INTRO.- What’s the big deal about the church? What’s so important about the church? Why go to church? What does it do for us?
I’m sure these are some questions that the average American asks. And the answers they get from themselves or others are not very positive so they don’t go to church.
ILL.- In a door-to-door survey conducted by the Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL, the question was asked: if you don’t go to church, why? The five biggest reasons: 1) Boring, 2) Irrelevant, 3) Asking for money all the time, 4) I’m too busy already, 5) I feel awkward at church.
Brothers and sisters, I can understand some of these responses from people.
ILL.- Gladys Dunn recently moved to a retirement community in a small town. One beautiful Sunday morning she walked to the church not far from her apartment. She was in awe of the lovely structure, as well as music from the choir. She wasn’t too impressed, however, with the sermon. She thought it was rather uninspiring, and as she looked around the church, she noticed many of the parishioners nodding off. When the reverend finished he encouraged the congregation to greet those sitting next to them.
Gladys turned toward the man on her left, who had fallen asleep and was stretching trying to wake up. He smiled at her, and Gladys returned the smile.
She politely offered her hand and said, "I’m Gladys Dunn." "You and me both!" the man replied.
Some churches are boring. Their services are boring. No one likes boring. I don’t think we’re boring but we may well be predictable and it seems that some people like a certain amount of unpredictability in life, like in a good suspense movie.
Of course, there is also a certain amount comfort and/or assurance in a predictable church service. We who lead must do our best to make the service interesting, edifying or somewhat stimulating (music, meditations, sermons, etc.)
I heard a preacher say one time that if it doesn’t edify (build, encourage, etc.) in the church then don’t do it.
Another reason some people don’t go to church is because they think it is irrelevant, meaning they don’t think it has anything that applies to their lives or daily living.
Well, I beg your pardon, I try to make my messages as relevant as possible. I always apply the Word of God to our lives! I may not touch every issue that a person is dealing with, but just give me time. We must always apply scripture.
Irrelevance can also refer to the type of music or the worship style of a church as well. And I admit that the youth of today want or prefer contemporary Christian music and I’m an old fuddy-duddy who was raised on the old gospel hymns. I do believe that we need to have a blended music program so as to appeal to various age groups.
Another big reason I think some people don’t go to church is they are too busy. We are the going-ist generation I’ve ever seen. Some people don’t know what the quiet means or they don’t know how to sit at home for one night.
ILL.- After the service a young couple talked to a church member about joining the church. He hadn’t met the husband before, and he asked what church he was transferring from. After a short hesitation, he replied, "I am transferring from the Municipal Golf Course." I WISH.
When people transfer from the golf course or fishing hole or some other place to the church, that’s when the church is becoming very relevant.
People have all kinds of excuses for not going to church or getting involved in the church, and this must change! We need to change somewhat in order to change people!
PROP. - Let’s think about how the Lord’s church started and what’s significant about it. In this text, I see these things: 1- powerful spirit 2- pointed message 3- penitent response
I. POWERFUL SPIRIT
Acts 2:14-16 “Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. “It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel…”
Acts 2:4-13
THESE MEN ARE NOT DRUNK. Have you ever been accused of being drunk? Yes, when I was drunk. But what about when you were completely sober?
These men were completely sober and yet some people thought they were drunk because they heard them speaking in tongues, that is, they were speaking in foreign languages without ever having learned them. HOW INTERESTING! How could that be? It was made possible by a powerful spirit called the Holy Spirit!
What some call speaking in tongues today may not be the same as what took place on the day of Pentecost. They may call it the same, but that doesn’t make it the same. But this doesn’t mean that we must limit God’s powerful Holy Spirit to do things in people’s lives!
ILL.- An American with an English gentleman was viewing the Niagara falls, when he said to his friend: “Come, and I’ll show you the greatest unused power in the world.” And taking him to the foot of Niagara Falls, “There,” he said, “is the greatest unused power in the world!”
“Ah, no, my brother, not so!” was the reply. “The greatest unused power in the world is the Holy Spirit of the living God.”
I would say this is true for today. We do not allow God’s Spirit to work in us and through us as much as we should. How do we do this? We yield. We surrender. We obey. We trust and obey. We pray. We pray for God to strengthen us by the power of His Spirit in our spirit or inner being. And inner strength means outer demonstration.
It means the outer demonstration of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
ILL.- D. L. Moody once said to his audience, “Tell me how can I get the air out of this glass?” One man said, “Suck it out with a pump.” Moody replied, “That would create a vacuum and shatter the glass.” After many impossible suggestions, Moody smiled, picked up a pitcher of water, and filled the glass. “There,” he said, “all the air is now removed.”
When we become filled with the things of God and God’s Spirit, that’s when the pollution of this life will leave. God’s Holy Spirit is powerful and we must let Him work in us and through us. He’s the power but we must open the door.
II. POINTED MESSAGE
Acts 2:36-39 "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."
Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” What name? The name of Jesus.
Jesus Christ is above all. His name is above all. His way is above all. His forgiveness is above all. His peace is above all. His salvation is above all. His salvation is eternal.
ILL.- Someone wrote these pertinent words about Christ. “Not one recognized religious leader—as Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed—ever claimed to be God. Jesus is the only person who has ever convinced a great portion of the world that He is God. This claim can either be true or false. If false, Jesus either knew His claims were false and He lied, or He was deluded and a lunatic. If Jesus knowingly lied, he was the world’s greatest hypocrite and a charlatan of the worse kind. He would also be the greatest fool, for what person would die for a lie?
“If Jesus was deluded, how could His precepts help so many people for so long a time? His critics and enemies had nothing but the highest accolades on His character. There is no other choice. Either Jesus is a liar, a lunatic, or He is Lord of lords.”
Jesus is who He claimed to be. And Peter’s message was pointed in that he pointed directly to Jesus.
ILL.- When interviewing Dr. A. J. Gordon as a prospective pastor of a Boston church, the pulpit committee asked: “If you are called to the pastorate of our church will you preach against the cards, the theater, and dancing?” “I will,” solemnly affirmed Dr. Gordon. He was called.
Months passed and he didn’t say a word against the cards, the theater, and dancing. The official board of the church said, “Almost a year has gone by and you have said nothing against cards, the theater, and dancing. We wonder why.”
Dr. Gordon replied essentially as follows: “Gentlemen, it is true that I have said nothing against these things, but I have preached Christ who is the only Savior from all evils. When He comes into one’s heart all evil things vanish from the life like the mist before the hot breath of the noonday sun.”
Gordon was right. We must point people to Jesus.
ILL.- I remember a cute story about a man watching TV at one o’ clock in the morning. A mouse ran underneath the TV set. He ran immediately to get a mousetrap and then to the frig to get some cheese. But there was no cheese. So he did what he thought was the next best thing. He got a LIFE MAGAZINE that had colorful ads in it. He cut out a picture of cheese and put it in the mousetrap. He then went to bed. When he woke the next morning he immediately checked the mousetrap and found a picture of a mouse in the trap! If you want to catch the real thing, you’ve got to put out the real thing!
John 12:32 “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
We must preach and present the Lord Jesus Christ if we intend to get real converts! Jesus is the real deal who saves and changes people. He alone forgives sin and opens the door to eternal life. WE MUST PREACH HIM!
III. PENITENT RESPONSE
Acts 2:40-41 "With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
After Peter preached Jesus, they said, “What shall we do?” Peter said, “Repent and be baptized….” The word repent is similar to penitent. It means to feel regret and sorrow for sin and to change your mind and life.
ILL.- Did you hear recently (April 20) about the phone call that actor Alec Baldwin made to his 11 year old daughter, Ireland, who is living with her mother, Kim Basinger? Baldwin called his daughter and she wouldn’t answer the phone so he left her voice mail, chewing her out royally, saying, “You are a rude, thoughtless little pig... You don’t have the brains or the decency of a human being.”
After this voice mail tape was somehow leaked to the news media, Alec Baldwin issued a so-called apology, saying, “Although I have been told by numerous people not to worry too much, as all parents lose their patience with their kids, I am most saddened that this was released to the media because of what it does to a child.
"I’m sorry, as everyone who knows me is aware, for losing my temper with my child. I have been driven to the edge by parental alienation for many years now. You have to go through this to understand. (Although I hope you never do.) I am sorry for what happened. But I am equally sorry that a court order was violated, which had deliberately been put under seal in this case."
Please notice: Baldwin said, “I have been driven to the edge by parental alienation for many years now…” In other words, he is placing the blame for his anger and terrible phone message squarely on his ex-wife, Kim Basinger. It’s the old blame-game again. AND THAT IS NOT WHAT I CALL “PENITENCE” or repentance!
James 4:8-10 “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
I Pet. 5:5-6 “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”
Not only does God give grace to the humble, He also saves the humble! The people at Pentecost (unlike Alec Baldwin) were convicted of their sin and asked, “What shall we do?” Peter told the multitude to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. And apparently, there was no argument, because about three thousand were baptized. That’s what I call a penitent response to Christ and to His message!
Does the Word of God grab you? Convict you? Make you want to do something good and positive for Christ? Be baptized? Get involved in service? That’s what happened on the day of Pentecost and should happen to us more often.
CONCLUSION--------------------------
ILL.- A Johns Hopkins University medical researcher discovered what the Presbyterian Ministers’ Life Insurance Fund has known for more than two centuries: attending church is good for your health. The risk of fatal heart diseases is almost twice as high for the non-churchgoer than for men who attend once a week or more.
Brothers and sisters, the church is not only good for your health, it’s good for your soul or your eternal spirit. The church is important, just like Noah’s ark of long ago. It saved those who were on the inside!
And the church saves because Jesus is the head and savior of the church! It is through the church that people come to know Christ as Lord and Savior. That’s what so good about the church! And we all need to do our best to boost the church and build the church! Will you let that thought grab your heart and life?
