Sermon Central
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The Kind Of Church God Honors
Contributed by Bernie Moraga on Jan 13, 2004 (message contributor)
Summary: In the first two chapters of the Book of Acts we find the secret of the blessings of God on the early church. Let us examine the things that qualified that church for God’s prosperity.
The Kind of Church Honors
Text:Acts 2:46-47
Scripture Reading:Acts 2:1-4a
Intro:
When someone says to me, "I won’t join your church; you have hypocrites in it," I am tempted to reply, "All right, you look around until you find a perfect church. But when you do, they won’t let you join, for you will spoil their record."
There is a sense in which we should be grateful that the church is not perfect. Because it is imperfect, we have been received into her fellowship. Because of her shortcomings, we are challenged to work and grow within her ranks. No, the church is not perfect. But she should be more nearly perfect than she is. The imperfections and the shortcomings are a scandal and a drag on her journey of achievementfor our Lord.
In the first two chapters of the Book of Acts we finf the secret of the blessings of God on the early church. Let us examine the things that qualified that church for God’s prosperity.
I. The kind of church God honors is a praying church.
a.Everyone was present for the prayer meeting.
b.They were all in one accord
II. The kind of church God honors is a witnessing church.
a.They all began to speak.
b.They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
1.Being filled with the Holy Spirit give us boldness
2.Being filled with the Holy Spirit give us effectiveness.
III. The kind of church God honors magnifies preaching.
The climax of the Pentecostal experience is recorded in the words, "But Peter standing up with the eleven,lifted up his voice and said unto them...." The Holy Spirit chose Peter to preach the sermon that great day. He preached Christ. He gloried on the cross. He preached with eloquence. He preached with conviction. He preached with boldness. He preached with power. He made definite demands. He presented the claims of the risen Christ. He called men to repent. He commanded believers to be baptized. He gave an evangelistic invitation, and thousands respond.
Conclusion:
Someone has said that on the Day od Pentecost one sermon was preached and three thousand responded, but that today it takes three thousand sermons for one response. The church that God honors magnifies the sermon. God still honors preaching...Bible preaching, Christ-centered preaching, uregent preaching, Spirit-filled preaching.
