Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Good Morning CrossPointe
Excited to continue on our series in the Book of Acts.
Today we will be in Acts chapter 6.
Next week Justin Serra and his family will be with us.
Justin was our Student Pastor for several years and left in June to begin a Lead Pastor residency in Kansas City.
Excited to have him share with us next week.
Prayer
Read
Big Idea: The early church experienced a conflict that was resolved as the church worked together to share leadership as the gospel continued to be proclaimed.
3 Points:
1) Church in Conflict
2) Church in Partnership
3) Church on Mission Again
Church is Gowing
“In these days when the disciples were increasing in number...”
Church is healthy and growing.
It’s not perfect, as we saw with Ananias and Sapphira, but it’s healthy
Church Conflict
God is moving, people are coming to Jesus, signs and wonders and being performed, people are gathering in homes, others are financially generous.
Isn’t this the kind of church you would want to join?
We see things from the outside
Great teachers, popular, known
Fastest growing church in the city (only church…)
The church is about one year old at this point
Unity in the church though is delicate.
The church is about one or two years old at this point based on some timelines I researched.
The honeymoon phase is over and we see that unity is delicate.
- They’ve reach nearly 10,000 people
When you get a lot of people from different backgrounds close together and sharing life together there will be issues.
Sometimes we have an unrealistic expectation in churches that there will never be problems but this isn’t true.
Even in the best of churches where the Apostles are leading, where the spirit is moving, where people are coming to Christ in massive numbers
Even here - there are complaints and divisions
Why is this Important to understand?
Americans shop churches like we shop for churches like we shop for cars.
Denomination is brand - we’re loyal to certain makes (Toyota and Honda are reliable like Acts 29 and Gospel Coalition, these don’t have the same quality but they have a long history)
Get the right size, compact, sedan, crossover, SUV - mega-church, family -church, house-church.
Pick the interior your want - permanent facility, nice chairs, lights, - the leather seats and premium sound system or OK with the basic options of school cafeteria benches and tile floors.
Church is so much more than a car or something we consume or shop around.
Church is family.
Can you imagine talking about your wife or kids this way?
My wife is getting kind of old.
I’ve had her now for 22 years.
I like kids but mine are teenagers now.
Sometimes the whine in morning but can run all night.
NO!
I love my wife and kids.
They are amazing and we don’t shop around for a family.
Big Idea: The early church experienced conflicted that was resolved together so that disciples continued to be multiple
3 Points:
1) Church in Conflict
2) Church in Partnership
3) Church on Mission Again
Church in Conflict
“A complaint… arose”
“a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.”
Who & What: Two Groups
Hellenists -
Greek speaking Jews.
They didn’t speak Hebrew because they lived overseas for centuries but returned to Jerusalem because it was their Holy City.
Many returned just so they could spend their final days of life in Jerusalem.
As a result there was an abundance of Greek-Speaking women who outlived their husbands.
Many people resented and discriminated against the hellenistic Jews.
The Pharisees help them in contempt, considering them second class Israelites.
Hebrews -
Hebrew speaking Jews who lived their whole lives in Israel.
They belonged.
They were there first.
The problem - Discrimintaion
Realistically they hadn’t been there much longer than 450 years since the Jews lived in captivity but that is quickly forgotten
So what was happening
Prejudice & Racism
Our widows aren’t being cared for like their widows.
Us and Them - Not the body of Christ being the body.
Not we are all the same at the foot of the cross.
They sound different.
They are different.
They aren’t like us.
Conversion did not erase prejudice
Can I help us see the obvious here:
Does prejudice and racisim still exist in the church today?
If someone speaks a different language?
Looks different or has a different culture.
In the past, church isolated and separated out blacks.
I remember while in Bible College we had an older gentlemen from the civil rights movement come and share in chapel and he said some things that were lacking in theological accuracy.
The class was talking when my biblical theology professor walked in.
He was African American and
If people come in from another country - are they full Americans or partial Americans.
Yes!
The American church has a sad history.
Blacks weren’t allowed in some churches or seen as full and equal members.
Blacks weren’t allowed in most seminaries for theological education.
There was one school on Oberlin, Ohio but it wasn’t until less than 70 years ago that that other institutions were open to blacks.
Even in moving from Lake Nona to here I heard a couple say they were not comfortable making the move if they were the dominant demographic.
Church in Conflict Explained
The description of conflict in this passage is prejudice and racism.
I think we can relate to that in application
I also want to acknowledge that there are other reasons people complain.
Some complaints are helpful and some are not.
Some complaints hold weight while others don’t.
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