Nehemiah 12-13, Acts 4:23-37 • Key Verse: Acts 4:32
It doesn’t take too many percentage points above 50 for an election to be considered a landslide.
When the vote totals edge closer to 60 than 50 percent, politicians talk about the mandate they
have and how the people have spoken. Really? More than half the voters may have agreed, but
not much more than half.
Consider this description of agreement: “All the believers were one in heart and mind” (v. 32).
We're not talking a simply majority here, but unanimity of consent that was both felt and known,
of heart and mind.
The evidence for this is indisputable. Stronger than a recorded vote is the demonstration of unity
that extended to their attitude toward personal possessions. Among the things that can be a
source of division within a local church are the issues that relate to material things—such as how
the congregation uses it money, what it buys, how much it pays the pastor or which missionaries
it supports.
The early church gives us a model of unity we can follow. It did not come about by political
maneuvering but by the Word, prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit (v. 31). Those are the
things that characterized the activities of the church.
If you want unity in your church, emphasize the Word, prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Unity in your church begins with you. Be in the Word, pray and allow the Spirit to work in your
life. Be the first person of unity and see how God can work in your church.

Woodrow Kroll & Tony Beckett
www.backtothebible.in