Let me ask you: Why is the church here? (By ‘the church’, I don’t mean this building, I mean the group of people that makes up the church.) I’m looking for your feedback – *DON’T RESPOND if you’ve attended this church for over 1 year.*
Don’t you wish you belonged to a church like that?
- A church that reached out to everyone, of every race and background, and let them know that God loves them, and Jesus died for them?
- A church that ministered to the needy, hurting, addicted, divorced, and lonely.
- A church where you could come and hear clear, interesting Bible teaching that applied to your life.
- A church where you knew you were getting closer to God.
- A church where you just could SENSE God’s presence as we worshipped Him.
WELL, many years ago, there was such a church. This was a church where they were literally seeing new people saved daily. (That’s at least 365 people a year!)
Let’s read about this church in Acts 2.
Acts 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
(NKJV)
WOW. . .what a group of people!
What made this church so powerful? Let’s look a little closer:
This church was powerful because they had discovered the secret to being a church that functions the way God intended. I want to share that secret with you. This church discovered that it could help it’s members do 5 things:
1. Fortify their faith. (Discipleship)
“They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine...”
2. Find their talents. (Ministry)
“[They] sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.”
3. Focus on God. (Worship)
“Continuing daily with one accord in the temple. . . praising God. . .”
4. Face life’s problems. (Fellowship)
“Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common. . . and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.”
5. Fulfill their mission. (Evangelism)
“...having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
This month, I’m starting a new series where I share with you the dreams God has given me for this church. *ESPECIALLY on Thanksgiving Sunday, I’m going to be sharing a special sermon on the vision for this church. If you want to know where this church is headed, you won’t want to miss that Sunday!
In short, I want this church to become exactly what that early church was: A biblically functioning community.
In other words, a church that works just like God intended.
I believe that the secret to this is found in doing the five things that I just shared with you: They are the 5 Purposes of the Church - - the 5 Reasons God put us here.
We can do all sorts of fancy stuff. . .
we can have huge church buildings. . .
We can spend millions of dollars each year. . .
But if we fail to be a community of Christians that works together just like God intended, we’ll never have a great church.
Let’s examine the first couple purposes this morning:
OUR CHURCH EXISTS TO: Fortify your faith.
We call this purpose “Disipleship”. Being a disciple is simply being a follower of Jesus, being a learner from Jesus.
When we choose to follow Jesus, that’s only the beginning! We can either have a strong faith, or a weak one. We can have one that will hold us through the tough times, or let us down when things get hard.
Listen to this verse describing what we are to do:
2 Peter 3:18 “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
GRACE and KNOWLEDGE.
When you begin to build your faith, and learn more about who God is and what He is like, and more about His Word, it will change the way you think. It will give you a new PERSPECTIVE.
But when you stepped away, and looked at the big picture, you could see that there was a purpose in all that activity – they were working on something a lot bigger than they were, and every ant and bee had a specific job. The perspective was all the difference.
God doesn’t just want to forgive you of your sin, he wants you to grow in Him until it changes your perspective.
Building up your faith will do several things for you:
1. It will cause you to love God more.
“May you be able to feel and understand, as God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is.” Ephesians 3:18
2. It will help you resist temptation.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12
The more you know God, the more you will realize the consequences of sin are far worse than any pleasure that sin could provide. That’s called perspective. . .
3. It will help you handle trials.
“Count it all joy when you fall into different trials, knowing that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” James 1:3
On December 29, 1987, a Soviet cosmonaut returned to the earth after 326 days in orbit. He was in good health, which hasn’t always been the case in those record-breaking voyages. Five years earlier, touching down after 211 days in space, two cosmonauts suffered from dizziness, high pulse rates, and heart palpitations. They couldn’t walk for a week, and after 30 days, they were still undergoing therapy for atrophied muscles and weakened hearts. At zero gravity, the muscles of the body begin to waste away because there is no resistance. To counteract this, the Soviets prescribed a vigorous exercise program for the cosmonauts. They invented the "penguin suit," a running suit laced with elastic bands. It resists every move the cosmonauts make, forcing them to exert their strength.
4. It will help protect you from error.
Eph. 4:14 “So that we may be no longer children, sent this way and that, turned about by every wind of teaching, by the twisting and tricks of men, by the deceits of error.”
The last thing you want to make a mistake on is something that you believe about God.
“Four.”
“Well, if you were to call the cow’s tail a leg, how many legs would it have.”
“Five, of course.”
“Well, that’s where you’re wrong. Calling a cow’s tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”
There’s a lot of error going around in this world. Some people teach that Jesus is God, and others teach that He’s not. Some teach that he’s the only way to be saved, and others teach that he is A way to be saved.
You’ve got to grow enough spiritually to protect yourself from the errors that others teach.
The last thing that you want to make a mistake on is something you believe about GOD! Those are the things that really matter!
What about you? Have you started building your faith? The first step, of course, is HAVING faith. Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ to be your personal Savior, or are you hoping to be a good enough person to make it to heaven on your own?
_____________________________
HANDOUT - Formatted for landscaped page, 1/2 inch margins, 2 column
How the Church Ought to Be
Acts 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
(NKJV)
This church was powerful because they had discovered that they could help the members of the church do 5 things:
1. Fortify their __________. (Discipleship)
“They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine...”
2. Find their ______________. (Ministry)
“[They] sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.”
3. Focus on ___________. (Worship)
“Continuing daily with one accord in the temple. . . praising God.”
4. Face life’s ______________. (Fellowship)
“Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common. . . and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.”
5. Fulfill their _____________. (Evangelism)
“...having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
OUR CHURCH EXISTS TO: Fortify your faith.
We call this purpose “Disipleship”. Being a disciple is simply being a ________________ of Jesus, and a ____________ from Jesus.
This verse describes what we are to do after we become Christians:
2 Peter 3:18 “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
When you begin to build your faith, and learn more about who God is and what He is like, and more about His Word, it will change the way you think. It will give you a new ___________________.
Building up your faith until you have God’s perspective will help you:
1. It will cause you to __________ God more.
“May you be able to feel and understand, as God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is.” Ephesians 3:18
2. It will help you resist _________________.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12
The more you know God, the more you will realize the consequences of sin are far worse than any pleasure that sin could provide.
3. It will help you handle ____________.
“Count it all joy when you fall into different trials, knowing that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” James 1:3
4. It will help protect you from __________.
“So that we may be no longer children, sent this way and that, turned about by every wind of teaching, by the twisting and tricks of men, by the deceits of error.” Ephesians 4:14
The last thing you want to make a mistake on is something that you believe about ___________. Those beliefs are the ones that really matter!
