Sermon Tone Analysis

I can remember it like it was yesterday.

I was playing with Corliss Williamson.

Now for those of you who do not know who Corliss Williamson is he may be one of the most famous people in Arkansas, right below Bill Clinton.

You see in Arkansas there are no professional sports teams so the Hogs are the pro teams.

In the 90’s Williamson who is known as the big nasty is a legend after leading the hogs to a title in the 90’s.

Then he went on to have a successful NBA career.

By the time I met him he was coaching the University of Central Arkansas.

I was about 8 years removed from playing but he let me come in and play with the team and Corliss was on my team.

We are on defense and this player comes down and just has a spectacular dunk.

You see up to this point Coach Corliss, the Big Nasty, is kind of taking it easy.

But after this dunk it was like a switch went off and he comes down backs up to the goal and dunks on three players.

You see in this game Corliss was an unstoppable force.

As unstoppable as Corliss was that day the Church of Jesus Christ is an unstoppable.

As a matter of fact, in -Jesus says the gates of hell cannot stop it.

In this book, we see thousands place their faith in Jesus Christ, we will see Gentiles come to faith in Christ, we will see the Roman empire have the gospel go through the whole known world at the time.

Would you not want to be a part of that?

Well the great news is you can.

The reality is that most people do not think of the church as being an unstoppable force.

Many of us look at it as something we have to do to check off our checklist.

If we are honest many churches look just like the world.

Churches are dying quickly: maybe you know of a dead church or have been a part of a dead church.

In the book of Acts this unstoppable force called the church begins Today we are going to see what ingredients were involved that took the church from being nothing to a force that could not be stopped.

These ingredients are the same ingredients that God wants us to have in our church today.

1. 1:12-14-A great Church must be rooted in prayer.

12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile.

13 When they arrived, they went to the upstairs room of the house where they were staying.

Here are the names of those who were present: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the zealot), and Judas (son of James).

14 They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.

Explanation

A couple of notes the resurrection of Jesus led to his brothers coming to faith in Christ.

A couple of notes the resurrection of Jesus led to his brothers coming to faith in Christ.

3/4th of a mile walk.

Probably the roof of a big roof

Prayer is not part of the ministry it is the ministry.

(Find this quote)

But what I have seen in most churches is prayer is secondary.

We will invest in the service, in the building projects, in food and many other things and they are good thing.

But they are not better than prayer.

If we want to be an unstoppable force we have to prioritize prayer.

Prayer was a hallmark of the early church

1:24- 24 Then they all prayed, “O Lord, you know every heart.

Show us which of these men you have chosen 25

2:42- 42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

- Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. 2

3:1- Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. 2

4:24- 24 When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—25

- 24 When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—25

6:6- 6 These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them.

Illustration=Layman’s prayer revival

Illustration=Layman’s prayer revival

The first startling feature was the dominance of lay leadership and the absence of the famous itinerant evangelists of previous eras.

Even Charles G. Finney confessed that the revival put him in the shadows.

A second feature was the almost universal lack of emotional excesses that so deeply characterized the Second Great Awakening and Finney’s era of revival technology.

No cases of emotional convulsions were reported in the Layman’s Prayer Revival.

Third was the use of large prayer meetings in the major cities, with hundreds of businessmen desiring to pray.

A fourth feature was the mobilization of laity for house-to-house visitation and tract distribution.

While intense revival became evident in New York City, it was preceded by the visitation of every home by the church.

A fifth characteristic was the intensity of the revival.

Though the revival began in the large metropolitan areas, it penetrated the smallest hamlet throughout the countryside.

And sixth, the impact of the revival was not limited to the United States but became a worldwide event, as reports from America occasioned deep stirrings in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, and beyond.

The influence of the revival circled the globe.[1]

The first startling feature was the dominance of lay leadership and the absence of the famous itinerant evangelists of previous eras.

Even Charles G. Finney confessed that the revival put him in the shadows.

A second feature was the almost universal lack of emotional excesses that so deeply characterized the Second Great Awakening and Finney’s era of revival technology.

No cases of emotional convulsions were reported in the Layman’s Prayer Revival.

Third was the use of large prayer meetings in the major cities, with hundreds of businessmen desiring to pray.

A fourth feature was the mobilization of laity for house-to-house visitation and tract distribution.

While intense revival became evident in New York City, it was preceded by the visitation of every home by the church.

A fifth characteristic was the intensity of the revival.

Though the revival began in the large metropolitan areas, it penetrated the smallest hamlet throughout the countryside.

And sixth, the impact of the revival was not limited to the United States but became a worldwide event, as reports from America occasioned deep stirrings in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, and beyond.

The influence of the revival circled the globe.

Must have been more prayer than several hours a day or else the author would not have mentioned

Did the disciples want another witness so they would be ready for the kingdom or so they could be witnesses

Divine promises should stimulate prayer, not lead to abandonment of it.[2]

“Brethren” is literally “disciples” (Gr.

matheton).

The group of 120 that Peter addressed on this occasion (cf.

vv.

13–14) was only a segment of the believers living in Jerusalem at this time (cf.

, which refers to more than 500 brethren).

Nonetheless this was a tiny group from which the church grew.

God can take a small number of people, multiply them, and eventually fill the earth with their witness.[3]

2. A great Church must be centered in scripture

15 During this time, when about 120 believers were together in one place, Peter stood up and addressed them.

16 “Brothers,” he said, “the Scriptures had to be fulfilled concerning Judas, who guided those who arrested Jesus.

This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit, speaking through King David.

17 Judas was one of us and shared in the ministry with us.”

18 (Judas had bought a field with the money he received for his treachery.

Falling headfirst there, his body split open, spilling out all his intestines.

19 The news of his death spread to all the people of Jerusalem, and they gave the place the Aramaic name Akeldama, which means “Field of Blood.”)

20 Peter continued, “This was written in the book of Psalms, where it says, ‘Let his home become desolate, with no one living in it.’

It also says, ‘Let someone else take his position.’

The number is also significant.

In rabbinic tradition 120 was the minimum requirement for constituting a local Sanhedrin.[4]

Jesus started small and it multiplied big

Peter said this Scripture “had” (Gr.

dei, by divine necessity) to be fulfilled.

“The understanding [of Peter] here is . . .

(1) that God is doing something necessarily involved in his divine plan; (2) that the disciples’ lack of comprehension of God’s plan is profound, especially with respect to Judas who ‘was one of our number and shared in this ministry’ yet also ‘served as guide for those who arrested Jesus’; and (3) that an explicit way of understanding what has been going on under divine direction is through a Christian understanding of two psalms that speak of false companions and wicked men generally, and which by means of the then widely common exegetical rule qal wahomer (‘light to heavy,’ or a minore ad majorem) can also be applied to the false disciple and wicked man par excellence, Judas Iscariot.”[5]