The Birth Of The Church Series

To the Ends of the Earth, Part 2

The Birth of the Church

Acts 1:12 – 2:12

Dismiss children for nursery (under 4) and children’s church (ages 4-7)

No Wednesday night for adults this week – couple weeks off

Introduction

- Welcome to Seasons Church & 2024 sermon series, “To the Ends of the Earth”

-- Might ask, “Why Acts?” Keep this in mind throughout this series:

-- We’ve already unpacked the beginning of all history (Creation/Fall/Promise)

-- And looked ahead, anticipated the coming & victory of Jesus (Revelation)

- However … in order to get to Revelation – we have to focus on the NOW

-- The “NOW” is found in Acts – it is the things we must be doing as the Church

-- It is the example of what the Church should follow in order to reach the world

- Last week we saw the ascension of Jesus into Heaven and His final command

-- Ties to His promise: He will come back again, but in the meantime … GO!

-- APP: We are still in the time of following His command to make disciples

- Today, we are priv. to see the birth of the Church & how leaders are chosen

-- We also see the fulfillment of God’s promise: the arrival of the Holy Spirit

-- Truly, this is the “why” we meet & share … I encourage you to dial in

- Read Acts 1:12 – 2:12 / Pray

Point 1 – The Election of Church Leaders

- Not only do we see the establishment of the first Church … but …

-- We get specific insight into how it should select its leaders

-- REM: Original disciples were called by Jesus (ref: Luke 6:12-13)

- APP: This would be the decision of ALL those who were gathered together

-- The first believers: Approx. 120 and the 11 disciples knew they had to carry on

-- REAL: All churches have this same charge … we saw it here at Seasons

-- The Church MUST continue, and it cannot be about anyone else but Jesus

- TEACH: Acts 1 gives us 7 necessities of how leaders should be chosen:

1. They need to be ones who willingly obey Jesus (v12); He said, “go & wait” (v4)

-- Believers should live in the will of God – leaders are no exception to this

-- No such thing as “do as I say” … a godly leader goes the way & shows the way

2. The church needs to be committed to surrounding its leaders (v13)

-- There is a commitment that flows back and forth in church operation

-- EX: Leaders lead and live righteously; followers follow and hold accountable

-- This allows both to hold one another up, to ensure that Christ is honored

3. Leaders should be ministry minded – willing to reach, help, and govern (v16)

-- The church must have and follow spiritual leaders who are appointed by God

4. Church leaders should be willing to move forward in agreement (v21)

-- GR: homothumadon; the same spirit or the same mind

-- Disciples were gathered for one purpose – obeying Jesus’ command to wait

-- However, they were also gathered together because that is what Jesus did!

5. Church leaders are required to pray “steadfastly”

-- GR: proskarterountes; strong – gives weight to being faithful / obedient

-- There is a requirement, a need, for leaders to be willing to seek the Lord

-- This is why we see (v24) them seek God in the decision of what’s next

6. A church leader must actually … lead! (v25)

-- Peter failed in the most miserable way; he denied knowing His Lord

-- He could have easily chosen to stay defeated … but instead repented

-- He went back to Jesus and was restored (great example of repentance effects)

7. The church should be mindful of what a leader says (v26)

-- The 120 listened to Peter: no one can lead without others willing to follow

-- This is a great example – cannot lead if no one is following (common purpose)

- Bottom line: The church had an empty office now and it needed to be filled

-- Why? Because Jesus sent them two-by-two … only had 11 … so …

Point 2 – How are church leaders selected?

- Know this: collectively understood they could not go about this rashly

-- They agreed and decided that the office should be filled specifically

-- In order to bring someone into leadership, it does take a community to do so

• Leaders must be fellow associates

• Leaders must know Jesus personally

• Leaders must be appointed through prayer

• Leaders must be appointed by the congregation they will serve

- BIG: This isn’t about the 11 disciples picking a new best friend …