As we come away from Easter Sunday we remember how the Resurrected Lord Jesus walked and taught with his disciples for 40 days and then announced the coming of the Holy Spirit to empower the early church for its mission in the world. That being so, our focus during worship over these next weeks will draw our attention to the Book of Acts in which we read of the characteristics that make the church, “the church!” In our anticipation of the coming of a new Pastor, this will be a good series to help us envision what life and ministry is expected to look like as our new Pastor comes to walk alongside us in ministry and mission in our community and around the world. Thank you for reading Acts and making your own journal notes about how the early church served the Lord. And, thank you for being together in worship as we, the Body of Christ, are encouraged by one another and the Holy Spirit as we journey together.
Since Luke is the author of The Book of Acts, his second volume, as well as the Gospel of Luke, his first “word,” we will study together from the Gospel of Luke on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 PM and cover both of Dr. Luke’s works simultaneously. Our theme for these Wednesday studies will be “Pleasing God” as Luke’s Gospel fleshes out for us how we are able to live to do so as disciples of Jesus! I hope to see you there in the small dining room of the Family Life Center. Also, note that there is a Women’s Bible Study option at 6:30 PM as well as our pattern of Missions nights on the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 PM.
Model of a Healthy Church
Last week, several of our Deacons attended the Deacon Training session offered by our Greater Cleveland County Baptist Association at which Dr. Jeff Iorg, President of Gateway Seminary, taught from the theme of his book, The Case for Antioch: A Biblical Model for a Transformational Church. His teaching was very helpful for our churches as he discussed “principles” for healthy churches based on the church in Antioch mentioned in Acts 11 and 13, a church about which nothing negative is mentioned, it’s a more mature church than the one in Jerusalem earlier in Acts, it’s a church like our church in that it was a “Gentile” church, and it’s a church with a more robust ministry approach. He shared these principles from his study of Acts, a healthy church is…
- Empowered by and Experiences the Holy Spirit:
- 11:24, The leaders are full of the Holy Spirit
- 11:28, The preaching is empowered by the Holy Spirit
- 13:2, The worship received the motivation of the Holy Spirit
- Reaching the lost with the Gospel:
- 11:19, Large numbers trusted the Lord
- 11:25, They were first known as “Christians” because they were talking about “Christ”
- 13:2-3, They sent missionaries into the world with the Gospel
- Making Disciples and Developing Believers:
- 11:25, A intentional teaching ministry that resulted in…
- 11:27ff, Members listening to the Word proclaimed
- 11:29, Members giving proportionately to meet needs
- 13:1ff, Members fasting and worshiping together
- 13:2, Members sending missionaries.
- 15, Delegation of members sent to Jerusalem Council and “won” the debate about salvation, i.e. it is by faith though grace and not from becoming Jewish.
- Worshiping with Power: They gathered regularly to hear the word of God, respond to God’s word, and send missionaries into the world. Their leadership was multiracial and multisocietal
- Giving themselves away! They gave money for relief offering. The gave people to go with the Gospel. Their generosity helped others – even those who spoke against them.
A great word about a great model in the New Testament to help us stay true to our purpose as the church of Jesus Christ! Thank you, Poplar Springs Baptist Church family, for your weekly attention to these principles for a healthy church. I am blessed to see these principles at work in your lives, your thinking and your planning.
In the Love of Jesus,
Tony Tench