Keys To A Healthy Church

Introduction:

Acts 2:42–47 KJV 1900

42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Proposition: Every church has the opportunity and ability to grow like the church in Jerusalem.

Interrogative: As we look at the early church in Jerusalem we can see 3 keys that lead to their success: The first key is...

They were devoted to learning the teachings of Jesus

Acts 2:42–43 KJV 1900

42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

Explain: vs 42-43

Steadfast: firm in belief, determination, or adherence. Syn: Faithful

Steadfast: firm in belief, determination, or adherence. Syn: Faithful

Acts 2:42 KJV 1900

42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Steadfastly: firm in belief, determination or adherence. Synonym is FAITHFUL.

Proskarterountes- means to be devoted to

What were they devoted to?

The doctrine, didake’ or their teachings

fellowship- koinonia

breaking of bread- this is the Lord’s Supper

Prayer

So what can we learn?

The study of doctrine: We can see by their example why it is so important to take part in the worship service.

We can see why it’s important to be the church instead of just coming to church.

How can you grow, when you only occasionally come.

How can you grow if you only sometimes study your Bible.

Fellowship: How can we grow if your fellowship with others inside your church family is hindered by hurt feelings, grudges, or anything else that is a thorn in the side.

This word for fellowhip “Koinonia” means much more than gathering for cookies and punch, it means much more than a social club where we get together and tell stories and high five each other and tell each other how good we are. Authentic biblical fellowship means the mutual sharing of the life of Christ between His family members. Look around you are surrounded by family.

Partaking in the Lord’s Supper: Why would God allow you to grow if you never do what He asked?

He gave us two ordinances to observe: baptism and the Lord’s Supper

Every member of this church has been baptized

However, not every member of this church has partaken of the Supper

Why? Because it’s usually taken during the evening service? Is that too inconvenient?

Is it just not as important as being baptized?

Only you can answer that question.

Jesus said “do this in remembrance of me”. For the blood he shed for you, for the stripes he took for you.

You say God why aren’t you answering my prayers, He may be saying why aren’t you following my instructions.

Prayer: We need to be a church that prays for one another, not just in times of need but for everyday things that we all may grow closer to God, that we all may battle Satan together and that God will he the prayers of His church!

We as members of this church need to be devoted to learning and applying our doctrine, our fellowship with each other, being involved and praying for each other.

Transition: this wasn’t the only thing they were devoted to. This was just the first key in a healthy church. The second key to having a healthy church is...

They were devoted to the needs of others

Acts 2:44–46 KJV 1900

44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

Explain Vs 44-46

together- They were a true body of believers

they were caring for each other, nourishing each other

They were continuing daily with one accord (voice)

Can you imagine coming together everyday to worship God! No wonder there wasn’t division!

all things in common-

it was here that we see they became the answer to the Lord’s prayer in that they all may be one!

There was enough persecution outside the church, there wasn’t room for it inside.

Each person was focused on one thing…Jesus!

Because of their new found faith they had lost everything… jobs, some lost houses, some lost family members. They all found this in common and their faith was enough to overcome all the hardships that they faced. God was in it and he provided for His people.

sold their things- They sacrificed what they had. This was a sacrificial type of giving.

This is what a healthy church does. When there is a need to be met, it’s members meet that need.

It didn’t matter who it was for, scripture tells us they parted them to all men, because every man needed something.

When we devote ourselves to studying the Bible, we will see that this is what the church does. The hand caring for the foot, they eye looking out for the ear.

This was love, not law; compassion, not compulsion.

gave to others

This was true fellowship!

I ran into a lady that I hadn’t seen in a very long time. I asked her “how far along are you”? Her answer was “I’m not pregnant”. Very embarrassing! Here’s the point: Sometimes things look like they’re happening when really there’s not much going on. You can go to church and look the part. You can look spiritually pregnant, but inside there’s nothing going on. A Christian isn’t known by how well they act the part. They aren’t known by how loud they shout, or by how much they know, or how often they are seen carrying a Bible. They aren’t known by how much they say “hallelujah”, or “amen”, or “praise the Lord”. A Christian isn’t known by how much “Christian-ese” they know or how big their smile is. We know Christians by their faith in Jesus and because they love others.

Transition: When we see the first two keys, learning the doctrine, and meeting the needs of others, then we can see and understand the third key of a healthy church.

They were devoted to following Jesus’ example

Acts 2:47 KJV 1900

47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Explain vs 47

Everywhere in scripture we find Jesus praising God.

We never see him blaspheming, or cursing God. In fact the only time we see him question God is when he is on the cross and asked My God Why have you forsaken me!

Because they had devoted themselves to the teachings of the Apostles and learning the doctrines that Jesus had taught them, and because as we see in vs 43 they had a fear and reverence for God and what he had delivered them from, they praised God!

Not only were they lifting their voices together praising God, the word praise also means to glorify.

Their lives were a living testament to who God is and this was glorifying Him.

We notice the word favor in verse 47. They had peace with all people. The overwhelming theme we see in this passage is oneness!

The example that Jesus showed us while he was here on earth was: prasing God, coming together with Him as one, and coming together with his other children as one.

When we see a healthy church we see different, individual people coming together despite their differences to praise God and further spread the Gospel.

Conclusion: We have the example set before us on how to be a healthy church that grows. God blessed this church with numerical growth, but only after spiritual growth first. As we look at BMBC today, we have to ask ourselves a very serious question: Do we measure up? Are we doing what is necessary for God’s blessing? Is there strife and division or are we acting as one? Are we truly fellowshipping together or going through the motions? Are we coming together for prayer or praying for each other on a daily basis? Are we glorifying God with our worship or can it be better. You will have to answer these questions on a personal level today. I want to see God open the heavens and pour out His blessing on this church, but before He will we have to get right with Him first.

I want to challenge you today to look deep within yourself and ask the question: Am I the church member that I need to be. Ask God to reveal His answer to you today.