The Church Jesus Envisioned

Acts 1:1–11 NASB95

1 The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. 3 To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. 4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” 9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11 They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

INTRO: How do you describe church to someone who has never been? Have you thought about that? Maybe you’ve invited people to come to church, but what if they have no idea what church is?

They may have heard some things and assumed some things. But the chances are that their understanding of church is not exactly accurate.

In some ways, the book of Acts is a letter intending to describe the church of the New Testament. And not only that, but to tell of how God used ordinary people to turn the world upside down for His Kingdom. The insights from this NT church lead us to an exciting question: What if God chose to do that kind of transformative work through us? What if God wants to use LRBC to bring hope and redemption through the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Well, I believe that’s exactly what God wants to do. Over the past 6 weeks, we’ve taken time to articulate how we can go about becoming mature followers of Christ who are making disciples and fulfilling the Great Commission as we walk the Discipleship Trail. Today, we begin to look at glimpses of the NT church that will hopefully help us to rethink our expectation of church.

Over the course of the next several weeks, we will look at different aspects of the church in its infancy that mirror in some ways our trail markers. Ultimately, I believe we will have the opportunity to assess our mission, develop new dreams, and even how we describe church to our friends and neighbors.

It began with Jesus- his death, burial, and resurrection. But in the first chapter of Acts, we must note that Jesus’ followers saw the resurrected Christ, but at this point they had not received the Holy Spirit. So, even the apostles didn’t really know how to describe the church that Jesus envisioned. But as we will see, Jesus paints a picture of the church that is absolutely inspiring.

Do you want LRBC to become a church that changes the world? I do. Let’s lean in together this morning and pray that God will open our eyes and hearts to His desire for His church.

The message is titled, The Church Jesus Envisioned. I’ve included a handy sermon guide in your bulletin for you to follow along as we learn God’s Word.

The church Jesus envisioned is first:

A Church of Power (4-5, 8a)

(READ)

Christ called them together and told them that their mission would begin when they had received the Holy Spirit. They were not just getting a taste of the Holy Spirit or a piece of the Holy Spirit, they were getting baptized in the Holy Spirit- immersed in Him, filled with His power.

You see, Jesus never intended the church to be weak or frail. He didn’t call the church to sit on the sidelines and stay out of the way. No, he called his church to be strong, bold, and active. Paul said that the same Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in the lives of Christ-followers! (Rom 8:11) That’s POWER!

Jesus told Peter that the gates of hell would not prevail over His church! (Matt. 16:18) That’s POWER!

And you might ask, “Well, pastor, was the NT church filled with power?”

Boy Howdy! If you skim forward into Acts 2, you see the Holy Spirit came upon them and they went out into the streets where all the Jews were because they were celebrating a festival, and they began to boldly declare the Gospel of Jesus. And let me just tell you, thousands of folks came to repent and believe! That’s power!

ILL: Just like a lamp needs a power source to illuminate a room, the church needs to be plugged in to the Holy Spirit so that we can be a powerful force in our community.

Let me tell you a secret: If you have repented and believed in Jesus, then God has given you that same Holy Spirit power! As believers, we share in that same Spirit baptism through faith in Christ — the Spirit who empowers us for witness.

But maybe this morning, you have believed that the Holy Spirit doesn’t work like it used to. Maybe you’ve seen too many so-called faith-healing preachers or scam artists out there and the Holy Spirit is just too dangerous of a topic for you to explore.

Well, folks let me just tell you, if we want to see a move of God in this valley, then it will only be because the Holy Spirit of God is making the weak mighty, the timid bold, and impossible possible! Look here, our lost neighbors cannot be saved apart from the POWER of the Holy Spirit! You and I cannot be effective apart from the Holy Spirit!

And so, like the disciples of Christ gathered together, we must devote ourselves to prayer (14). We must plead for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit in our lives. For some of you here, this sounds a bit scary- or maybe even strange. But for me, the scary thing and the weird thing is to attempt to follow Christ in our own power. To attempt to do church in our own strength and understanding.

Jesus said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” And the Holy Spirit is the Helper whom Jesus sent to give POWER to His church so that we can impact our world. When Jesus cast the vision for His church, He intended it to be a Church of Power. Let me ask you, are we connected to the power source?

But Jesus didn’t just give His followers strength — He gave them a mission. Jesus’ vision of the church is also:

A Church of Purpose (6-7, 8b)

(READ 6-7)

There is an obvious contrast that I want to point out: The disciples were thinking about the kingdom of man (6), but Jesus was preaching the Kingdom of God.(3b) And that contrast helps us understand the purpose or mission that Jesus lays out in the second half of v. 8. (READ)

Jesus commanded them: “You shall be My witnesses...” IOW, they were the testimony of Jesus’ mission. They were, through the power of the Holy Spirit, living proclamations of the gospel. The word ‘witnesses’ has the same root word ‘martus’ that we get the word martyr from.

The picture that we need to see is that the church Jesus envisioned would be one that fully embodied the gospel. The disciples literally counted the cost, determined that everything this life offered was worth giving up to follow Jesus. Their purpose, their reason for existing was to proclaim Christ.

The apostle Paul said it this way, (1 Corinthians 2:2) “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

ILL: If you are called to be a witness in the court room, you are not being asked to make up something or add details to give the story flair. You aren’t there to argue with the lawyers or anything like that. No, you tell what you know. You are a witness.

The church was not intended to be a place that offers goods and services for the comfort of those who attend. Look, there are practical or pragmatic things we do to accomplish the purpose, but folks we must understand that we have a purpose! We are Jesus’ witnesses.

The purpose of our church is greater than a meeting; greater than programs and traditions. Jesus envisioned a church that would be focused upon becoming and multiplying mature disciples of Jesus Christ.

And look here- we are not simply witnesses while we are in this building! Jesus told the disciples to go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the remotest parts of the world as witnesses of Christ. This is who we are- we are witnesses as we work, as we shop, as we take our kids to the park, etc.

And let me just say this: Our purpose should be exciting to us. So many people see being a witness of Christ as an obligation and might even be averse to any idea of sharing the gospel. But our witness isn’t simply a presentation or sales pitch- we are reflecting the person of Jesus Christ to everyone we encounter.

We are the light of the world, Jesus said (Mat. 5). And so our purpose is to shine the light of Jesus Christ- to produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit for others to enjoy and to proclaim truth in love so they can experience the life-changing power of Christ!

Church, are we bearing witness where God has placed us? If we want to be the church Jesus envisioned, we must be a church of Holy-Spirit Power, focused upon the intended purpose of Christ. But finally, the church Jesus envisioned is a:

A Church of Promise (9-11)

(READ)

Church, Jesus is coming back. And when He does, He will make all things new. The promise of Christ is eternal blessing for His followers, and judgment for those who have not surrendered to His Lordship.

But, like Jesus disciples, the church is not intended to simply stare at the sky. We have work to do. Now, because we do not know the day or hour of Christ’s return, the church of promise acts with an urgent persistence.

In Matthew 24, Jesus warns that His return will be like the flood in Noah’s day- where the whole world lacks understanding, and thus like Noah the church of Promise heralds the good news, knowing the weightiness of God’s just judgement that awaits sinners.

Additionally, Jesus tells his followers that the church of promise cannot become lazy or irresponsible, for when He returns, we will give an account for our stewardship and obedience.

And although we do not know the timing of His return, He has promised to return and that the signs of his return would be evident. Let me read a short passage from

Matthew 24:6–14 NASB95

6 “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. 9 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 13 “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14 “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

The NT church lived with this urgency. When Paul preached, he pleaded that men would repent! He is said to have gladly been thought a fool for the gospel, so that some may be saved! They gave of their finances and resources freely because they weren’t trying to store up treasures that moths and rust would destroy, but rather laid up treasures in heaven!

Do you believe Jesus’ promise to return? Are we living today like He could return tomorrow?

The church of promise is one that operates with urgency and sacrifice. The church of purpose operates in gospel alignment- keeping Christ central, and the church of power operates in the power of the Holy Spirit.

That is the church that Jesus envisioned… not just in the New Testament days, but I believe that’s the church Jesus intends for LRBC to be today.

There are a lot of churches that want to be comfortable. They want programs to cater to their desires and pastors that dare not press for change nor call for commitment.

But as for this church and this pastor, let it be that God ignite our passions, empower our spirits, and enable us to become the church Jesus Christ envisioned.

Would you ask God today to make you part of the church He envisioned — a church of power, purpose, and promise? The same Spirit that began the work in Acts still longs to work through us.

[PRAY]

Discuss: How would you describe “church” to someone who has never attended? What common misunderstandings about church do you think exist today?

Discuss: Why do you think many Christians struggle to depend on the Holy Spirit instead of their own strength?

Discuss: How can we keep our focus on Christ’s mission rather than just maintaining church programs or traditions?

Discuss: How does the promise of Jesus’ return shape the way we live and serve today?