Sermon Tone Analysis

This morning we are picking back up in our study of the Book of Acts.

If you’re new to our church it would be good for you to know that we practice a form of preaching called “Expository Preaching”.

What that means is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible and then studying them from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, in order to understand what the Bible means in our lives to do.

With that said, we are currently doing that through the book of Acts:

A book of the Bible that details the beginning days of the church.

A book of the Bible that introduces the primary mission of the church.

A mission to reach the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

A book of the Bible that introduces us to the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

The empowerment that will enable the church to accomplish its mission.

A book of the Bible that teaches us how to function in the power of the Holy Spirit.

A book of the Bible that has the power and potential to transform and realign the direction of any church that is willing to embrace it.

A book fo the Bible that is already transforming and changing our church.

And I know this to be true because we are beginning to experience the affects of this study here at Marysville Christian Fellowship.

We’re experiencing it on Wednesday nights as nearly 100 people have been coming to the prayer meeting asking the Lord to empower them for ministry.

To be honest, when I left church last week, I’ve never left church so

We saw it last Sunday morning as 35 people boldly proclaimed, “We’re all in” and were water baptized.

We’re seeing it throughout the week as people share the Gospel in their workplaces and throughout the community and as more and more people are hearing the good news of the Gospel and putting their faith in Jesus.

Listen church I’m telling you right now, we are in the midst of a move of God.

The book of Acts is happening at Marysville Christian Fellowship.

The Holy Spirit is being poured out and God is at work!

Listen, I have to be honest with you, I didn’t want to leave church last week.

It was beyond amazing to watch lives literally being transformed right in front of us.

To watch as the Holy Spirit went to work drawing people to Jesus.

We got to be a part of that!

Church, the book of Acts happened right in front of us last week.

The Holy Spirit is being poured out and God is at work!

What a privilege we all have to be in a place where God is working in such a tangible way.

I’m just telling you right now, this doesn’t happen in every church.

And when I say that, I’m not saying that we are something special or that we’re better than other churches.

Not saying that all.

But what I am saying is, when a church or a group of people decides to be “all in”, this is what happens.

When a church says, “Jesus, We’re all in!” God responds and says, “Ok, let’s go.

Let’s get to work as He pours His Spirit and people start getting saved and baptized.

“

And MCF, that’s what we did last week.

That’s what we’ve been doing at the prayer meetings.

That’s what we’ve been doing as we started this series.

We’ve come to a place as a church where we’ve said we’re either all in or we’re not.

And for a church that wants to be all in, God says, “Ok, let’s go.

Let’s get to work as he pours his Spirit on those people.”

All that to say, last week was off the charts and was the catalyst for what I believe God wants to do in and through our church.

I believe the best days of our church are still to come!

And I pray that you believe that as well.

The question then is, “Where do we go from here?”

In other words, how do we keep last week alive?

How do we keep moving forward in this direction?

How do we encourage those who got baptized to keep moving forward?

What are our next steps?

That’s a great question.

And the good news this morning is, God’s Word tells us.

Because as the first disciples came off the initial high of the outpouring of the Spirit.

As they celebrated the 3000 people who came to faith and were baptized, they took some crucial next steps that we need to take as well.

And really they weren’t next steps as much as they were practices.

And when I say practices, I’m talking about the ongoing commitments or disciplines that are necessary to maintain a certain direction or momentum in your life.

So, to help us understand what I mean by practices, let me put it in terms we can maybe all identify with by giving you a couple of scenerios.

Let me explain what I mean like this.

For example, think of it in terms of an NFL football team who has just won the Super Bowl.

That’s an exciting moment, right?

And I know that’s hard to imagine for those of you that are Chiefs fans, since that hasn’t happened since 1970, but trust me, it’s an exciting moment.

A moment of joy, happiness, and celebration.

Think for a moment how you felt when your favorite football team won the Super bowl.

And I know that’s hard to imagine for those of you that are Chiefs fans, since that hasn’t happened since 1970.

So for you, just imagine what a super bowl win might feel like.

That’s an exciting moment, right?

A moment of joy, happiness, and celebration.

So, let me ask you this, “After the Super Bowl win, how does that team keep moving forward?

How do they move from the Super Bowl win to hopefully another Super Bowl win sometime in the future?”

They do it by continuing to practice, right?

Yeah, they’ve won Super Bowl, but they keep doing what it takes to win again.

So, what do they do?

Well, they keep up their conditioning by going to the gym in order to stay in shape.

They keep showing up for practice as they run practice plays and fine tune their skills .

They keep watching game film so they can better anticipate the opposing team.

They keep showing up for practice and run practice plays in order to fine tune their skills .

Or think about a moment when you experienced a huge win in your life.

Maybe it was a promotion at work.

Maybe it was your high school or college graduation.

A moment where you couldn’t get the smile of satisfaction off your face.

They continue to institute practices into their life that will help them achieve another big win.

They keep watching game film so they can better anticipate the opposing team.

They continue to institute practices into their life that will help them achieve another big win.

And what is true for a winning football team is true for a church as well.

Or moms and dads, think about that moment when you first child was born.

A moment when inexpressible joy filled your heart and you celebrated new life.

I think if we think about it, we’ve all had a moment like that.

That’s an exciting moment, right?

A moment of celebration and excitement.

A moment of joy and happiness.

So, let me ask you this.

What do you do after that moment?

What do you do after the big game?

What

Can I submit to you that what you do is you keep practicing.

You keep

Well, to And if you were here last Sunday, you definitely experienced it.

I know I did.

Because last Sunday was like a Super Bowl win as 35 people said, “We’re all in”.

I don’t know about you, but I left here on a high.

I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Through the week I kept reflecting back on it.

We had a superbowl win last Sunday.