Advent Message 2016

WHAT WERE YOU EXPECTING?

“Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Coming from John the Baptist, this is the most startling question of the New Testament. He who had seen and heard God’s affirmation of Jesus when Jesus was baptized, “This is my Son,” now asks this question born out of pain and doubt.

            Advent is a season of expectancy. Hope gives the foundation for expectancy. We are given a promise; the promise gives us hope; we expect to see the fulfillment of this hope. But what happens when hope disappoints us? What happens when you feel that God has let you down?

            God, we can imagine, responds with this question, “What were you expecting?”

            We talked last week about favorite Christmas movies. Some of my favorites are off the beaten track. One I enjoy is called “It happened on 5^th Avenue,” released in 1947. The story follows a homeless man who regularly inhabits a mansion in New York while the owners are down south for winter. This homeless man invites other down-and-out characters to live with him, forming a community or family of losers trying to get on their feet. One of the squatters happens to be the real owner who poses as a hobo, but learns to appreciate these interlopers and helps them out. It all works out in the end. A happy ending! Christmas movies always have a happy ending. The majority of movies end well. Depressing movies don’t sell seats as well.

            But life is not a movie. Happy endings are not guaranteed. It doesn’t always “work out in the end.” If we hold on to that cliché we will be sorely disappointed in life. Our hopes, our dreams, our goals will not magically become reality like a Christmas movie.

            When your hopes are dashed, when God has not come through for you, when Jesus seems far away, we need to consider the question: What were you expecting?

Does Jesus leave you wondering?

John the Baptist is in prison. How do you imagine this scene? Is John chained to the wall of a five-by-five basement cell? Does he have room to pace in that dark, dank, grimy cubicle? What is worse for John, the dungeon or the doubts that assail his heart?

            John had boldly spoken out against the sin of Herod Antipas. Herod divorced his own wife and seduced the wife of his brother and married her. John publicly rebuked Herod for this sin and Herod imprisoned the fire and brimstone preacher.

            Now John is battling doubt and fear. A man facing the death penalty cannot afford to have doubts – he must be certain. But to be fair, John’s doubts should not surprise us. What he had predicted and longed for, a new world order, had just not materialized. He expected the world to change when he announced that Jesus, God’s anointed, had come. Months after the baptism of Jesus, John could not see the change.

            John sends two disciples to Jesus with the question: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” (11:3). I wonder if the question stung Jesus.

            There are three ways of looking at this question:

1) Some people think that the question was not for John’s sake, but for his disciples. He had said, “I must decrease so that he can increase.” John was stepping aside for Jesus. So maybe he was sending his disciples to see what Jesus was doing and to witness for themselves that he is the Christ.

2) Others think that John’s question was born out of impatience. John’s message was of divine judgment – the ax is at the tree - the winnowing fork is in his hand - the Christ comes with cleansing fire (3:10-12). So when is Jesus going to act? When will he crush the Romans? When will he condemn the sinners and make all things right?

            A passionate man, a man of action, John wanted Jesus to establish his kingdom. Impatient, John sends Jesus this question: “Are you him or not?” Is Jesus our only hope?

3) A few have ventured to suggest that John’s question was nothing less than the question of a dawning faith and hope. They think that John has indeed seen that Jesus is the One and merely seeks confirmation. But I don’t buy it.

            My own impression is option 2. John had doubts. He was human. He was like us. When Jesus fails to work in just the way we expect him to work, we begin to question him. We doubt. Maybe we doubt the strength of our own faith, or maybe we doubt that God really cares.

            Who of us has not cried out to God in frustration over dashed expectations? We have prayed, we have been faithful, and still we do not see the results we hoped for. Life gets tougher. Innocent people suffer. Some loved ones die. Where is God, the one we hope in? We are left wondering about Jesus…

            Doubt is not a sin. I was once told that to doubt is to begin to seek to understand. Doubt fuels the search for answers. Paul Tillich points out that God does not stand aloof, apart from our questions; rather God is in the struggle of doubt, making himself known through it. Doubt is therefore a vital part and element of the faith which justifies. Our faith is not a faith without doubts, but a faith within doubts. Not the answers we possess but who possesses us. We may doubt God, but God never doubts us. This is the love that never lets us go.

What kind of Messiah do you want?

The answer John receives may not have satisfied his doubts. Jesus replied to John through the disciples, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor” (11:4-5).

            Is this what you wanted to hear, John? I think what John wanted was something we also want – we want a Messiah who answers our questions, fulfills our longings, and is powerful to solve all our troubles. What kind of Messiah do you want?

            Jesus’ answer is completely biblical. The Psalmist wrote that the God of Jacob “…upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous” (Ps. 146:7-8).

            The prophet Isaiah echoed these signs when he said, “Behold, your God will come…Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy” (35:5-6).

            Then when Jesus began his ministry in Nazareth, he read from Isaiah 61:1-3. This was a Messianic prophecy foretelling what the anointed One would do when he came. Jesus told the audience in the synagogue at Nazareth, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21). He might as well have set off a bomb, it so shocked the people.

            These are the signs that accompany the Messiah. What do you notice about these people who benefit from the advent of the Christ? They are outcasts, social misfits, cripples… Jesus comes to the blind, the deaf, the lame, the poor, the prisoner…Jesus is preoccupied with freaks and geeks. These are not the people John would have chosen to bring revolution. These are not the movers and shakers of the world. These people aren’t going to change anything.

            Wait a minute John, what do these people remind you of? They are all in need. That’s something that John has in common with them now that he is in prison.

            John, the popular desert preacher, full of charisma, commanded a large following. Yet despite his incredible faith and service to God, he finds himself in a position of absolute need. He can relate completely with the needy, the poor, the outcast, the prisoner, who can boast of nothing except their dependence on God’s grace and mercy. If I were John though, I would find it painfully ironic that Jesus came to set the prisoners free, but I’m still in prison. Something’s off here.

            While John often fasted, Jesus feasted – and he ate with sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes. While John preached hellfire for sin, Jesus preached love and forgiveness. John was flummoxed. And you will be flummoxed too if you long for a Messiah of your own making.

Are you offended by Jesus?

The final thing Jesus wants to tell John speaks to the heart of John’s expectations. “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me” (11:6).

            The word “stumble” can also be translated “offense.” It comes from the Greek word scandalon, from which we get our word “scandalous.” Scandals can take down Presidents, ruin marriages, and destroy careers. Scandals are offensive to the general public. Those who have been scandalized will find it very hard to come back to a position of respectability.

            What Jesus tells John then, is that the person who does not find Jesus scandalous or offensive will accept him as the Christ.

            Was John offended? Perhaps. John may have only grasped half of the truth concerning his cousin. John preached the gospel of divine holiness and destruction; Jesus preached the gospel of divine holiness and love. So Jesus says to John, “Maybe I am not doing the things you expected me to do. But the powers of evil are being defeated, not by irresistible power, but by unanswerable love.” If a person is offended at Jesus it might be because Jesus cuts across one’s ideas of what religion should be.[i]

            But think of the scandal that is Jesus Christ. He was conceived of by an unmarried teenage girl. Her husband wanted a divorce (an annulment of their betrothal). When Jesus was born, this “king” was born in a stable and slept in a feeding trough. Jesus was raised as a common carpenter – a laborer. Finally he was killed like a criminal, executed on a cursed tree.

            And the things he said…well! Jesus told crowds to eat his flesh and drink his blood. When great crowds followed him, he turned on them and said they should take up their crosses (those hated instruments of death) and follow him. He criticized the religious; he rebuked the rich; he ran from the crown.

            Are you not offended? Do you not find this Jesus to be utterly scandalous? And yet, isn’t this exactly what you need in a Messiah? When your life is rocked with scandal, when you realize that you find yourself among the needy and identify with those who depend on God and throw themselves on his mercy, in this moment we find in Jesus a God who is, once and for all, for us.

            Paul quoted Isaiah when he summed up the two choices concerning Jesus, “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame” (Rom. 9:33). You can fall over Jesus and be crushed by your failure to confess your sin and need, or you can fall on Jesus’ and find the mercy you are looking for.

            How is this a Christmas message? In this advent season we remember the hope and expectancy of a God who would draw near. He came near in the flesh and blood of a helpless baby to experience our existence, our plight. He is Immanuel, “God with us.”

            Matthew’s account of John’s doubts fits with our Christmas experience quite well. At this time of year we are filled with hope. But we are also filled with a feeling of being stuck between God’s promises made and God’s promises kept, between Christ’s first coming at Bethlehem and his second coming with Glory.

           

When it comes to Jesus Christ, what were you expecting?

            What would Jesus say to us in our doubts, our disappointment with God, and our disillusionment with the so-called “happy endings” that elude us?

            He might say to you and I “Hang on to your faith in me. I know you are suffering; I know you are hurting. I know I haven’t been what you expected Me to be. You think I have let you down somehow. But the problem is not me. The problem is the expectation you have laid upon me. You need to understand that I am much greater than the box you have put me into. Remember that I am not yours to command. Repent of your expectations. Believe what the Scriptures say about Me. Trust me to do, not to do what you have expected me to do, but what I have promised to do in my Word for you. And if you trust in My Word, the promises of Scripture, I will never disappoint you. No, you will find that I have done everything I said I would do and more than you can imagine. You will find that you will be eternally satisfied in Me.”[ii]

            Jesus might say something like that, if we are allowed to put words in his mouth. Or he might simply say, “You say I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see…Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:17-18, 20).

                                                            AMEN

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[i] William Barclay, Gospel of Matthew, chapter 11.

[ii] Adapted from Greg Allen sermon on the same passage.

Acts 4:32-5:11

THE CHURCH: A PEOPLE WHO GIVE RADICALLY

I believe that God delights in his children when they take his commands to the extreme limits in joyful obedience. We could call this “radical faith.”

            Recently, I had a conversation with a friend about giving to ministries and causes. One word that he used stuck in my memory bank and has not left it since: Risk! What do we risk when we give our money to others? “Risk” flies in the face of our culture’s message of “comfort.” We desire more than anything to be comfortable financially, to not have to worry about having enough. There is nothing wrong with wanting to have enough, unless it becomes an obsession.

            “Risk” asks us to give generously now, not worrying about future consequences or perceived needs that are long down the road. “Risk” means giving because someone needs you and what you have, even if it means being the one in need later on. Our pride grimaces at this because we don’t want to be the one in need. Being in need means having to humbly receive the help of others. But being in such a position also means being willing to put our faith in God, that he will provide. That’s what some would call a risk; others might call it “faith.” Faith is risky. Or shall we call it “radical”?

            Out of our text today, Acts 4:32-5:11, I want to share four basic elements for radical giving. The church we have been studying in Acts was filled with the Spirit and on fire for the Lord Jesus. Out of that fire came a passion for giving. But the church was not perfect, even at this early stage. So from the Ananias and Sapphira incident, I also want to share four hindrances to radical giving.

            If we are a people filled with the Holy Spirit we will live out the words of our faith through deeds that match our confession.

            Consider with me the four basic elements of radical giving.

The Basic Elements for Radical Giving

a) Transformed hearts and minds – Believing in the risen Lord Jesus Christ had revolutionized the thinking of this church. Following the resurrection of Jesus, the Pentecost event, and their prayers regarding persecution, this body of believers had become connected. “All the believers were one in heart and mind” (4:32).

            There were two effects of believing in Jesus: the heart was loosened in relationship to things, and tightened in relationship to people. The key to this transformation was believing in Jesus as Savior and Lord, and trusting him for all you need, being satisfied with what God has for you in Jesus.[i] This faith drives a new attitude in regards to people and things.

            We can see this effect easily in Canadian giving stats. Macleans reported that the “gold standard for generosity in the country…is Steinbach, Man.” The median donation was $1,830 in 2013 which was equal to 6.6% of the median total income in the city. The second place community was Abbotsford-Mission, BC.[ii] Macleans won’t report this, but is it surprising to you that both communities are the Bible belts of their provinces?

b) A new attitude concerning possessions – Faith in Jesus cannot help but affect how we see our possessions and money. Suddenly, what we clung to as if a life preserver in a sea of uncertainty becomes a mere tool in the service of the King.

            Luke carefully reminds us that the church of Christ was a sharing community. We have heard this before in 2:44 almost word-for-word. Luke’s burden seemed to be to set Christians free from the love of things, to firm up our love for people, and to use what we have for their betterment. “No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had” (4:32b). It makes you wonder if this church were around today, they wouldn’t have a communal riding lawnmower or snow-blower.

            The foundation for this mindset was the teaching of Jesus (Luke 12:32-34). Here Jesus taught that we have been given the kingdom – what can compare with such a prize? So sell what you have and give to the poor.

c) A new attitude towards the poor – A common refrain heard in society is that the poor are poor because of bad decisions. In other words, a person is poor because they deserve to be poor. That thinking has seeped into the church and we hear it in idle conversation. Jewish thinking in Jesus’ day was that a rich person was blessed by God, and conversely a poor person lived under a curse.

            The teaching of Jesus birthed a new attitude in the minds of believers towards the poor. We read in v.33 that the apostles taught about the risen Lord and God’s grace worked powerfully among them. It changed them so “that there were no needy persons among them” (34a). Out of the grace of God, the church learned to show grace in material ways to those in need.[iii]

            If the love of Christ has impacted you, that love will flow naturally out of you to others. John makes the connection between Christ’s sacrifice and our duty to our brother in 1 John 3 (1 Jn 3:16-17). If we have received his love, we will love others, including, or especially, the poor.[iv]

d) A new attitude of sacrificial giving – If our hearts and minds have been transformed by our faith in Christ, and if our grip on our possessions is loosened so that we care for the poor more than for luxurious living, to sacrifice for their sakes will come naturally. The attitude of the early church was such that they sold houses or land giving the money to the apostles to distribute among the poor.

            Some use the old adage “give till it hurts.” That is not the sense here. Barnabas, the example of this sacrificial giving, was so joyful in his giving that he was called “son of encouragement.” The Lord does not want us to hurt, nor to deprive our families of their needs for some so-called “noble” cause. God loves a cheerful giver; giving should be a joy, not a burden. Paul told the Corinthians, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion” (9:7). You can’t give sacrificially (that is, as worship to God) if you are grumbling about your loss.

            Love motivates sacrifice. From the overflow of your love for a cause or a person, sacrifice will come easily and joyfully.

Four Hindrances to Radical Giving

While Joseph a.k.a. Barnabas was a shining example of sacrificial giving, Ananias and Sapphira revealed that the church was not filled with perfect people. It never has been and never will be on this earth. Luke does not hide the sins of the first church; he bravely sets them before the reader to remind him or her that we can all fall and be hindered.

a) Wanting to hold on to money – The first hindrance to radical giving we see in Ananias and Sapphira was a love of money. The husband conspires with his wife to sell a piece of land, bring most of the money to the apostles, but keep a little for themselves and tell the church that they gave all of it.

            What a misunderstanding of the spirit of giving. There was no church rule saying that they had to sell their property. We read that “no one claimed any of their possessions as their own,” but that didn’t mean they didn’t have stuff. They simply acted as though stuff didn’t matter. No one forced Ananias to sell his property. If his heart didn’t tell him to sell it and bring the money, don’t do it, Peter implied.

            The love of money does strange things to the mind and to one’s actions. Paul told Timothy that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.[v] For Ananias, that meant lying.

b) Wanting to appear generous – Why would Ananias lie to the church? Barnabas was lauded as a godly believer for his generosity and selflessness. Ananias may have seen this and desired the same recognition. Deep in the heart of each of us is this little nagging demon that taints our righteous acts: this one is called “competition.” If we see someone getting attention for a praiseworthy deed, we can either rejoice with them or envy them.           

            Prompted by a love of money and a desire to be seen as generous, Ananias’ mixed motives led to his lying. Perhaps this is why Jesus warned people who gave to the poor not to let their left hand know what the right hand is doing (Mt 6:1-4). Our hearts love flattery; we can’t help but brag a little. But Jesus tells us that our Father, our biggest fan, knows what we do, so do it in secret. (news story on prom date).

            The Bible calls mixed motives “hypocrisy.” And hypocrisy is always motivated by self-love. We want to impress others to make them think we are something that we know in our hearts we are not.

c) Thinking you can fool the Holy Spirit – Hypocrisy does not fool the Holy Spirit. In response to Ananias’ declaration that he had given the whole amount, Peter calls him out. “How is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit…You have not lied to men but to God” (5:3&4).

            First, Peter equates lying to the Holy Spirit with lying to God; second, Peter implies that lying to the church is the same as lying to the Spirit. While the story of Ananias and Sapphira’s conspiracy has a drastic end, perhaps even over-the-top in terms of judgment, it does emphasize the seriousness of lying to the Holy Spirit – or trying to discredit the Holy Spirit.

            How does a person discredit the Holy Spirit? The couple may not have truly believed that the Spirit was present in the church. Or they understood he was present but didn’t take him seriously. Perhaps they thought God would tolerate their indiscretions that they were under grace in this matter.

d) Thinking there are no consequences for deceit – How wrong they were. Ananias fell dead; then when his wife kept up the pretense of generosity, she died.

            You might wonder why this couple was treated so severely. If hypocrisy was so grave a sin to the Holy Spirit, why haven’t others died? I think that God wanted to set an early example to the church. God wanted the church to know that the moment we start pretending to be what we really are not, death enters in, because we are cut off from the vital reality of communion with Christ and his body, the church.[vi] This explains the contrast between life in the Spirit and, as Peter put it, allowing Satan to fill you. That is death.

            There are consequences to hypocrisy, pretense and deceit before God and his church. The church itself has to take this seriously and bring discipline to the body. There are two extremes to church discipline however: Extreme Severity, where we discipline members for the most trivial offense, and Extreme Laxity, where there is no discipline at all, even for serious offenses.

            If we take a strong stand against sin, someone will say we are not being loving. But to tolerate sin is to encourage it to spread through the church and destroy others. That’s not loving either.

            What does this have to do with radical giving? Integrity. To walk in the light, as John calls it, is to walk transparently before God and the church, to give without pretense, to serve without applause, and to love Christ above all else.

Several years ago, I was asked to be part of a panel on giving before a college chapel at Steinbach Bible College. The theme was “Why I enjoy giving to SBC.” It seemed an odd topic, and I was chosen because our church supports SBC. Others on the panel went on and on about the joy of giving their money away. And I, being a bit of an agitator, decided to take a different approach: I said, I do not enjoy giving my money away, but I am compelled by the love of Christ and his kingdom purposes to do so.

            A very pious answer it was (I was trying to be different). But the truth is, giving money away can be, should be, and is, a joy. My wife has taught me that through her generosity. I believe that the church in Jerusalem could not help themselves – they were so overjoyed and filled with the love of Jesus Christ that they just could not help themselves. They considered it a privilege to bless others with material goods and monies. The benefit of this attitude is freedom, freedom from the cares of this world.

            Paul, reflecting on the joy of giving, left us with considerations when giving. I think this is a good way to close as we think about radical giving:

“…if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality…Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Cor. 8:13-14 & 9:6).

                                                                        AMEN

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[i] John Piper, “Be Like Barnabas Not Like Ananias” sermon, Feb. 10, 1991.

[ii] Aaron Hutchins, “No, Alberta does not give the most to charity” Macleans Feb. 20, 2015.

[iii] Fulfills the OT teaching that “there should be no poor among you…” Deut. 15:4

[iv] See also James 2:15-17

[v] 1 Timothy 6:10

[vi] Ray Stedman, “Body Life” sermon, Peninsula Bible Church, 4/26/70

Acts 4:23-31

HOW THE CHURCH RESPONDS TO PERSECUTION

We do not know the meaning of persecution here in Kleefeld. Not really. We do not know the meaning of suffering for our faith to the point of bleeding and dying.

            Other Christians do. Our brothers and sisters know what it means to be hated for loving Jesus.

            A 19-year old Christian girl in China was beaten and thrown into a filthy cell. It was dark, but from the smell she knew that the slimy floor was covered with human excrement. There was no bed or chair. She had to sit and sleep in this filth. She squatted down so that as little of her bleeding body as possible would touch the floor and silently gave thanks to the Lord that she was worthy to suffer for Him. She asked Him for wisdom and strength, not to get out of this terrible place, but that wherever He put her, she would be able to continue to preach the gospel.

            One day as she quietly sang a hymn, the Lord impressed upon her, “This is to be your ministry.” She thought, “I’m all alone. Whom can I preach to?” Suddenly an idea came to her. She stood up and called the guard. She offered to clean up all the excrement in all the cells. The guards were surprised but consented. This young woman found herself scrubbing floors and simultaneously preaching to people who had lost all hope of seeing another human being.[i]

            This girl knew persecution. She knew what it was to suffer for Jesus. She also knew how to respond to persecution. She began by praying.

            Is our church experiencing persecution? It depends on your perspective. Let me remind you of the body principle in 1 Corinthians 12:26, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it…” What happens to our brothers and sisters happens to us. So even if we do not feel the beatings and hardships that they do, we share in their pain as members of the body. And when the body of Christ suffers persecution anywhere in the world we are compelled to pray for them. Today we recognize the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (a week late). And after the fashion of the believers in Acts 4:23-31, we are going to pray in response to persecution.

First, we acknowledge the God to whom we pray

We have studied the text where Peter and John healed a lame man and the reaction that it brought. They were dragged before the Sanhedrin to explain their actions. Having been released with threats not to talk about Jesus, they returned to the believers and told them what happened (23).

            Now if the supreme court of Canada ordered you not to talk about Jesus in our free country, what would you do? Canadians might organize a rally, write letters or tweet about it, or march on Ottawa in protest. But these believers in Acts did not turn to the government to appeal this injustice; these believers turned to God in prayer.

            I find that there is much to learn about prayer from the Bible. I am still learning, and here in this text is a lesson worth noting. Peter, John, and the disciples lift up their voices together in prayer. They began by acknowledging who God was, and is, and will always be. Note the four parts of this address:

“Sovereign Lord” – This is an interesting title for God. The Greek word used here is where we get the word “despot” from. Though negative in our minds, it is used of a slave owner with unchallengeable power. What the disciples mean to say is that their God is the Master of everything.

Creator God – Then in a seemingly unrelated manner, the disciples acknowledge that God is the creator of all things, that he made the heavens, the earth, the seas – everything (24). While this may seem odd, what they were doing was declaring that nothing is impossible for God. And this situation, these threats and the looming danger, is not beyond God’s power. (Acknowledging God as creator in prayer – 2 Kings 19:15; Jer 32:17; Ps 146; Deut. 4:32-35).

Almighty God – Next, they quote a Psalm of David that speaks of the world’s hostility to god. By quoting this passage about the nations raging and banding against the Lord’s Anointed, they affirmed their agreement that the people of the world have always resisted God and his people. But God is enthroned as Lord over the universe, David says, and He laughs at the puny efforts to oppose him (Ps. 2:4-5).

Providential God – Finally, they acknowledge that God is the God of the events of history. Herod and Pilate conspired to kill Jesus, but they were mere actors in the great Redemption event. Though God’s people might suffer at the hands of evil men, they knew the truth – “God’s got this.”

            What we learn from their prayer is that we need to recognize the person and power of the God to whom we pray. We remind ourselves and declare to God in prayer that He is God and He is able and He is Sovereign over everything. This is worship! Prayer needs to begin with worship.

What do we pray for the persecuted church?

So once we have acknowledged the person and power of God, what do we pray when faced with persecution? What do we pray for our brothers and sisters who suffer?

            Let me tell you what they did not pray for: They did not pray for deliverance from these threats. They did not ask that this suffering be alleviated (though that would be okay). They did not ask for the members of the Sanhedrin to be judged and punished. And let me tell you, that surprises me a little. What did they pray?

            They prayed, “Now, Lord, consider their threats…” They asked God to take notice of this, to pay attention to what they are doing to them. But they knew that God knew. What we demonstrate in prayer is that we know that he knows. God knows what happens to us. There is never a time when God is unaware of what happens to you and me. But as we pray, we cry out and admit our need for his help. It’s like a young swimmer who struggles to stay above water, sinks time and again, and could just call out to the swim coach for help but won’t.

            “Now, Lord, consider their threats,” they prayed, “and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness” (29). Isn’t that remarkable? Speaking God’s word is what got them into trouble. Now they pray for greater boldness to keep doing it, just like the Chinese girl in our opening story.

            As we think of Christians throughout the world and pray for them, we have two requests: Lord, take note of their suffering, and give them power to keep speaking the name of Jesus, even in the face of suffering.

            But the disciples prayed one more thing: “Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (30). In other words, God, make yourself known. Show the people that you are real and that Jesus is your Son.

            This is what the church prayed for in the face of persecution, and it is what we can pray for the global church of Christ.

God’s Answer to Prayer

What did God do in response to this prayer?

            God answered their prayer in three ways:

            The place where they were praying was shaken. This was a sign of God’s presence, an affirmation that God’s Spirit was with them.

            They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. This was not another Pentecost. They had the Holy Spirit permanently dwelling in each of them. But, as we learned from Eph. 5:18, we are to be continually filled with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables us to do God’s will and to recognize God’s purposes.

            They spoke the word of God boldly. They preached to anyone who would listen. To preach is to proclaim, to declare – so, just so you know, not just the preachers were doing this, everyone who believed in Jesus preached. And we see a pattern emerging in this: We preach – the World persecutes – the church prays – We preach.

            Check out what happens next in Acts 5:

5:12 The apostles performed many miracles

5:14 Many people were saved

5:16 Crowds gathered around the apostles

5:18 The apostles are arrested and thrown in jail

5:19 God sets them free that night by a miracle

5:21 The apostles resume their public preaching

5:27 The apostles are questioned by the high priest who reminds them of the order not to preach in the name of Jesus

5:29 Peter replies, “We must obey God rather than men!”

5:30 Peter preaches to the Sanhedrin

5:40 The apostles are beaten and released

5:41 They leave the council rejoicing

5:42 They continue preaching the gospel everywhere

            When Christians are filled with the Spirit, you can’t stop them. Go ahead and arrest them – they’ll preach in prison. If you kill them, people get convicted of their sin and believe in Jesus and carry on the mission.[ii]

            God will answer our prayers for our brothers and sisters. Will we pray for them?

John Piper said, “If you do not know that life is a war, you will not know what prayer is for.”

            We may be immune to the spiritual battle that rages around the world. Oh, we do feel the tremors here – we feel the political pressure to conform to the Canadian version of common morality. It doesn’t jive with the Biblical standard, but we do not yet feel the heat for sticking out. But there is a battle, an invisible war, taking place in the spiritual realm. The real enemies are not the LGBTQ activists or the Right-To-End-Life proponents, but the principalities and powers that are behind them (Eph 6:12).

            Prayer, though, is our chief weapon in this struggle. We can do a lot of things when we have prayed; we can do nothing until we have prayed. If we believe this then we will pray every chance we get. We cannot fight this fight on our own; we need the Lord to fight for us.

           

I want to invite you to pray this morning. Open Doors ministry (opendoors.org) has identified the top 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. This ministry measures persecution by the degree of freedom a Christian has to live out his or her faith in five spheres of life – private, family, community, national, and church life – as well as by tallying acts of violence. For the past 14 years, North Korea has topped the list. The top three drivers of persecution worldwide are Islamic extremism, dictatorial paranoia, and organized corruption which affects Christians economically.

            But as Li Tien En, a famous house church Christian in China used to say, “Persecution is two parts opportunity, one part crisis – God always brings opportunities out of a crisis.”

            So please join me in prayer for these nations where it is difficult to be a Christian. My hope is that each of you will adopt a country and pray regularly for our brothers and sisters according to Acts 4.

                                                            AMEN

           

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[i] From a sermon by Steven Cole, Lesson 13: How to Respond to Persecution, 2000.

[ii] From a sermon by Ray Pritchard, A Place to Pray, January 31, 1999.

Acts 3:12-26

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

What’s in a name? Do you know what your name means? Does the name define the person, or does the person give meaning to the name?

            I researched my name this week. I have long known that my name, Darryl, means “beloved one,” or so I thought. It was interesting to discover that “Darryl” as a name for babies found its height of popularity in the late 1960s, which makes sense since I was born in 1968. I also discovered that “Darryl” is derived from “Darrell” (misspelling) and comes from an English surname derived from the Norman French d’Airelle. This denotes someone who comes from Airelle in France. So much for “beloved one.”

            The most famous “Darryl” was Darryl Sittler of the Toronto Maple Leafs. So much for famous Darryls.

            I researched “Sharon” a little bit too, and found that for a brief period it was used as a boy’s name. Like I said, I think the person gives meaning to the name, more than the other way around.

When I think of “Sharon,” well….

            You know the name “Jesus” means “the Lord saves.” Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua or Y’shua (Aramaic). But you also know that there were hundreds, maybe thousands, of Jewish boys who were named “Jesus.” It was a popular name.

            What makes the name “Jesus” stand out? What is it about the name of Jesus that inspires faith? What is it about the name of Jesus that can heal the crippled man in last week’s text? It is not the name on its own, but the person who bears that name. The person of Jesus, the man from Nazareth, the Son of God, gives meaning and power to the name “Jesus.”

            Now the question is: Do we believe in this name, Jesus Christ, and all that it represents? Today’s text asks this very question. What do we, as followers of Jesus Christ, believe about this name? And I must be honest and vulnerable here; I have a lot to learn about having faith in this name, so I don’t pretend to have all the answers.

Why are you surprised?

Just as Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit provided an opportunity for Peter to preach, so also did the healing of the lame man in the temple courts. People came rushing up; they were astonished.

            Peter asks a penetrating question, “Why does this surprise you?” Jesus had spent three years in Galilee and Judea healing hundreds of people, raising some from the dead, and casting out demons. Why are the people surprised that this man was healed in the name of this Jesus? Peter and John had said to this man, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (3:6). Why would a healing be so strange?

            The sub-question is equally challenging: Why do you think that it is our power, or our piety that healed this man?

            The question is important for us today. Why are we surprised at healing in the name of Jesus? Or better yet, why do we feel cynical or skeptical when we hear of someone being healed? A Facebook friend who was said to be dying of cancer recently posted that he has been healed. His paralyzed legs now move, and the lump on his neck has decreased. Instead of celebrating, some of us have doubts.

            So Peter’s question hits us head-on: Why are you surprised that a man was healed in the name of Jesus?

You rejected the NAME

Peter goes on to lay four indictments on the audience gathered before him in Solomon’s Colonnade. First he explains that, “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus” (13a). C.S. Lewis said that every sermon in Acts makes mention of the resurrection, it was that important to the gospel proclamation.

            Then Peter lays the guilt on the people. He says:

            YOU handed him over to be killed…

            YOU disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.

            YOU disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.

            YOU killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead.

            From a sales perspective, guilt doesn’t sell. If Peter was trying to win converts to Christ, why lay a guilt trip on the people? Who would respond in our day and age to a message that made you feel like dirt? People spend thousands of dollars and hours of time going to therapists to overcome guilt.

            But if the guilt fits…As in Peter’s Pentecost sermon, it was important to remind people that they rejected Jesus. Even if they didn’t yell “Crucify him,” they didn’t yell “Don’t!” Peter knew this better than anyone, since he denied Jesus three times. Every person who does not accept Jesus rejects him. That’s okay, because that’s where we all start.

            I believe Peter’s intention here has to do with the name of Christ. He emphatically makes it clear that everyone rejected Jesus to his death. He does this to make a startling contrast. You disowned him; you killed him; you rejected the name of Jesus. But look at the power that is in this name; look at how God glorified this name.

There is power in the NAME

Peter provides the answer to his own question. If you are surprised by this healing, consider the name of Jesus. He says, “In the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see” (3:16).

            We could ask a lot of questions regarding faith. Is it our faith in the name of Jesus that heals? Is it the faith of the one healing? Or the faith of the one being healed? Peter focuses on two things in his response: first, the name of Jesus is powerful and effective; second, this man was healed through faith that comes through Jesus. Faith in Jesus plays a significant role in this healing. You will remember that Jesus could perform very few miracles in his hometown because of a lack of faith (Mk. 6:5). But for those who believe in the name of Jesus, healing was a reality.

            Peter uses numerous titles that apply to Jesus that are summed up in the phrase “the name of Jesus.” Jesus’ name stands for everything that he is and does. In verse 13, Peter refers to Jesus as the Servant, a reference to the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 52:13-53:12, where the prophet predicts that the Servant would be “pierced for our transgressions.”

            Jesus is also called “the Holy and Righteous One” (3:14). He was without sin and therefore could offer himself as a substitute for sinners as a perfect Lamb. When Jesus confronted a man possessed by an evil spirit, the spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” (Mk. 1:24). Jesus was like no other man in that there was no sin in him.

            Peter then refers to Jesus as the “author of life” or the “pioneer of life” (3:15). Jesus is the originator of life and the author of our salvation (Heb. 12:2) which ensures eternal life. Jesus himself declared that he is the life (John 14:6), so that if you have Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you can know life now, not just in the life to come. True life is known through living for Jesus.           

            Title is stacked upon title to make the point: the name of Jesus is like no other. There is power in that name. In fact, Peter and John will say “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (4:12). That’s exclusive. There is no other name which can set the captives free from the chains of sin; there is no other name through which we can come to the Father in heaven (Jn. 14:6); there is no other name that reveals the Father God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Period!

            Please note that the healing has become a secondary subject in Peter’s message. The centrality of Christ was his concern. The healing was a stage for the real crux of the matter – the continued proclamation and glorification of Jesus Christ. Don’t focus on the healing but on the One who can heal.

Pardon my ignorance

I have a catchphrase when I am new to a committee and unsure of how things work: “Pardon my ignorance, but …” Ignorance can be a wonderful excuse for not knowing any better. I just didn’t know. I was not aware. People will excuse a certain measure of ignorance if it is genuine.

            Peter makes this concession to his audience, “I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders…” (3:17). This concession refers back to the four indictments: You handed him over to be killed; you disowned him before Pilate; you disowned the Holy and Righteous One; you killed the author of life. You didn’t know any better. Even Jesus said, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk. 23:34).

            There is a lot of grace in Peter’s concession. Peter attributed the sinful actions of his audience to ignorance. But where there was ignorance there was also guilt and grace. We must be gracious with ignorance concerning the name of Christ. Many are darkened in their understanding of Jesus through ignorance:

            Paul said, “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts” (Eph 4:18). I admit that I wince when I hear someone use the name of Jesus as an expletive. If someone yells “Jesus Christ” when they hammer their thumb, or whatever, I hurt inside. But then I concede that they don’t know him, or they’re praying…awkwardly.

            Paul himself noted that ignorance was his motivation in persecuting the believers: “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief” (1 Tim. 1:13). Ignorance is simply blindness to the truth of Jesus Christ. Some people just don’t get it. And the only reason we do is due to grace and the Holy Spirit.

            Peter holds out grace to those in darkness because Jesus is gracious. “He (Jesus) is able to deal gently with those are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness” (Heb. 5:2).

            So there is pardon for ignorance.

Repent and believe in the NAME

But now that you know that you have ignored the name and the truth has been revealed to you, you cannot remain under the cover of ignorance. A response is required. Faith!

            Following the Pentecost sermon, the audience was cut to the heart and they wondered what they were to do with this Jesus. Peter said then, “Repent and be baptized…so that your sins may be forgiven…And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (2:38). Similarly, Peter gives a challenge in this sermon, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah…” (3:19-20). The challenge is almost identical.

            Turning from this ignorance, the hearer is to turn then to the name of Jesus and believe. The healing of the lame man is a token of the greater prize, the healing of the broken spirit, the estranged man or woman separated from God now gaining access to God, and the forgiveness of sins. Peter says those sins will be wiped, or blotted, out. Ancient writing was done on papyrus and the ink had no acid in it. This ink did not bite into the paper like our modern pens but simply lay on top of the papyrus. To erase the writing, the scribe would merely use a wet cloth to wipe it away. So God wipes out the sins of the person who takes seriously by faith the name of Jesus Christ.

            The Holy Spirit comes into the heart of the believer and, as Peter now illustrates this presence, times of refreshing (peace, relief, joy) come to the believer.

            Putting one’s faith in the name of Jesus comes with an ongoing mandate. As Peter reminded the Israelites, Moses had promised that a prophet like himself would come to the Jews one day. This ancient promise was fulfilled in Jesus, Peter says. And he further reminded them of Moses’ words: “you must listen to everything he tells you” (3:22). Again we have that exclusivity that marks the Christian faith. We do not need to listen to other leaders, teachers or religious people from other faiths, but we do need to listen to Jesus. When you believe in the name of Jesus Christ, there is no other name that has the power to change your life like his name.

So if this name, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, is like no other, what is our response? Do we trust this name? Do we put our faith in this name? Do we believe what the Scriptures tell us about this name?

            I cannot claim ignorance. I know the truth of the Gospels. Yet I find myself among those who are skeptical, cynical, and dubious, when it comes to healing and miracles. I am confessing to you that my faith is not what I would like it to be in regards to such things. As the father who brought his son to Jesus cried, “I do believe. Lord, help my unbelief!”

            If we claim to have faith in the name of Jesus Christ, there is more at stake than healing and miracles. If we claim to have faith in this name then, as Peter reminds us, we must listen to Jesus. We read our Bibles, do our devotions, and nod our heads. But do we act in faith? Can we trust our injustices to the judgment of Christ, that he hears our prayers and knows our sorrows, and will make all things new and right? As we struggle with “chronic” sins and confess yet again that we have failed to remain pure, can you trust the name of Jesus that you are forgiven and he is working through the Holy Spirit to free you from your chains?

            In short, you know the truth, but have you put your total faith in the sweet name of Jesus, so that your life and actions are completely submitted to his grace?

            Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved!

                                                            AMEN

Some men called Him Rabbi, good teacher, nothing more

The Son of just a carpenter who taught along the shore

Some men called Him Master, Elijah come again

Some left their nets to follow Him to learn to fish for men

Some say He's Messiah, I Am, who's always been

The Baptist called Him Lamb of God who takes away our sin

What's in a name that the demons flee

What's in a name that the captives go free

What's in a name that every knee should bow

In the name of Jesus, name above all names

There is power and glory, forever and ever

Forever and ever

Some said Son of David returning to His throne

Some said He's the Son of Man with origin unknown

And one said He's the Son of God, the Rock on which we stand

The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end

No other name can sound so sweet

No other name is so complete

No other name can bring release

The Mighty God, the Prince of Peace

(Petra – “What’s in a name”)

Acts 2:42-47

FOUR ESSENTIAL MARKS OF THE CHURCH

Several weeks ago, at the beginning of September, I asked you, “What kind of church would you like to be?” Have you thought about that question since?

            As we study the book of Acts, we may discover what the early Anabaptists found when they sought to reform the church. We may catch a glimpse of the Spirit-filled church marked by a continual devotion to Christ and each other.

            J.B. Phillips writes in the preface to The Young Church in Action, that one cannot spend several months in close study of the book of Acts, “without being profoundly stirred and, to be honest, disturbed.”

            You will be stirred, Phillips says, “because (you are) seeing Christianity, the real thing, in action for the first time in human history…Here we are seeing the Church in its first youth, valiant, unspoiled…a body of ordinary men and women joined in unconquerable fellowship never before seen on earth.”

            But you will also be disturbed, “for surely,” he adds, this “is the Church as it was meant to be. It is vigorous and flexible, for these are the days before it ever became fat and short of breath through prosperity, or muscle-bound by over organization. These men did not make acts of faith, they believed; they did not say their prayers, they prayed. They did not hold conferences on psychosomatic medicine, they simply healed the sick. By modern standards they may have been naïve, but perhaps because of their simplicity, perhaps because of their readiness simply to believe, to obey, to give, to suffer, and, if necessary, to die, the Spirit of God found that he could work in them and through them, and so they turned the world upside down!”

            We must be cautious. Some of what Luke records about this early church tells us what they did, and that does not mean we have to copy it exactly. On the other hand, what they did reminds us of who we are as a church of Christ, and we would do well to imitate them. Our text this morning, Acts 2:42-47, reveals four essential marks that our church can consider for our journey together. The Church of Christ is distinguished by a continual devotion to the four marks of the Acts 2 congregation: teaching, fellowship, worship, and witness.

            Let’s ask ourselves some questions in this regard:

Are we a learning church?[i]

Filled with the Holy Spirit, the first believers were drawn to each other by their faith in Jesus. We might say that they were starting something new, but that is not entirely true. They had the synagogue template and temple worship to help them figure out how to be a new body. And in a very real way, they were actually continuing to be the faithful remnant described by the OT prophets.

            Following the Pentecost event, this new band of believers, 3120 in number, wanted to learn more about Jesus. Luke records, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching…” (42a).

            They “devoted themselves,” they were “steadfast” or “single-minded” in purpose and desire to follow Jesus. So they listened intently to the Twelve who had been with Jesus, drinking in every detail about the Lord, what he said, what he did, and who he was.

            When Jesus walked the earth, he taught these Twelve about the kingdom of God and promised the Holy Spirit would remind them of everything he said. The Bible tells us that the “mystery” of the gospel of Christ “has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets” (Eph. 3:5). The Church is then built “on the foundation of the apostles and prophets” with Jesus as the chief cornerstone (Eph. 2:20).

            We do not have the apostles with us today, so the contemporary devotion to the apostles’ teaching today means that we submit to NT teaching. The four Gospels and the letters of the NT are authoritative teaching for the church. A Spirit-filled church is a NT church.

            Are we a learning church? Are we devoted to the Bible as a whole and to the NT teaching of Jesus Christ specifically? One of the reasons we do not focus heavily on topical sermons as preachers is because we want the Bible to speak to us. Topics can easily become hobby-horses and full of human wisdom. We focus on the text to let the text speak.

Are we a loving church?

This question may be more difficult for us. Some of you may not feel loved here at KEMC. What does it mean to be loved? What does it mean to be loving?

            The new church in Acts 2 was a church that loved. “They devoted themselves…to fellowship” we read (42b). That word “fellowship” is koinonia and means “common” as in “the common life of the church.” Koinonia expresses what we share together in God. Fellowship begins with God (see 1 John 1:3). Fellowship does not mean drinking coffee and talking about the Bombers. Instead, it first means sharing in the dance of relationship that is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is having this Trinitarian God in common.

            Koinonia, fellowship, also expresses what we share with each other. It is the giving of self to your brothers and sisters in Christ. “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need” (44-45). Some have seen a kind of Christian communism in this, or even communal living where no one owns anything. That reads too much into the text. Note that they still had their own homes (46) and that the intention was that they did not consider their possessions so precious that they could not give them up for those in need.

            The people of the church loved each other. But Christians did not only take care of their own poor. They ministered to the sick and dying, purchased slaves to set them free, clothed the naked, and fed the hungry whether they were Christians or not. This was recognized by Julian the Apostate, the Roman Emperor who attempted to re-paganize Rome after Christianity was legalized. Julian complained, “These impious Galileans [i.e. Christians] feed not only their own poor, but ours as well.”[ii]

            The community of Christ in the first three centuries was amazing. Out of love for Christ, these Christians did what others were loathe to do. When a devastating plague swept across the ancient world in the 3^rd century, Christians were the only ones who cared for the sick, at the risk of being infected themselves, while pagans threw their infected family members into streets, to protect themselves from illness.[iii]

            These were extreme times. In ordinary times, these believers simply ate together. They met in their homes and enjoyed each other. Eating slows us down, encourages conversation, links us together. What is missing in our generation is hospitality. We live in a small community but we are afraid to visit each other, to drop in and visit. We don’t want to impose or be imposed upon. (Challenge: drop by someone’s home and have a glass of water). A Gallup study shows that 77% of highly satisfied church members have eaten a meal with a fellow congregant over the last year.[iv]

            Are we a loving church? We could work on our koinonia.

Are we a worshiping church?

Worship is not limited to the 15 minutes of singing we do on Sunday morning. When the new church worshiped, we get the sense that it was a whole-life experience. “They devoted themselves…to the breaking of bread and to prayer …Everyday they continued to meet in the temple courts…praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people” (42c, 46, 47).

            Central to their worship was the breaking of bread, the Lord’s Supper, or communion as we know it. The Lord Jesus promised to be with his disciples always (Mat. 28:20). The Lord’s Supper is a pledge of that continuing presence. In the bread and the wine they had the tokens of his body and blood. They observed the Lord’s Supper together as a body and in small groups in their homes.

            We can see then that worship was both formal and informal in that they worshiped God daily. To worship together and celebrate Christ, we are greatly helped by worshiping God as families at home. When we come together then, we are familiar with the Lord we love. It’s the same with prayer: we practice our prayers in our “closets” so that we can pray together as people who already know the Lord.

            We are told that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (Js. 5:16). Any sister or brother can pray anytime, anywhere. But there is something uniquely powerful when we all join together in prayer as a congregation. In Acts 4:31, the people of God gathered together to pray during an intense period of persecution and “the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”

            Are we a worshiping church?

Are we a contagious church?

I read somewhere this week that churches that are growing in numbers are not the churches that have their doctrine correct, or have the best worship bands, but where people feel loved and accepted. I have a problem with that. One essential mark does not make the church. We need them all.

            As the church in Acts devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, and to worship, they grew in numbers. But take a look at this footnote, “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (47b).

            We cannot forget that this all began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit, Peter preached and three thousand were added to the number of disciples. They continued to be devoted to the apostles’ teaching, to their common love for Christ and each other, and they attracted the awe and favor of those who were not yet believers. Those who were touched by the gospel, who were being saved, were added. But from the outpouring of the Spirit through the testimony of the brothers and sisters, it was the Lord who added to their numbers.

            We must be careful with numbers. One day when large crowds were following Jesus, he turned to them and said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27). You can imagine how many turned away from Jesus that day. But Jesus was not concerned with quantity but quality in discipleship.

            Yet, if we are faithful in our witness of Jesus Christ in our testimony and in how we love each other, we will be a contagious church. We will be an attractive church if we are committed to the four truths that the Acts church lived and breathed.

            Are we a contagious church? Jeremy Walden said, "The phrase 'go to church' makes me crazy. I am the church. Believers are the church. Instead of talking about just going into a building for a service, let's start talking about getting together with other believers to discuss God and pray together. That type of gathering is where we'll find community, a place of encouragement, sharing listening, and worship." If we do that, we will be a contagious church that the Lord Jesus will multiply.

Rick Warren wrote, “The key for churches in the 21^st century will be church health, not growth.” When a congregation seeks to be a healthy, biblical church, it will grow spiritually and enjoy the benefits of a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ. One person alone, worshiping in isolation, will be disconnected from the gospel of Jesus Christ, because Jesus’ life was meant to be shared and lived in relationship with others.

            No we are not perfect here at KEMC. Find me a church that is perfect. But that is why we sit here and study the Acts together – to learn from Scripture what it means to be the church.

            The four essential marks of the church of Christ are found in Acts 2:42-47. Apostolic teaching, koinonia fellowship, worship through the breaking of bread and prayer, and a contagious witness, all serve as a key to examining ourselves as a church. These are the expressions of a body of brothers and sisters led by the Holy Spirit.

             A healthy church begins with a consuming passion for the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know that he came to serve, not to be served.

            So the final question to ask ourselves in our church is this: Am I here to be served? Or am I willing to take up my cross, follow Jesus, and serve the brothers and sisters sitting here today?

            May God give us courage to be obedient to the four marks.

                                                AMEN

Prayer:

Our heavenly Father, open our hearts toward one another and toward you. Break down and melt within us the resistance that we erect against each other and against you. Make us to be of one heart and one mind and one accord, generous in giving, glad to participate in anything that advances this marvelous work going on in the midst of a world which is rapidly drifting into darkness and emptiness and coldness. We thank you, Lord, for the warmth of your Spirit, and for your power and your grace among us, and we ask that you will strengthen us in it, in Jesus' name, Amen. (Ray Stedman)

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[i] This outline is based on John Stott’s study of Acts 2:42-47 in his Bible Speaks Today commentary on The Message of Acts, pp. 81-87.

[ii] The Early Church, Breakpoint, Colsoncenter.org

[iii] Earlychurch.com

[iv] A new Gallup study commissioned by Group Publishing shows that people with close friendships in their church are very satisfied with their congregation, less likely to leave their place of worship, and have a strong friendship with God. Church members who have a best friend at church are 21% more likely to report attending at least once a week and 26% more likely to report having a strong, more active faith in God. 77% of highly satisfied members have eaten a meal with fellow congregants (who are not members of their family) at some point over the last year. Only 56% of somewhat satisfied or dissatisfied members have shared a meal together. Mealtime fellowship appears strongly correlated with high levels of congregational satisfaction. 62% of those who eat meals together report regularly spending time in prayer and worship daily vs. 49% who have not eaten meals with other church members.

(From a sermon by Mark Schaeufele, New Life On Purpose: Welcome, 2/18/2010)