The Church God Will Bless
By Tom Dooley
www.preachingtheword.com
Acts 2:41-47
Several years ago in the movie Hoosiers, Gene Hackman played the part of Norman Dale, a former college coach with a tainted past who was hired to coach a rural high-school basketball team from Hickory, Indiana. Coach Dale leads the team all the way to the state finals. On the day of the semifinals, the team arrives at Butler Field House, the huge inner-city arena where they’re to play in just a couple of hours. When the players enter the arena, their jaws fall slack and their eyes open wide. Gawking at the seats, the stand-alone goals, the suspended scoreboard, and the lights, they are awestruck and intimidated.
Coach Dale instructs one of his players to take a tape measure and determine the distance between the free-throw line and the goal.
“What’s the distance?” he asks.
“Fifteen feet,” the player says.
The coach then tells the smallest player on the team to climb on the shoulders of the taller player so they can measure the goal. “How high is it?” he asks.
“Ten feet,” the player says.
Coach Dale says, “I believe you’ll find these are the exact same measurements as our gym back in Hickory.”
The team members nervously laugh and everybody begins to relax. As they exit the gym, Coach Dale turns to his assistant and whispers, “Sure is big isn’t it!”
The challenges that lay ahead for the church in the 21st century are big as well.
It is important to remember that when measured by the rule of God’s Word, weather in a large metropolitan city or a small rural community the ministry and purpose of the church has not changed.
For the church to be blessed of the Lord there are certain principles that must be followed. These principles were established by and embodied in the first church there ever was.
The book of Acts, written by Luke, is a history book of the early church. By the time we get to our text, Jesus has been crucified and resurrected. He has appeared to the disciples in the upper room. A group of 120 people form the nucleus of the church, Peter preaches on the day of Pentecost and three thousand are saved and baptized.
From the moment the first church came into existence it modeled the characteristics of a church God would bless.
Let me ask you a question. Do you want to be a part of a church that God will bless?
Let’s examine God’s prototype together and follow their example. Notice first of all that God will bless a church that is marked by…
I. A LOVE FOR GOD’S WORD
The beginning of verse 42 tells us that they were continuing “steadfastly in the apostles doctrine.” That simply means that they were committed to following the teaching of the apostles.
What was the teaching of the apostles?
Let’s remember that the New Testament was not written at this time. The apostles taught from the Old Testament Scriptures and showed how they pointed to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. They also taught from the teachings of Jesus that they had learned first hand.
The majority of these new believers were Jewish by birth. Now that God opened their eyes they saw the scriptures as something more than just a set of rules and regulations, more than a history book about their people, but a living and relevant book that could transform their lives.
A couple of months ago I purchased a book titled: When God Builds A Church.
In the book Bob Russell, pastor of the Southeast Church in Louisville, Ky. tells about a special staff meeting that he called as they prepared to move into their new church building.
He asked his staff to meet him at the new building. When everyone arrived, hard hats, magic markers, and Bibles were passed out. He then instructed his staff to go to the classrooms and offices in the building where they would be working and write scripture verses on the concrete floors.
Pastor Russell told them, “Someday soon the scriptures will be covered with carpet. But I hope you will always remember what you have written today. And what we do today will be a visible reminder that we are always to stand on God’s Word.”
The staff really got into it. Some of them found some spray paint and began using it so the words would show up better.
Those in the children’s ministry wrote things like, “Let the little children come unto me…for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
In the education wing, the adult educations ministers wrote, “Study to show yourself approved unto God…”
In the music practice rooms the music minister wrote, “Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.”
In the pastor’s offices they wrote: “Preach the word in season and out of season.”
One single lady in the children’s ministry wrote her favorite verse on the floor of her office, “It is not good for a man to be alone.”
The scriptures-on-the-floor idea caught on and soon hundreds of church members followed suit. In a matter of weeks, there were scriptures all over the concrete floors-down the hallways, on the stairways, and on the steps leading up to the pulpit.
Pastor Russell went on to comment: “I believe the greatest reason God has chosen to bless Southeast Church and thousands of other churches around the world is that we have been serious about upholding the absolute truth of God’s Word.”
The church God blesses will be a church that is devoted to learning, teaching, preaching and sharing the word of God.
Secondly let’s see that God will bless a church that is marked by…
II. FELLOWSHIP
Verse 42 says that they continued steadfastly in… “fellowship.”
The term “fellowship” comes from the Greek word “koinonia.” It literally means to “share something in common.”
In the church there are old and young, wealthy and poor, healthy and disabled, black and white, baby Christians and mature believers. In spite of all of that diversity God’s people can enjoy the rich fellowship.
Why, because of what we share in common.
We share a common commitment to Jesus Christ. He is our Savior and Lord.
We share a common lifestyle. We walk in the light and have fellowship one with another… I Jn 1:3-7. We share a common goal…. To magnify and glorify Jesus in all that we do.
We share a common sacrifice. We chosen not to love the world and we have decided to please our Savior.
The Lord’s twelve disciples were quite a diverse bunch. Simon the Zealot was a patriot, a redneck of sorts that hated the Roman government. Matthew was a tax collector, a co-conspirator with the Roman government. (That would be kind of like having Rush Limbaugh and Ted Kennedy on the same committee!) Thomas and Peter were opposites too. Peter was impulsive and often fickle. Thomas was a thinker, slow to respond, but deeply committed.
I am sure that the different personalities clashed, but there was a fellowship. Jesus united them. They eventually would learn to check their egos and serve one another.
Fellowship is intended to bind us together in love.
Look back again at our text and note how that fellowship was expressed.
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.
True fellowship fulfills the great expectation of Jesus for his disciples.
John 13:34-35: A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
God blesses the church that is marked by a love for God’s Word and promotes fellowship. Thirdly, we see that God will bless a church that is marked by…
III. WORSHIP
Our text says that the continuing steadfastly in the “breaking of bread” (v.42). Verses 46-47a shed some light on this.
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…
The reference to them “breaking bread” tells us that their times of worship included the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. They gathered together to focus their attention upon the Lord and what He had done for them in providing salvation.
The 21st century church I fear has lost sight of what worship is to be about. We are often guilty of evaluating a worship service as if it were a performance that needs to be rated.
In our minds are thoughts like: I don’t think I like that song so and so sang. I thought the sermon today was about a six on a scale of ten. I fear that we see those who are up front as the ones who are worshipping and the rest of us are watching them worship.
That is not what worship is about.
Last year about this time our Tennessee Titans were involved in a heart wrenching defeat in the Super Bowl. All season they had fought back from deficits to win and it appeared as though they were going to pull off another comeback victory over the Rams. Unfortunately they came up about a yard and a half short.
The next evening when the team returned to Nashville they were bused to Adelphia Coliseum where more than 45,000 fans had gathered to greet and honor their team.
People painted their faces. They put on their Titan hats and jerseys. They screamed wildly as the team exited the bus and players were introduced.
When that tribute to the Titans team was over not one fan walked away saying, “That event was a dud. That did nothing for me.”
The event was a great success, not because of the performance, the team didn’t play. It wasn’t their speeches, because few of the players are great public speakers. It was a great success because people understood the purpose. The purpose wasn’t to please the fans. The purpose of the event was to honor the team and show how much they were appreciated.
That is what worship is about. Not about pleasing you and me, but expressing our appreciation and love to our Lord and Savior.
The scriptures command that we: “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name…”
I believe when that is our purpose we will worship.
God blesses the church that is marked by a love for God’s Word … fellowship…worship. Finally, we see that God will bless a church that is marked by…
IV. PRAYER
This first church was continuing steadfastly in “prayers.” (42)
A businessman in a small town that had historically been "dry" revealed his plans to open a tavern. A group of Christians from a local church were concerned and planned an all-night prayer meeting to ask God to intervene. Shortly thereafter lightening struck the bar and it burned to the ground. The owner brought a law suit against the church, claiming that the prayers of the congregation were responsible. The church hired an attorney to argue in court that they were not responsible for the man’s propery being destroyed.
The presiding judge after his initial review of the case stated, "no matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear. The tavern owner believes in prayer and the Christians do not."
The early church believed in prayer.
Prayer was a critical component in the health of the church in Jerusalem. They gathered together each day to seek the will and direction of the Lord.
If any church wants to be blessed of God it must prioritize prayer.
In the last couple of weeks the state of California has been facing a crisis. Power outages and blackouts have been daily occurrences leaving hundreds of thousands of residences, factories and offices without electricity.
The problem however is not that the power does not exist. The problem is that the California Power Companies do not have the financial resources to access that power.
Friend there need never be a power outage in the church.
Through prayer we can touch heaven and access all that we need.
Ephesians 2:20-21 reminds us that our Lord is able to do more for us than what we could ask or think….
20: Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21: Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
James Montgomery Boice tells of Lawrence of Arabia visiting Paris after World War I with some Arab friends. He showed them around Paris, but what fascinated them most was the faucet in their hotel room. They spent hours turning it on and off; they thought it was wonderful. All they had to do was turn the handle, and they could get all the water they wanted. When time came to leave, Lawrence found them in the bathroom trying to detach the faucet. They explained, "It is very dry in Arabia. What we need are faucets. If we have them, we will have all the water we want." Lawrence had to explain that the effectiveness of the faucets lay in their connection to the pipeline.
Friend there is a pipeline of power. It is available through prayer. Are you connected?
Conclusion:
The church God blesses….How do I know? Vs. 43 a and vs. 47b tell us that the Lord was adding to this church "daily" such as should be saved. That is the purpose of the church. If we want the Lord to bless our church then we must be individuals God will bless.
If you are unsaved, God wants to fulfill His purpose in you.
