4 Qualities of An Imperfect Church

Introduction

Opener

If you will, go ahead and turn your Bibles to Acts 5.

There are a lot of men, a lot of pastors, that I have had the privilege to learn from with the rise of the internet, that in the past, I would have only seen on TV.

John Piper, John MacArthur, Charles Stanley, R.C. Sproul, Matt Chandler, Tony Evans, David Guzik, just to name a few, and one of the realities that came with the rise of the internet has also been that if something happens at one of their churches, sometimes something good, but most of the time, something bad, something that highlights that they or their church isn’t perfect, but imperfect, we get to hear about it.

Most recently I can recall two cases of this:

August of 2022: USA Today, Texas megachurch pastor Matt Chandler steps down after DMs with woman 'crossed a line'. Daily Mail, 'I have fallen short of the glory of God': Married Texas mega-church pastor - who was suspended after exchanging Instagram DMs with a married woman - is CHEERED as he returns to pulpit with his FAMILY.

June of 2024, this month: New York Post, Texas megachurch pastor Tony Evans resigns after nearly 50 years over mysterious ‘sin’. Independent, Dallas pastor quits 10,000-member megachurch he has led for nearly 50 years after committing ‘sin’.

For many this seemed to be a shock, but for those who have read the Word, for those who understand the calling that God has placed on these men’s lives, we know that what these pastors are doing is proper and fitting.

Not many people I know ever like to admit their wrongdoings or their imperfections, but for the role of pastor, the shepherd of the church, they, but not only they, even we must be willing to admit that even when the world expects us to be perfect, we must recognize that we are really just the imperfect church carrying out the mission of the only one who was ever perfect, Jesus Christ.

The church is where imperfect people come to spend time with other imperfect people, discussing all the things that make us imperfect, but understanding that while we are imperfect that by a single offering, through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, all of us who are walking through this process of sanctification together, the imperfect church of Christ, have been made perfect in the eyes of a most holy God (Hebrews 10:14).

Main Point of the Text (MPT)

Two weeks ago I spoke on unrepentant hypocrisy as I gave you examples of how the church was no longer only being attacked by Satan from the outside, but now, Satan had found himself on the inside as well.

I spoke of two examples:

One example being of a man Joses, or Joseph, whose acts would exemplify the unity of the early church (Acts 4:36-37).

Another example being of a couple, Ananias and Sapphira, whose acts would endanger the unity of the early church (Acts 5:1-11).

Through their actions, Luke has given us a look into how even the early church, one that seemed so perfect when we read of them at the end of Acts 2 and Acts 4 were in fact, not so perfect after all. That even in the most Spirit-filled, seemingly united body of believers, Satan is still at work, trying to pit brother against brother, brother against sister, and vis-versa.

That is why when we step into a church we must be of the understanding that everyone is just as flawed as we are and part of being apart of the church is working together, being united, knowing that we are just as much sinners as the ones we are growing and serving with.

It was that thought that led me to my sermon title today, 4 Qualities of an Imperfect Church, because although some might see imperfection as a flaw, I see it as a strength and I would like to use God’s Word to tell you how.

And so, if you are able, please stand for the reading of God’s Word.

Scripture Reading: Acts 5:12-16

Main Point of the Sermon (MPS): An imperfect church is highly esteemed, attractive, believable, and reliable.

Prayer

Body

Quality 1: Highly Esteemed

Scripture: Acts 5:12-13

Explanation:

Following the situation Ananias and Sapphira, the last verse we read told us that great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things (Acts 5:11).

The instant deaths of Ananias and Sapphira that although the Bible doesn’t say God caused, though through the reading of the Scripture it is assumed, now brought fear not only to the Christians, but non-Christians as well.

The Greek word used here for fear was phobos, a great phobos, meaning terror, but also a great reverence and a great respect causing alarm.

It is this type of fear of the Lord that God’s Word tells us is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7).

Through what seemed to be an instantaneous judgement of sin, it was revealed that God’s plan was not only to have the church be a place that served the community, but also a place where striving towards holiness, continuous sanctification, was expected.

Verse 12 tells us that despite this fear that many signs and wonders were taking place among the people at the hands of the apostles.

Perhaps the fear had inspired some belief amongst those who had heard of what happened.

And in the next half of the verse we are made aware of the location of these signs and wonder, they were taking place in the porch surrounding the temple, or in Solomon’s portico, where the Jews would go regularly to pray and offer sacrifices, a pretty bold move for the Apostles. Not only was the location bold, but we see that it wasn’t just the Apostles there, but it says that they were all with one accord, meaning that it was more than likely a group of people.

Considering what had just happened with the Sanhedrin in Acts 4, many would think that the Apostles would take time to lay low, but instead, not only had the news of Ananias and Sapphira reached the ears of non-Christians, but they were now publicly meeting as a group, publicly meeting directly by the temple, and publicly preforming signs and wonders.

But as verse 13 informs us, but none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem.

Who were the rest? I would most likely say that it could refer to two groups:

Closet Christians: I am sure there were those who had came to belief following the events that didn’t want to speak up. They knew that proclaiming to be a follower of Jesus or to participate in the group of those in the portico could lead to consequences they weren’t willing to receive.

Interested Non-Christians: There were probably also non-Christians that were interested in what was being said, but again, did not want to receive the negative consequences from pursuing their interest or be associated with the group, not being fully convinced that Jesus was the Messiah.

No matter what the rest was composed us, they still held them in high esteem.

The Greek word here is emegalynen, also meaning they were made a big deal and spoken highly of. They were considered to be distinguished, illustrious, prominent, strong and important.

Application:

Does this describe Morganfield Christian Church? Are we highly esteemed in the eyes of Christians and non-Christians?

While it shouldn’t be our goal to be famous, although God can use fame to bring glorify to His name if that is His will for you, it should be our goal to bring glory to the name of Jesus through whatever means God would have it to happen, regardless of the status we are given or the consequences we may face.

This group had distinguished themselves from everyone else in the temple as they boldly proclaimed the name of Jesus in front of those who had just arrested them for doing the very same thing (Acts 4:1), but just as Peter had told the Sanhedrin after they had commanded he not speak or teach in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:18), that “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20).

They couldn’t help but speak of the works of the Lord!

How many of us remain silent when God would have us tell us his wonderful works?

They were illustrious or well-known, making it known that what was happening was in the name of Jesus!

When someone speaks of their illustrious career, they or whomever, speak of that persons impressive achievements and celebrated contributions to society.

The Apostles were performing signs and wonders in public, their achievements and contributions were being seen first hand and they were impressing those and being celebrated by those who witnessed them.

How can anyone be impressed by or celebrate the work of Christ and His Church unless we are out there publicly showing them?

Through their prominence they were bringing glory to the name of Jesus, proclaiming just as Peter had done to the Sanhedrin that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, that the healing and cleansing of demons was His doing, not their own (Acts 4:10).

They didn’t use the signs and wonders to glorify themselves, no, their intentions were pure, these signs and wonders were being done by Jesus and they were giving all glory and honor to Christ alone.

Who do you want to receive the glory for the signs and wonders God has bestowed on us here at MCC?

Not only were the prominent, they were seen as strong as they had overcome not only the oppression and persecution of the Sanhedrin, but they had also remained united even when some within their own group were corrupted by their sin, but they knew it was only because they had been given strength by God that they were able to overcome these obstacles.

Where does your strength come from?

And lastly, they were considered important, not only were the important because of the signs and wonders they had preformed, which of course was a good thing, but they were also important threats to the current Jewish establishment and sometimes, even when considered a threat, it can be a good thing.

Not only were they being considered important, but so was the name of Jesus as everything that had been done, all of this good, was done in His name and they didn’t like that He was getting the attention, but as we know, He deserves all of our attention.

Does your actions bring importance and attention to God?

Quality 2: Attractive

Scripture: Acts 5:14

Explanation:

The next quality of an imperfect church we find here in our Scripture is attractiveness.

Look at verse 14 with me, it says, “And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number...”

This almost seems to be a contradiction of the verse before it because it told us that some had not dared to associate with them (Acts 5:13).

But, instead, it should be looked at in this way, there were two reactions to the signs, wonders and teaching of the Apostles in Solomon’s portico:

Some stayed away due to their fear, but there were others, in fact, multitudes, or large numbers, of both men and women who were constantly being added to their number.

Application:

What was happening was attractive to those who had seen and heard of what was being done by the Apostles, but I think that while this was great, for signs and wonders would be attractive, it’s important that we, the church, not forget the purpose behind the signs and wonders that were being done.

The purpose of these sign and wonders were not only just to heal or to drive out unclean spirits.

Let’s take a look at Jesus in the gospel of Mark, chapter 1.

Beginning in verse 29 we read that after Jesus had left the synagogue in Capernaum, He entered the house of Simon’s mother-in-law, who was lying sick with a fever and after taking her hand she was healed (Mark 1:29-31).

From Mark 1:32-34, those who were ill and demon-possessed where brought to Him as the city gathered to watch at the gate, but didn’t permit the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

Following these verses, we learn that Jesus got up in the early morning, while it was still dark, went away to a secluded place, and prayed. The disciples searched for Him and after they had found Jesus told Him that everyone was looking for Him and he replied, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.”

Jesus knew that by preforming miracles He could be identified as the Messiah and that it would also offer validation, but He also knew that God wanted Him to continue preaching, so although this would confirm He was the Messiah, it was not the time for His identity to be revealed.

This is something we can learn from as so many churches lose focus of what’s really important, what is really attractive.

Just like our sanctuary being remodeled, new lights, new carpet, fresh paint, it’s great and it’s amazing, it’s attractive, but we should be making sure is even more attractive is the message of Salvation through Jesus Christ.

What attracts imperfect people to an imperfect church? Hope in a perfect Savior.

What do they really want to hear? They want to hear a message that is believable, which leads me to my next quality...

Quality 3: Believable

Scripture: Acts 5:15

Explanation:

Verse 14 told us that multitudes of men and women were added to their number and verse 15 tells us what those people were doing, people were being added to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them.

The people had seen enough to truly believe that Peter had divine healing power to such an extent that they thought that his healing power might extend to his shadow.

But notice that Scripture doesn’t tell us that his shadow had healed anything, in fact, if that were the case I believe Luke would have let us know, but what I do believe we can learn from this is that, imperfect people, such as you and me, desire to see and hear a message that is believable.

Application:

What was it that attracted you to church in the first place? What did you really want to hear?

I don’t know about you, but I wanted to hear I wasn’t alone, not necessarily that I wasn’t alone because I had God, but that I wasn’t alone, because by going to church I had other imperfect people just like me who had been through some imperfect times.

When I first walked into a church after my 3 years of rebellion during my college career, my first thought wasn’t Jesus, and I am just trying to be real here, but my first thought was, man, these men have been open with me and shared with me about their lives, it sort of looks like mine, but if it looks like mine, why are they so happy? How do they keep going? Why are they not wallowing in depression and anxiety like me? I want what he has.

That was when they reminded me about Jesus and the message He brought, that He really loved me, that He really loved me so much, that He gave up His life so that I might not perish (John 3:16), that I might find a reason to be happy, to keep going, to push forward, and that instead of wallowing in the depression and anxiety I had felt for so long that I had been set free (John 8:36) and He transformed that depression into hope and that anxiety into fearlessness.

Because it was for freedom that Christ has set us free, allowing us to stand firm rather that be subjected to the yoke of slavery that sin once had us in (Galatians 5:1), sin is no longer our master, because we are not under the law, but under grace (Romans 6:14), for God’s Word declares that who the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36)!

Those who come walk into Morganfield Christian Church walk into an imperfect church filled with imperfect people worshiping and being led by a perfect God, who has stripped us of our imperfections so that we may spend eternity with Him (John 3:16).

God has given us, his rebellious children a way to Him, through His Son, Jesus, and has provided us with His Spirit and His Word so that we might no longer be slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:17-18).

And the beauty of that message is that it is reliable one, our last quality.

Quality 4: Reliable

Scripture: Acts 5:16

Explanation:

In our final verse for today, verse 16 tells us that, “Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.”

Not only were the Apostles held to a high esteem, not only were there words and deeds attractive, not only were they believable, but they were reliable.

While our Scripture doesn’t tell us that people were healed by Peter’s shadow, it does tell us that those who were brought to them that were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, they were being healed!

This was what they had prayed for following their persecution from the Sanhedrin, Acts 4:29-30, “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.”

They knew they had the power because following that very prayer, verse 31 tells us that after they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

Those who were preforming the signs and wonders, the miracles in Solomon's portico that day had all the evidence they needed from that experience to do what God had called them to do, they knew God was with them.

Now was the time to use the abilities that God had given them to bring the message of Christ to others, that it wasn’t by their power that those who came were being healed, but by the power of the name of Jesus, the only name by which one can be saved (Acts 4:12).

And this message wasn’t just for the Jews, but as Peter had told those who were there on the day of Pentecost, “AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED” (Acts 2:21).

Conclusion

Summation

As the worship team comes, that message is still true today!

What would I tell an imperfect person?

Romans Road:

God’s Word tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), that the wages of that sin is death, but there was this highly esteemed man, Jesus Christ, who after humbling Himself by becoming human even to the point of death (Philippians 2:8), brought forth this attractive, believable, and reliable message of forgiveness, of freedom, of mercy, of grace, so that imperfect people, us, me, you might find redemption in His name, through His sacrifice, and because of His blood that was shed.

That while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

My sin, your sin, the sins of the world were nailed to a cross so that we might spend an eternity in Heaven with God, our Father, the love of our life (Romans 6:23; Colossians 2:14).

And all He requires of us, all our Father requires of us is for us to confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved becoming a child of God (Romans 10:9-10; Hebrews 4:16).

REAL

Altar Call