Super Bowl Church
Chuck Sligh
July 27, 2014
The opening illustrations come from Mike Gilbert’s sermon found on SermonCentral.com titled Reading the Map / Visualizing the Goal.
[There is a PowerPoint presentation available for this sermon which is available by emailing me at chucksligh@hotmail.com.]
TEXT: Turn in your Bibles to Acts 2
INTRODUCTION
Opening Illus. – We’ve all heard the little saying [SHOW THE ACTIONS WITH HANDS LOCKED TOGETHER, FINGERS ENTWINED UPSIDE DOWN]…“This is the church, here is the steeple; open it up [WIGGLING FINGERS] and see all the people.” However, that is NOT the way it really is, biblically speaking; this way is actually upside down from what it should be. The saying SHOULD say [SHOW WITH FINGERS], “Here is the church, it’s made up of people, and where they meet together, sometimes there’s a steeple.”
Please stand in honor of God’s Word as I read our text this morning in Acts:2:41-47 – “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.”
Illus. – Listen as I describe four teams desperately desiring to go to the Super Bowl:
TEAM #1: This team can be seen huddled together on the sideline before the game, heads bowed in prayer with the coach in the middle. Suddenly they give a great cheer, and the coach trots out on to the field by himself, while the other players go and sit on the bench.
Now, as a sideline reporter, you go up to a 300-pound offensive guard and ask him, “What’s the coach doing out there?”
“Oh,” the guard replies, “HE’S going to play today.”
“All by himself?” you ask.
The guard explains: “Why not? He’s had a lot more experience and training than the rest of us. We’ve got a lot of rookies on this team and we might make mistakes. Anyway, they pay the coach well. We’re all here to support him, of course. And look at the huge crowd that’s come to watch him play!”
As the opposing team kicks off, the coach catches the ball, valiantly charges up-field…but is buried under eleven tacklers and is carried off half-conscious.
Sound crazy? The same is true with the church. God has called ALL of us to serve. God has given pastors and teachers and leaders, but their role is primarily to EQUIP the members for doing the work of the ministry. Never is the pastor or staff supposed to carry the ball on every play, do all the work, and try to defeat the foe all by themselves.
TEAM #2: This team realizes they all should play, so they’re huddle on the field. They huddle and huddle and huddle and huddle. The referee calls a penalty for delaying the game and moves the ball back five yards, but the team STILL huddles and huddles and huddles and huddles. The referee calls penalty after penalty, until finally the ball is moved all the way back to their own goal line.
The quarterback then yells back to the sidelines, “Hey, Coach! This is the greatest huddle I’ve ever been in! What a group of guys! We have the best fellowship...and some of these guys are amazing students of the playbook...some have memorized over a hundred plays! We LEARN SO MUCH in this huddle!”
But you holler back to the quarterback, asking him, “But why don’t you get up on the line and play?”
He responds, “Why should we? What we want is bigger and better huddles! Besides, this way no one gets hurt. It’s safe. It’s comfortable. And it makes us really feel good to be huddled together.”
TEAM #3: This team brings every player out on to the field, and breaks out of its huddle, just like a team is supposed to. However, instead of lining up against the opposing squad, they break into groups of two or three, arguing with one another. Soon they start shoving, and two of them actually get into a fight! As the referees call a penalty for delay of the game and are moving the ball backwards, you run out on to the field and ask a player, “What’s wrong?”
The player, walking off the field in disgust, explains, “That bunch of malcontents can never agree on anything! Those two over there are arguing over the color of the uniforms. A couple of others are quarreling over the right way to kneel in the huddle. I’m quitting because I can pass a lot better than that other guy, but they won’t let me be the quarterback.”
TEAM #4, however, is on their way to the Super Bowl: They’re all playing together. They’re huddling, slapping each other on the back, but then get into position. Each player carries out his own assignment, and soon they score a touchdown, and then another, and another. Afterwards, in the locker room they’re exhausted, bruised…but happy.
Obviously, TEAM #4 is the model we want to follow. Actually, we have an example of TEAM #4 in our text. Here’s a church that was a Super Bowl church if there ever was one. Let’s learn today how we as a church can become a champion church for God’s sake.
I. A CHAMPION CHURCH HUNGERS FOR GOD’S WORD IN THE COMMUNION OF BELIEVERS – Look at verse 42: “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
When Luke tells us that “They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine,” this means they had a hunger for God’s Word. The “apostle’s doctrine” was God’s revelation given through the apostles, which has come down to us as the New Testament. This, added to the Old Testament, is what makes up our Bible.
The people in a champion church want to hear from God’s Word, not man’s philosophy, human psychobabble, self-help solutions or the preacher’s hang-ups or pet topics. They want to hear from GOD and it is in His Word that we find our mission, our purpose, our comfort in trial and our guidance for daily living. As the shepherd of this church, God knows I try to make sure I only speak and clarify and expound on what GOD has said and to keep my opinions to myself. You pray that I will faithfully carry out that role.
I want you to notice that Luke talks about this hunger for God’s Word in the context of “fellowship and the breaking of bread and…prayers.” Luke is expressing the truth that worship and hearing teaching from God’s Word are all tied up with the communal aspect of faith. The term Luke uses is “fellowship,” which comes from the Greek word “koinonÃa,” and literally means “to share something in common.” Worship and faith and serving God are not meant to be “Lone Ranger” activities. They’re meant to be done together, with others, in community.
Have you ever heard anyone say, “I don’t need to go to church to worship God. I can worship God while out on the lake fishing.”? Besides the fact that that’s usually a bunch a boloney since they go to the lake TO FISH, not worship God—besides that, that statement is half a truth and half a lie. It’s true that anyone can worship God anywhere. God does not dwell just in church buildings; He’s everywhere, all the time. But it’s just as true that it has ALWAYS been God’s plan that believers worship and serve and grow and learn God’s Word...together, communally, corporately…and the believer who shuns the corporate worship of God with God’s people is sinning.
Throughout this whole passage there pervades the CORPORATE aspect of early church life, and as a church we’d be wise to imitate that church that was truly a champion church.
II. NOTE SECOND, THAT A CHAMPION CHURCH HAS A SENSE OF WONDER AND EXPECTATION OF GOD’S WORKING IN ITS MIDST– Verse 43: “And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.”
The word “fear” here does not mean they were afraid of God. Fear in the Bible, when used of God’s works from the perspective of God’s people always refers to a sense of awe and wonder. There was an expectation from every person in this church, an expectation that was fueled by the many signs and wonders God did through the apostles. GOD WAS AT WORK IN THEIR MIDST!
We saw in a previous sermon that though God works miracles in every age, the Bible teaches that signs and wonders ceased to be normative after the infancy of the church. In our day, the greatest acts of God’s workings are the saving of souls, the spiritual blessings of people who commit themselves to God and the many unexplained blessings that take place in our lives and in our church.
The GREATEST miracle of all is when a sinner turns from sin to Christ and his or her life is transformed by God’s grace. And every time believers make decisive decisions to obey the Lord in an area of their lives, it’s because of a mighty working of the Holy Spirit in their hearts.
But we also see in the many ways how God works in our lives and in our church. Have you ever heard someone tell about something God did and then say, “It was a God-thing”? What they’re describing is something that occurred in their lives that can only be explained by God’s supernatural working.
If everything can be explained by our own plans and strategies, where’s God? In a champion church, “God things” are happening all the time!
• Like when God provides just the workers we need year after year, in a church that experiences almost a 50% turnover every year with only one paid staff member (me);
• like when a whole brigade is taken away by the U.S. Army…and the church votes to give the pastor a $1000-a-month raise anyway because of all the stateside support he’d lost…and the church ends up in BETTER financial shape at the end of the process than at the start.
Those are a “God thing,” and it ought to fill us with awe of our great God and infuse us with expectation of more of His great works among us.
Oh!—when I come to church, I come with expectation and anticipation for God to work. I may not always see all His mighty works done in individual hearts, but I believe with all my heart that happens here every Sunday is an AWESOME display of God’s working that is every bit as powerful as the signs and wonders in the early church!
III. I’D LIKE YOU TO SEE THIRDLY THAT A CHAMPION CHURCH CARES FOR MEMBERS IN NEED – Look with me at verses 44-45 – “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.”
Again, do you see the communal, corporate focus of the early church? Not in every age are believers called upon to sell their possessions and divide their possession with those who are needy. We see this practice here in Acts 2 and also in chapter 4 when there was such a great need and God’s people spontaneously and voluntarily responded this way.
But believers took a different path in the remaining 24 chapters of the book of Acts. The key here isn’t HOW they cared for their needy, but that they DID it. The method of doing it may vary from age to age and culture to culture, but one thing we see in ALL the book of Acts is that they helped those in the church in need.
It’s true that Paul commanded says in Ephesians 4:28, “Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his own hands the thing which is good,” meaning the church is not a free welfare society. But that’s not all the verse says. Paul goes on to say, “…that he may have to give to him that needeth.” God’s primary design in your job is not to fill your house with material things; but to provide for your own family and then to help others and support God’s work.
John seems to question the salvation of those who shut up their wallets to brethren in need when he says in 1 John 3:17-19 – “17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.”
In a champion church, when a brother or sister has done everything in their power to work, but has fallen on hard times or has lost their means of support, the brethren in that church will show the love of God in deed and in truth.
IV. FOURTH, NOTE THAT A CHAMPION CHURCH IS HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY – Look at verse 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….”
These people served the Lord WITH GLADNESS. Church, God’s people, worship, fellowship—these all brought JOY! Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson wrote a book titled, “Happy Happy Happy.” I haven’t read it, but that’s a good way to describe the church of Jerusalem.
Why were they so happy? I think the answer is in these verses themselves. Notice that they worshipped together in the temple…what I would call “church large,” but also gathered together in their homes...what I call “church small.”
In other words, the church was not a building to them or a place you went to, where religious things took place. The church was the believers themselves and their involvement was not confined to one day a week, but they were intertwined in one another’s lives during the week.
When church is just a “PLACE” to go to once a week out of obligation to hear a sermon you don’t want to hear and sing songs you don’t want to sing…WHERE’S THE JOY IN THAT.
But what if church was more than where you went on Sunday, but was involvement on Sunday, yes, but also and interaction with believers during the week too: sharing your struggles and burdens and learning together in a Bible study or small group; growing together and serving one another in a homegroup; dropping by some groceries to someone without a job; bringing a meal to a family with a parent in the hospital; having a cup of coffee with some sisters just to “hang out.”
If the church is seen not as a place, but the people in the church, why then, “church” would be fun; there would be gladness and joy and we would praise God. We might not have a duck call, but we would be happy, happy, happy!
V. FIFTH, I WANT YOU TO SEE THAT A CHAMPION CHURCH HAS A GOOD REPUTATION – The second part of verse 47 says that they had “favor with all the people.”
Where anybody got the idea that a “fighting church” is a biblical church, I’ll never understand! Just as puzzling and unbiblical are the ideas that a church should focus mostly on what it’s AGAINST rather than what it’s FOR; or condemn rather than love the lost; or isolate ourselves from the world by strange beliefs and dress and practices.
Don’t get me wrong; the church must boldly proclaim truth without apology and a believer’s dress should always meet the biblical standard of modesty, and that will not always be popular. But I never forget that Paul did not simply tell us in Ephesians 4:15; rather he told tells us to “speak the truth in love.” If a church and its people stand for right, but do it lovingly; if this love and serve one another within the church and with all within its sphere of influence; if they reach the lost in love and compassion—it may never be popular, but it will have the favor and respect of the community.
VI. THE LAST CHARACTERISTIC OF A CHAMPION CHURCH IS THAT IT WILL GROW NUMERICALLY – The end of verse 47 says, “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
When a church seeks after the Lord and has a spirit of corporate unity and love and has a heart to reach the lost, the Lord will bless it numerically. The greatest evangelistic tool in the world is not a course on evangelism or a particular presentation of the Gospel (not that there is not a need for both of those), but a dynamic church with involved, excited, loving people. Jesus said, “By THIS shall all men know that ye are my disciples…if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:35) The Lord said, “I will build my church” and He’s doing it today wherever there are champion churches.
CONCLUSION
No sermon I preach is simply to fill a time slot or for anyone to say, “Great sermon, Pastor.”
Every sermon I preach is intended to lead each of us to a point of response to the truths just presented.
I would like to challenge you to answer these three simple questions in your heart:
• Do I know that I know God?
Am I saved?—On my way to heaven? If not, then this morning I beg of you to come and be saved.
• Am I right with God?
If you’re a believer and know that you’re saved, but you’re not walking with the Lord, I’ve got good news for you: God says in His Word: “Draw near to God and I will draw near to you.” We draw near to God by confessing our sin and coming back to God in recommitment of our lives to Him. I challenge you to do that this morning.
• Lastly, ask yourself this question: Am I doing my part?
Have I jumped in at Grace and gotten involved in an area of service; in attending a homegroup; in tithing; in missions giving? This church needs you to get involved and to support the work of God here; YOU need to get involved and support the work of God—because it’s when we’re serving God that our lives have the most meaning and when we fulfill our purpose to be God’s hands and feet on this earth. My heart’s desire is that you jump aboard and start serving God!
