The Point of Church (2)

July 9th 2023

Series: Courageous Faith

Sermon Title: The Point of Church

Topic: Journey through the book of Acts.

Key Passages: Acts 19: 8-11, Acts 1:8 Acts 8:1 & 4

Sermon Blurb: What is the point of church? Why do we go to church? What should the church be doing? Today we will dive into those questions and more!

Sermon:

Pastor Keith – Beginning MC

Pre-worship

Encourage App download….

Intro-worship

Pastor Erik – Ending MC

Closing Prayer

Offering Talk

Pastor Bob – After Erik

Explain the rest of the morning

Release everyone

Thank you, Pastor Keith!

Can we give Pastor Keith some props!

If you do not know Pastor Keith yet, he is the phenomenal leader of our Ebenezer Campus which God has been doing just amazing things at and if you have not gone there yet to check it out….you need to!

Today is one of those days I look forward to all year long!

A day when we gather all of our church family from all of our locations together to do one BIG family service!

If I have not met you yet, I am Pastor Adam, the Lead Pastor here at Family Church

And days like today blow my mind at what God has been doing at Family Church since God called my family here about 6 years ago….

God has done more through all of us than I could have dreamed 6 years ago….

And I just want to start by saying….

I LOVE our church!

I LOVE all of you guys and gals!

You are all so amazing and I am so blessed to be your pastor…

Today is going to an amazing day!

And I think I have a great message for you all today.

PAUSE

Today I am going to talk about what is the point of church.

Because I know there are a LOT of people here today that do not go to church much, if ever, and we are super happy you are here.

I also know there are people here that have been in church your entire life, and I am happy you are here as well.

And I want us to take some time today….

Look inside our Bibles….

And together really make sure we understand why we do things like this.

Why we do church….

I hope today you will ALL walk away with a clear view of the point of the church from God’s perspective….

PAUSE

If you are new, or newer to Family Church, we are on a journey through the book of Acts in the Bible.

The book of Acts is GREAT book to study because it is all about how the early church operated right after Jesus launched it!

And today we will be in Acts 19 & Acts 1 & Acts 8.

If you have a Bible, let me encourage you to open it to Acts 19…

If you do not have your Bible you can download our church’s app, like Pastor Keith said, and follow along there.

Just open the app store and type in familychurch.app as one word and we will pop up!

Then you can download our app and click on sermon notes on the homepage, and everything will be right there for you!

PAUSE

Does anyone want to be honest…

Has anyone ever wondered….what is the point of church?

Why do we people go to church?

What should the church be doing?

Anyone????

Well, the good news is today we will dive into those questions and more!

Let’s start by reading something in Acts 19…verse 8

This guy named Paul.

Paul’s name first name was Saul…..

Remember that in a little bit…..Paul is Saul….

And Saul was a guy who HATED Jesus…

Who did everything in his power to destroy Jesus’ movement.

He even endorsed the public killing of Christians….

And all kinds of crazy stuff….

Then one day Jesus appeared to Paul in a vision and it changed his life…

He then believed in Jesus and changed his entire life.

Paul went on to be one of the greatest church planters ever….

And so he is a GREAT person to look at and ask the question of….

What is the Point of Church?

Acts 19: 8-11 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way.

So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. 11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul,

Stop there….

As you can see Paul went around telling people about Jesus for three months…and no one believed what he said….

The Bible says they became obstinate…which means refusing to change one’s opinion…..

But they didn’t stop there….

They maligned the Way…

The Way is what the church was called back then.

They were the original Mandalorians….

This was the Way…

The Way being the Way of Jesus….

100% true story!!!

But the people did not believe in the way….just like the Empire didn’t in Start Wars….

So like the Empire in star War they want to destroy it.

Again…..100% true!!!

PAUSE

And right after this in your Bible is where baby Yoda first shows up….

Let me show you…..

JUST KIDDING!!!!!!

Seeing if you are all tracking with me!!!!!

PAUSE

But just because people did not believe in the Way of Jesus….

It did not stop Paul…

He kept preaching and seeking to plant churches….

Look at verse 10 it is AMAZING!!!!

10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

For TWO YEARS Paul keeps at it!!!!!

And think about what it says…..ALL….

ALL

ALL THE JEWS

ALL the Greeks!

ALL The Jew’s and Greeks that lived in province of Asia heard about Jesus!!!!!

WOW!!!!!

That is incredible!!!!!

PAUSE

Paul seems to demonstrate the point of the church is telling as many people as possible about Jesus…..

This reminds me of what Acts 1 …..and some things Jesus said….& Acts 8 and some things God did…..

Let me show you something in Acts chapter 1….that ties to what we just read….

Jesus said, Acts 1:8 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.”

Right here is one of my favorite Bible verses!!!!

Let me explain what this means….

Jerusalem is where they lived…

So, God is saying it is important to reach those in your everyday life.

Judea was a town that was far enough away to not be home…

but still close….

So, God is saying it is important to reach those in your everyday life.

Samaria was filled with people from a VERY different culture…

So, God is saying it is important to reach those who are different than us.

The ends of the earth is the rest of the world….

So, God is saying it is important to reach everyone on the planet.

Do you see what we talked about earlier today?

The point of Jesus’ future church is to be there to teach people about Jesus!!!!

To witness for Jesus!!!

To lead people to Jesus!!!!

PAUSE

And how does Jesus say it will happen….

Look in your Bibles….…..

There is ONE word that is repeated over and over in verse 8….

Does anyone see that KEY word?

Anyone see it?

The word YOU……

8 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.”

Church…..hear me in this….

You and I are powerless without the Holy Spirit.

If the Spirit of God does not reside in you….you will not be successful…

But if you are following God’s direction and His Spirit is living inside you!!!

LOOK OUT!!!

You are going to do things you would NEVER have imagine were possible!!!!

We are going to see that OVER and OVER again in the book of Acts!

We are going to see REGULAR, everyday, ordinary, people just like YOU..

Do miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit!

PAUSE

Now….let’s see how did other people do at this….

Now shift to Acts 8:1…..

And I do not think this is a coincidence that in Acts 1:8 Jesus says go reach people for Jesus…

And Acts 8:1….says this…

Acts 8:1 Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

Remember earlier I said Paul was Saul…..

Well here you go!

Here was Saul, before he gave his life to Jesus, endorsing the public murder of a Christian and leading his movement to persecute the early church!

CRAZY!!!!!

What Saul use to do is now happening to Saul in Acts 19!

PAUSE

But God is going to use what Saul did here….to actually help God’s movement grow and it will actually be the catalyst that reaches Saul for Jesus!

PAUSE

Let’s read this again….and I want to then ask you a question.

Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

Let me ask some questions and if you know the answer just shout it out….

When this happened the church ONLY existed in Jerusalem.

Who remembers where Jesus told the church to go and witness for him in Acts 1:8?

Who remembers (let them respond)

Does anyone see something interesting that ties to what we are reading today in Acts 8?

Anyone?

Let me go slowly here so we can all see this! Go back to verse 4

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.

Ok so Jesus said stay in Jerusalem and this is where they are right now in Acts 8.

But the GIFT Jesus talks about here….

The sending of the Holy Spirit happened in Acts chapter 2.

Stick with me…..

So they were to STAY….UNTIL the Holy Spirit came….which happened in Acts two and now we are in Acts 8….

And let me explain why this matters and how it applies to all of you in the room today….

Drop down to verse 8 of Acts 1…..

8 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.”

Does anyone see any correlation to Acts 8 now?

PAUSE

Let me keep unpeeling this onion….

If you dive into the timeline of the book of Acts you will find that most scholars would agree that Acts 1 happened in the Spring of AD 33.

So, Jesus said in Spring…

Hey, church….here is what I want you to do.

I want you to enjoy Spring here as the church. I want you to stay here and wait until I send you my Spirit the Holy Spirit.

Then once I send you my Spirit comes I want you to GO and witness for me in Jerusalem right where you are now!

But I ALSO want you to go to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth then and witness for me.

Jesus said that in Spring….

Then Jesus returned to heaven….

PAUSE

Most scholars would say Acts 8 was around the end of the year AD 33.

So, what does that mean church?

Come on work with me!

It means they did ¼ of what Jesus asked them to do.

They did an AWESOME job reaching their local community for Jesus!

They didn’t want to go to Judea….because Judea would take time and money to travel to.

Judea was not an easy trip for them.

They did not want to invest their time and money going there.

They didn’t want to leave their hometown to live in another place.

They didn’t want to do it…..and didn’t.

They didn’t want to go to Samaria….because Samaria to them would be like us saying I want you to go into a Muslim community and reach them for Jesus.

Go to people RADICALLY different from you and reach them for Jesus.

Go stay among people who view the world TOTALLY different from you!

GO live among people who hate you.

They didn’t want to do it…..and didn’t.

PAUSE

Do you see it church?????

PAUSE

Here is the point church….write this down….

Jesus said the point of the church is to reach people for Jesus.

And don’t miss this!

They did!

They were reaching people for Jesus.

But they did not want to leave their comfort zone.

They didn’t want to leave their church.

They didn’t want to leave their hometown.

They wanted to stay in their bubble.

They wanted to follow Jesus…..just not fully…..

They wanted to follow Jesus….they just did not want to change….

PAUSE

Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

Albert was right…and it is odd to me how often we find ourselves doing the same things over and over and expect to get somewhere else!

I know a lot of people that hate being broke, but they keep spending more money than they make.

I know a lot of people that hate being overweight, but they never work out.

I know a lot of people that hate not knowing more about the Bible, but rarely read the Bible.

Can I get an amen if you know someone like that….

Someone who talks about how they want something different but they do nothing to make it happen?

You can even raise your spouse’s hand right now if that is them….

Right, we all know people that love to talk about how they want some part of their life to be different….

But then they won’t do anything to change and make it happen.

PAUSE

Let me paint a picture of what God has to do to us sometimes to accept change by talking to you about one of the most majestic birds, Eagles.

Eagle Pic

Eagles go to great care to build a nest high atop a tall sturdy tree.

They find strong branches to weave together for their nest.

They filled in the spaces with grass, moss, cornstalks and other strong fibers.

To make the nest even more comfortable for their babies they pull out their own feathers and place them around the nest.

They do this to keep their babies from sharp sticks that could hurt them.

So, the baby eagles have a nice comfortable place to live while they are completely cared for by their parents.

The baby eagles do nothing, but sit in the nest and wait for their parents to bring them food.

The parents go off and eat food and come back and then regurgitate up the partially digested food for their babies.

PAUSE

Do you see the correlation to church and us?

God helped our forefathers build nice comfy churches...they are all over West Michigan!

Our forefathers wanted you to be comfy so they even padded the seats you sit in just like the eagles do for their future babies.

You sit in a nice, comfy, safe place.

You come here week in and week out and what happens?

All week the pastors are digesting the word of God and then we regurgitate it up for you…. Just like a good Eagle mother.

Maybe next time you see Pastor (fill in another pastor’s name) you call them Eagle Mother!!!!

Just to see how he reacts!

LAUGH!!!!!

PAUSE

But the day comes when the eaglets need to learn to fly like their parents…..

The day comes when all of you need to leave the church and live like Jesus….

In order to learn to fly they need to leave the nice, big comfy nest they have been accustomed to.

So, the mama eagle knows that the eaglets will not survive if they don’t learn to fly.

So, what does she do?

She begins to make the nest uncomfortable by taking the soft feathers out of the nest.

She changes the environment to encourage them to GET OUT!

If that does not move them out the mother will beat her wings and scare them to the edge of the nest!

If they still do not get out……She will push them over the edge and let them fall!!!!

She will force them to use their wings and fly.

PAUSE

But there is a problem!!!

Baby eagles have never used their wings….

So, they flap and fall and it seems like their wings aren’t working!

So, mama swoops under her falling eaglet and catches them on her back, and soars upward into the sky.

PAUSE

The eaglet feels safe once again…mamma has them….

But then without warning the mother will flip over or dive downward causing the eaglet to lose his grip and free fall again!

Panic ensues in this baby eagle again because it is being forced out of safety again and into the real world….

The mama continues to allow her baby to fall and flap and then takes him back up again and again until he learns how to fly!

PAUSE

If mama eagle would not have made her eaglets uncomfortable her babies may have never left the comfort of their nest….

The babies would never become the strong majestic birds they were designed to be if they were not FORCED to change…..

LONG PAUSE….let it get awkward….

Do you see the correlation to this passage?

Do you see the correlation to our spiritual life?

PAUSE

The point of being a disciple of Jesus, as defined by Jesus, was to go and make more disciples.

Never once did you see Jesus tell his disciples to just sit in their nest of safety and learn from other people their whole life.

Never once in the Bible do we read the GOAL of our Christian life is to come to church one day a week and warm up a chair….

maybe serve now and again….

maybe to throw some money in the offering when we REALLY like the message.

That is NOWHERE in the Bible…..

PAUSE

Let’s be real church……and I love you all….but let’s be real…..

If we are honest as we become more comfortable in life….

As we get financially set….

As we land a good job…..

As we have kids….

As we get established in life….

The less we want to change….because consistency feels good!

That is why we say…. “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

Things are working…..

Things are going well….

So why change….

Right?

Come on I know this is a lot of us!!!!

PAUSE

The early church thought the same thing…

They wanted to stay in their comfort zone…..

But Jesus issued a command to EVERY follower in Acts 1:8…lets read it again

Acts 1:8 “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.”

So far in our study of Acts, we have seen exciting things happen in Jerusalem and it all started right after God sent the Gift of the Holy Spirit.

It all began when all the people were gathered together seeking God and God poured out His Spirit to live inside all people that believed in God.

As a result of God’s Spirit dwelling inside the people, they could not contain God, so they were telling everyone about Jesus….

So, people were coming to know Jesus left and right!

Don’t forget we have already read that the church has grown to THOUSANDS of people already!!!!

God has said grown over and over!!!

EVERYTHING is NOT broken….

PAUSE

Jerusalem was a comfortable nest for the believers.

The problem was Jesus said go BEYOND Jerusalem….

But things were going so good why leave!!!!

Because they were called by Jesus to go BEYOND….

PAUSE

God knew that there were people outside of Jerusalem that needed to hear the Good News about Jesus.

It was PAST time for the believers to leave the comfort of Jerusalem and go to other places and reach them for Jesus!

PAUSE

The believers here were not going out into the world of their own desires….

Something had to come and FORCE them into towns throughout Judea and Samaria.

This time of persecution forced the believers to move in the direction of Jesus’ instructions in Acts 1:8.

This persecution brought discomfort and drove the believers out of Jerusalem so they could share the Good News with others in surrounding territories.

But the question was….would they????

Would the church do what it was designed to do?

Would they…..will we…..remain focused on leading people toward Jesus….

Let’s see…let’s see what these regular believers in Jesus did as they were scattered.

Verse 4

Acts 8:4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.

Those who were scattered would be all the believers!!!

All the REGULAR people were preaching!

All the REGULAR people were leading people to God!

This was NOT the preachers who were preaching!!!!

Let me close with this because I want you all to see it and then we will close….

Go back to Acts 8:1

1 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

Do you see it church!

ALL the LEADERS stayed!

ALL the Apostles stayed!

So the people preaching in verse 4 were NOT the apostles!

The people preaching in verse 4 were NOT people like me!

The people preaching in verse 4 were who church????

You….

All of you…..

Let’s go back to our main point today……

Jesus said the point of the church is to reach people for Jesus.

Who is the church?

All of you…

Not just me…

We are ALL the church….

PAUSE

Why is Family Church launching our 4th campus in just a few months…

Because we it forces us to raise up more leaders.

It forces us to release more people into ministry.

It forces us to keep following Jesus call!

It helps us reach more people for Jesus!!!!!

And if you are here today and you are not involved at Family Church…

Let me be clear….

We want you get involved!

We want to help you live out Jesus call on your life!!!!

Which leads us to our Life Application today…

Life Application: How are you doing at sharing the Good News about Jesus in your daily life? Can you make a list of names of people you are teaching about Jesus? As a result of today’s message, I will ______________________________.

Pastor Erik will close us with prayer today…

If you have not met Pastor Erik yet he is taking leadership of the Grace Campus from me very soon.

He is an amazing man of God whose passion is helping you become a disciple of Jesus who can make more disciples of Jesus….

If you are not a part of his core team at the Grace Campus you should be!!!!

Promo Dan Seaborn next Sunday at the Grace Campus and Steve Norman at the EB Campus!

Let’s Pray…..