Sunday Sermon THE great Church? Acts 4: 23-33 Today, many people are searching for “a GREAT church. • A great Church in the minds of many, would mean that it is a church that has many programs and ministries that cover all ages. • A great church also means having an upbeat, updated music ministry with a dynamic worship team having instrumentalists and good vocalists. • To many folks a great church means having a spacious state of the art facility that is attractive and pleasing to the eye. • A great church to many means having a dynamic pastor that can preach a good message, and a congregation of people that are outgoing, warm and friendly to first time guests. • To some, a great church also means having a coffee or café area where they can gather and fellowship over a hot cup of coffee. I remember receiving a call once from a lady who was down and out. She was noticeably crying and upset, so much so it was hard to understand exactly what she was saying. When I finally got her to calm down, basically what she told me; was she was unchurched. She didn’t belong anywhere? But what she wanted, was for me to pull the strings to get her the money she needed to pay her bills. The reason she felt I should do this….she said “that’s what you church people do”. I assume for some like this lady, a great church would be one that pays your bills.. IF I ASKED YOU THIS MORNING, WHAT MAKES A GREAT CHURCH? What would you say… 1. Love 2. Friendly 3. Caring 4. Somebody BETTER say….the preaching! What makes a great church? I think that I shall never see A church that’s all it ought to be: A church whose members never stray Beyond the strait and narrow way; A church that has no empty pews, Whose preacher never has the blues, A church whose deacons always deak, And none is proud, and all are meek; Where gossips never peddle lies, Or make complaints or criticize; Where all are always sweet and kind, And all to others’ faults are blind. Such perfect churches there may be, But none of them are known to me. But still, we’ll work, and pray, and plan To make our own the best we can. It might surprise you that God has a litmus we are to follow that will lead us to the great church. Peter and John go up to the temple. There they find a lame man; in fact he has been lame for over 30 years! And they heal him… But not just any healing…Peter ran away and hid before, but he’s not running anymore! He steps up to the plate and preaches THE sermon of ALL sermons… As they spoke to the people, the priests and the captains of the temple began to be disturbed……the bible said many believed; how many we’re not sure… but over 5,000 were there listening! In Acts 4, the apostles are being persecuted for preaching and ministering in the name of Jesus Christ. The religious Jewish leaders had threatened them and told them not to speak in His name anymore. Let’s read our lesson scripture and see what they did. Acts 4: 23-33 23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. 24 And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: 25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? 26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. 29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. 31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. 32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Sometimes THE simplest messages are THE hardest to understand. GOD makes the church great! When we turn to God for advice, When we turn to God for comfort When we turn to God for strength. THAT’S when we begin to be great as well, by the power of God! I can only guess how Peter and John must have felt. They had watched as they had tried Jesus. As The Savior preached a message of mercy and grace, and shared His love…They had seen Him crucified. Certainly on their own, they were scared…. But as a group, they knew they could do anything! Because God was what made them great! • There are some really simple lessons here, that if we would apply them to our lives, certainly we could make a difference in the lives of others…. • If we would apply these simple lessons to our ball teams, our civic organizations, they’d all be stronger and better prepared for their missions. • If we could learn to apply these things to our churches, we’d become a group of bible believing, rip-snorting believers who literally could light up their worlds where ever they went. What are these simple things???? I want you to look at Verse 24 24 And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: 2 things: 1. They lifted up their voice to God. (They prayed) 2. with one accord. (they were ALL in agreement) 2 things that make a church great? Simple…. 1. They pray 2. They all get along. When the apostles came back to be with the saints, what did they do? Notice they didnt call for a board meeting or call for a business session to talk, discuss and brainstorm a plan on how to handle the threats. They didn’t ask anybody for advice. In the midst of the hardship—the Church went to prayer. If we’re to be about our Father’s business, we HAVE to ALL be on the same page! But we (the church) struggle amongst ourselves, and at times we become almost ineffective; we lose the sight of our mission (which is to save souls) because A. we forget to pray, and B. we’re not at peace with our brother’s and sister’s in Christ. Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church “Great churches are built on purpose! The starting point for every church should be the question, ‘Why do we exist?’” Now that we know and understand what the Good News is, what are we going to do with it? What is our purpose as God’s Church? What difference do we want to make? Several years ago (1985) a celebration took place at a municipal pool in New Orleans. The party around the pool was held to celebrate the first summer in memory without a drowning at the New Orleans City pool. In honor of the occasion, 200 people gathered, including 100 certified lifeguards. As the party was breaking up and the four lifeguards on duty began to clear the pool, they found a fully dressed body in the deep end. They tried to revive Jerome Moody, 31, but it was too late. He had drowned surrounded by lifeguards celebrating their successful season. What a tragedy. But, it’s just as tragic when people are surrounded by Christians and still die and still go to hell not knowing Jesus. The early Church was committed to reaching the lost for Christ We need to raise the bar in our commitment toward reaching others as well. In the filming of Ben Hur, the star of the movie Charleston Heston had a difficult time learning how to drive the chariot. So, after a great deal of work and practice, Heston mastered the art of driving the chariot but felt impelled to go to the director, Cecil B. DeMille, and say, “I think I can drive the chariot, but I’m not sure I can win the race.” DeMille is said to have responded with, “You just stay in the race, I’ll make sure you win.” God tells us all; in Christ you’ll always be a winner! But we need to pray constantly….about everything…. PRAY WITHOUT CEASING!. And to us (the church), our mission is simple? But it starts….that we’re all on the same page…..all in one accord! You look up any religion or group associated with God, and you’ll see where THE church, is on the decline. It has been for years…doesn’t make any difference; Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist; we’re all losing members, and the numbers are down more and more every year. But if you’ll examine the geography, notice in Africa it’s been the other way around. It’s been on the rise for years. We have the internet, television; all the resources known to modern man where people can not only see and hear the word of God, at any given time you can turn on the radio or the TV and hear the word of God explained in detail. So a third world country takes the lead in converts, and their church thrives, while in the good ole USA, a place where we like to brag we are a CHRISTIAN NATION, our church continues year after year to decline…..why is that? I think 2 reasons. If we could only correct those 2 things, I believe the church would become stronger, more effective tools intended for their original purpose. If we’d simply all get on the same page….check YOUR agenda at the door! And if we’d all learn (once again) to pray! An older gentleman was walking along the seashore one day in the hot sun. As he walked he was sweating profusely and seemed to be in a hurry! Every few steps he would bend over, pick up a starfish from the hot, burning sands an cast it back into the cool waves. One after another, after another, after another he would pick the starfish up and cast them into the water. Some would come back to the hot sand as the waves washed them back in while most would eventually go into the deeper waters of safety. A young man came along, after having watched this for awhile and told the old man, “You are wasting your time and energy. There are thousands of starfish on the sand. What difference can you possibly make?” The old man seemed to ignore this younger man. He simply bent over, picked up another starfish and threw it into the water. As he quickly moved on to the next one, the old man turned to the younger man and said, “Well, it sure made a difference for that one didn’t it!” Heavenly Father, Bless your church Lord, and make us more effective tools of ministry for your will and your way. Use us in a mighty way, Amen.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 12:11:38 +0000
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