In Sickness and in Health

Are we a relevant church? How do we know we if we are or are not relevant? What does a relevant church look like?

Intro

Acts 5:12-14

Relevant: appropriate to the current time, period, or circumstances; of contemporary interest.

Young man riding in a nice clean car with the windows down and the radio blaring.

Makes one feel relevant.

People want to feel relevant. Often a healthy church is determined healthy by it’s relevance.

Our relevancy is not determined by anything man made. It is determined by God.

This passage is an example. What is the purpose of the church and what makes the church relevant?

Drama

God is establishing and building the church through the work of the apostles

Many signs and wonders - shaking of a prison (4:27-31), silencing critics with the gospel (4:32-37), discerning those who lie to God (5:1-11).

Now they were healing people and even to the point of hoping for Peter’s shadow to fall on the sick

All of this was to convey the power of God over his creation and the work of Christ over Satan and his followers - Kingdom of Heaven seen by all

God is establishing a name for himself through his people

“held in high esteem”

Doctrine

What does this passage teach us about God?

The Resource for the church

God is the source of power for the church

He provides signs and wonders

He provides opportunities for the world to witness his power through his church

Signs and wonders:

NOT that the work of the apostles continued

Specific work for a specific time

God does still work miracles in the life of his people:

Elsbeth and the long wait

The Rescue of the church

God adds more believers (14)

He provides an avenue for faith and belief

He provides a way for people to be saved

RH plan of Jesus being applied to the people

He provides the faith for people to turn to him & become a part of the Kingdom - visible and invisible church

The Result of God’s work

People are healed

Physical healing - the means to an end

leads to spiritual healing - Luke’s emphasis is on the believers added NOT those healed

(16) “afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were healed.”

God is more than a cosmic genie healing people. Often when we pray we seek only relief in the physical. See it only as a means to an end. The physical healing comes when we are raised from the dead and our bodies are reunited to our souls.

“afflicted

Doxology

What makes a church relevant? How do we know God is using us here in Thomson GA? What is our purpose? How can we tell?

If I were to ask each one of you this question how many differing answers would we have?

What is the purpose of the church and how do we know we are on track with what God calls us to do?

A relevant church is one where God is the Resource:

We need to completely rely on God as the source of power in anything we do

PRAY for signs and wonders

In his book: Embers to a Flame, Harry Reeder says: that churches should set goals that are unattainable. In our eyes they seem so lofty that they are unreachable. He says you do this so that when God answers pray and the goals are reached that it can only be because God intervened.

A relevant church is one where there is an emphasis on the Rescue:

We see God rescuing people - saving the lost

We talk about and share the stories of How God rescued each of us

We are excited about the lost being rescued

A relevant church is one where we see the Result of God’s work:

We see God physically heal people

More than medical

Where people are working together to help those in need of emotional healing, psychological healing, etc . . .

We see God healing people spiritually

Families that are torn apart or restored

Lost are brought to life

broken people are made whole

As your pastor you need you need to know:

I Love the church of Jesus Christ.

I Love you.

I Love God.

I am asking you to join me in finding ways to be a relevant church. We need to understand we have little time. There needs to be an urgency about the work we do in this church. The lost have one day less to hear agin the gospel, to witness God’s faithfulness, to see the signs and wonders.

A relevant church is one in which God is rescuing people of all nations, tongues and tribes, and bringing them in to salvation.

If we want to be relevant we won’t seek crafty ways to sneak people into the church, but we will rely on God as the Resource, emphasize the Rescue of God, and see the Results of His work.

Professor and the hand on the shoulder. Little did he know the impact of what he did to save the life of a student.

God loves his church, in sickness and in health, and does amazing things through his children. How will God use you today? In what little action will God rescue the lost? In what way could he use us a broken group of misfits to restore the broken in our neighborhoods?

Will you join me in being a relevant church?