The Movement Begins!
In the beginning God (the One who is, and was and is to come) created EVERYTHING… HE created;
• Galaxies – millions of them
• Stars – trillions
• HE created our planet and He filled it with breath-taking beauty… sunrises, sunsets, oceans, mountains, rivers, streams, forests… what an incredibly beautiful planet we live on.
• AND LISTEN – not only did God fill this planet with breath-taking beauty, He also filled it LIFE…
I MEAN – everywhere we look there is life… plants, insects, animals, birds, fish… UNDERSTAND – even if put a shovel to the ground and put the dirt under a microscope it would be teeming with life.
AND – on day six he created man and woman (the crown of His creation… the VERY REASON why everything come into existence in the first place)… HE - created them in His own image and likeness.
AND HE – placed them in a garden paradise and they had an up close – personal and intimate relationship with them… Yeah, as crazy as it sounds, GOD would literally take walks with them in the cool of the morning.
MAN – that had to be so awesome…
I MEAN – just imagine what it must have been like… living in a world like that…
Experiencing intimacy with God like that
YEAH – things were good, VERY good. BUT – unfortunately they did not stay VERY good, for VERY long…
YOU SEE – even before Adam and Eve made it out of the 3rd chapter of God’s 1,189 chapter story… THEY - screw up everything (not only for themselves, but for us as well)…
THEY – disobey God… THEY – take that bite…
AND – because of their choice sin, death and separation enter God’s perfect world.
BUT LISTEN – that is only part of The Story (our lower story)… YOU SEE - long before the first couple sunk their teeth into that forbidden fruit… GOD – already had a plan to set things right… (His Upper Story)…
A PLAN - to remove the distance… A PLAN - to give death, sin and separation - a crushing, lethal and defeating blow.
MAPLE GROVE…
LIKE – I have said over and over again throughout our journey through The Story (Through God’s word)…
Since the dawn of creation the overriding theme of human History has been God’s passionate pursuit of a prodigal people. Has been the story of a loving God doing whatever it takes (and I mean, absolutely whatever it takes) in order to bring people back to Himself.
AND TIM/LAURIE – God’s plan to ensure that HIS passionate pursuit of us His prodigal people, would one day reach HIS desired endgame - was a 3 phase plan…
AND – so far, our journey through The Story has taken us through the first two.
Phase One – The Nation Of Israel
Understand through Abraham God built a nation that would begin to show the world what the One True God was like.
A NATION - that was to be different, and to live different than the rest of world.
AND – for 2000 years God shapes and prepares this nation for the coming of the Messiah (Christ) BY…
• Giving them His Law… words, commands, decrees on how to live
• Building them a temple (a place where His presence will dwell)…
• Introducing a sacrificial system so that a sinful people could approach a holy God.
• Teaching them about holiness, sin and that obedience leads to BLESSINGS and that disobedience and chasing after things other than God lead to consequences.
YES – for 1400 years God tries to shape this nation… and it is not an easy task. I MEAN – as we saw in our own journey through The Story… you just kind of get to this place where you’re like, “Man, nothing seems to be working for God’s people.”
• God gave them the Law; but they couldn’t keep the Law.
• He gave them a temple, but many times it was either forgotten or treated with contempt
• He gave them kings, and the kings are proud and disobedient.
• He sent His prophets with words of encouragement and a call to return to Him, but nobody listened to the prophets.
AND - there just seems to be no hope for these people.
AND MAN – I gotta tell you, as we went through this part of The Story, I think we all - eventually got to the place where we were just getting tired of the Old Testament… I MEAN - it started to really wear us out…
AND – do you know what that is exactly the point… The Old Testament – the Old Covenant. We just get tired of it. It doesn’t work. Because it is all designed to point to Jesus, because He is our only hope. He is the only One who can save.”
Which brings us to…
Phase Two – Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God
Who lived a sinless life… and died a sinners death… a substitutionary death… He died in our place…
JESUS – took our place.
God – pour out His sin-hating wrath on Jesus so that He could pour out His soul-loving grace on us… on me on you.
UNDERSTAND – God’s passionate pursuit caught up to His prodigal people in all it’s fullness at the cross…
Which brings us to…
Phase Three (the final phase… our phase) – The Church
His body
His bride
His Kingdom
Maple Grove – Welcome to chapter 28 of The Story… (New Beginnings), a conversation I am calling, ‘The Movement.’
Our Text Acts chapters 1-12…
I love the book of Acts! I have taught through this book several times in bible studies… and each time it has taken more than a year.
WELL THIS MORNING – I don’t have a year, let alone ‘more than’ a year… YES - our time is very limited today. BUT – my goal is not.
UNDERSTAND – my goal is that when we walk out of those doors in a few minutes that we will be beyond stoked about The Movement we get to be a part of…
BOTTOM LINE - if you are already a part of it… I want you to leave more fired up about who God has called you to be and what God has called you to do than ever before… AND – if you are not a part of it, that you will consider surrendering your life The Man and The Movement that has been changing the world and lives for 2000 years.
There are just 4 points in your outline…
The Mission
The message
The Means
The Movement
I. The Mission
In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach
2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
(Okay if there sins were forgiven in John’s baptism – why did they need Jesus baptism? The Holy Spirit… You see God’s plan for us so much greater than mere forgiveness… it’s transformation…)
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
You see they still didn’t get it… they wanted to go back to they way things used to be when Israel was on top. They wanted: the freedom of Moses, the power of David, the wealth of Solomon… It isn’t Israel’s kingdom anymore.
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
In other words it’s ‘none ya…’ none of your business.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
NOTICE - that He doesn’t send them out into the desert somewhere or off to the mountains to pray… But to Jerusalem. AND - their mission was… to be His Witnesses.
AND – here is Jesus’ point. FIRST - I want you to start at home. I want you to start with the people closest to you right there in your own city, your own community. Where you live. Where you work.
THEN - I want you to go to Judea… And after that to Samaria, that's like the county next door (and Samaritans were different culturally and racially). “I want you to go to people nearby, but who are different then you.” AND THEN - “I want you to go to the ends of the earth. I want you to go reach everybody else.”
AND – when we go everywhere with this good news what are we to be? A defense attorney? A salesman?
NO - all God wants us to do is to be a witness. (UNDERSTAND – we don't have to defend God and we don't have to be a salesman for God).
QUESTION - what is a witness? A witness is somebody who just tells what they have seen. I saw this, and then I saw this; and this is what happened. A witness simply tells what has happened to them.
AND UNDERSTAND - you are the expert on your life. LISTEN - nobody can be a better witness of what God has done in your life than you.
SO - God says I just want you to tell other people what's happened to you, what I’ve done in your life. I want you to go all over and tell people about Me.
HEY – can I tell you what blows my mind about all of this…
THAT GOD – has passed the baton of God’s plan of redemption (getting lost people right with God) to us… to me… to you.
Ed Cole tells the story of Jesus arriving in heaven after His resurrection and ascension. When he gets back the angels are all pumped up to see Him. The ask ‘Jesus how did things go on earth?” Jesus said, “men will be saved” Then Jesus raises his hands to show them the scars, where he sacrificed himself for all of mankind.. “Now that I have paid the debt, men can have their sins forgiven.”
The angels said, “that’s sooo awesome Lord!” BUT – then they asked, “Lord if you are here how will men know about this great salvation.” Jesus said; “I have given my disciples the mission of sharing the God news” BUT – what if they fail…. “I have no other plan..”
GUYS – we are it. God has no other plan… we are the all important phase three… God is counting on us as he told His guys in Matthew 28 to…
“go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
- Matthew 28:19,20
YES – God is counting us to be committed to this ministry of reconciliation. Letting the world know that in Christ God no longer counts people’s sins against them…
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” - Acts 1:9-11
II. The Message
SO – His guys went back to Jerusalem and waited… AND – others joined them, both men and women… including Mary, Jesus mom… until the number of people reached about 120.
AND – do you know what they did while they waited… they all joined together constantly in prayer… Acts 1:14
Which btw, is probably the best thing to do when we are waiting on God to move in our lives…
NOW – they really had no idea of how long they would be waiting… a day, a week, a month… BUT LISTEN – God knew exactly how long their wait would be… just ten days… until the day of Pentecost.
Pentecost was the Greek name giving to a feast that Israel had been celebrating ever since the time of Moses… the feast of weeks. Which always took place 50 days after the Passover, and it celebrated.
• The harvest that had begun between Passover and Pentecost
• The giving of the law and the Old Covenant at Mount Sinai which took place about 50 days after the exodus.
AND…
• It was the best attended of the Jewish feasts (the weather made travel so much easier) during Pentecost the city would swell to tens times it’s normal population of 100,000, with people gathering from nations for all around the world.
UNDERSTAND – it was no accident that God choose to birth the church and launch phase three of His plan of redemption… on the day of Pentecost…
• New birth, new life and harvest was aliterally sprouting up all around them
• Best attended feast
• People from all over the world there to witness this
• And people came to celebrate the Old Covenant what a perfect time to introduce them to the new, better and forever one.
NOW WHEN - the day of Pentecost came Jesus’ guys were at the Temple, AND…
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. – Acts 2:2,3
• Not wind, just the sound of wind
• Rushing down from heaven (storms normally blow horizontally)
• Picture what is going on… loud sound like wind but no wind, rushing down from above you, filling the room where you are seated… Had to be kind of freaky.
• A huge sheet of what looked like fire begins to fill the room
• It breaks off into several parts that then rest on each apostle (the verb used here indicates that rested on them for awhile and then vanished…)
• The tongues of fire were a visible symbol of the audible languages they were about to speak, and may also symbolize a cleansing of each apostle before God sends them out to speak for Him
First Sinai (Ex 19,20) Second Sinai (Acts 2)
Loud sound Loud sound
Fire Fire
Birth of Old Covenant Birth of New Covenant
Moses Spokesman Apostles spokesman
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.
6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?
Aren’t these just hillbillies… uneducated…
(When you are in a foreign country and you hear your native tongue it gets your attention)…
we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” - Acts 2:11,12
What does this Mean?
Peter then tells them, first and foremost it means 2 things…
#1 – The Gospel is for all people (Acts 2:17,21)
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!
16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people…
(greek word for ‘flesh’)
UNDERSTAND…
• If you were standing in that audience that day, you would have been blown away…
• I mean, your jaw would have dropped to the ground…
• That God would pour out His Spirit and invite into the kingdom all people was shocking to say the least. Though it should not have been (I mean, God had been making that point since He called Abraham in Genesis 12)
Jump down to verse 21 to the conclusion and you will see that it is the same topic once again… “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved…”
YES – God’s Kingdom has come and it is not an exclusive ‘Jews Only’ Kingdom Instead it is a universal inclusive kingdom… AND EVERYONE - Jew-gentile, male-female, rich-poor, slave-free, educated-not educated… has been given an invitation… has been given the opportunity to call of the Lord and be saved through the death burial and resurrection of Jesus…
#2 - Jesus is both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36)
THEN PETER – preaches the very first Gospel message…
USING - Old Testament prophecies and recent events, that they all knew about… like:
• Jesus life
• His miracles
• His death, burial and resurrection…
To both declare and prove that Jesus was exactly who he said He was…
“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” - Acts 2:36
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
- Acts 2:37
UNDERSTAND - the massive crowd gathered on the day of Pentecost…. ASKED – two life (transforming and redefining) questions…
#1 – What does this mean?
#2 – What shall we do?
NOTICE – that their question has moved from
the head to the heart
from curiosity to conviction
God came… and we missed Him
God came… and we killed Him
HOW - in the world do we get out of this mess?
AND LISTEN – all of humanity leans forward to hear Peter’s response…
QUESTION…
WHAT IF - Peter had said… “I am sorry, it’s too late now. There is nothing you can do, because God is a one shot God and you all blew it…”
UNDERSTAND…
IF THAT – had been Peter’s reply we would not be gathered here today…
BUT – the gospel, the good news, the news that ‘they’ who were gathered at the temple… And ‘we’ who are gathered in this room need to hear…
IS THAT - the One True, Always Existing, All Powerful – Sovereign and Righteous God is not a one shot God…
INSTEAD – He is the God of the do-over….
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
WE… ‘repent’ and are ‘baptized’ in His name… (the terms for entering the New Covenant)
AND - we receive…
the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (works out IN us what Christ has won FOR us).
39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. – Acts 2:38-41
And the church goes from 120-3000 in it’s first service…
AND LISTEN – when anyone who comes to MG…
Believing in who Jesus is
and wanting to do something take care of the mess they are as a sinner separated from God… we give the exact same answer Peter gave the day the church was born…
Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
III. The Means
QUESTION…
HOW - did this first church (full of ‘new’ believers)…
HOW – were they able to do what they did…
HOW – were they able to not only impact the world in such a powerful culture (shaking and shaping) way?
I MEAN - in a mere generation (30 years)… THEY – take the Gospel from Jerusalem throughout the known world…
AND THEY - set in motion a movement that would continue to influence the entire world up until this very day.
WELL – in Acts 2:42-47 we find the answer.
WE FIND - five things that the early church was serious about that are essential to any church.
We are going to briefly look at each of them but first I want to look at the very last verse see what the results are when a church has these things at the center of her life…
They were…
enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. – Acts 2:47
OKAY – the first 4 things are found in verse… 42
They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, and to the fellowship to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Who is ‘they’? Those who were being saved.
What did they do… “Devoted”
Who did they devote? Themselves
NOW - the Greek word ‘devoted’ carried the meaning of Adhering to with Strength. Super-glued… serious about.
AND - it is in the present tense and means an Ongoing, Continuous action…
AND WHAT – did they adhere to with strength…
‘The Apostles Teaching’
This 3000 new believers said…
“Look, we are standing upon the Word of God.” It may be popular; it may not be popular. But this…this is our foundation. And it’s going to guide (and) it’s going to direct all of our decisions. It’s going to determine the decisions we make financially. It’s going to guide who we are in our careers. It’s going to direct our paths in our marriages and in our families.
We are going to read it… we are going to know and we are going to live by it… AND – every single time that we encounter it… we are going to ask God…
“God, what needs to change in my life?”
“God, what do I need to do differently?”
BECAUSE – Lord, I do not want to leave my encounter in your word the same as I came in.
Whatever You want to do, God, is what I want You to do.”
As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should. - Ps 119:7
The Fellowship
They were devoted to ‘the’ fellowship… to doing life with other believers…
YOU SEE – they knew that together was better.
THEY KNEW – that they would never become who they were called to be on their own.
So they were devoted to… serving, loving, accepting, teaching, encouraging, honoring, admonishing, forgiving… and praying for one another… AND UNDERSTAND – they were not simply devoted to friendship (to hanging out) but to ‘the’ fellowship… relationship built on becoming more like Him.
This is why we have Life Groups at The Grove…
Communion
the breaking of bread
AND – what Luke is talking about is that they were devoted to celebrating the Lord’s Supper. NOW – we know that it’s not just a meal they are sharing because in the original Greek an article (the word the) is before the word for breaking and for bread
They were committed to that weekly reminder of:
God’s love… Jesus’ sacrifice
Prayer
UNDERSTAND – when that veil was torn in two… they took full advantage of it…
Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. – Acts 2:43-47
QUESTION – who here would like to see the Lord added daily to our number at MGCC?
UNDERSTAND – if you, if I, if we… devoted ourselves more to…
it will happen.
NOW – if you are taking notes… you’ll see that there is a 5th thing I have listed under ‘The Means’
Holy Spirit
NO - it is not mentioned specifically in our text… But the work of the Holy Spirit it is implied in verse 43 (signs and wonders at the hands of the apostles) and the Spirit’s movement is seen throughout the book of Acts…
This Spirit – that comforts and guides… shapes and convicts
IV. The Movement
In chapter 28 of The Story we see The Movement of the Gospel from Jerusalem to Samaria and from the Jew to Gentile.
AND - as this chapter closes Paul is getting ready to take This Movement (one that changed the world not by power and might but by grace and truth) to the ends of the earth.
A guy named Rodney Stark wrote a book called The Rise of Early Christianity . When he wrote it, he was not a Christian. He was the Professor of Sociology and Comparative Religions at the University of Washington.
BUT - he tracked Christianity in its first three hundred years of existence, because Christianity changed the world. It started as this obscure, small Jesus movement and it changed the world. Eventually Rome was not overthrown. Eventually Rome became a Christian nation.
WELL - how did that happen? BECAUSE - the Church in those days…they had no political position. They could not hold an office. They could not vote. They had no Bill of Rights. They didn’t have that kind of religious freedom. IN FACT - you had people like Nero who lit them up and set them as streetlights on fire in the evenings. And yet the Church exploded!
SO - he said, “How did this happen? It was not a democratic system. They didn’t have a vote to cast. They didn’t have that. So how did they…? How did they do that?” And he just traces it.
HE SAYS - “Abortion and infanticide was common in the Roman world. It was an accepted practice.” It was most often exercised when the child was female or the child had disabilities. It was perfectly common in those days. It was condoned by people like Plato and Aristotle to leave a child out in the wilderness, in the woods—just leave ‘em there. Virtually all disabled or deformed babies were just simply abandoned. If you were a girl your chances of survival and a good life were minimal.
Early Christians did not allow for infanticide or abortion.
NOW LOOK - they couldn’t really control what happened outside their community. THEY - were not in a political position to force that upon other people, BUT - they could affect how things were gonna be done within their community. And in their community they just said,
“We’re just gonna do things differently.
That’s not how we’re gonna do it.”
SO - the Church valued women and they protected children and the helpless in a culture where these were not values. Christian men were called on to love their wives as Christ loved the Church and to sacrifice and to protect and provide for their families.
IN - ancient Rome Christians saved many, many abandoned babies and brought them up in the faith, and Christian homes became the first orphanages and nurseries.
WHEN - the Church began Rome was not providing social services or help to people in need, BUT - there was no need for the government to help because the Church took care of each other. AND - they didn’t just take care of each other; they took care of other people who were not part of their community, which in those days was unheard of.
IN THOSE DAYS - widows would be forced to remarry because there was no other way for them to provide for themselves. But the Church came in and said, “You know, we’re not going to do it that way.”
And they said to the widows, “You don’t have to remarry.
We will help take care of you.”
ANOTHER EXAMPLE…in early Rome young ladies would often be forced to marry even before puberty, and the Church came in and said,
“We’re…yeah, we’re not going to do it that way either.”
AND - the list just goes on and on and on. And eventually society is so struck by what’s different within the walls of the community called Church that it changes everything. It changes their culture.
BUT IT - wasn’t because they could vote. IT - wasn’t because they passed legislation that forbid certain practices.
NOW IF - they could have been more involved in the political process, THEN they should have, BUT - that was not an option.
HOWEVER - change came, in the world they lived in…even political change…by just the Church being the Church.
So here’s my question: “What would happen if the Church was just the Church?”
AND – please do not forget THE MEANS to THIS MOVEMENT…
DEVOTION TO: God’s Word (the apostles teaching, the fellowship, prayer, communion and the Holy Spirit)
SO AGAIN – here’s my question: “What would happen if the Church was just the Church?”
AND I THINK - it’s hard to be objective, BUT - I think you have to ask yourself, “If the Church was the Church and we did a better job of caring for the sick, would there be any healthcare debate right now?” I don’t know that there would be.
IF- the Church was the Church… and marriage was honored and there was complete commitment and the Church demonstrated what intimate love looked like, you have to wonder if it would be hard for us as a society to define marriage.
IF - the Church was the Church and we cared for orphans and foster children and single moms more effectively, you have to wonder what would happen to the abortion rate.
If the Church was the Church and ensured that there were not hungry among us and people were learning to take care of themselves and be responsible for themselves and their families, you have to wonder what would happen to our welfare challenges. You just have to ask yourself if that would change things in our culture in a more dramatic way.
I seriously doubt that there is a problem, political or economic, that will not melt before the fire of a spiritual awakening.” - Franklin Roosevelt
REMEMBER – Jesus did not call us to condemn culture… BUT to redeem it…
YES – in chapter 28 of the Story the church (phase three of God’s plan of redemption) is born and ‘The Movement’ begins.
A revolution can be defined as ‘a sudden or momentous change in a situation.” The book of Acts describes a revolution – not one advanced by carnal means of physical force, but one accomplished by righteous means of powerful spiritual forces. The source of this spiritual and moral revolution is what Jesus called “the seed of the kingdom,” and when the seed is planted and watered today, it has the power to ignite a worldwide revolution again, just as it did in the apostle’s day! Acts is history, but it is also far more than history. It is the story of how God dramatically changes the lives of those who make Jesus there Lord. It is a story waiting to be relived again and again by idealistic, faithful men and women who dare to follow the world’s greatest revolutionary. – Gordon Ferguson.
Maple Grove - we have the same mission. We are to share the same message. We must employ the same means. And yes, we can create the same Movement.
Where do we start? In our own Jerusalem
