Marks of a Healthy Church

Introduction

Good morning, today I was asked to share but I wasn’t really sure what to speak about today.

Today is Resurrection Sunday and almost every church will be sharing something related to the Resurrection so I was wondering if to share such a message or if I should continue where we left out last week which was basically talking about the Book of Acts.

I know we are in a series based on Acts so I was wondering if to stick to Acts.

Well after much contemplating I decided to stick to Acts of the Apostles because I don’t think there is anyone here today who needs a Resurrection Sunday Message.

You all may have heard he is risen numerous times in your lives. So I am sorry if I may have disappointed anyone looking for an Easter Message today.

Today I would like to break down the scripture that Bridget shared on last week that is based on the Book of Acts as it is one of the most important scriptures in that Book as it gives us a glimpse of what the early church was like.

What would it look like to be part of a community so devoted to God and each other that it changes lives daily?"

 After the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, the early church emerged as a vibrant community. This scripture in Acts 2 gives us a snapshot of their life together, marked by the power of the Spirit and a deep commitment to certain practices.

 Today, we’ll explore this passage to see how their example can inspire and guide our church community.

All of us we want to live healthy lives so we can avoid going to the doctor.

There are certain practices that we can do to live healthy lives and avoid going to the doctor such as avoiding eating KFC cause it means killing foolish christians and I can guarantee if that is all we eat every day - I don’t care how anointed you are - sickness and diseases will be your portion sooner rather than later.

In the same way - churches today can be healthy and unhealthy.

There are a lot of unhealthy churches today that is just feeding junk every Sunday and it’s no wonder the churches are not being a light to their community.

When we read the scriptures we see an example of what a healthy church looks like and what are the marks of a healthy church.

Scripture

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Introduction

This simple scripture shows what is important and what are the marks of a healthy church.

Unfortunately if you look at typical churches today and what they major on to look like a healthy church. They major on minor things.

If you ask people what makes a church a successful church what are some of the answers you might hear?

You might hear - man we need a big space.

Need to have the biggest parking lot. A huge space to have lots of activities. Those are things that will attract people. Those are things that will get people to come out. But for how long?

Some people may say - we need to have the prettiest buidlings. The most comfortable chairs. Make our church look huge like a castle and that will attract lots of people to it. Spend all our money on the Buildings.

Right here in Trinidad we have some pretty buidlings that are empty. The churches are empty even though they are the largest and prettiest. The Pastors and leaders they have majored on minor things.

In this portion of scripture we see 4 basic marks of the church that is so important.

Basically if you were to ask someone from the early church what what was important to the Early church they would tell you “You need to spend time in the scriptures.

You need to pray. You need to fellowship. And you need to eat.

You break bread. You hang out. That's it.

That's all you need to be the church. To have the church, that's all you need. Which is so countercultural for us, right?

Because we want to focus on having the biggest buidlings - the best bands.

We tell ourselves if we get this worship leader to join our church - man it will be filled.

You know how many churches ask Bro Charles to leave IPA and join them.

I am sure people probably try to steal Sis Susan to.

Churches are majoring on minor things.

Let us look at these 4 practices one by one and see how it can impact our lives.

Devotion to the Apostle’s Teaching

Acts 2:42 ESV

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

The early believers eagerly learned from the apostles, who had been taught directly by Jesus. This teaching formed the foundation of their faith.

Grounding our lives in biblical truth is essential for spiritual growth and staying aligned with God’s will.

The foundation that you build your life on is the Word of God.

These early christians were not fortunate like us to have a Bible for themselves so they had to be taught by the Apostles who had been with Jesus. They were eager to hear the Word of God.

Today we are so fortunate we can put on the Tv and hear the Word. We can listen on our phones to the Word of God. WE can read it on our devices. We have so much opportunity to hear God’s Word but are we eager to hear the word of God or are we more concerned about hearing the word of Stuart Young and Aunty Kamla and how they will make our lives so much sweeter and so much nicer.

God’s Word is more important than the Word of any Politician right now.

We can spend hours watching all these poliitical meetings - being wrapped up in their manifestos - which is a bunch of promises that may never materialise when we should be reading and clinging to the promises that is in God’s Word.

God’s Word is much more important than any other man’s Word today.

Be careful whose voice you listening to too much today.

It have some Christians they are devoted to the teachings in church but it all depends on the topics

We might be devoted and eager to hear about the topic of Grace but when the pastor starts a series on sin - we not eager to come out to hear that cause we guilty

We will stay away until a new better series comes out

As believers we need to be devoted to hearing the entirety of Scripture

Not just the parts that we like

When it comes to eating food I love a nice Donut Boys donut with that nice cream filling inside

It does lash I could eat that every day but hear’s the thing I need to eat the broccoli to and drink the water to.

Some of you here obsessed with drinkong coffee but you need to drink the water to even though it doesnt taste as good.

We need to be guided by the entirety of scriptures - the parts we like and the parts we may not like

Some folks hate when you talk about tithing and offering but it is in the Bible and a true preacher will preach the full counsel of God.

The apostles did not pick and choose what they wanted to teach and so should pastors and preachers today.

You need to preach the full counsel of God and people need to desire it as well.

Exalting Jesus in Acts Devotion to the Word (2:42a, 43)

This truth is a great reminder that pastors must lay down any desire to preach opinions and must avoid the temptation to entertain or to play with people’s emotions. Each must instead see and embrace his role as God’s spokesperson. Each must seek to please an audience of One. Pastors must believe Scripture is sufficient to build up and bless the church. Churches, in turn, must submit to God’s Word when it is faithfully taught. The early church here in Acts is demonstrating such humility before the Word.

Exalting Jesus in Acts A Healthy Body of Christ (Acts 2:42–47)

Peter preached a Christ-exalting sermon, and as a result of the Spirit and the Word at work, three thousand people were saved. (That’s a pretty good day!) God builds his church by his Word. Just as God spoke creation into existence in Genesis, he speaks this new creation—this new community—into existence through his mighty Word.

Exalting Jesus in Acts Devotion to the Word (2:42a, 43)

Luke tells us that the church was devoted to certain activities. At the top of the list is the study of the apostles’ teaching, perhaps noted for emphasis since the Word of God informs everything else

Exalting Jesus in Acts Devotion to the Word (2:42a, 43)

If you’re walking in the fullness of the Spirit, you will be drawn to the Bible

Do you know that one thing that can make or break a church is the quality of the preaching

Most people who come to church are starving when it comes to the Word cause they themselves don’t read it and if they find that when they come to church is just a bundle of stupidness they hearing they will go to a next church.

I heard stories of churches where the Pastor wasn’t there to preach the Word - lots of people stopped coming because they wasn’t getting a good spirtual meal when they came.

Think about how much we look forward to a good meal. Preparing and sharing that meal together is such a joy. In the same way, engaging with the Word of God nourishes our souls, providing spiritual sustenance. It’s something we should anticipate just as we do a delicious dinner with loved ones.

Make time for God’s Word through personal Bible reading or study groups.

Engage with sermons and teachings at church attentively.

Ask God to give you a desire for his Word

Listen to the Word

These days in Youth Group - the youths are getting an opportunity to sharee a little thought from the Word of God

Devotion to Fellowship

Now in the Western world what we term fellowship and what the early church term fellowship is a bit different

The New Testament was written in Greek and there is no translation that could really accurately describe the Greek word used for fellowship which is Kononia.

The devoted themselves to Kononia.

The Greek word for “fellowship” is koinonia, which means “communion,” or “communication.” Koinonia is people sharing with one another the things of the kingdom and the things of God. Unfortunately, the richness of koinonia has been reduced to a lightweight frivolity in so many churches today, where a time of fellowship is usually synonymous with nothing more than a time of eats and drinks.

Is more than just that

Fellowship is closeness, togetherness, sharing with one another - caring for one another 

We need each other today 

Sometimes people might invite us somewhere and we go and just eat and ride out

Is like we have a Good Friday lime in Aussies Ground - we come late, we time to pelau good. We eat the pelau and drink some cokes and we buss it and go home.

That is not Fellowship. That is not true Koinonia.

True Christian fellowship involves fellowship firstly with the Father through Jesus then fellowship with his people.

Exalting Jesus in Acts Devotion to One Another (2:42b, 44)

If people are out of fellowship with Christ, then they will be out of fellowship with the church. And if people are out of fellowship with Jesus’s people, that is an indicator they may be out of fellowship with Jesus. That’s how strong the Christ-church union is

Acts: An Expositional Commentary Christian Fellowship

If you find yourself out of fellowship with God, you will begin to find yourself out of fellowship with other Christians. You will say, “I don’t really like to be with other Christians very much. They all seem to be hypocrites.” You will begin to drift off. But if you come close to God, you will inevitably find yourself being drawn close to other Christians. And it works the other way, too. If you spend time with other Christians, if you share a great deal with them, that fellowship will help to draw you closer to the Father.

Fellowship is important as it causes us to bond more be united more.

Kirk telling me they have a pause in their service. talk about how we also have a pause.

we need to learn to fellowship not just with our church people but the entire Body of Christ.

Meet people from other IPA churches.

Gospel Lighthouse belongs to an organization.

There are good people in all the other churches to. They may not be as good as our church people but they good.

Fellowship with other churches to

If you talk to Diandra she will tell she how much different friends she has from lots of different churches

here is where the challenge is when it comes to Kononia

Not everyone in the church is easy to have to fellowship with

Some are not so nice. Some may have attitude problems. Some may be hard to love.

But we need to have kononia with all

Some practical ways according to the bible for Fellowship is

Instructing one another

Serving one another

Carry one another’s burdens

Be patient with one another

Once, a man decided to host a barbecue but forgot to invite his friends. He grilled the best steak but ended up eating alone. Each bite tasted lonely without laughter or shared stories. Just like how we miss out on joy when we isolate ourselves from fellowship—it's much sweeter when shared!

If you're an adult who often finds yourself sitting in church without fully engaging, consider volunteering for a ministry within the church this month. Whether it’s teaching a class, or assisting in children’s ministry, participating actively will connect you with others who share your passion for service. Not only does volunteering embody the spirit of koinonia, but it also cultivates deep relationships built on shared purpose and faith.

Devotion to Breaking of Bread

Breaking bread includes shared meals and likely the Lord’s Supper.

First of all let’s talk about sharing meals.

It’s one thing to eat food but it’s another thing to actually sit at a table with people and eat together

There is a huge difference.

There is a bonding that takes place that can’t be explained until you do it together

Because when you are having a shared meal - you don’t just eat silently but you fellowship during that time

You enjoy the company of the people you are eating with

Some of us have different likes and dislikes

People who know me know I like fried rice

Some of you like roti

Pastor Mario has to get some fish

Talk about Anu

She may have eaten but she didn’t really break bread with us

more than just eating bread it speaks of communion

Communion was a very important thing for the beloevers that had it almost every day

Communion is a very important thing for us in Gospel Lighthouse to which is why at least once for the month we do it together to remember the Body and Blood of the Lord

The Lord’s supper is mandatory for all believers

Jon Courson’s Application Commentary The Church: Keeping It Simple

Communion is vital to the health of the church corporately and to believers individually. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth that, because they took Communion lightly, many of them were weak, sick, and even dying unnecessarily (

In some instances it was a bit different in that they may take a loaf and break a piece and pass it around and in some instances they would drink from the same cup which is something I am glad we do not do in our church but the point is - it was a sacred time. It was a Holy time and the early church took the breaking of bread around communion time to be very important.

You see when they ate from the same loaf, it was a reminder that which nourishes me - nourishes you also, It was a reminder to them that despite all our differences, our differences can be cultural racial ethnic we can have all kinds of backgrounds okay but the beauty of the body of Christ is we come together with all our differences and we unite them in harmony under the lordship of Jesus Christ and we acknowledge our differences and we make room and we we love each other for our differences because that's what helps make up the richness of the body of Christ but we're one Church we're one body under the lordship of Jesus

Picture a family reunion where everyone gathers around the table, laughing and sharing stories. The food isn’t just nourishment—it’s a bond. Communion and shared meals do that for the church

Application:

Participate in communion with reverence, remembering Christ’s love.

Host or join a meal with church members to build community.

Consider: How can we open our homes or tables to others?

Devotion to Prayer

Now this is one of the biggest challenges for a lot of Christians

Being devoted to Prayer or making time for prayer

The average person in church doesn’t pray until things start to go real downhill in their life

When things nice and smooth - there is no talking to God but when things rough - we know how to pray

We need to get to the place where we are not just concerned with seeking his hand but seeking his face

The prayer we are talking about in this passage is not so much personal prayers but corporate prayers

When they met together - they would spend time praying

It was expected as part of their service and I not talking about opening in prayer and then closing in prayer

It was much more than that

Corporate prayer in very important

The Bible says 1 can put a 1000 to flight and 2 can put 10,000

Right now we have this prayer chain going on where we praying for a member of the church

Prayer is so important I think out church is the only church that has a segment dedicated to praying for each other corporaely

Acts 4:31 ESV

31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

There is power in corporate prayer

If it is one thing the Devil will try to get you not to do is to pray

If you start to pray all kinds of distractions will come your way

Your phone will ring

Someone will tell you they have an emergency

The early church were devoted to praying for each other

One of the best things you can do for someone is pray for them

Last week I was in, I was in Korea, I was in a Korean church, in America.

Because this church, they're known for like sending missionaries everywhere, and pastors everywhere. But no one talks about the pastor. Everyone talks about this little old lady.

And but she'd been there since the church starts, she met the pastor. Right when he started and just said, I, I've been called to pray for you. And so she just followed him to pray for him. She never got married, because she just wanted this connection with God. And so for like, 37 years, I believe, she's been praying for this church, and this guy, and people come to the church, not for the pastor, but just to have this woman who's so close to God, just pray for them.

She fasts more than she eats

Application:

Attend or start a prayer meeting at church.

Commit to praying daily for specific needs in the congregation.

Ask: What would change if prayer became central to our church?

Exalting Jesus in Acts Devotion to Prayer (2:42d)

The believers prayed together corporately. They personally prayed without ceasing. They prayed in the temple, in homes, as they walked along the road, as they encountered the sick and afflicted, before they preached sermons, before they heard sermons, while they were being persecuted, in planned times of intense intercession over particular situations, as they offered thanks for their food, as they gave thanks to Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, as they praised God in song, and as they offered up petitions for the Father to meet daily needs.

All of this reminds us that a healthy church is a praying church. The early church had few earthly resources, but that didn’t keep them from shaking the world for Christ because they had heavenly resources. These they experienced through dependent prayer.

Conclusion

This was how I started out as a Believer

Talk about the Bible, then fellowship, then communion, then prayer

The Sermon Notebook: New Testament The Marks of a Growing Church (Acts 2:42–47)

As you’ve listened to this message, I trust that the Lord has pointed out areas where you need to make improvements in your own life. If so, I invite you to bring those needs to Jesus and let Him take care of them today.

May we all work on being a people devoted to the Word, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread and to prayer both corporately and indivdidually