Foundations to Build a Great Church
Acts 4:31-35
August 29, 2010
Morning Message
Introduction
On December 2001, the “Leaning Tower of Pisa” was finally reopened to the public, after having been closed for almost a dozen years. During that time, engineers completed a 25 million dollar renovation project designed to stabilize the tower. They removed 110 tons of dirt, and reduced its famous lean by about sixteen inches. Why was this necessary? Because the tower has been tilting further and further away from vertical for hundreds of years, to the point that the top of the 185-foot tower was seventeen feet further south than the bottom, and Italian authorities were concerned that if nothing was done, it would soon collapse. What was the problem? Bad design? Poor workmanship? An inferior grade of marble?
No. The problem was what was underneath. The sandy soil on which the city of Pisa was built was just not stable enough to support a monument of this size. The tower had no firm foundation.
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. Acts 4:31
Prayer
The first foundation that the early church built on was prayer. The church was continually spending time in prayer. Prayer was a major component of the church and it was key to their long term success. One of the major issues in the church today is that the church and Christians fail to spend time in prayer. God cannot and will not move in a church that does not spend time in prayer.
What exactly did the church mean by prayer?
The Greek word used here means to pour one’s whole heart and entire being out to God. The act of praying was more than a quick prayer said over a meal. Praying was to give everything over to God and trust Him to care for every need. The understanding was a complete dependence on God because He is able to provide for any and every possible need.
The book of Acts is filled with examples of the church seeking the Lord through prayer.
* Replacing Judas as an Apostle - the church prayed
* When the church was filled with the Holy Spirit - the church was praying
* When the apostles were arrested and beaten - the church prayed
* When Peter was awaiting execution - the church prayed
* When Ananias was told to go to Saul of Tarsus following his conversion the proof of conversion was seen in the fact that Saul was praying
The word pray and its related terms appear 32 different times in the book of Acts. There is no doubt that the church depended on God and that God came through. The modern church often depends only on what they themselves can do. Is it surprising that churches are not seeing the hand of God move among them?
When the early church was in trouble, they poured their hearts out to God. When the early church needed direction, they sought the Lord. When the early church needed power, they surrendered to the will of God. When the early church had any form of issue or need, they went straight to God.
The church today needs to learn a valuable lesson. When we are in trouble, we need to seek Jesus. When there is a need, pour out your heart to Christ. When we want to see God’ power move, we need to pray. When we want to see lost souls saved, we need to pray.
Power
The moment that the disciples ended their prayer, the place was shaken. The whole building they were shook as a sign of the power of God. Peter and John had just been dragged before the Sanhedrin. Imagine making an appearance before Congress to answer for witnessing. Peter and John are told to no longer share the gospel. When they arrive back with the disciples, what does the church do? There was no emergency board meeting. Committees were not formed to deal with the situation. The church called a prayer meeting. When they were done praying, God answered. The power of God rumbled through the church. Christ let His power and presence be felt in a physical manner.
The word here for shaken or shook. Means to see motion created by wind or a storm, to agitate or to stir or to disturb. The reality of the situation was simple, God was moving in the church in power. Can you imagine ending a prayer meeting and the church shaking with the power of God? The church could use God shaking things up.
When God begins to shake the church, things begin to happen. In fact, the church needs to be moved by God on a continual basis. God needs to start shaking us from our complacency. Jesus needs to get us away from our own self satisfaction and our pride to be used more for Him. Jesus needs to start shaking us out of our routine. The biggest threat to God moving in a church is an unwillingness to change. The truth is that God has better things for people but they hang on to old stuff so long that God cannot move the way He sees fit. Jesus needs to agitate our desire for a deeper spiritual walk. Jesus needs to stir our spirit and disturb our thought patterns, Jesus just needs to shake things up a bit within the church.
Remember where the church was likely meeting. There would have been no room for the church to have met together in a house. The church was likely back in the Upper Room. The reality is that the Upper Room was part of the outer section of the Temple. Think about the significance of the place. The disciples watching Jesus drive the buyers and sellers from the outer courts. The disciples listened to Jesus teach in this place. The Last Supper was likely taken from this place. The coming of the Holy Spirit happened in the Upper Room. God was moving and when God moves nothing can stop it.
Disturb us, O Lord
when we are too well-pleased with ourselves
when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little, because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, O Lord
when with the abundance of things we possess,
we have lost our thirst for the water of life
when, having fallen in love with time,
we have ceased to dream of eternity
and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision of Heaven to grow dim.
Stir us, O Lord
to dare more boldly, to venture into wider seas
where storms show Thy mastery,
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
In the name of Him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes
and invited the brave to follow.
Amen.
Proclamation
The disciples then went out and began to proclaim the truth. The reality is that the threats of the Sanhedrin could not stop them. The truth that Jesus is Lord was more important than any rule of human wisdom. The truth needed to be proclaimed.
The word here for spoke is interesting because most people hear this and think that the disciples went out preaching. Nothing could be further from the truth. The word speak literally means to have a normal conversation with someone. The disciples did not go out and stand on street corners preaching. Instead they went out and had an ongoing conversation with people.
Sometimes the best way to connect with people is to simply have a conversation. Talking with people allows us to not only listen to them but to engage them as well. People don’t want to be preached at but talked to in a respectable manner.
The gospel is a simple message but sadly many churches make it complicated. The message of Christ is to be easy enough for children to grasp it. Churches can often create more confusion than clarity. The gospel should be kept simple and straightforward.
A - Admit
B - Believe
C - Commit
Passion
John Wesley once said that the Methodist movement needed to be about the business of heaven. Clearly Wesley was not talking about money or shopping. Business related to specific activity or pursuits. The concept that Paul is attempting to communicate is that Christians need to be constantly pursuing the work of God’s Kingdom in a diligent manner. Passion pushes us to do more, to seek more and to do so in an urgent manner.
Signs of passion
1. Enthusiasm
People who are filled with passion are always filled with enthusiasm. There is something contagious about passion and the enthusiasm is a spirit of can do. The concept of enthusiasm is more than mere excitement. Excitement fades over time. Enthusiasm is an excitement that remains over time due to a lasting commitment. The moment people come to know Christ, there is an excitement that fills their lives. Churches thrive on this kind of enthusiasm. When people get saved, there is an enthusiasm. When churches start growing, there is an enthusiasm. When churches, create new programs there is enthusiasm.
2. Energy
Passion generates energy within the person. There is nothing like passion to energize a believer, a church or a project. There is an energy resonating in the Men’s group right now. God is starting work in the church. I firmly believe that when God moves among the men within a church, great things tend to follow. Not because the women’s ministry is not important. Men are more difficult to motivate but when things start moving it creates energy within the church.
3. Effort
Passion always requires effort to keep it burning but passion creates more effort. When passion catches within the church, it starts to spread. One of the most difficult fires to contain is an open wildfire. It spreads quickly and burns everything in its path. Passion is the same in the church, once it starts spreading everyone is touched by it. We need to see a wildfire of God’s passion to sweep through the church.
4. Encouragement
Passion creates encouragement that often cannot be contained. The moment that passion captures the heart of believers it breathes new encouragement into the church. Passion stimulates encouragement within the heart and moves to others. There are a number of reasons that we should be very encouraged in the church.
