Text: Title: Koinonia Ekklesias II, Date/Place: NRBC, 7/1/07, AM
A. Opening illustration: read the first half of the letter from the MacArthur commentary from the philosopher to the emperor regarding the behavior of the first Christians.
B. Background to passage: The background is still the same, a picture of the early church as a model for us today. As we noted this morning, there are at least eight things that the early church was stubbornly devoted to, and we will cover the last four of these tonight.
C. Main thought: Again this is crucial to maintaining or achieving a NT church in our day.
A. Sharing to meet needs (v. 45)
1. It says that the believed together and had all things in common. There formed among the early church a very tight-knit spiritual unity. They bonded together, not only as members of the same church, but as brothers and sisters in Christ. And this unity manifested itself in the reality of taking care of one another. This was a voluntary sharing within in the Christian community with all those that had needs. The point here is not communism, but love flowing toward those that had needs. The point is that their relationship with Christ affected not only their schedules, but also their wallets. They sold property because they understood very deeply that possessions in this world were to be used for the glory of Christ, and that the deeds done unto others here will be rewarded.
2. Eph 4:3, James 1:27, Matt 25:34-40, Gal 6:10, 1 John 3:17-18
3. Illustration: “Christianity is by nature a community religion…The body of Christ is incomplete without you, and you are incomplete without the body of Christ.” A great example was when you paid our mortgage for several months as we waited for our house to sell. Ronnie was telling us about the guy who told him that God told him to give him the tractor for the camp.
4. “The time is ripe for the Christian church to show the world a type of community that is radically different from the existing social structures.” It is time that we examine our version of taking care of the needs of others in our fellowship. The world should see a picture much like this or in the letter that we read. How does our deep spiritual unity manifest itself? Would the world look at our church and see that we really care, to the point that they want to be a part of us? When was the last time you sold property you sold property to provide the needs of a brother? How do we really take care of our widows and fatherless? And the question that we really should ask, is not do we set aside money for benevolence, but do we really care about each other to the point that we really desire to provide for the needs of others?
B. Daily fellowship (v. 46)
1. Our text says that they fellowshipped daily in the temple courts and from house to house. The word for fellowship is the word that I am using the title of the message. And it means sharing life with a deep closeness. It says they were of one mind and one accord. They were constantly eating their meals together with simplicity of heart and gladness. This means that their hearts were free from things that would impede close fellowship. They were real, and they were really involved in the lives of fellow believers. This kind of fellowship promoted spiritual growth, mutual accountability, and bearing one another’s burdens.
2. Acts 5:42, 16:34, Gal 6:2, 1 Thess 5:14,
3. Illustration: tell about the pastor’s wife who seemed like all she did was clean up and prepare for guests at her home, then the woman showed up at a really messy time, and she just showed her right in, tell about how families at Voddie’s church are asked to give up two nights a month to having people over for dinner, once for a family in the church, once for a neighborhood family. Three reasons that Christians don’t invite guests to their home based on a survey done by a pastor 1) frightened, 2) furnishings too modest, 3) too busy, expense too great, effort too much, mission trips and youth camps are ideal to build fellowship,
4. A NT church should include more than just worship service fellowship. There should be times of sharing and blending of hearts and lives that go far beyond time in the building. We must actively pursue it among ourselves, but also among those who are new to our fellowship. We must almost force ourselves to be genuine, and not but on a nice front. It is much easier, safer to stay isolated. Having people over for dinner and fellowship at your home is a forgotten aspect even among a southern hospitable culture. When was the last time you had a family over from the church to your home? From the community? Are you willing to share all that you really are with people in the church? We should be a church that will not violate the trust that comes with sharing by gossiping, being judgmental, or self-righteous.
C. Consistent Worship (v. 47)
1. Part of their time together was spent in worship. The first church did not have a building or a bus, they met in homes. And so it was not unusual to have a worship service in your home. And when they met to worship, their main goal was to praise, honor, and extol Christ. And this was a daily occurrence. They consecrated a daily time with Christ to meet with Him and for Him. They worship probably included singing, reading of scripture, preaching, prayer, testimony, and the Lord’s Supper. It seems as though it was spontaneous, yet orderly. They even ate their food with “gladness.” It was an explosion of adoration for the worth of Christ.
2. Rom 16:5, 1 Cor 16:19, Col 4:15, Philemon 1:2
3. Illustration: Gordon Dahl said, “Most middle-class Americans tend to worship their work, work at their play, and play at their worship.” “We need to let go of our intellectual idea of worship and realize there is more to worship than a sermon; we have to let go of our evangelistic notion of worship and reckon with the fact that worship is not primarily directed toward the sinners who need to be converted; we must let go of our entertainment expectations and remind ourselves that we are not in church to watch a Christian variety show. We have gathered together in worship to be met by God the Almighty. God, the Creator of the Universe, the One who sustains our lives, our Redeemer and King, is present through proclamation and remembrance. He wants to communicate to us, to penetrate our inner self, to take up residence within us. And, as we go through the experience of meeting with him in this mystical moment of public worship, we are to respond. But response is not just singing a hymn, not just saying a creed, not just saying a prayer. Response, from the very beginning of worship to the end, must be a powerful inner experience of actually being in the presence of God. When we sing a hymn or say a confession or prayer, we are not singing or saying words, but expressing a feeling, bringing our souls, truly responding and communicating to the living and active presence of a loving and merciful God.”
4. We must remember that church is not confined to these four walls. In fact you should have some sort of family devotional time in your home. Praising Christ is one of the reason for which we are made—to glorify the name of Christ above all things, magnifying His worth. How about the time that we dedicate to worship? Do you come prepared? Do you affix your heart upon Christ? Do you focus the intentions of your mind upon the greatness of who Jesus is and what He had done for you? When you leave here on Sundays would you say that Christ has been praised by you?
D. Rapid Growth (v. 47)
1. The early church was looked upon favorably by all the people. People saw the church as an asset, not a drain. Because of the way that the early church lived, people wanted to be near the church. And their life was so winsome, that they began to draw others in. Ultimately, as the text states, it was the Lord who will add to His church. But God used a church that was doing what it was supposed to be doing, being what it was supposed to be being to add to. But the principle is this: when a church is being the church the Lord will add to it, and growth for such a church is the norm.
2. Acts 5:14, 11:24, Matt 9:36-38,
3. Illustration: the key issue for churches in the 21st Century will be church health, not growth. Because when a congregation is healthy it will grow. God wants his church to grow, and to the extent that we are healthy, to that extent we will grow naturally. Arn conducted a survey in which he interviewed the members of nearly one thousand churches in regard to what they perceived to be the mission of the church. Eighty-nine percent said the church exists ‘To take care of my family’s and my needs.’ Only 11 percent said it existed to win the world to Christ. This points to a disturbing reality: Many churches fail to have any sense of mission at all, and those that do may fall far short of having a mission that is biblical in its scope. George Gallup says “North America is the only continent where Christianity is not growing.” The American Society of Church Growth reports that in ’98, half of churches in America did not add one new member through “conversion growth.” Fuller Seminary has discovered that “It takes 3 people in a church that is 1-3 years old to lead one person to Christ. In a church 4-7 years old it takes 7 people to win 1¾and in a church that is 10 years or older it takes 85 people to lead 1 person to Christ.” Church growth expert, George Barna found that prayer was the foundational ministry of rapidly growing churches in America. He wrote: “The call to prayer [in these churches] was the battle cry of the congregation: it rallied the troops. These people understood the power of prayer. They actively and consistently included prayer in their services, in their events, their meetings and their personal ministries.” C. Peter Wagner, an authority on church growth, has this to say, “The more deeply I dig beneath the surface of the church growth principles, the more thoroughly convinced I become that the real battle is a spiritual battle and that our principal weapon is prayer.”
4. How do people in our community view our church? Our country? The community should rejoice when a member of NRBC works at their place of business. They should look unto the church as the minister of God in a time of need. We have an epidemic of dying churches in our land. And we should be concerned about the lack of growth. We should focus on two things: 1) that we become the church that looks like the NT church, healthy, vibrant, winsome, full of people exhibiting love for and the love of Jesus, with a global and local perspective of impacting people with the gospel. This is where our immediate battle lies. We are like a freight train screeching to a halt, then needing to change direction. We must reexamine our attitude about church, our idea about what its purpose is, and our role in the church’s mission. Until we do this, NRBC will not grow. If we simply continue to focus upon ourselves, we will continue to die. There needs to be a change at the heart of our congregation, which reflects in a new pattern of behavior, perspective, and ministry. 2) Secondly, that we beg the Lord of the harvest to add unto His church, to send laborers unto the field, that we begin to see adult conversions, and that people are drawn to Him through us, that the scales are removed, that the blinded eyes may see, that the dark hearts may be changed, and that He would give us a heart for the lost of our community and our world for the glory of Christ. We will never reach the community, or the world, without the omnipotent hand of the Master of all souls working for our growth. And the lack of pleading on behalf of the people of God at NRBC indicates our lack of dependence on Him. A new ministry, a new pastor, a new song, a new sign, or website will do the trick. Growth is not a man-centered or man-wrought experience! It is one where God smiles upon the efforts of a people that pleases Him and draws men to Himself.
A. Closing illustration: read the second half of the letter from the MacArthur commentary from the philosopher to the emperor regarding the behavior of the first Christians.
B. Invitation to commitment
