023

Topic:  The attractiveness of a Christian transformed life

Preacher: Dr. Muteho Marina

Acts 5:12-16

The transformed life attracts lives. The word of God in Acts 5 talks about the life of the first church (the Pentecostal church), which has been transformed by Jesus Christ. Jesus gave the apostles the responsibility of doing whatever he was doing when he was still on earth. 

What can be the impact of a Christian’s transformed life?

• The apostles who have been transformed were able to proclaim without fear the gospel because they had received the power to do it. 
• The apostles were able to perform miracles, heal people, and cast out demons because they met people who were possessed by evil spirits. 
• The apostles were gathering in community; they were concerned with the needs of everyone in the church and they were sharing all that they had. Their way of living attracted many people to the church. People were coming one by one to join the congregation and that’s how the early church grew up, till what we can see today. We are all products of this early church. They lived together, they loved each other, they lived in unity, and they shared their belongings because they wanted to help others. People had all things in common in the sense that they shared willingly. Their character and behavior changed because they were transformed by Jesus Christ.

Is my life as a Christian church member and a believer attracting people to the Lord?

Attractiveness here is the one that leads people to Jesus not to the world. When you accept to be transformed by Jesus, people will see signs that you were visited by Him.

It doesn’t matter to be baptized without changing our way of living, it won’t attract people to Jesus. It will impact them negatively and will prevent them from recognizing Jesus Christ in their lives.

As christians, we are the light and the salt of the world as it is said in Matthew 5:13-16. We are the light of the world. We are not only called to maintain personal holiness but also to touch the lives of everyone around us. Let us touch many people who do not encounter Christ in church everywhere we spend our days. It may be our most effective place to witness to Christ. 

There are things that can prevent us from attracting people to Jesus. Let us refer to the story of Ananias and Sapphira who did wrong by trying to follow the example of transformed people but they were not yet transformed. They sold a possession and gave part of the proceeds to the church while implying that they had given the whole price. They wanted to appear better, more generous than they really were. Their image management had tragic consequences. The church was cleansed by the power of the Holy Spirit so that evil would not prevail among the congregation after the death of these two people. 

Dear congregation, it is up to us to know how we live our christian life. Are we bringing people to Jesus Christ or are we pushing people back in not allowing them to recognize Christ in our lives? Our responsibility is to bring people to Christ through our testimony, our attitudes, our behavior, etc. so that the name of the Lord will be glorified. May the Lord continue to explain this text better to each one of us in the name of Jesus. Amen.