September 28, 2025 – Acts 2:36–47

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Hope Lutheran Church
Manhattan, Kansas
September 28, 2025
Acts 2:36–47

Acts 2:36–47 – 36 [Peter said,] “Let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

At the beginning of this month, Camyrn and I went on a cruise. And the cruise we were on had something like 4000 people on board. It’s mind-boggling when you think about it. Basically, a small town’s worth of people packed onto a boat. But aside from a little small talk here and there, we didn’t get to know any of the other passengers on that boat.

But that doesn’t mean we connected with no one. You know who we did connect with? The staff. Specifically, our wait staff at dinner. Two gentlemen named Gnurah and Ikonmang.

Gnurah and Ikonmang were the two men who greeted us and served us every night when we went to dinner and sat at our table. Over the course of those five days at sea, we got to know them and they got to know us. They were great at what they did.

And that made it really easy when, at the end of the cruise, they asked us to fill out a satisfaction survey. Usually I don’t like doing that kind of thing, but in this case I wanted to do the survey. Because they made a positive connection with Camryn and me. And really, because of those two gentlemen and the connection they made with us, it’s shaped my whole impression of Royal Caribbean.

I didn’t connect with hardly anyone else on that cruise. I was content to do my own thing with Camryn. The exception was those two men. That one solid connection made a huge difference.

Here’s the point – connections with other people matter. And the extent to which we allow ourselves to connect with other people can make a difference when it comes to what they think of us. And as Christians who are Joining Jesus on His Mission, it can make a difference when it comes to what people think about Christians in general and our church specifically.

But the truth is, we’re usually more content to just keep on going along doing our own thing. We have our own little tribe that we feel good and comfortable with and stepping outside of that to connect with other people feels… Hard? Scary? Inconvenient?

I mean, it can be so difficult when you’re in a group of people you don’t really know to be the first to walk up to someone and attempt to make a connection with them. It can be intimidating to connect with people who might challenge you and the way you think and the beliefs that you and I have. It can feel a bit frustrating when you give up some of your time that could be spent doing other things for the sake of trying to connect with someone and learn who they are and what they’re about.

The thing is, we all know that connections with other people matter. My guess is that when you think about some of the most meaningful and memorable events in your life, they were when you were surrounded by other people – at a Thanksgiving dinner with your family, at a sporting event with friends, at a church service with fellow believers.

It’s like we all inherently know that connections with other people matter, but when it comes down to it, we’re not very good at creating those connections. And more often than not, rather than connecting with other people, we disassociate and disconnect from them.

So how does God address it? Well, let’s turn to Acts 2. And we’re going to start with something that Peter said on the day of Pentecost.

[Peter said,] “Let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Now, if you’re paying attention, you might be asking what all this has to do with connecting with other people. But it has everything to do with connecting with other people. And that’s because before we can connect with other people, another connection that matters needs to be fixed and resolved – the connection between us and God.

You see, ever since the fall into sin that we heard about in our other reading this morning, all people who’ve ever existed have had this feeling that something’s “off” between them and God. The thing that’s “off” is sin. Even if they can’t or won’t articulate it that way, it’s true. We all know there’s something that separates us from the connection we know we need with God. And we think that it’s up to us to do something about it.

You can see that from the response of the people Peter was talking to, right? When Peter confronts them with the reality that their connection with God isn’t what it needs to be, the response is to ask, “What shall we do?" That question is the same one all of us default to.

We see our sin and we know it separates us from connection with God, so we ask ourselves, “What shall we do?” And then we go and get to work doing all the things we think we should do. We try to think the right things, say the right things, do the right things. And in the process of all that, we get so turned in on ourselves that we miss the people who are around us. Sure, we might connect with people as we try to do the right thing, but when we come at it with the wrong mindset, we’re far more likely to hurt and use them rather than serve them.

And so when they thought there was something that they needed to do, what did Peter tell the people? All he says is “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” That’s it. Know you are a sinner who needs what God wants to give you and be baptized.

And Peter proclaims the same thing to us today, too. Jesus Christ came for you and for the forgiveness of your sins. And that means you are right with God. That means the connection that matters most between you and God has been restored. There’s nothing you need to do to make that happen. Because God already did. You have been connected to God through Christ. And that means now we get to approach those connections that matter with other people in an entirely new way. 

You know, at the fall into sin, the connection between us and God wasn’t the only thing that was broken and in need of repair. The connection between people was broken, too. When everything was perfect, Adam looked at his wife, Eve, and thanked God for giving him such a wonderful companion. But now that sin was in the world, Adam blamed Eve for everything that happened and distanced himself from his wife. And all of the broken relationships and horrible things that people do to each other can be traced back to the fall into sin.

But then at Pentecost, a wide range of people from different backgrounds and upbringings and social classes were brought together because of their shared connection through Christ. They were able to set aside all the things that should have and could have divided them from one another. Their connection through Christ allowed them to see each other as people who couldn’t help but thank God for what he had done for all of them.

And it showed in the way that those people continued to connect with others in ways that mattered. They saw other people who needed to be connected. So they connected with them. Acts 2 tells us that three thousand people were added to the family of believers that day. But that was just the start of the believers connecting with Christ and with others. Listen:

All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

You see what’s going on there? How new people were connecting with Christ in ways that mattered? It was happening as the believers were living in such a way that people from the outside were drawn in. They couldn’t help but notice that the believers were different from the rest of the world. The Christians were gathering where they always did and doing what they always did. But they did it in a way that others were drawn in, wanted to ask questions, and know more. They saw how they connected with Christ and with others and it mattered.

And I’m sure there were people all across the spectrum who were drawn in. For some, maybe this was their first interaction with the good news of Jesus and his people. Maybe others had been around for a while. Maybe this was the next step they needed – seeing God’s people live as God’s people as they connected with Christ and each other.

It’s easy to read an account like this and think, “That could never happen here.” But who’s to say it couldn’t? People are still desperately looking for connections that matter and are meaningful. As Christians, we have the opportunity to be connectors and look for opportunities to unite rather than divide. I know we aren’t the only people who can do that, and yet we get to do it for all the right reasons.

And I’ll be honest, that could very likely mean putting ourselves in some hard or scary or inconvenient situations so that we might connect with others. Talking to people we don’t know very well yet, engaging in conversations with people who dismiss us, giving up some time for unhurried conversations.

And then maybe along the way, we meet people who are still desperately looking for the connection that matters between them and God, even if they can’t say it in quite that way. As Christians, we know how that connection has already been made for them in Christ. And we just get to tell them about that reality.

You and I know that our status with God is sure and certain because we have been connected through Christ. And you and I have connected with each other because of our connection through Christ. May God bless us as we seek to Join Jesus on His Mission and connect with others and give them that same certainty as we seek to connect them with Christ. Amen!

Questions for Further Discussion
1) Check in from last week: Did you pick one person in your life and look for an opportunity to do one good and loving thing for them?

2) Think of some of the most meaningful relationships you have with people. How did you initially connect with those people?

3) Read the excerpt below from the book Joining Jesus on His Mission and then consider the questions that follow: 
Here’s a habit shared by many in the United States: Once a person arrives back in their neighborhood from a day at work or a few minutes at the store, we park our vehicle and hustle back inside our home or apartment… Everyone knows that when we arrive home it’s time to “cocoon” behind front doors and private fences. There are times when it’s easier not to bother or be bothered.
Is this the experience you have in your neighborhood? If so, how does it make you feel?
How can this create difficulties when it comes to being missionaries in our neighborhoods?

4) As we "Join Jesus on His Mission," we are going to look for ways to connect with people who aren’t here yet. However, it’s good for us to connect with the people who are already here. How do you think we do at Hope when it comes to connecting with each other?

5) On the screen, there will be several ideas for creating spaces where we can connect with our neighbors. Which ones get you the most excited? What do you like about them? How can we make them happen? Individually? As a congregation?

6) Evaluate: God can do more with two people talking with each other than he can with two people successfully ignoring each other.

7) Talking with people involves more listening than talking. Why is that helpful to keep in mind when it comes to being an everyday missionary? 

7) Is the practice of connecting with and talking with people only for extroverted people? Or is it for introverts too? How so?

8) Challenge for the next week: Intentionally connect with one person in your neighborhood, at your job, or here at Hope.