"Building An Attractive Church"

Lexington Church Of God, March 16th, 2003 PM Service

“Building An Attractive Church”

Text: Acts 2:41-47 (KJV)

41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;

45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Introduction:

It should be the desire of every pastor, evangelist, music director, every elder, Deacon, and lay member to see God add to His Church.

God has chosen to build His church using man.

God has given us the blue prints! The church cannot be built by the ingenuity of man.

God gave Moses the instructions for the Portable Temple.

(1) Every careful detail was given to Moses by God.

(2) Not one thing was left for man to use his own imagination.

(3) That portable temple or tabernacle was symbolic of a better

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Temple, or tabernacle to come.

[A] Church communities spend huge amounts of money, many of them

acquiring massive debt to build a building designed by man to be

impressive and showy.

(1) There is nothing wrong with building God nice buildings.

I think we should strive to make God’s House nicer than

the houses each of us live in!

2 Sam 7:1-2 (KJV)

1 And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies;

2 That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.

(2) But God would not allow David to build Him a building because of

the blood that He had shed.

(3) But God did allow his son to build Him a building.

“Solomon’s Temple”

[B] What really makes God happy is when we build Him a tabernacle

Of flesh.

1 Cor 6:19 (NKJV)

19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

(1) We were created to house Him.

(2) Oh let us make Him a suitable dwelling place!

(3) Building do not make a church.

(4) People, congregations make the church.

(5) You remove the people from the building and all you have is

A building.

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Eph 4:16 (NKJV)

16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

[C] Taking that into consideration we must ask ourselves;

“What kind of church are we?”

[D] You know I grew in church. My family on my mother’s side goes

back 3 or 4 generations in the Church Of God.

(1) My Grandfather Heath was a Church of God Minister.

(2) I have been in church most of my life.

(3) I was called into the ministry, then into shepherding.

(4) I have never had to move into a community and search out a

church before.

THOUGHT: “If I were to look for a church to serve as my

Church home, what kind of church would I look

for?”

Put yourself in this place; If you were looking for a church,

what kind of church would you look for?

What kind of church would appeal to you?

Are we as a church, are we an attractive church?

I tell you what kind of a church I would look for;

I. A Loving Church

[A] Some people have to live or work with the devil all week long.

(1) They need a loving church to attend.

[B] Some people have struggled to be accepted by their peers at

school, at work, and even within their families, they need a

loving church who accepts them and doesn’t expect them to be perfect.

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1 John 4:12-14 (KJV)

12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. (His Spirit that causes His love to manifest its’ self in our lives)