EXPECTANCY

THE PARAMETERS OF CHURCH HEALTH

SERMON 3

THE PARAMETER OF ANTICIPATION

ETS – THE EARLY CHURCH ANTICIPATED THE ACTIVITY OF GOD BECAUSE THEY HAD WITNESSED THE ACTIVITY OF JESUS.

ESS – BELIEVERS SHOULD ANTICIPATE THE ACTIVITY OF GOD, BASED ON THEIR EXPERIENCE OF THE ACTIVITY OF JESUS.

OSS – TO CONVINCE BELIEVERS TO ANTICIPATE THE ACTIVITY OF GOD AND TO PRAY EXPECTANTLY FOR THE ACTIVITY OF GOD.

PQ – ARE WE TRULY LIVING IN ANTICIPATION OF THE ACTIVITY OF GOD IN OUR LIVES/CHURCH/FAMILIES/SITUATIONS?

UW – ANTICIPATE/EXPECT

INTRODUCTION:

WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING THIS MORNING?

WHEN YOU WOKE UP THIS LORD’S DAY, WERE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO WORSHIPPING IN THE VERY PRESENCE OF GOD, OR DID YOU COME OUT OF OBLIGATION, REALLY EXPECTING NOTHING?

ONE OF THE THINGS I THINK WE MISS SOMETIMES IS THAT WE ARE PART OF THE CONTINUING ACTIVITY OF CHRIST…

THE STORY OF JESUS LED TO JERUSALEM…

THE STORY OF THE CHURCH LEADS FROM JERUSALEM…

AND SO THIS MORNING, AS WE CONTINUE OUR SERIES ON THE PARAMETERS OF CHURCH HEALTH, I WANT US TO THINK ABOUT LIVING WITH AN ATTITUDE OF EXPECTANCY AND ANTICIPATION…

SO TAKE YOUR BIBLE, WHETHER IT IS IN PRINTED FORM OR ELECTRONIC FORM, AND OPEN WITH ME TO THE BOOK OF ACTS, CHAPTER 1…

I WANT US TO READ VERSES 1 THROUGH 14 THIS MORNING AS WE LOOK INTO THIS ISSUE OF LIVING WITH ANTICIPATION AND EXPECTANCY…

STAND – READ – PRAY

THE KINGDOM, ALWAYS WITH THE MEANING OF GOD’S REIGN OR RULE, HAD BEEN THE MAIN SUBJECT OF JESUS’ TEACHING.

AND IF WE ARE NOT ABOUT THE KINGDOM, OR IF WE ARE CONCERNED WITH OUR OWN KINGDOMS, WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE WRONG THINGS…

WE ARE CALLED TO BE KINGDOM-MINDED, KINGDOM-FOCUSED PEOPLE…

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS TO ALWAYS BE IN VIEW, NO MATTER WHAT IT IS WE ARE DOING…

AND I WOULD SUGGEST THIS MORNING, THAT IF WE WERE MORE KINGDOM-MINDED, WE WOULD LIVE WITH A GREATER SENSE OF ANTICIPATION…

EXPECTING CHRIST TO MOVE, RATHER THAN BEING SURPRISED WHEN HE DOES…

SO HOW DO WE LIVE WITH ANTICIPATION?

HOW CAN WE HAVE AN ATTITUDE OF EXPECTANCY?

THAT IS, ANTICIPATING THE MOVEMENT OF GOD IN OUR LIVES, OUR FAMILIES, OUR SITUATIONS, OUR CHURCH?

WELL, LET ME POINT OUT FOR THINGS THAT I HOPE WILL HELP US UNDERSTAND BETTER HOW TO LIVE IN ANTICIPATION OF THE ACTIVITY OF GOD...

1. WE CAN ANTICIPATE THE CONTINUED ACTIVITY OF CHRIST AS WE REMEMBER THE PAST ACTIVITY OF CHRIST.

a. (ESV) – 1 IN THE FIRST BOOK, O THEOPHILUS, I HAVE DEALT WITH ALL THAT JESUS BEGAN TO DO AND TEACH, 2 UNTIL THE DAY WHEN HE WAS TAKEN UP, AFTER HE HAD GIVEN COMMANDS THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT TO THE APOSTLES WHOM HE HAD CHOSEN. 3 HE PRESENTED HIMSELF ALIVE TO THEM AFTER HIS SUFFERING BY MANY PROOFS, APPEARING TO THEM DURING FORTY DAYS AND SPEAKING ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

b. THE BOOK WE ARE READING FROM IS TITLED “THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES”

c. AND IT CONTAINS NOT SIMPLY AN ACCOUNT OF WHAT THE APOSTLES AND FOLLOWERS OF JESUS DID, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHAT JESUS DID THROUGH THEM…

d. IT IS A DIGEST OF THE REASONS WE CAN LIVE EXPECTANTLY AND IN ANTICIPATION OF CHRIST WORKING IN AND THROUGH US…

e. ONE SCHOLAR HAS SUGGESTED THAT A BETTER TITLE FOR THE BOOK OF ACTS WOULD BE, “THE CONTINUING WORK OF JESUS CHRIST THROUGH HIS FOLLOWERS…”

f. BECAUSE IT IS ABOUT HOW THE LORD MOVED PEOPLE AND USED SITUATIONS FOR HIS GLORY AS HIS FOLLOWERS WERE SCATTERED ACROSS THE WORLD…

g. MANY SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT IT IS POSSIBLE THAT LUKE WAS COMMISSIONED BY THEOPHILUS TO WRITE AN ACCOUNT OF THE CONTINUING ACTIVITY OF JESUS…

h. SO AS WE READ THE GOSPELS, AND SEE ALL THAT JESUS DID DURING HIS TIME IN THE FLESH…

i. AND WHEN WE READ THE BOOK OF ACTS, AND SEE THE CONTINUED ACTIVITY OF JESUS IN THE LIVES OF BELIEVERS…

j. AND THEN, WHEN WE SPEAK OF AND SPEAK TO OTHER BELIEVERS WHO CAN RECOUNT THE ACTIVITY OF JESUS IN THEIR LIVES…

k. WE ARE ENCOURAGED TO ANTICIPATE THE CONTINUED ACTIVITY OF JESUS IN OUR OWN LIVES…

l. HERE IN VERSES 1 THROUGH 3, LUKE MAKES REFERENCE TO ALL THAT JESUS BEGAN TO DO AND TEACH…

m.UNTIL THE DAY OF HIS ASCENSION…

n. WE CAN LIVE WITH EXPECTANCY BECAUSE WE CAN UNDERSTAND SOME THINGS ABOUT THE ACTIVITY OF JESUS…

2. WE CAN ALSO ANTICIPATE THE ACTIVITY OF CHRIST BY OBEYING HIS INSTRUCTIONS.

a. JESUS PROMISED THE DISCIPLES TWO THINGS: POWER AND WITNESS.

b. BUT THE PROMISE CAME WITH INSTRUCTIONS…

i. THE INSTRUCTIONS WERE:

1. TO STAY IN JERUSALEM…

2. TO WAIT FOR THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT…

c. THE TIME BEFORE PENTECOST WAS A TIME FOR WAITING, A TIME SPENT IN PRAYER…

d. PRAYING FOR THE PROMISED SPIRIT AND FOR THE POWER TO WITNESS.

e. THE TRUTH IS THAT THERE IS NO WAY THAT WE CAN BE EFFECTIVE WITNESSES WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT…

f. AND THE ONLY WAY TO SPIRITUAL EMPOWERMENT IS TO CONTINUE IN PRAYER.

g. PRAYER LEADS TO OBEDIENCE, AND OBEDIENCE LEADS TO THE ACTIVITY OF CHRIST IN OUR LIVES…

h. AND SO IF WE WANT TO LIVE EXPECTANTLY, WE MUST BE PEOPLE OF PRAYER…

3. WE CAN ANTICIPATE THE ACTIVITY OF CHRIST AS WE ACTIVELY PURSUE HIS PURPOSE FOR OUR LIVES AND FOR THE CHURCH.

a. JESUS EXPLAINED WHAT WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN TO THESE FOLLOWERS IN ACTS CHAPTER 1, VERSE 8.

b. AND THIS VERSE IS ONE OF THE FOUNDATIONAL DESCRIPTIVE VERSES FOR THE MISSION AND PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH…

c. HE TELLS THEM IN THIS VERSE THAT THEY WILL BE WITNESSES FOR HIM, IN JERUSALEM, JUDEA, SAMARIA, AND THE FARTHEST REACHES OF THE EARTH.

d. THIS IS ONE OF THE FOUNDATIONAL PURPOSES OF THE CHURCH…

e. THERE SHOULD BE NO PLACE WE ARE UNWILLING TO GO TO DELIVER THE GOSPEL MESSAGE…

f. AND WHEN WE UNDERSTAND OUR MISSION, AND EMBRACE OUR PURPOSE, WE CAN THEN EXPECT CHRIST TO BE ACTIVE THROUGH US…

g. AND THEN HERE’S A FINAL THING YOU NEED TO SEE…

4. AN ATTITUDE OF EXPECTANCY WILL BE REWARDED…

a. IF WE EXPECT GOD TO DO SOMETHING, AND WHAT WE EXPECT IS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF HIS WILL, WE WILL NEVER BE DISAPPOINTED BY THE INACTIVITY OF GOD…

b. NOW WE HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL AND MAKE SURE THAT WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR IS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF GOD’S WILL…

c. TOO OFTEN, WE SEE PEOPLE GETTING CAUGHT UP IN MAN-MADE AND MAN-CENTERED ACTIVITIES…

d. BUT WHEN WE TRULY SEEK THE WILL OF GOD, AND WHEN WE TRULY COMMIT OURSELVES TO FOLLOW HIS WILL, NO MATTER THE COST OR THE DIFFICULTY…

e. GOD WILL MOVE, AND HE WILL BE GLORIFIED…

f. HOW DO I KNOW?

g. BECAUSE IT IS RECORDED HERE IN ACTS, CHAPTER 2…

h. REMEMBER THE PROMISE OF JESUS?

i. REMAIN IN JERUSALEM, AND YOU WILL RECEIVE TWO THINGS…

ii. YOU WILL RECEIVE THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT…

iii. AND YOU WILL RECEIVE THE ABILITY TO BE MY WITNESSES…

i. ACTS, CHAPTER 2 RECORDS THE EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE AT THE DAY OF PENTECOST, WHEN THE PROMISE OF JESUS WAS REALIZED…

i. AND WHAT HAPPENED?

1. PEOPLE FROM ALL NATIONS WERE GATHERED THERE FOR THE CELEBRATION…

2. AND THE SOUND OF THE ARRIVAL OF THE SPIRIT DREW THEM TO THE PLACE WHERE THE APOSTLES WERE…

3. THEN PETER STOOD AND DELIVERED THE GOSPEL MESSAGE TO THEM, AND THEY BEGAN TO ASK WHAT THEY COULD DO TO BE SAVED FROM THE “CROOKED GENERATION” THEY WERE SURROUNDED BY…

ii. AND THE RESULT OF THE EXPECTANT FAITHFULNESS OF THOSE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS WAS THAT THE EARLY CHURCH WAS BIRTHED ON THAT DAY.

iii. – SO THOSE WHO RECEIVED HIS WORD WERE BAPTIZED, AND THERE WERE ADDED THAT DAY ABOUT THREE THOUSAND SOULS.

j. I’M TELLING YOU, FOLKS, IF WE COULD JUST CATCH A GLIMPSE OF WHAT IT IS THAT GOD WANTS TO DO THROUGH US, AND THEN COME BEFORE HIM WITH AN ATTITUDE OF EXPECTANCY AND ANTICIPATION…

k. THERE IS NO LIMIT TO HOW GOD COULD USE US FOR HIS GLORY…

l. BECAUSE AN ATTITUDE OF EXPECTANCY, WHEN RIGHTLY ESTABLISHED, WILL BE REWARDED…

CONCLUSION:

ETS – THE EARLY CHURCH ANTICIPATED THE ACTIVITY OF GOD BECAUSE THEY HAD WITNESSED THE ACTIVITY OF JESUS.

ESS – BELIEVERS SHOULD ANTICIPATE THE ACTIVITY OF GOD, BASED ON THEIR EXPERIENCE OF THE ACTIVITY OF JESUS.

OSS – TO CONVINCE BELIEVERS TO ANTICIPATE THE ACTIVITY OF GOD AND TO PRAY EXPECTANTLY FOR THE ACTIVITY OF GOD.

PQ – ARE WE TRULY LIVING IN ANTICIPATION OF THE ACTIVITY OF GOD IN OUR LIVES/CHURCH/FAMILIES/SITUATIONS?

UW – ANTICIPATE/EXPECT