SERIES: A CHURCH WITH PURPOSE
Part Five: "You Do The Math"
Acts 2:42-45
Well….today is what? That’s right, Super Bowl Sunday. Who is rooting for the Giants? Who is rooting for the Patriots? How many wonder what the hype is all about? I do believe, if you look hard enough, that something so temporal and unimportant as football can have a larger, and even eternal significance. For example……………
In a never-ending effort to attract the unchurched, some churches have considered translating their unfamiliar terminology into familiar football phrases. For example: FIRST QUARTER: What most people put into the offering plate so it looks like they are giving. HALFTIME: Usually during the offertory when at least 14 people decide they need to use the restroom. ILLEGAL MOTION: Leaving before the benediction. PASS INTERFERENCE: A parent moving between two teens in the pew to halt the flow of notes back and forth during the sermon. TACKLE: Asking that "new couple" to sing in the choir, work in the nursery, serve on a committee, join a Bible study, or teach Sunday School.
This is the last in this series that we’ve been looking at based on Acts 2:42-47. We are to be a people with purpose. As people, as a church, we are to recognize that we possess purpose and are to act on it. Again from Acts 2:42-47, ”And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
Most churches consider themselves friendly……but are they? I’ve been in a few over my life where they weren’t very friendly. Some use welcoming sayings like; A warm welcome awaits you…..we are open hearted and minded. So often we don’t think through about what we are doing to reach people for Jesus. Usually it’s about what we want. What we need to be is a reproducing church, if you are willing to go there. That’s how the church in Acts was…..they had their priorities right. Their Christian faith was an everyday reality. That Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead was working in every believer…..the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit was working. That’s what the church needs today. Not just to play church…….but be the New Testament Church.
Those priorities mentioned back then are the same we are to have today. We are to be devoted people to God. We are to be devoted to learning and growing in our faith. We are to be devoted to being a true and authentic community where loving God and loving one another is continually done and observed. We are to be devoted to Jesus, remembering that He is the center of our worship; He is the center of all we are and all we do. We are to be devoted to prayer, understanding that we are in constant submission to His Person, His ways, and His will for us.
When we are truly devoted to these priorities, a great thing happens to us…we respond to God with awe. Why? Because we know that He is at work. When we are devoted to Him, He will work in us and through others. And we will worship. We will become God-centered. He will be the heart of our worship. It is our constant task in this life of faith to move from being self-centered to being God-centered. And when we allow God to get deep inside of us, He will transform us. We will change. We will truly be concerned for each other. For when we truly allow God deep inside of us, to root out that which is bad, sinful and flawed, it will fill back up with love for others.
And, as a result…we develop a community of unity. We will be there for each other, supply the needs of one another, pray, bring food, give rides, share, fill in gaps – whatever it takes to make sure that nothing is lacking. We will be generous. In so doing…we become a place of grace. Note the words that are used to describe this first-century church. “They had glad and generous hearts. They had favor with people.” These are words of grace. When God really gets a hold of us, what we want doesn’t matter. What matters is how we can serve. What matters is how we can be an effective community. What matters is the kingdom of God.
When we get like that, then…we are known for our joy. When God has His way in our midst, it is no time for drudgery. In fact, it cannot happen. For where God is, there is joy – indescribable joy! And it brings favor by those who watch. For we become a different kind of people, a people that truly searching people want to be.
In the 1850s, some people discovered a tremendous amount of gold in a riverbed in Montana. But, because they didn’t have any tools and some members of their team were sick, they realized that they had to go back to town for some supplies and to rest up. Before they left, they decided to make a pact to not tell anyone where the gold was. After a couple of weeks, they all got up to leave the town and head back to the riverbed. But as they did, over fifty of the townspeople walked out of town with them. And they began asking each other, “Did you tell them about the gold?” “No, did you?” So after this went back and forth a little while, they finally asked the people why they were coming along. And here is what they said, “We are coming because we knew you found gold by the smiles on your faces.”
So, what happens when we hit the gold of God’s love in our lives? What is the result? It is simply this…RESULT: Babies come! It is time for you to do the math! “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” The first century church found that spiritual reproduction was a natural outcome of right priorities. I know that is a mouthful. But when we pay attention to and are devoted to the right priorities, God works! God adds to the church. And don’t ever think that God is not interested in doing so! He is always interested in adding. He always desires to bless. But it is not done by technique. It is done by drawing on God’s resources.
In Conclusion: How Do We At ECC Get There?
What has to happen to see God adding in our midst? By Evangelism…there are missionaries in Mexico that had a daughter named Geneva who was really into Barbie’s. Apparently she engaged in long conversations with them as she walked around the house. Searching for common ground with his little girl, her dad suggested that she teach her Barbie’s about Jesus. Geneva then went back to her room for a few minutes, gathered all her Barbie’s in a circle around her and told them that they needed to believe in Jesus in order to go to heaven.
A few minutes later, she came out of her room and proudly announced that all of her Barbie’s were now believers. The dad asked her how it happened that they all become Christians so quickly. With a big grin on her face, Geneva said, “It was easy. I just sat on each of them until they said yes!” While this method sure sounds effective, there is probably better ways to connect with how God wants us to accomplish our purpose. So, how do we accomplish our purpose?
First We Must Understand Our Mission
Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8 tells us what that is, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” You have heard me speak of the Great Commission before. This is not new territory for us, but just as a matter of reminder, there is one command in this verse. The rest is a description of how the command is to be done. What is that command? If you said “making disciples,” you are correct. Each one of us has a responsibility to move people further in their understanding of Jesus, so that they can be a true and faithful follower of Him. But we recognize that some do not yet know Him. We have a responsibility to move them closer to that decision. If a person does know the Lord, we are to guide them toward a deeper faith and relationship with Him.
AT THIS POINT LLOYD GANTZ, A MEMBER OF CONGREGATION, GAVE A TESTIMONY ABOUT SEEING JESUS IN HEAVEN….IF YOU WISH TO SEE IT GO TO VIEW MESSAGES AND CLICK. . As he does be open to what God wants you to hear and receive. That my friends is our mission. To be witnesses for Jesus Christ wherever He puts us. We are to testify to the joy the Lord has brought us. With a dependency on and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are to give evidence of the difference Jesus has made in us. We are to understand our mission. We are to get this into our heads. We must be absolutely convinced in our mind about our responsibility. But it does not stop there. Don’t leave it there! It must move from our mind and into our hearts….like it did for Lloyd.
Second We Must Feel What Jesus Feels
Matthew 9:35-38 says, “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
Until it gets into our hearts that people are dying every day without God and without hope, we will not see God adding to our number. Do we feel as Jesus did over the lost? Do we have pity? Do we have compassion? Do we weep? We will never move forward to being a healthy church until we know what it is to have a broken heart. And not just any broken heart, but a heart that is broken over the same things that break our dear Lord’s heart. You see, it is not in His heart that any perish. He longs for all to belong to His kingdom. So we pray…and we don’t pray to get out of doing anything. We pray because the task is so big. It is the Lord’s work. And the need for laborers is so large.
There is no greater time than harvest time and the way things are in this world today, it’s here. The harvest is before us. And there is no greater joy! When Jesus told the disciples to pray for laborers, He then sent them. It had to go from their head, to heart, to hand. So it must be for us………………………
Third We Must Live And Speak The Good News
It’s what Romans 10:13-15; II Corinthians 5:20 tells us, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news! Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” He has chosen us to carry the message. We are His ambassadors, sent to speak words of peace. We are an official agent of the King, carrying His authority – speaking for Him. It is a beautiful message we have been given. It sets us free. It pardons us. It is a living and powerful message.
But if the Lord is to add to our number, it must be lived and spoken. It must get past our understanding, and move to our heart. But it can’t stay there either. It must go from our heart to our hands and lips. Mind – hearts – hands. Today, many of you will see touch downs made by a number of players. They do that because they play as a team. We need to realize that when it comes to the touchdown of salvation, we will never score on our own. We are unable and too weak and many things will be in our way. We need someone else to help us. So appreciate the grace that you have today and please lead others to do the same.
Get our purpose in your mind…and understand the mission, for we are to be witnesses of what God has done for us and in us, we have to move people toward Christlikeness. Get our purpose in your heart…and let us dare to have the same kind of heart that Jesus has for people that are lost; let us pray to have His heart, and even let our hearts be broken as His is. Get our purpose in your hands…in other words, let us not be ashamed to live and to speak the good news, for how will anyone know if we don’t live it – how will anyone know if we don’t say it? Amen.
SERIES: A CHURCH WITH PURPOSE
Part Four: "Giving Up On God"
Acts 2:42-45
How well do you know the Bible? The book of Hezekiah comes before……Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Zechariah? Well, the answer is ‘d’ which is none of the above, because Hezekiah is not a book of the Bible. Which sport is mentioned first in the Bible? Baseball, Tennis, or Shuffleboard? It is ‘a’, for in Genesis 1:1 it states, “In the big inning….” Who is the first person to play tennis in the Bible? Noah, Jacob, or Joseph? Well it was ‘c’ Joseph because he served in Pharaoh’s court.
How about some short answer…..Which Bible character had no parents? Joshua, son of Nun. And….What kind of man was Boaz before he got married? Ruth-less. We’ve been talking about being a people with a purpose and a church with a purpose. As you can notice by the outline, for a particular reason, the title of this message is different. I decided that what I had to say next week needed to be said this week and visa versa. Next week you will see why.
Again, the early church was characterized by devotion and purpose. Acts 2:42, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Today, we want to look at the apostle’s teaching. We talked about how they probably used the Hebrew Scriptures, a Greek version that scholars call the Septuagint. But they had much more to go on. They had lived with Jesus, so they shared His saying and stories about Him. They taught the importance of His death and resurrection. And they explained the priority of Godly living. They also began to record these matters…..they wrote them down. And all these writings were gathered in what is now called the New Testament. As the church progressed, they possessed the conviction that the writing of the apostles carried the same weight as that of the Hebrew Scriptures.
When it comes to having a devotion to the apostles’ teaching, this is something that is true for every Christian. I understand that I have a wonderful calling and a terrific job. I have the opportunity to study the Bible for a living and teach it to you and encourage you to live it. But the study of Scripture is not just for teachers and pastors. It is essential for every Christian to devote themselves to the study of God’s Word. That is a strong statement, and I hope you understand that…..Again, it is essential that every Christian devote themselves to the study of God’s Word. Because the Word needs to get into us. Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." God wants His Word to dwell inside of us, to live in us and He wants us to live there richly…..abundantly. But here is the problem, if you and I are not spending time getting the Bible in us, we will never know its truth. According to a Barna Research Group survey, less than 50% of Americans open the Bible in a given week. 82% think that “God helps those who help themselves” is directly from the Bible; 63% cannot name the four Gospels; 58% do not know what Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount; 52% do not know the book of Jonah is in the Bible. Those are kind of scary statistics. But, as Christians, here is where we must stand…WE ARE DEVOTED TO THE TRUTH.
This morning, the question we want to ask is “why”? Why are we devoted to the truth found in the Bible. Well…We will find in our study based on Acts 2.42 three reasons why we should be devoted to the truth in Scripture. “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
First Reason Is Its Authority
Michele consistently attempted to teach her children the “please and thank you” of polite society. She also helped them memorize Scripture. So one day, her 4 year old son, John, was tussling and wrestling with her in a good-natured contest. Losing the battle, he wanted to be released. “What’s the magic word?” encouraged Michelle, ready to comply with his wish. “Let my people go…..Exodus 8:1,” came the reply. See….knowing Scripture can be handy! It has a certain authority to it, doesn’t it? Well, we do believe God’s Word is superior to our word.
This verse demonstrates the superiority of Scripture. And it challenges us to give up on being God. You see…what we say is not equal to what God says. What we have received from him is a true authority in our lives. This is reinforced by our own doctrinal statement…THE HOLY BIBLE: We believe what it says in II Timothy 3:16 & II Peter 1:21, “All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” We, therefore, believe that the very words of Scripture are the only complete and final revelation from God and are the supreme standard of all faith and practice. We further believe that Scripture “never had its origin in the will of man but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Although the concept of absolute truth is not a popular concept in today’s world, we understand that Scripture is the truth, speaks the truth, and contains the truth we need to know about God and how to live. Which brings us to…
Second Reason Is Its Life
We believe God’s Word guides us to the good life. Hebrews 4:12; Jeremiah 15:16 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart.” As human beings, we have a tendency to make light of things that are dead serious. We try to rework something to not be sin when it really is. But when we read God’s word, it reaches right down into us. It tells us the truth. It convicts us. It is able to get into our very heart, where we make our decisions. It challenges us to be right with Him, to delight in what He says, and enjoy life – the good life that he offers to us.
I like how Rick Warren has described the Bible in the Purpose Driven Life: “The Bible is far more than a doctrinal guidebook. God’s Word generates life, creates faith, produces change, frightens the Devil, causes miracles, heals hurts, builds character, transforms circumstances, imparts joy, overcomes adversity, defeats temptation, infuses hope, releases power, cleanses our minds, brings things into being, and guarantees our future forever!” You see…when you open the Bible you open a guidebook and an encyclopedia on how to live life at its best. It steers us in the right direction, directing us to a full and satisfying life.
Third Reason Is Its Message
We believe that God loves us passionately, deeply and personally. The core of that is John 3:16, ”For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Why should we invite people to church? Because they’re not a project. We invite them because we believe God loves them passionately, deeply and personally. We serve a good God! We serve a God who wants us to give up on trying to do a better job at life than He does. We have a good God who wants us to know a good life. Max Lucado said this about God, ““God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. ¬ He wants you to be just like Jesus.” God doesn’t want us to stay just the way we are. He’s in the business of changing lives. And He uses His Word to do that.
In Conclusion
A man is driving up a steep, narrow mountain road. A woman is driving down the same road. As they pass each other, the woman leans out of the window and yells "PIG!!!" The man immediately leans out of his window and replies, "WITCH!!!" They each continue on their way, and as the man rounds the next corner, he crashes into a pig in the middle of the road. If only men would listen. Actually, regardless of gender, we need to…be a listener. We need to get the discipline of getting the Word of God in our head. We need to expose ourselves to the truth. Now, we have been doing that during this time this morning, right? We have been hearing Scripture spoken. During this time now, we have been hearing it explained. And there are other opportunities as well……Sunday School….Small Groups. We need to use these occasions to expose ourselves and be devoted to the truth.
When we do this, we will…find out the life-giving change it brings. We can never settle for hearing it though. God does not want us just to fill our heads with knowledge about Him. It needs to move from our heads and into our hearts. This is important because when it is in our hearts, we are moved to action. Now I realize that there may be some here today that are skeptical about all this. You may be thinking that we have taken a huge leap of faith to believe in all this stuff, to accept this book as God’s words to us. Perhaps you think that we are even a little bit nutty.
If you are thinking this way, may I place a challenge before you…read the Bible (start with the shortest biography about Jesus called Mark)…and obey it. Whenever you read something that you know is an example worth following…dare to obey it. And here is what I believe will happen…I believe these words are so powerful, that you will see a change in your life that you will have a hard time explaining away, except to say that these words have their source God Himself.
Finally I want to encourage us all (including myself) to go beyond being a listener and…be diligent in its study II Timothy 2.15, “Be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved, a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing rightly handling and skillfully teaching the Word of Truth.” It’s encouraging to me when I see people reading and studying the Scriptures. It reflects to me a devotion to God and that’s what it is really all about. Like I said a couple of weeks ago. It’s moving to a time of devotion, reflecting a desire to be with God, not just a daily requirement to check off the list. And that’s where we all need to go……….from a ‘have to’ to a ‘want to.’ In other words, a transition from ‘I am required to spend time with God’ to ‘I want to spend time with God.’ It’s a big difference. I want to transition from “I am required to spend time with God” to “I want to spend time with God.”
But in the midst of all this, remember what the time of devotion is all about…what the study is really for… we need to transition from head to heart to hands…for information is not enough. We are to move from information to inward transformation. Then we move from inward transformation to outward reformation. In other words, we move from the head to the heart to the hands. And it is then, we truly live and enjoy a good life. Let’s be devoted to truth in our heads, hearts, and hands. As we do we become more like Christ and act more like Him. Amen.
SERIES: A CHURCH WITH PURPOSE
Part Three: “The Missing Ingredient”
Acts. 2:42-47
How good are you with prayer? Many years ago, when the Chicago Bears were a football powerhouse, Michael Singletary was leading a chapel before the game. As Michael began to speak, he asked William Perry to lead the group in the Lord’s Prayer after he finished. Jim McMahon, the quarterback, was sitting in the back next to the team’s chaplain. McMahon whispered to the chaplain, “Look at Perry.” The chaplain looked and saw that Perry was sweating profusely. McMahon continued, “He doesn’t know the Lord’s Prayer.” To which the chaplain responded, “Of course he knows the Lord’s Prayer. Everyone knows it.” McMahon then showed the chaplain a fifty-dollar bill saying, “I’ll bet you $50 that he doesn’t know it.” Finally, Singletary finishes his message, and Perry, with great hesitation stands, clears his throat, and says, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep…” It is then McMahon turns to the chaplain, hands him the fifty-dollar bill, and says, “I didn’t think he knew it!” Well, hopefully you do know the difference!
We’ve been looking at being a people with purpose……a church with purpose the past couple of weeks. As believers in the Lord Jesus, we have been given a purpose. We are not left to drift, and just do the best we can. God has invested into us an ability to understand Him and know Him. God has endowed us with the capacity to work in such a way that we will see His kingdom come here on earth, as it is in heaven. So far we’ve learned that believers in Jesus are characterized by devotion. Acts 2:42 says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. This particular verse is loaded, because we see the first church, guided by the power of the Holy Spirit, has already established priorities. These are God-given priorities.
On January 1st, we started out the year right by celebrating the priority of the breaking of bread – communion – the Lord’s Supper. Two weeks ago we looked at being devoted to community and making that a priority. Last week we looked at our fellowship together. God calls us to a true community in which we live authentically….loving one another…..and growing and maturing in our faith. Today, we learn that we are to be devoted to prayer.
My friends, prayer is not meant to be complicated……..it is simply talking to God. You don’t have to use flowery languages, theological words, but just plain conversation. God desires that from us because He is the most awesome, powerful, magnificent Being of the universe. He wants us to be devoted to prayer. If we are not being devoted to prayer with Him, then we are foolish men and women. Frankly, it is often the missing ingredient in the church and in people’s lives. Churches that truly believe in God believe in prayer, and they demonstrate it…..by praying! Charles Spurgeon, a 19th Century Preacher said, ““If God be near the church, it must pray. And if He not be there, one of the first tokens of His absence will be a slothfulness in prayer.” For the early church it was a constant. They didn’t just talk about it. They just didn’t tell people to pray. They were a people who prayed! And in so doing, they show us that…we are to move from “need to” to “want to” when it comes to our relationship with God. You know, I rarely meet a Christian that does not know that prayer is to be a priority. I rarely meet a believer who does not realize that they need to pray. But I must tell you where I do find the rarity. It is finding people that “want to” pray.
My heart is very much at this point today, for how God desires us to move past the obligation into an enthusiasm to be with Him. You see…He not only wants us remember His work on the cross for us, He wants us to experience His Presence when we break the bread. God not only wants us to enjoy fellowship with one another, He wants to be in community with us. He not only wants us to know Him through His Word, He gives us His Spirit, the Living Word, so we will experience Him. So how do we do this conversation? There are three approaches that demonstrate our devotion to prayer and to God.
First Approcah Is Alone And Together
Prayer has to be a personal matter. Jesus said this in Mark 1:35, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” Jesus established the example for us. For Jesus, prayer preceded life and ministry. It was so important that no matter what the requests were of his friends and the world, time alone with the Father was the priority that was not to be disturbed. Is that true for you? Are you setting time aside every day that is exclusive for the Lord? Give Him your best. If it is your morning, do it then. If it is late at night, do it then. If it is the midday, do it then. Whenever it is best, do it then. And did you note the common concept of those statements? Do it! Take the time. Spend time alone with God, for this is true devotion.
I don’t know if you knew it or not, but the church was born at a prayer meeting. Acts 1:12-14 tells us that, “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”
Note again…“All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer…” So, we see that this first church is birthed in prayer. We see that this first church is bathed in prayer. It was not just praying alone that was a priority. Praying together was also a priority. Jim Cymbala, the author of Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, a challenging book on the importance of community prayer, was heard saying at a conference…“When you hear Christians talk about no prayer in the schools…give it a rest. There’s no prayer in the church!”
Sometimes, I think we lack the desperation that is needed to be together in prayer. We are too self-sufficient. I don’t know how to explain it. Perhaps subconsciously, we think that if God doesn’t show up, we will get through and still have church anyway. Perhaps then, we need to hear what Del Fehsenfeld has said…A church that is not a praying church may be large and widely-acclaimed; it may offer every conceivable type of program for every age group and interest; it may boast massive buildings, dazzling productions, and impressive statistics. But it will be a barren church, and it will never experience the manifest presence and glory of God in its midst. As R. A. Torrey expressed it, ’The devil is not afraid of machinery; he is only afraid of God, and machinery without prayer is machinery without God."
Second Approach Is Structured And Spontaneous
When we plan to pray, we establish that God is our priority. Ephesians 6:18 says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” When it comes to the “how much” and the “how long” of prayer, there is not a required amount of time. There is no formula. And don’t worry; I doubt we can ever pray too much. I do believe, though, that a portion of our prayer time ought to be structured so that we firmly establish it as a pattern and habit. Just from a practical matter, I think it is helpful to mix up our patterns, so we don’t feel we are punching a clock during our prayer time.
For myself, over the years the pattern of prayer that I’ve used is praying through the Lord’s Prayer. Did you know that when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He gave them the Lord’s Prayer. If you look at Jesus’ ministry He went from one place of prayer to another throughout His earthly ministry. In between those places of prayer, we see the power of God flowing out from Him and meeting every need. Within the Lord’s Prayer there are six demarcations denoting certain prayer topics. Everything you need in order to live full and free in spiritual victory is there. Time doesn’t permit me to go over each one, but I’ve put a copy of a prayer guide in your bulletin that you can begin to use each day in your prayer time.
Why do we pray? Because prayer can change us. C.S. Lewis said, “That he prayed because he couldn’t help himself. He prayer because he was helpless. He prayed because the need flowed out of him at all time, waking and sleeping. He said,”It doesn’t change God………..it changes me.” You see…prayer should come naturally. It’s not meant to be complicated. Lately, I have been thinking of it more like breathing. It is that essential. We should breathe prayer. Romans 12:12 and I Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. …pray without ceasing…” I don’t live without breathing. And in the same way, I don’t live without praying. In other words, prayer is more than planned. It is to be spontaneous throughout the day. There is a constant spirit of communion, in the recognition that God is a continual presence in our lives He is always on our minds.
Third Approach Is Seeking And Silent
One of the themes I have been trying to get across to us as a church is that we are to be intentional when it comes to our Christian life. Please do not consider this as a statement of superiority, because this has been a personal message for me. I need to hear all of this. I need to act on all of this. So, in saying that, allow me to remind us all that…prayer is a deliberate coming to God. It is a privilege to seek God out and know that He hears. It is an honor to join in kingdom work, as we call on God in worship and bring petitions before Him. God is always revealing Himself to us in His Word, the Bible.
How many of you have seen the movie Bruce Almighty? In the film, Bruce Almighty, Jim Carrey is a mediocre news reporter in midlife crisis. He complains to his girlfriend that God does a poor job of running the world, and he could do far better. To his surprise, God gives him the chance. Bruce does poorly at playing God, and after wrecking his relationship with his girlfriend, Grace, he begins to ask God for help. The turning point comes when God helps Bruce cut through the pomp and pretense and teaches him to pray about the real issues in his life. "What do you want me to do?" Bruce asks. "I want you to pray, son. Go ahead."
Bruce squints his eyes and attempts a prayer, "Um…Lord, feed the hungry and bring peace to…um…all of mankind. How’s that?" "Great…if you want to be Miss America," God responds. "Now come on. What do you really care about?" "Grace," Bruce says, thinking of his girlfriend. "Grace. You want her back?" Bruce seems surprised by his own response. "No. I want her to be happy, no matter what that means." Bruce closes his eyes. "I want her to find someone who will treat her with all the love she deserved from me. I want her to meet someone who will see her always as I do through your eyes." "Now that’s a prayer," God says. "I’m going to get right on it."
When we pray, we are often get stuck on ourselves. We start praying…God, bless me…do this for me…give this to me. And when that happens, it is time for a change.
You see…sometimes, it is time to stop talking. Sometimes God calls on us to do this, Psalm 46:10, Be still and know that I am God.” Sometimes we need to come before the throne of grace and be quiet. Because it is then, He will reveal to us that He has been blessing us…He has been working for us. And in that quiet, we will hear Him whisper our name. In that silence, we will know that we are loved. In that hush, we will find out that He continually wants to pour out His grace on us. But until we get to that place of stillness and calm and unhurriedness, we will miss it. Not only that, we will miss the opportunity to be conscious of God’s perspective and aligning ourselves with it. God will give it to us. I know He does. But you have to stop. You have to sit still. And listen.
In Conclusion
I don’t know if you observed it or not lately, but our world is in turmoil……our country is in turmoil. And the only thing that will turn it around is prayer. In II Chronicles 7:14 it says, “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” My friends, I see it as the only possible way that this country will survive. So, I encourage all of you to be deliberate in your prayers in private. Make time……… private time to be with the Lord a priority. Make it a time of devotion between you and the Lord.
Push…………..pray until something happens. There is no magical formula when it comes to prayer. But I do know that God uses prayer and allows Himself to be moved by it. And God is always ready to teach us in prayer. From experience, let me warn you that the best lessons are not learned right away. We have to allow God to do His thing in His time. He’s not a bell hop who we control. In the meanwhile, we are to keep pushing – we are to keep praying until something happens – for that is a faithfulness that God desires to honor. Finally, I’d recommend that you join us here at church for prayer as a corporate body of beliver’s. We meet every Tuesday morning from 10-11 a.m. for prayer and the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the 1830 house. We’ve sensed God moving in our church and the only way He will continue to do so is if we pray. Will you join us?
SERIES: A CHURCH WITH PURPOSE
Part One: “A People With A Purpose
Acts 2:42-47
As we begin our new year together I thought it would be good to take a look at our church’s mission and purpose once again. As a church, as a member of this church, and as a believer in Jesus Christ we are to be devoted……………to be a people with a purpose. In your bulletin is our church’s mission and purpose statement. It explains what we are to be devoted to…….to carrying out our purpose as a church in the community that we live in. That should be our intention……to have the desire that we can fulfill God’s mandate that He’s placed here at ECC.
Question is: Do you have good intentions? The Smith’s were having a barbeque in their back yard with some friends and after dinner they passed out marshmellows and those long roasting forks to all their guests. Just then two fire trucks whizzed past, stopping at a house right down the block. As the 12 of them raced down the street, they found the owners of the blazing house standing by helplessly. The fire victims glared at them with looks of disgust. Rightly so. For it was at that instant the Smiths’s realized that all 12 of them were still holding their marshmellow forks.
I’m sure that most of us intend to live in such a way to not offend others. We intend to be helpful, encouraging, but as you can tell with this story, what we intend is not always what happens. So, I want to ask you this follow up question……do you have good intentions when it comes to your faith? Maybe you’ve made that your resolution for 2012? It’s my hope that we will be more intentional in being a people with a purpose.
As I said before our church has been given a mission and a purpose. It is to expand the kingdom of God here on earth and to help lead people to Jesus Christ, to grow in their faith and become members of the church who will then reach out in ministry and mission. The problem is sometimes I feel that some of us have been waiting for the church to fulfill its purpose without having the intention to do so ourselves. It doesn’t work that way. Individually, it is our responsibility to discover the mission and purpose of the church, and then to do it. That does make sense doesn’t it? We only can fulfill the purpose of the church, when the people that make up the church ACT.
You see, our church could have one of the greatest preachers in the country, have great greeters that make people feel right at home, have this beautiful building and have good technology and have just the right kind of leadership and organizational techniques, and have a top notch youth ministry and outreaches, and still fail to fulfill our mission and purpose. It doesn’t have to be that way because the Scripture tells us how to fulfill our mission and purpose. It comes from the book of Acts 2:42 & 47, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching, to doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” You see we are to be devoted people. Most of you have heard of doing devotions which is personal time with the Lord, usually involving the reading of the Bible and prayer. If you take off the ‘s’ at the end you have devotion which brings home what it is all about. It is my devotion….your devotion time with the Lord. Devotions are not an activity of things to be done every day. Changing the term so slightly can help us to be more intentional, because it describes our relationship with Jesus. This is the very way the early church is described in Acts 2. There is an intense devotion to the Lord. As the church got started, believers were continually being deeply attentive and completely committed to the things of God. Because of this, the church was experiencing tremendous growth. I believe that the church is always in danger of sliding into casual Christianity.
If you’re not intentional, it is a guarantee to drift. And one never drifts into a greater commitment to the things of the Lord. If you don’t work at your marriage, you won’t become soul mates. You will drift apart. And, if you are not intentionally devoted to the Lord Jesus, you not only hurt your relationship with Him, your testimony hurts all of us. For believers in the Lord Jesus , there are no holding patterns or compromise. We are either drawing nearer to God or we are falling away from Him. If this or any other church is to grow, it must be filled with men and women and teens and children that are drop-dead serious about Him. We need to be sold out and fired up. So…………let’s take a look at the early church and find out what we, as believers, are to be devoted to.
First Basic Activity Is Learning
I Corintians 2:2 says, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” We are to always be students. The early church demonstrates this priority by being devoted to the Apostle’s teaching. They taught from the Hebrew Scriptures, probably a Greek Version that Scholar’s call the Septuagint. They also had lived with Jesus, so they shared His sayings and stories about Him. They taught the importance of His death and resurrection and explained the priority of Godly living.
The Vastines were a Roman Catholic family, and after their son, Christopher, received the sacrament of confirmation, his godfather sent him a beautiful, large Bible. Christopher’s thank-you note, written a couple of days later, was to the point: "Thank you for the Bible. It is very nice. I haven’t finished reading it yet." As people of faith we need to fill our minds, eyes, and ears with the things of God. We need to be open in our hearts to receive the Word that comes from God. Jesus should always be the primary topic because that’s what makes us Christians. We do will when we are Christlike. And we are not doing well when we are not Christlike. We talk about Jesus a lot around here because the riches of Jesus are inexhaustible. We should always be going forward in learning more about Him. We look always to penetrate more deeply into the wisdom of God and the grace of God that is demonstrated in Jesus. Like the early church, we need to be devoted to the apostles’ teaching about Jesus. It’s the passion of healthy churches.
Second Basic Activity Is Partnering
Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpen iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” We are eternally connected to each other. In the early church, they were devoted to fellowship. It was a quality of togetherness that gave them a common bond. They were in this thing together, now and forever. We need to learn to have this same kind of devotion today. We need to trade in our independence for interdependence. No one truly makes it in the Christian faith on their own. God has not designed it that way. Instead, we are connected to each other. The early church demonstrated this with a generosity of spirit. They shared in each other’s lives, materially and spiritually. In the same way, we must share in the same kind of generosity, willingly practicing grace and forgiveness, letting go of hurts, looking out for what is best for the other. You see…we are to be committed to one another.
In fact, we have a responsibility for one another, to stimulate one another to holiness and faithfulness. If we fail in this, we fail. For we are designed to work together, not a part from one another. Vance Havner pointed out, “Snowflakes are frail, but if enough of them get together they can stop traffic, shut down airports and cites, and take lives.” You get enough Christians who are devoted to the Word of God and living in Biblical fellowship, there is nothing God cannot do with them in accordance with His will. Unfortunately, too many churches don’t get to experience God using them, because individual members are too busy picking on each other. They are critical. And the church ends up being known as a rumor mill and a place for gossip. Instead, we are to be a blessing to each other, building each other up in the faith. This is true partnering. A healthy church is a church that is devoted to the fellowship.
Third Basic Activity Is Remembering
I Corinthians 11:26 says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” We are to never forget. We are to never forget what Jesus has done for us. No matter who we are, and what we have done, we all come to Jesus at the same place. We share the common ground of the cross. In What’s So Amazing about Grace?, Philip Yancey recounts this story about C. S. Lewis: During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death.
The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. "What’s the rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, "Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace." After some discussion, the conferees had to agree. The notion of God’s love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, the Jewish covenant, and Muslim code of law—each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional.
This is why we practice the Lord’s Table, the breaking of bread, on a regular basis. It is the mechanism we use to remember what Jesus has done for us. It is the mechanism we use to help us appreciate that we are all saved by grace. This means then that…communion is our opportunity to renew our commitment. We reassess our devotion to Jesus, repent of our sins, and have fellowship with the Lord. This is what a healthy and purposeful church does – they are devoted to the breaking of bread.
Fourth Basic Activity Is Praying
Ephesians 6;18 & Colossians 4:2 says, “Knowing whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.” A Christian farmer was spending the day in the city. In a restaurant for his meal, he sat near a group of young men. After he bowed his head to give thanks for his food, one of the young men thought he would embarrass the old gentleman. "Hey, farmer, does everyone do that out where you live?" The old man calmly replied, "No, son, the pigs don’t!" Well, we are to be devoted to prayer, and not be like the pigs that don’t! And in so doing…we are to express complete dependence. God does not intend us to meet life on our own strength. This is why we must be devoted to prayer.
We come to Him in prayer to worship, for guidance, for preservation, and to intercede for others. We come to Him in prayer, because in every way, we are a dependent people. Also…we are to demonstrate confidence in His faithfulness. When we are devoted to prayer, we recognize that He is Lord, and He is the God that faithfully works in our midst. Churches make an error when there is a great amount of activity. Having many services and programs doesn’t mean God will work mightily in their midst. But you know, the early church had none of those, because they are all pitiful substitutes for prayer. And it is time we recognize that. If we are to be a healthy church, we must be a people devoted to prayer.
In Conclusion: What Happens When We Are Devoted?
Let’s note how our author, Luke, describes it in Luke 43:47, “And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. We are not covering every detail of this passage, but I do want us to note that…
First we see that God works. When these believers were fully devoted to the Lord and His matters, they comprised together an awe-inspiring church. They were filled with awe because there was a supernatural character to what is going on. Miracles were happening. Indications of God’s power are occurring. God was working. I am sure that many of these people that were devoted to learning, partnering, remembering, and praying were surprised by the events that were taking place. So often, the journey that we are on is uncertain. But we need never fear during these times. For though our journey is uncertain, God is not. The path set before us is His to lead, and ours to follow. God is still very much at work today. We see God working when we are attentive. But I believe with my whole heart that if, as a church, we became more devoted to the Lord we would see Him even more at work. More and more, we would sense a supernatural character to this place. And when we are more devoted to the Lord, we would end up being more devoted to each other.
Second we see there is unity. People were really caring for one another. There was a commonality occurring. No one was left in need. There was a unity in spirit that was tremendously attractive. In the same way, we need to be united in the midst of our various feelings, our varied interests, and our inevitable conflict. We are not a perfect people, but when we are devoted to the things of the Lord, we care about the relationships we have with each other. When a church is successful in caring for each other, it is effective. For people draw people.
So, if you are a Grumpy Gus, don’t expect people to come. If all you do is keep a report card for every service and ministry, don’t expect that to be an attractive trait for people to be around, because it will be just a matter of time before you will be grading them. But if it is on your heart to be an encouragement to every person that comes through the doorway, understand that is attractive and effective. For that is what was happening in the early church. And God blessed it by giving them the fruit of fulfillment. For the church is designed to make a difference.
Third we see that the church reproduces. When it is unified, joyful, and Spirit-filled, it is a powerful testimony of the truth of the gospel. When the people of the church are devoted, the Lord keeps displaying His favor by adding people in to its community. My friends it is a purpose that makes a difference in people. It is a purpose that sees more people becoming a part of God’s Kingdom. Let us here……be people of purpose.
SERIES: A CHURCH WITH PURPOSE
Part Two: “We Are In This Together”
Acts 2:42
There’s a comic strip called Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin is a boy and Hobbes is a tiger and they are in a tree house. Calvin announces, “This meeting of the top secret club Get Rid Of Slimy Girls will come to order. Today, this august assembly will decide whether to demote President Hobbes on charges of heresy! Heresy? Let the record show that the defendant made a comment about the possible membership of Susie Derkins, and admitted girl, and enemy of this club.
Hobbes responds, “Let the record also show that supreme dictator for life Calvin is a nincompoop.” Calvin responds, “Okay, just for that you’re also charged with insubordination! This court finds you guilty on both counts and strips you of your title! Hobbes says, “Ha! As court stenographer I refuse to enter the verdict! In fact, I’m promoting myself to “El Tiger Numero Uno.” Calvin responds, “O yeah! Well then, I promote myself to “Most Highest Grandest, Exalted, um, Supreme, um….and after a few more jibes at each other, a fight breaks out between the two until they mutually call a truce.
After the truce is declared, they are both recovering from their injuries, standing where they started in the tree house. Calvin says, “What a great club. Too bad we don’t have more members. Maybe we should allow Susie to join. Leaving us to wonder if the fight won’t start all over again! One thing for sure, in the comic strip, regardless of the fight, they are tremendous friends.
Last week we looked at being a people with purpose and today we want to see what our purpose is as a community……………as a church and how we are to be devoted to that? The way that is accomplished is by making being with other believers a priority and to make every effort to keep unity. So what do you think? Do you need friends? Do you need people in your life? Do you need someone to share your life with?
When communism fell in the 1990’s, the West discovered that there were a lot of orphanages. In fact, in Romania, and many other Eastern countries, there were so many orphans institutionalized that there wasn’t enough food or medical supplies or staff members to take care of them. The babies, often past toddler stage, were still in diapers and placed in cribs because there was no other way to take care of them. There was very little physical contact with them, especially holding and cuddling which babies need. Most of these children, without intervention, ended up in semi-catatonic states and often died from a lack of human contact, also known as “failure to thrive syndrome.” That happens because….we are wired for relationships. We need to understand that ‘failure to thrive syndrome’ can happen to us in the context of our spiritual lives. But, it can be avoided and it can be cured. We need to understand that God placed us into the body of Christ. I Corinthians 12:13 says, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” When we become Christians, the Holy Spirit places us into the body of Christ. We have no choice. It is what happens. We are set into it. And when we become a part of the body of Christ, we are joined together with innumerable others. We are bound together. We belong to each other.
This means that…we are to be devoted to community. In Acts 2:42 it says, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. The early church devoted themselves to the fellowship because it isn’t always easy to follow Christ. Times can be rough, discouragement can come and apathy and doubts can set in and apathy and doubts can occur, as well as materialism which can distract us. But is we are to be a people with purpose we need to recognize that our fellowship….our community….our church is an essential part of that.
In his book, The Connecting Church, Randy Frazee writes…“The experience of authentic community is one of the purposes God intends to be fulfilled by the church. The writings of Scripture lead one to conclude that God intends the church, not to be one more bolt on the wheel of activity in our lives, but the very hub at the center of one’s life…” In other words, this community is not meant to be an optional part of our lives. Instead, it is to be a priority. So, if this is to happen, how is it observed? Well…that’s what I want us to look at today. There are four practices that demonstrate how we are to be devoted to the community known as the church from Acts 2:42-47.
First Practice Is Encouragement
In an article in Focus on Family from 1967, is the story of a tough battle tested sergeant who stood before the new recruits who would go off to Vietnam. He told them that the next nine weeks would be the toughest they would ever experience. He talked to them about Vietnam, death and killing and how tough the training would be, but it would save their lives. He wanted them to face their fears and overcome their weaknesses. He told them step one was this: Find a buddy……stick together……never leave each other…..
encourage …..and as necessary carry each other.
That my friends is a wonderful Biblical truth. Nobody is designed to do life alone. We are to look out for each other. Galatians 6:2 tells us, “To bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” We are to be there for each other. When there are rough times…when there are difficult times…when there are sad times…Jesus would have us there for each other. For when we do…we empower each other. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him — a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Some years ago in the winter, heavy snows hit North Carolina. Following a wet, six-inch snowfall, it was interesting to see the effect along I-40. Next to the highway stood several large groves of tall, young pine trees. The branches were bowed down with the heavy snow - so low that branches from one tree were often leaning against the trunk or branches of another. Where trees stood alone, however, the effect of the heavy snow was different. The branches had become heavier and heavier. Since there was no other trees to lean against, the branches snapped. They lay on the ground, dark and alone in the cold snow. God has designed us to help, support, and strengthen each other in the storms of life. We need others when storms hit us. We need each other.
Second Practice Is Guidance
In Ephesians 3:10 it says, “Now that the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church in the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.” A man goes to see the Pastor, "Pastor, something terrible is happening and I have to talk to you about it." The Pastor asked, "What’s wrong?" The man replied, "My wife is poisoning me." What should I do?” The Pastor said he’d talk to her. A week later the Pastor calls the man and says, "Well, I spoke to your wife. I spoke to her on the phone for three hours. You want my advice?" The man said, “Yes.” The Pastor replied, "Take the poison."
Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best advice in the world. But I think we need the community of believers because none of us is as smart as all of us!” When we do this relationship thing right, we can truly build each other in the faith. We can offer help to each other. We offer wisdom and advice, because God is present within each believer, there is a built-in wisdom God gives the community. And even more we need to be on guard for each other. That’s what Hebrews 3:13 tells us, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
We even have the responsibility to call each other on things that are being done wrong. Of course, we are to do it lovingly. If we don’t, it doesn’t get heard. But we do have good reason to do it. We do it to encourage each other’s hearts. We do it to warn of consequences that might hurt. We do it to protect the community. Because when one hurts, we all hurt. And when one sins, we are all injured by it. So, we exhort one another to live righteously.
Third Practice Is Forgiveness
We must practice Jesus in Colossians 3:12-14, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” We practice Jesus when we forgive as He has forgiven us. We are so Christ like when we truly forgive. But you know, we like to keep count of when people do wrong things to us. We are like this fellow who wrote to a friend of his…Dear Friend, You are hereby notified that under the forgiveness recommendations set forth in the Holy Scriptures - namely that we are to forgive one another 7x70 (equivalent to 490 times) - you have been forgiven now 478 times and have only 12 free passes remaining. Signed, Your Friend. Do you forgive like that?
You see…we must discipline ourselves to let go of our hurts and grudges. I think this is extremely hard, harder than it sounds. You know what we usually do? When we are hurt or mad about something someone has done to us…we grumble. We complain. We find someone that will listen, in the name of unburdening our hearts. But all it really is…is gossip. And it is divisive, unkind, ungodly, and hurtful to the body of Christ. We stir up contention and dissatisfaction, and we injure the community. Although our American worldview might find this acceptable, to let off steam, it is not a biblical one. Instead, we are to forgive and let go. And there is very good reason.
In Philip Yancey’s What’s So Amazing about Grace? He writes…"At last I understood: in the final analysis, forgiveness is an act of faith. By forgiving another, I am trusting that God is a better justice-maker than I am. By forgiving, I release my own right to get even and leave all issues of fairness for God to work out. I leave in God’s hands the scales that must balance justice and mercy. Doing that, then leads us to…
Fourth Practice Is Love
The most powerful argument for the truth of the gospel is love. John 13:35 says, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” When I see people in the church disagreeing, holding accompanying grudges, I come to the conclusion that they don’t care. Their example of what a Christian should be like is far from what God would have for us. And it injures the body, because they are devoted to themselves above the community. If we understand that it is our purpose to produce people that love God, and that love one another, then we will realize that we must change our prideful way.
We need to be consistent. Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times….” Don’t you feel blessed when a friend loves you? They smile when we show up. They support us. They stand by us. They accept us instead of criticizing and judging us. They let us be ourselves. We all like friends like this. And when it is consistent, it is a powerful testimony that God is there.
In Conclusion
So what is our purpose? What distinguishes us is that we are to be devoted to fellowship. I’m not just talking about times we have pot lucks, or picnics, or ice cream socials. They are all great and we love the food, but fellowship is much more than food. It is community. And when we act as if it is an option, the body of Christ is hurt. When we are too busy or we feel we have better things to do, we damage the church.
Being with each other has to be a priority. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” We are made to have intimate relationships – this is why small groups and discipleship and mentoring relationships are important. We are designed to serve people generously – this is why ministry opportunities are important to participate in. We are created to share what we have – this is why we should be generous with what we have. So we build into the lives around us – I in you, and you in me. We value community over isolation. And in this beautiful community, supporting each other, we laugh, praise, pray and cry together.
We do this because…unity is worth the effort. Jesus wanted us to know unity. Jesus wanted us to know unity. It was His prayer for us in the garden that we might become perfectly one. He prays that because He knows that we will fail and we will fail each other. But if we are going to maintain unity, we must learn to forgive. We must understand each other’s weaknesses. We must be willing to always look on how we might have the privilege to serve that person. As Paul writes in Ephesians 4:1-3, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Instead of focusing on what we don’t like about other people in our community, we should be thanking God for their gifts and abilities. We should thank God that they are chosen in spite of their flaws, because He did that for us too. We should thank God that He is in the process of changing them, like He is changing us. And we should thank God that he doesn’t destroy us on the spot for judging another based on our arrogance and pride. When we do that, all that stuff we don’t like will fade to insignificance. When we do that, we will demonstrate that we are truly devoted to the community of believers and we will all be winners and not losers. Amen
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