A survey of hundreds of pastors has allowed us to compile a preliminary list of measurable quality factors in the life of a congregation in ranking order. The twelve factors are:
1. Bible knowledge. Church members are increasing in their grasp of the teachings of the Bible. They can integrate this with a theological system that enables them to apply the Bible's teachings to their life situation.
2. Personal devotions. Members spend time daily in prayer, Bible reading, meditation, and other personal spiritual exercises.
3. Worship. Members regularly participate in the worship services scheduled by the church.
4. Witnessing. Members regularly attempt to share their faith in Jesus Christ with unbelievers.
5. Lay ministry. The lay people of the church are engaged in such ministries as teaching and discipling. In some cases this happens through consciously discovering, developing, and using their spiritual gifts.
6. Missions. The church actively supports missions, organizing and sustaining a strong program for recruiting, sending, and financing home and foreign missionaries.
7. Giving. Members give an appropriate portion of their income to the local church and/or to other Christian causes.
8. Fellowship. Members are growing in their personal relationships with each other through regular participation in church fellowship groups of one kind or another.
9. Distinctive life-style. Members generally manifest their faith in Christ by living a life-style clearly and noticeable distinct from that of non-Christians in the same community.
10. Attitude toward religion. Church members regard their involvement in the church primarily as a service to God rather than a means to fulfill personal needs.
11. Social service. Members are serving others outside the congregation. This includes direct personal involvement with the poor and needy, or in programs designed to help the needy.
12. Social justice. Either through the congregation as a whole or through specialized Christian agencies, members are striving to make changes in sociopolitical structures that will contribute to a more moral and just society.
-C. Peter Wagner, Leading Your Church to Growth, Regal Books, 1984, pp. 25-27.
What a list… I looked it over the other night and I thought to myself, something is missing from this list. Something absolutely essential. It's the leading of the Holy Spirit. It's the presence of Jesus Christ in the life of the believer. It's love. Now these are all things a Christian does, but, we are not defined by these things, if these things are done correctly they are all flowing from a deep love relationship with God.
What a list… I looked it over the other night and I thought to myself, something is missing from this list. Something absolutely essential. It's the leading of the Holy Spirit. It's the presence of Jesus Christ in the life of the believer. It's love. Now these are all things a Christian does, but, we are not defined by these things, if these things are done correctly they are all flowing from a deep love relationship with God.
When the Holy Spirit moves, not man made agendas, but the Holy Spirit, lives are changed. It reminds me of an event that happened two thousand years ago, when Peter spoke to a crowd, on a very special day...
Peter stood confidently in front of a crow of thousands of pilgrims, who had traveled from across the empire for the great festival of Weeks, called Shavuot, exactly 50 days after the Passover.
They hung on his every word, as he spoke confidently, yet humbly about all the things Jesus had done. A holy awe seemed to cover the pilgrims, eyes locked on Peter, ears hanging on each word spoken in the poured out Holy Spirit that ministered through him.
They were glued to his words, they felt something so beautiful, and whether they knew it or not, it was the presence of God and pleasure of God over everything taking place that day. It drew them.
It felt wonderful, and drawing, and yet at the same time it was so convicting, such a difficult thing, their flesh pulled away as their spirit was drawn near.
At last Peter came to the end of the message he spoke to the crowds.
We will be in Acts 2:36-47 today.
Acts chapter 2, starting in verse 36: “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
A great silence fell, and the crowds must’ve looked around at each other in complete shock at what they were experiencing. To hear the gospel in their own languages, to see the flames of fire descend on the disciples, and now to hear this Spirit-powered message from Peter, they were stunned.
Verse 37: When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
The people are absolutely moved to their very hearts. They were cut by the word of God, which is sharper than any double-edged sword, to the very core. And they gathered around the apostles and said, “What do we do?”
We’ve all been here before. This is the entry point into the body of Christ. Every one of us at some point, maybe when we were very young and we heard the message in church, maybe when we were older, and someone ministered to us, maybe someone invited us to a meeting and we didn’t really want to go, but something seemed to draw us in; We were brought before the message about Jesus. And it cut us to the heart. We felt it through and through, I need this. And we made a decision, the Holy Spirit moved, we received Jesus Christ, as our savior, and our hearts changed forever.
Today we’re talking about Christian community and how it functions. And I hope we’ll see it today from two angles, first Christian community is what Peter and the apostles did at Pentecost, they spoke to the unsaved crowds, and presented them with the gospel. That is a chief end of the body of Christ, to invite others to encounter Jesus. And secondly, I hope today we’ll see, what Christian community looks like within, in worship, prayer, fellowship, and holiness.
Let’s continue.
Verses 38-39: Peter replied, 38 “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. 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.”
The gospel requires a response, and it looks like this: Repent and be Baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ. The result: Your sins are forgiven. The enduring presence of God is the gift of the Holy Spirit within you. And this promise is what we hold to in hard times.
Repentance – changing our mind (and actions)
Baptism – the new birth symbolized
In the name of Jesus – the provider of our salvation
Sins being forgiven – the sacrifice-gift of Jesus
Gift of the Holy Spirit – God with you going forward, to train you and guide you
The Promise – after the excitement wears off, and the baptism clothes get dry, we hold to the promise, for our whole lives.
And we’re immediately reminded, this promise is not just for us, so we should immediately be excited and impassioned that others ought to know this Jesus who changed our lives.
Next, verse 40: With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
Peter shared many other thoughts that day, what we see in Acts 2 is only a portion of the message he gave. And it says he warned them. A warning is necessary along with the gospel: Ignore this message at your own risk.
There is a danger to ignoring the message and going on our way. It means our sins remain unforgiven. But the pull Peter understood is the culture around them. If everyone else is headed one direction, most people will follow along, even if it’s the wrong way. "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." They were surrounded by a corrupt generation, and there comes a safe feeling from being around others doing the same thing as you. It makes you feel like it must be right. But Peter reminds them, just because the majority says its true doesn’t mean it’s actually true. God defines truth.
Pull yourself away from the conformity of sin. Pull yourself away from the stream headed the wrong way. Peter knew it was the deceitfulness of corruption that leads people astray. Deception is like a blinding web that holds us hostage. We too live in a generation where there is a lot of corruption and bondage. And we must come to Jesus to saves ourselves from the path our world is following, and help others to find freedom too
Verse 41: “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
3,000 people were baptized. Not 30. not 300. 3000. Imagine if 3,000 unsaved people in Traverse City got saved. It would change this city forever.
But there were more than 3,000 people in the city that day, there were many more I’m sure who heard Peter’s message, and decided they didn’t believe or want what he was sharing.
But Peter made sure they got to hear the message, and make a decision, even if they made the wrong one. It’s amazing how one sermon, one message can change your life forever.
Next, verse 40: With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
Peter shared many other thoughts that day, what we see in Acts 2 is only a portion of the message he gave. And it says he warned them. A warning is necessary along with the gospel: Ignore this message at your own risk.
There is a danger to ignoring the message and going on our way. It means our sins remain unforgiven. But the pull Peter understood is the culture around them. If everyone else is headed one direction, most people will follow along, even if it’s the wrong way. "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." They were surrounded by a corrupt generation, and there comes a safe feeling from being around others doing the same thing as you. It makes you feel like it must be right. But Peter reminds them, just because the majority says its true doesn’t mean it’s actually true. God defines truth.
Pull yourself away from the conformity of sin. Pull yourself away from the stream headed the wrong way. Peter knew it was the deceitfulness of corruption that leads people astray. Deception is like a blinding web that holds us hostage. We too live in a generation where there is a lot of corruption and bondage. And we must come to Jesus to saves ourselves from the path our world is following, and help others to find freedom too
Verse 41: “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
3,000 people were baptized. Not 30. not 300. 3000. Imagine if 3,000 unsaved people in Traverse City got saved. It would change this city forever.
But there were more than 3,000 people in the city that day, there were many more I’m sure who heard Peter’s message, and decided they didn’t believe or want what he was sharing.
But Peter made sure they got to hear the message, and make a decision, even if they made the wrong one. It’s amazing how one sermon, one message can change your life forever.
And it’s amazing how valuable it is to attend a church service. The value we gain is not something we can tangibly understand, but we all know it. We can sense it the rest of the week. I worshiped the Lord, and I heard the word, and I left energized.
In working with so many in the Salvation Army, we fed many people, we had meals 5 days a week at the facility I used to lead, produce and baked goods, food pantry, all of it, but it was astonishing to me, how much these people would value the food we were giving away, but, they couldn't quite comprehend the value of a church service. The value is as real and indeed much more real and tangible than a physical meal.
Which brings us to the second half of our message today, the fellowship of believers. The first section dealt with how people enter the fellowship of believers, now, we discuss what it’s like once we’re within the church.
But keep this warning clear in your mind, if we lose touch with the first portion of our message, which is to be out getting people saved, the church diminishes, because it is no longer fulfilling it’s duty of helping the unsaved know Christ.
Next, verse 42: "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."
Here we find internal community activities.
It says they devoted themselves, the Greek word for devoted here is "proskarteréō, pros-kar-ter-eh'-o; from G4314 and G2594; to be earnest towards, i.e. (to a thing) to persevere, be constantly diligent, or (in a place) to attend assiduously all the exercises, or (to a person) to adhere closely to (as a servitor):—attend (give self) continually (upon), continue (in, instant in, with), wait on (continually)." -Strong's Concordance
It implies following closely, being constant to one thing, steadfastly attentive to.
Four things are listed here, and I think we should all mimic this behavior of the early church:
-Apostles Teaching - they devoted themselves to the word of God, for us today, that means the Bible and the Holy Spirit's leading in our lives.
-Fellowship - they devoted themselves to fellowship, they spent time with other believers to strengthen each other, we do this through small groups and prayer meetings and special events.
-Breaking of bread - they met in each other's homes and ate meals together, this signified a deeper level of connection, and it's something we need to get better at today in the body of Christ. This is next level fellowship, not just saying "hi" on Sunday, or even small groups together, but deep friendships and mentoring relationships.
-Prayer - they devoted themselves to prayer, deep times of prayer and contemplation, fasting and seeking God for extended periods of sweet intimacy with God, on their faces before God pleading for the lost and persecuted.
As we do those things, we become increasingly excited, and our devotion builds like a fire within us, of excitement, joy, as we chase God more and more excitedly. Joyously. This process is a process of building momentum, with great joy. And love flourishes in that environment.
Next, verse 43: "Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles."
The apostles were performing many of the same signs and wonders that Jesus performed in the gospels, and this filled the Christian community with awe.
And those same kinds of miracles still happen today. God still heals people through prayer today. God still gives prophecies through his prophets. God still raises the dead. God still brings about revivals.
It’s the mark of God’s presence with the church. And it confirms that the message is true to the non-believers. It’s one thing when someone says Jesus is Lord, but it’s quite another when a Christian comes and prays for their sick loved one and they are healed. Suddenly, the message has a powerful credibility. Its one thing for a Christian to tell them about Jesus, which we should, but, it takes on a new power when a prophet comes up and shares a word from God that speaks right into their heart.
The power and presence of God confirms the message. It doesn’t always have to be a divine healing or a prophetic word though, often, it’s simply love, they sense the aroma of heaven on you, and they can sense the power of the anointing of the words you speak about Jesus. But miracles are real in the church, and we shouldn’t ignore them, even if we’ve had a bad taste in our mouth about the miraculous.
Next, verse 44-45: 44 "All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need."
This acts early church had everything in common. What does that mean? They were truly and deeply united. And they were obeying a particular teaching of Jesus.
From Matthew 18:19-20: 19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Jesus taught his disciples, if you are united, and you agree together, it will be done by the Father. And where two or three are gathered, God will be with them. It requires us to gather together, and to agree together. How can we have that kind of unity?
That unity comes from God, and it comes from a sincere submission to the Holy Spirit’s leading within the body. It is the joy of knowing we are all moving in the same direction, and that unity is created by yielding to the joyous guidance of the Holy Spirit. It produces joy. It produces peace. It produces an excitement. It produces shared actions. And it leads to great love. Real love among the believers.
Not only that, it lead to mutual care. They were selling property and possessions to provide financially for anyone who was in need. And that is a beautiful thing. But I think more and more we’re going to need to share resources and possessions as the world grows darker. We will need to truly rely on each other.
Next, verse 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…"
Every day they met together, it says. Not once a week. But every day. They were on fire. And you’ll notice we’ve setup our church to have opportunities for fellowship and ministry almost every day, Monday women's group, Tue grace point cafe, Wed bible study, Thurs prayer group, and hopefully in the future, even more opportunities.
They also met in each other’s homes, and that’s something we need to get back to doing more often, getting together in each other’s homes, and fellowshipping together.
This consistent daily fellowship led to two things mentioned here: Gladness, and sincere hearts.
Lastly, verse 47: (they were) "praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
This pulls it all together, fellowship in the church is praising God. Worship is so very powerful and has a tangible effect on our soul, our spirit, even our body. It’s real, real as a meal, real as anything.
Worship changes us. Don’t just worship for 10 minutes on Sunday morning. Worship in your car, worship at home, and worship isn’t just singing Christian songs, it’s contemplating God, it’s looking out upon a lake, and saying wow, God made this, and marveling at who God is, it’s reading his word and being in awe of it’s wisdom. All of those, are different forms of worship.
In this season, the early church enjoyed the favor of all the people, even non-believers around them were amazed at what God was doing, they couldn’t deny the love they were seeing. In that season they were united completely, active and on fire, connecting daily, and worshiping God as one. That is God’ s design for the church.
And it says the Lord blessed this faithful activity by adding to their number daily, those whom God was active in saving.
He caused growth, even daily, new people were coming to know Christ through this united early church movement. And I’ve seen God doing beautiful things here, sending you all out, to minister to others, and then they come, and begin to grow in community. That’s a beautiful thing.
In conclusion, let us have today a two pronged battle plan. We make it our goal to help win unbelievers to Christ in this city. We make it key. We make it central. And we don’t get lost in the internal activities of the church, we stay focused externally on helping the lost know Jesus, just as Peter did when he preached to the crowds in Acts 2.
Yet we also just as much focus in on fellowship with another, and a heartfelt humble unity, a Spirit led community, on fire and excited, and all moving in the same direction, growing in grace day by day; All of it causing an ever-growing love, like a fire among us, welling up, to growth, awakening, even, revival. May it be so Lord, amen.
In working with so many in the Salvation Army, we fed many people, we had meals 5 days a week at the facility I used to lead, produce and baked goods, food pantry, all of it, but it was astonishing to me, how much these people would value the food we were giving away, but, they couldn't quite comprehend the value of a church service. The value is as real and indeed much more real and tangible than a physical meal.
Which brings us to the second half of our message today, the fellowship of believers. The first section dealt with how people enter the fellowship of believers, now, we discuss what it’s like once we’re within the church.
But keep this warning clear in your mind, if we lose touch with the first portion of our message, which is to be out getting people saved, the church diminishes, because it is no longer fulfilling it’s duty of helping the unsaved know Christ.
Next, verse 42: "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."
Here we find internal community activities.
It says they devoted themselves, the Greek word for devoted here is "proskarteréō, pros-kar-ter-eh'-o; from G4314 and G2594; to be earnest towards, i.e. (to a thing) to persevere, be constantly diligent, or (in a place) to attend assiduously all the exercises, or (to a person) to adhere closely to (as a servitor):—attend (give self) continually (upon), continue (in, instant in, with), wait on (continually)." -Strong's Concordance
It implies following closely, being constant to one thing, steadfastly attentive to.
Four things are listed here, and I think we should all mimic this behavior of the early church:
-Apostles Teaching - they devoted themselves to the word of God, for us today, that means the Bible and the Holy Spirit's leading in our lives.
-Fellowship - they devoted themselves to fellowship, they spent time with other believers to strengthen each other, we do this through small groups and prayer meetings and special events.
-Breaking of bread - they met in each other's homes and ate meals together, this signified a deeper level of connection, and it's something we need to get better at today in the body of Christ. This is next level fellowship, not just saying "hi" on Sunday, or even small groups together, but deep friendships and mentoring relationships.
-Prayer - they devoted themselves to prayer, deep times of prayer and contemplation, fasting and seeking God for extended periods of sweet intimacy with God, on their faces before God pleading for the lost and persecuted.
As we do those things, we become increasingly excited, and our devotion builds like a fire within us, of excitement, joy, as we chase God more and more excitedly. Joyously. This process is a process of building momentum, with great joy. And love flourishes in that environment.
Next, verse 43: "Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles."
The apostles were performing many of the same signs and wonders that Jesus performed in the gospels, and this filled the Christian community with awe.
And those same kinds of miracles still happen today. God still heals people through prayer today. God still gives prophecies through his prophets. God still raises the dead. God still brings about revivals.
It’s the mark of God’s presence with the church. And it confirms that the message is true to the non-believers. It’s one thing when someone says Jesus is Lord, but it’s quite another when a Christian comes and prays for their sick loved one and they are healed. Suddenly, the message has a powerful credibility. Its one thing for a Christian to tell them about Jesus, which we should, but, it takes on a new power when a prophet comes up and shares a word from God that speaks right into their heart.
The power and presence of God confirms the message. It doesn’t always have to be a divine healing or a prophetic word though, often, it’s simply love, they sense the aroma of heaven on you, and they can sense the power of the anointing of the words you speak about Jesus. But miracles are real in the church, and we shouldn’t ignore them, even if we’ve had a bad taste in our mouth about the miraculous.
Next, verse 44-45: 44 "All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need."
This acts early church had everything in common. What does that mean? They were truly and deeply united. And they were obeying a particular teaching of Jesus.
From Matthew 18:19-20: 19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Jesus taught his disciples, if you are united, and you agree together, it will be done by the Father. And where two or three are gathered, God will be with them. It requires us to gather together, and to agree together. How can we have that kind of unity?
That unity comes from God, and it comes from a sincere submission to the Holy Spirit’s leading within the body. It is the joy of knowing we are all moving in the same direction, and that unity is created by yielding to the joyous guidance of the Holy Spirit. It produces joy. It produces peace. It produces an excitement. It produces shared actions. And it leads to great love. Real love among the believers.
Not only that, it lead to mutual care. They were selling property and possessions to provide financially for anyone who was in need. And that is a beautiful thing. But I think more and more we’re going to need to share resources and possessions as the world grows darker. We will need to truly rely on each other.
Next, verse 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…"
Every day they met together, it says. Not once a week. But every day. They were on fire. And you’ll notice we’ve setup our church to have opportunities for fellowship and ministry almost every day, Monday women's group, Tue grace point cafe, Wed bible study, Thurs prayer group, and hopefully in the future, even more opportunities.
They also met in each other’s homes, and that’s something we need to get back to doing more often, getting together in each other’s homes, and fellowshipping together.
This consistent daily fellowship led to two things mentioned here: Gladness, and sincere hearts.
Lastly, verse 47: (they were) "praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
This pulls it all together, fellowship in the church is praising God. Worship is so very powerful and has a tangible effect on our soul, our spirit, even our body. It’s real, real as a meal, real as anything.
Worship changes us. Don’t just worship for 10 minutes on Sunday morning. Worship in your car, worship at home, and worship isn’t just singing Christian songs, it’s contemplating God, it’s looking out upon a lake, and saying wow, God made this, and marveling at who God is, it’s reading his word and being in awe of it’s wisdom. All of those, are different forms of worship.
In this season, the early church enjoyed the favor of all the people, even non-believers around them were amazed at what God was doing, they couldn’t deny the love they were seeing. In that season they were united completely, active and on fire, connecting daily, and worshiping God as one. That is God’ s design for the church.
And it says the Lord blessed this faithful activity by adding to their number daily, those whom God was active in saving.
He caused growth, even daily, new people were coming to know Christ through this united early church movement. And I’ve seen God doing beautiful things here, sending you all out, to minister to others, and then they come, and begin to grow in community. That’s a beautiful thing.
In conclusion, let us have today a two pronged battle plan. We make it our goal to help win unbelievers to Christ in this city. We make it key. We make it central. And we don’t get lost in the internal activities of the church, we stay focused externally on helping the lost know Jesus, just as Peter did when he preached to the crowds in Acts 2.
Yet we also just as much focus in on fellowship with another, and a heartfelt humble unity, a Spirit led community, on fire and excited, and all moving in the same direction, growing in grace day by day; All of it causing an ever-growing love, like a fire among us, welling up, to growth, awakening, even, revival. May it be so Lord, amen.
