We have seen some incredible miracles in our church over this past year.
Now, even in the midst of the miracles God is doing though,
there are still difficult things going on
in society at large,
in the church as a whole, and
in people’s individual lives.
There are all kinds of things that seem to be not working properly or in fact, broken.
How do things get fixed?
Transition
Back when Jesus was on earth, the Disciples
got to see Him do some amazing things and
to be part of some amazing healings as well.
Even though God used the disciples to
heal people of sickness and
drive out demons,
they faced some difficult times as well. Times where things did not seem to be working properly or in fact broken.
They thought when Jesus came, He would fix everything himself.
Then when Jesus was crucified and killed, they got really scared.
They ran off and hid, just like we do sometimes when things get hard.
But then they saw Him alive again.
“This is unbelievable! He is alive. Everything is going to be great again.”
Jesus is around for 40 days talking with the Disciples and others.
But right before He ascends into heaven, the Disciples have a question for the Lord. It is a question that we have sometimes too.
Introduce Acts
We are beginning a new series today in the book of Acts. Even though the church universal has been around for about 2,000 years, we here at Hickory Creek are a lot like a brand new church and we can learn a lot from the early church in how we might be effective for the Kingdom.
As we go forward in making plans to expand our facility, we still must remember to keep our focus on what the church is all about,
It is about ministering to and loving people,
The people of God, Christians who are part of this church
The people of God, Christians who God brings to this
church
And the people in our community that need to receive Jesus as their Savior so they can be Christians.
To help us do that, we are going to be looking at various passages in
Acts 1 and 2 (p. 770)
Slide 2
Through these first 2 chapters of Acts, we get to see some of the
essential things that we need in order to effectively be used by God.
So in the beginning of Acts 1, Luke gives a recap of his gospel to Theophilus, the patron who probably supported Luke in his writing of these books.
Jesus tells them to wait for the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem and then the Apostles ask this question found in Acts 1:6
Acts 1:6
6 So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
Basically they are saying, Lord things are kind of messed up here with your people.
They were not free. They were under Roman rule.
Their religious leaders were hypocrites.
Many people’s faith was in name only
There were people who would like to see the Apostles dead
People cared more about appearance before men than before God.
Things were messed up.
Do you ever feel that way about our own society or your own life maybe, that things are messed up?
People don’t really care about what God wants, they care about what they want.
We see many who seem to live hypocritical lives.
We have relationships with people who sometimes would like to do us harm
There are people, maybe even some here today, who care more about what people think about them, than what God thinks about them.
Don’t you ever want to ask God,
God, when are you going to fix things?
That is what the disciples were asking.
Let’s take a look at how Jesus replied to this question.
Acts 1:7-11
7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
The Apostles asked Are YOU going to fix things to Jesus?
Jesus shrugs it off and says Don’t worry about that. Here is what I want you to do. And to help you, I am going to give you the power to do it.
The first thing we need to understand today is, even when things are messed up in the world or in your life,
Jesus gives you Power to Change the World
Slide 3
Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Jesus told the Disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them and that this power would help them be an influence in the whole world.
We see the beginning manifestation of that in Acts Ch. 2
Acts 2:1-4
2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Jesus made the power of the Spirit available to the Disciples and
He makes that power available to you.
Well, Gee, I would like to have a part in changing the world.
How do we get that power to change the World?
The avenue of God’s power in our life comes through the Spirit. And
We receive His Power through Heart Belief
Slide 4
In Acts chapter 2, Peter preaches the first sermon.
He preaches a gospel message about who Jesus is and right after he preached, it says this in
Acts 2:37-41
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.
When we believe, we act. Heart belief is saving belief and is an active belief.
When we believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, we will see resulting actions from that belief.
That is called obedience.
We see here as Peter preaches, that
those who accepted his message,
those who believed in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins,
those who had a heart belief
acted in accordance with that belief and repented of their sins and were baptized.
We see another example of this obedience with the Disciples.
The Disciples were believers in Christ already, but we see them showing that belief as they obeyed what Jesus told them to do.
Acts 1:4-5
4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
Jesus told them to not leave Jerusalem but to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
They believed and obeyed.
And they received power.
If you have never received Jesus as your Savior, nothing else you do will equip you with the power of the Spirit so that
you can be changed and then
you can help change the world through the church.
Rebut
Ok, Scott. I don’t buy it. I am a Christian and my personal world right now stinks not to mention the world in general.
How come if I have the power to change the world, my world is not changing?
Well,
having the power available and
accessing the power
are 2 different things.
As a Christian, each one of us has been given the power of the Holy Spirit to have a role in seeing the world changed.
But just because we are a Christian does not mean that we are accessing that power.
Well once we have the power, How do we access it?
Listen to what Jesus told His Disciples in Matthew 16:18
Jesus said in Matt 16:18
I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Jesus is saying that
the very gates of Hell,
all of the defenses of Satan and his demons,
all of the evil of this world
will not be able to stop the church I am building.
It is as part of the church that we as individuals are going to have the power to change the world, our personal world as well as the real world.
After we have believed and received Jesus as our Savior we need to be part of a church.
Rebuttal 2
Wait a minute Scott.
I have been part of churches for a long time. There have been some good ones and some not so good ones that did not seem to have any affect
on the community,
let alone my life or
the life of my family.
What do you have to say about that?
Well, I will grant you that there are
churches that don’t seem to be very effective and there are
others that do.
Why is that?
I believe that it is because they are not doing the things that God has shown us in His word that will help us to access the Power of the Spirit.
And How is it that we receive that power into our lives then?
One of the ways is
We receive His Power through Corporate Prayer.
Slide 5
Acts 1:14; 2:42d (They devoted themselves to…prayer.)
They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Notice that this isn’t just praying at home by yourself. This is corporate prayer. And while we can be filled up and drawn into deeper relationship with the Lord through our individual prayers,
there is something different about Praying with a group.
Jesus said in
Matthew 18:19-20
I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
When we come together in prayer and in agreement as a group, as a body, Jesus tells us there is something special about that.
Paul tells us in
1 Corinthians 5:4
When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present
There is power when we gather together in prayer.
There is power that is available only when we are in community together. And as we pray together corporately, the power of the Spirit seems to be heightened, according to the Scripture.
We have had times of prayer through this campaign
As we begin the process of designing and then building on, we are going to be forming an actual prayer team to be praying for the church.
But we as a people need to be doing that as well. In our Connection groups, we need to be joining in prayer.
Each one of us need to make an effort toward praying together with others in the body so that we will access the power that is available through the Spirit.
Another way
We Receive His Power through Group Bible Study
Slide 6
Acts 2:42a
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching
The believers here would meet together and one of the things they would do is study the Apostles teachings.
You know what we call the Apostles teaching today? The New Testament.
These first century Christians were in Bible study together.
If we are going to have God’s power manifest in our lives we need to be studying God’s word together with some other believers.
And not just other believers, ideally it should be some other believers from your church. Not that others can’t participate, but
when we are joined in community together,
we grow in our bonds together
as we study God’s word together
and we become more effective together
and the Spirit’s power to affect change through us is increased.
It is through Bible studies with others that we get challenged in our own thinking.
Each one of us has biases. I am certain some of those biases are not based on the word of God. When we study with others, we get challenged in areas of thinking that we may hold and are forced to dig deeper into the word.
That is a good thing. The things we believe had better be true to God’s word or we need to change our thinking.
When we study alone however, we often will skate over areas of difficulty because of our biases. Not that we always will, but we have better chance of being challenged and sharpened by others than ourselves.
As Proverbs 27:17 says,
17 As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
We need to sharpen each other by being in Bible study together.
Another way
We Receive His Power through Community Fellowship
Slide 7
Acts 2:42-47
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he 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.
These first century Christians not only devoted themselves to Bible Study, but they devoted themselves to fellowship.
They hung out together
They met together
They ate together
And they enjoyed the favor of all the people. Their world was being changed.
Fellowship is very important if we are going to be a people and a church that has the power to change the world
Being connected with other Christians in the body is vital to our growth and effectiveness.
It is just as vital
as being in Bible study
As being in prayer
As ministering to people
As I was preparing this message my mind kept asking the question,
How are we doing here at Hickory Creek?
How are we doing as a people?
I think we have been doing ok, but that in all of these we have room to grow.
Let me explain.
Over the last several months, we have been experiencing quite a bit of growth.
It without question takes time to assimilate that growth, to get people connected. It does not happen over night.
You won’t necessarily have people joining Bible Studies after one visit
You won’t have people praying together after one time to a Bible study
You won’t have people connected after one meal together
But it is in taking those first steps that we will begin in seeing the power of the Spirit manifested even stronger in our lives and in our church so that we see not only individual lives being changed, but also the lives of families, and communities and counties and states and nations and the world.
It has been on my heart that we need to start connecting people better.
We had things like the ladies night out on Friday
There is a women’s banquet coming up in April.
But here is something that will help tremendously.
I would like to see every family here invite some other family over that they do not know.
We have no problem hanging out with those we know, but to be strong in our relationships so that we will be more open to studying together and praying together, we need to establish better fellowship together.
So over the next month, I would like to see every family here invite another family over that they have never had over.
If you have been a Christian for a while, even if you are kind of new here, invite someone over to your house for a meal.
This will help greatly in people getting better acquainted and growing in their fellowship with one another and the church.
And that will help
us as individuals
Us as a church,
have the power to see the world begin to change starting with
our own lives,
the lives of our families and
the lives in the community.
Perhaps you are not a Christian and you are visiting today or maybe you have grown up in church all your life but never really understood what it means to believe in Jesus.
For you, you need to take the first step of heart belief if you are going to have the power to change the world manifested in you.
If that is you and you see that you need your life to be changed and would like for God to use you to change the world, then pray and receive Jesus today.
