Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
I remember one day, while in a computer hardware/repair class, that I looked at my professor and told him that I had a problem.
He looked at me and stated that there was no such thing as a problem.
I looked at him and said, then how would you explain this.
I had a computer, that everything, that I could see, was installed correctly, but it was not coming on.
His response to me was simple.
There is no such thing as a problem.
What we have is a situation in need of a solution.
I looked at him, at this point, and stated, then we have a situation in need of a solution.
Since that day, I have held on to that philosophy.
We do not have problems per-say, as much as we have opportunities for growth.
As we continue our study within the book of Acts, we find such a truth.
Peter and the apostles, leaders of the 1st Century church, begin to face difficulties of growth.
We find in Acts 2, that God was adding to the church daily.
We find that thousands of men and women, boys and girls, were coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
As they joined, the apostles were trying to take care of all of them and this was not a good thing.
Focus Passage
Outline
Problems | Opportunities for Growth
As the church grows, So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls (Acts 2:41 NASB), she faces a situation.
She begins to see that some of her members were being neglected unintentionally.
What was causing this neglect?
How was involved in the neglect?
Was it intentional?
All good question.
These are questions that need to be addressed.
This is what the apostles did.
As we look at the historical setting within our text, we need to address a couple of items that we may miss within our text, if we are not familiar with the facts.
One, in the beginning of the church, the apostles would gather foods and necessities daily from the members of the church and then go and disperse these needs among those that had need.
This was a daunting task to say the least.
The second fact was who are the those being neglected.
The Bible states that there was some grumbling going on among the people, a complaint developed.
This grumbling was about to cause a split within the first church, as most grumbling will do if not addressed properly and promptly.
We should not feed grumbling but quail grumbling.
Those grumbling were the Hellenistic Jews, the Greek speaking Jews and that were not native to the Jerusalem.
They probably did not speak Aramaic.
This language barrier and cultural barrier was causing problems and in the end was seen as the cause for their neglect.
What were the apostles to do?
They realized the truth, this problem that was about to cause a split within the church was an opportunity for growth.
How they responded was as equally as important as the problem itself.
1. Problems give churches an opportunity to examine their current ministry
The apostles took a step back and asked themselves, What is causing this?
As they examined their current ministry setting, they realized that they were the problem and there was a need for change.
As I read this text and as I studied for the message, I was reminded of Moses and when Jethro, his father-in-law, brought his grandchildren to see their father.
As he approached Moses, he saw something that made him shake his head.
All the people of Israel were coming to Moses for the answer to his problems, as the new church was going to the apostles.
The words of Jethro ring true for the apostles, and they realize this.
It was not good for Moses to handle all the problems of Israel.
It was not good for the apostles to be trying to take care of all the needs of the new church.
There does come a time when there is the necessity of change.
As Baptist, we do not like change.
We do not like change in translations.
We do not like change in music.
We do not like change in teachers, in leaders, in what we do.
We like the status quo, because that’s what we are comfortable with.
It is what we know.
However, ministry, not the message, but ministry must adapt and change with the situation and time at hand.
The apostles realized this.
If they kept the status quo, they were going to fail.
The church was going to implode.
As the apostles studied the situation, they realized that their priorities were off.
They were spending more time addressing physical needs than they were the spiritual needs of the church.
In doing so, they causing spiritual atrophy.
If the church was going to grow spiritually, there had to be a change.
They needed to change their priorities and train others to take care of the physical needs of the church, so that they could focus on the spiritual needs.
2. Problems give churches an opportunity exhibit faith
This growth and show of faith is not only in God, but also in each other.
The apostles had to let go and trust others to further the ministry of the church.
We find that the church, went within themselves and chose seven men for the task taking care of the physical needs of the church.
The church was not afraid of changing their structure.
They were willing to let go and let God.
They were willing to trust one another in service to the Lord.
What we see in a lot of churches today, is a lack of trust and a desire to keep control.
We find pastors that are dogmatic and are dictators.
We find deacons that are not willing to let go of power and follow the leadership of the pastor.
When you find that a pastor has a vision for the church, but that vision doesn’t align with the preconceived ideas of the deacons, the church comes to standstill and the church declines rather than grows.
Just as the church was willing to change its structure and trust God to move through this change, the church must be willing to do the same today.
The church (the people of God) have to be willing to allow others to be used of God to grow the church.
This is exactly what the apostles and the body did then.
We must be willing to trust God to move through others beyond ourselves.
It is a tragic thing when churches impede ministry, because they refuse to change their structure out of pride, fear, or refusal to change, because that is not how it has always been.
3. Problems give churches the opportunity to exhort one another
As we look at these names, we find that church was wise in their selection.
They did not just stick with the majority Jews, which is what one might think they would have chosen.
Let us go and choose those we are comfortable with.
This not what happened.
They broke with comfort and the ones they knew the most and chose six Hellenist and one Gentile proselyte.
They chose from among themselves those who were being neglected to minister and grow the church.
This was a great show of love and release of power and influence.
It was truly following the teachings of Jesus.
When we begin to look beyond personal preference and comfort and begin to look at the church from the eyes of Jesus, we realize that others are more important than we are.
We must let go so that they can grow.
We are called to disciple.
Part of discipling is not only teaching but this also includes following.
Servants of the church
The issue at hand was a priority issue.
The apostles were trying to do too much.
They needed to restructure and reprioritize.
To do this, they needed help.
The apostles, realizing this, tells the congregation to go and choose seven men among themselves, to take care of the physical needs of the church.
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