Welcome to Refinery Life Australia.
Today we continue our series titled The Nature and Ministry of the Church.
These messages focus on the home, the school, the church, and the state, the four great institutions that give meaning and stability to western civilisation.
Today we are talking about The Church and It’s Growth.
Prayer
Holy Father, we bow humbly before you, aware that we are undeserving of all your many blessings.
Yet we thank you for all that you have given us.
We bring to you today a portion of what we have received.
We ask for your blessing upon it.
Also, Father, purify the motives behind our giving so that we in turn might be blessed.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Text
Acts 2:41-42 AMP
41 So then, those who accepted his message were baptized; and on that day about 3,000 souls were added [to the body of believers].
42 They were continually and faithfully devoting themselves to the instruction of the apostles, and to fellowship, to eating meals together and to prayers.
Scripture Reading
Acts 2:41-47 AMP
41 So then, those who accepted his message were baptized; and on that day about 3,000 souls were added [to the body of believers].
42 They were continually and faithfully devoting themselves to the instruction of the apostles, and to fellowship, to eating meals together and to prayers.
43 A sense of awe was felt by everyone, and many wonders and signs (attesting miracles) were taking place through the apostles.
44 And all those who had believed [in Jesus as Savior] [d]were together and had all things in common [considering their possessions to belong to the group as a whole].
45 And they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing the proceeds with all [the other believers], as anyone had need.
46 Day after day they met in the temple [area] continuing with one mind, and breaking bread in various private homes. They were eating their meals together with joy and generous hearts,
47 praising God continually, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord kept adding to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 4:31-32 AMP
31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were meeting together was shaken [a sign of God’s presence]; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness and courage.
Sharing among Believers
32 Now the company of believers was of one heart and soul, and not one [of them] claimed that anything belonging to him was [exclusively] his own, but everything was common property and for the use of all.
Introduction
A pastor was talking one day with a man who was a member of his church.
For no apparent reason, the man never attended church services.
When the pastor urged the man to come, he replied rather smugly that he could be just as good a Christian staying at home as he could attending church.
The two men happened to be seated in front of a fire place where there was a coal fire burning.
The pastor took the tongs from beside the fire place and picked out one of the live coals.
He placed in on the hearth by itself.
That single coal, turned gray and began to cool off.
Soon it lost all its glow and warmth.
Then, without saying a word, the pastor picked up the cold piece of coal and placed it back in the midst of the live coals.
Soon it was aglow and began to give off heat once more.
The silent little drama drove the message home.
The delinquent church member dropped his head in shame and said, “Pastor, I will be in church on Sunday morning.”
Nothing I the world is as personal and intimate as one’s encounter with Jesus Christ, yet each experience is unique within itself.
Only two principals are involved, God and the individual.
Yet is is not God’s will that a Christian continue alone or that he or she live the Christian life in isolation.
It was God’s plan from the beginning that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ be joined together in spiritual fellowship, in a special kind of oneness.
This was the basic characteristic of the church that was conceived in the heart of God before the foundation of the world.
On the eve of the day of Pentecost, we read that the disciples, “were all with one accord in one place.”
Just as warmth and fellowship exist in the togetherness of the church, so does growth happen in that environment.
Our theme this morning is the church and its growth.
In our Scripture passages we will discover three directions in which the church grew in the first century.
It is God’s will that it continue to grow in these same directions.
- The growth within.
Acts 2:41-42 AMP
41 So then, those who accepted his message were baptized; and on that day about 3,000 souls were added [to the body of believers].
42 They were continually and faithfully devoting themselves to the instruction of the apostles, and to fellowship, to eating meals together and to prayers.
In these brief words we have the four fundamentals of Christian growth.
- They were baptised.
Because they had already “received His word” with gladness and open acceptance, they publicly identified with Christ through baptism.
It was their way of saying to the whole world that they had begun a lifelong experience of death to self in order that they might come alive daily in Christ.
B. They were taught.
“They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine.”
This was spiritual nourishment, food for the souls of these long believers, and they absorbed it.
They were consistent in receiving the Word of God.
It was their sustenance, their strength.
The result was they grew both numerically and spiritually.
This is a vital phase in the Christian’s life that is often overlooked.
Sometimes the church, in its commendable efforts to win the lost to Christ, fail to teach them consistently and properly in the way.
As a result, many remain spiritual babies, causing the church to give a weak and often ineffective witness before the world.
C. They experienced fellowship.
Fellowship, koinonia, is one of the most beautiful words in the New Testament.
It means more than a social get together.
It describes a communion, a sharing between those who have something special in common.
Because of the Spirit of Christ within them, the early believers began to love one another, share their burdens, and pray together.
They had a delightful sense of community, of belonging to one another.
D. They prayed together.
The early Christians continued steadfastly not only n the apostles’ teaching and in fellowship, but also in prayer.
Their communication with God was not neglected.
This was their lifeline, their contact with the very throne of grace.
They practised what Paul later expressed to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, praying without ceasing.
They knew what it meant to remain in a spirit of prayer and openness before God.
2. The growth without.
In Acts 2:43-47 we have an indication of the growth of the church “without,” that is, the radiating effect of the church on the unbelieving world.
- Note in verse 43 “fear came upon every soul”.
A reverence and respect fr these Christians and their faith struck the hearts of the unbelievers.
This fear could also be interpreted as conviction, a tool of the Holy Spirit in dealing with unbelievers.
But sadly, not all who feared in their heart because of the testimony of these believers responded in repentance.
It is so today as well.
Some unbelievers are struck by the sincerity of Christians but fail to follow through.
They stop short of repentance.
B. Furthermore, these Christians were “praising God, and having favour with all the people”.
These first century Christians were continually held in high regard by unbelievers.
Perhaps this is a serious indictment against many modern Christians.
Often professing Christians live in a spiritually substandard way.
Those who are unsaved, always yearning to find justification in their life lived apart from God, find delight in pointing our Christians who are not consistent in their profession.
C. Verse 47 says, “And the Lord kept adding to their number daily those who were being saved.”
God was at work in the midst of His people.
They were glorifying and praising Him.
The result was a continual response on the part of the people around them, not seasonal or spasmodic growth but genuine and consistent growth.
Too often after great revival campaigns, during which scores of people come to know Christ as Saviour, we go back to business as usual.
That was not the case with the first century Christians.
Growth without took place because they “continued steadfastly” in teaching and fellowship.
3. The growth beyond.
Acts 4:31-32 AMP
31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were meeting together was shaken [a sign of God’s presence]; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness and courage.
Sharing among Believers
32 Now the company of believers was of one heart and soul, and not one [of them] claimed that anything belonging to him was [exclusively] his own, but everything was common property and for the use of all.
- Marvellous things happened in Jerusalem.
But they certainly could not keep the gospel there.
It was too big to be contained in one city!
So God began prepare them for growth beyond.
His preparation came in a strange way, it started with persecution.
When the early believers began to experience hostility and pressure from the unbelieving world, what did they do?
They prayed!
B. After the church prayed, something happened.
“The place was shaken where they assembled together.”
They experienced a physical sense of God’s over powering presence among them.
Perhaps he was saying to them in a symbolic way that He would shake Jerusalem and the world beyond with the message they were proclaiming.
C. Then they spoke God’s Word boldly.
The message of Jesus Christ and His resurrection brings new life flowing from a living Christ into dying and dead people and institutions, awakening and empowering them.
Conclusion.
God has made provision that Christians of every age can speak His Word with boldness and in so doing shake the structures of society in which they live.
God did not intend for the church to stop growing after the first century.
The same principles of growth that He instituted in the early church are those that must be operative in the church today.
We must not be ashamed to confess Him before others.
His Word must faithfully and consistently taught, or else no inner growth can take place.
A koinonia fellowship, a communion and oneness, must exist among the people of God.
Believers must pray continually for a holy boldness to proclaim the good news of salvation to the ends of he earth.
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.
So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us
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