A Church Set For Greater Heights
0 Amens
41) Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
42) They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.43) Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
44) All the believers were together and had everything in common.45) Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,47) praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
In one of the leadership book of John Maxwell, he told a story of a 10-year-boy who was selling pencils door to door in his neighborhood. When an interested adult at one house asked him the reason for selling pencils, he replied, I want to raise six million dollars to build a new hospital for the city.”Amazed, the inquiring adult exclaimed, That’s a mighty big job for just one little boy, isn’t it?”
“No,” responded the 10-year-old with big dreams, “I have a friend who’s helping me.”The church that was built by Jesus Christ was designed for significant accomplishments. The prophetic declaration of Jesus Christ regarding the establishment of the church in Matthew 16: 18 clearly conveyed great prospects.
Matthew 16:1818) And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Notice, “the gates of Hades will not overcome it.,” Evidently, Jesus saw the church victoriously advancing against the Devil and his territory.
Unfortunately, this is not how many people view the church today. Often, the church has been perceived as boring and struggling, or irrelevant and dying. I believe we who are in the church have the responsibility of changing the image of the church before the world. We need to establish a positive image that would attract unsaved people to our savior Jesus Christ without compromising our Biblical convictions and beliefs. Is this possible? Well, examining our text, we can rediscover how the first church in
Acts chapter 2 was the fulfillment of the promise made by Jesus Christ before His ascension. You find this statement in the previous chapter.
Acts 1:8
8) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in
Acts 2:13-14
13) Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."
14) Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in
Today, this same power is available for all the believers, for all churches. We must not try to do the work of the Lord without seeking this power. Ministering without the power of the Holy Spirit is like flying a kite without any wind. It will surely be exhausting and frustrating. But how can we be filled with the Spirit? First, let me highlight two verses:
Ephesians 5:18 -1918) Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
19) Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.There are three requirements we can find in these two verses:
A. Submission – To be filled means to be dominated. Allow the Holy Spirit to take control of your life.B. Saturation – To be richly fed by the Word of God wherein the Spirit provides guidance and control.
C. Satisfaction – To be grateful for the communion and relationship the Spirit provides.God wants all of us to experience the filling of the Holy Spirit. This is why He did not just requested that we be filled, He commanded. Are you still seeking the filling of the Holy Spirit? It will surely make a difference in your life and in the life of our church if you constantly seek for His filling.
II THE PROXIMITY TO THE COMMUNITY: (vs. 46-47)
When you read the context of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the inauguration of the church, the Lord has chosen to coincide it with the Day of Pentecost, a Feast practice by the Jews. During this time, there were thousands of pilgrims in
There are two things we need to remember on the proximity of the church:
A. We are constantly being watched by the outsiders – Our church life can either attract them to Christ or distract them from Christ.The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians – when they are somber and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths.” (Sheldon Vanauken)
B. God does not want His people to be isolated from those who need the light from Jesus. – Christians should be separated from the world but never isolated from them. We have the responsibility of being God’s salt and light to them.Matthew 5:13-15
13) "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.14) "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15) Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
III THE PROPRIETORSHIP OF THE LORD: (2: 47)“the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
The usage of the word proprietor is ownership. Here’s the point - Time and again, we as God’s people must reexamine how we view our roles in the church. One example is in the area of worship.- The performers are the pastors, choir, and praise team – those on stage.
- The prompter would, of course, be God Himself, orchestrating the leaders as the worship unfolds.
- The audience would be the congregation, watching and waiting to be blessed.
However, the Scripture teaches differently. We are told that whatever we do, we are to do it with all our hearts, as for the Lord, and not for men. Certainly, this includes worship and every other activity we do associated with church. God, and only God, is the audience. Therefore, in reality, we should view our roles as:
- The actors are the church members, each one a minister.
- The audience is God alone.
Now, this perspective takes the members out of the role of the critics and puts them into the role of participants. We take the responsibility for the church, and seek to do our best to please and honor its only true owner that is God. Going back to our text, it is very clear that as God was delighted in the performance of His church, He kept adding to them daily. When He sees that we are faithful taking care of what we have, He’ll give us more to take care of.
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