Sermon Tone Analysis

Introductory Questions:

i.What is church?

a) we all know its not a building but people.

Gathering of Christians.

If two Christian strangers met at Starbucks is that a church?

“two or three are gathered in my name there I am in the midst of them”.

Yes to universal church.

b) But remember (from which that quote comes), when Jesus says if your brother sins against you rebuke him privately, if he doesn’t listen bring two/three witnesses, if he still doesn’t repent then tell the church.

And if he doesn’t listen to the church then treat him like an outsider.

-“tell the church”?

Are we supposed to go to Starbucks and tell every Christian there?

Or Facebook every person who’s stated religion is Christianity?

- Here Jesus can’t be referring to the universal church but a local church (our focus today)

c) Some might say they only care about the universal church and not the local church.

But that’s like saying you love KFC chicken but you don’t care about the chicken they serve in your regular KFC branch.

-“tell the church”?

Are we supposed to go to Starbucks and tell every Christian there?

Or Facebook every person who’s stated religion is Christianity?

Here Jesus can’t be referring to the universal church but a local church.

-Some might say they only care about the universal church and not the local church.

But that’s like saying you love KFC chicken but you don’t care about the chicken they serve in your regular KFC branch.

ii.What are essential marks of a church?

- What kind of activities are believers supposed to do when they gather together?

- The Roman Catholics historically believed there is no true church outside the Roman Catholic Church.

- The Protestant Reformers suggested three i.e. right preaching of the Word, right administration of the two Sacraments, and right use of church discipline.

Were they right?

iii.What should churches focus on to grow?

Should it be more contemporary music?

More fancy lighting?

Nothing wrong with that per se.

- Or how about clowns and circuses?

Apparently there is one church that used wrestling matches to attract outsiders.

- I believe the answers to both no.2 and no.3 are the same based on our study of the brand new baby church in .

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

-The result from this was the birth of the church.

-The result from this was the birth of the church.

- Tongues of fire appeared above their heads and they could speak in tongues i.e foreign human languages

- Some in the crowd marvel at this, some make fun e.g “they’re drunk”.

b) – Peter steps up to explain they are not drunk (only 9am), this is the gift of the Holy Spirit promised in the OT and fulfilled because Jesus whom they crucified God has resurrected, proving that Jesus is Lord and Messiah, according to the OT.

c) What was the result of this?- Ultimately it is the end result that is most important.

-Esp true when evaluating the validating supernatural events/gifts

-If you share some testimony that see visions or speak in tongues etc, I’m not gonna question it.

If you say it happened then it happened.

But for me I want to know what happened after these supernatural experiences.

We are to judge a tree by its fruits.

By its effect.

-The result from this was the birth of the church.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

-The key word is devoted themselves/not did it once in a while/did when it only when they were in the mood.

The Essentials of Church Life ()

The Apostles’ Teaching

Who were the apostles?

What did the apostles teach?

Or do all religions teach the same?

How devoted should we be to the apostles’ teaching?

Who were the apostles?

The apostles were Jesus’ chosen eyewitnesses of His life and ministry

i) in the beginning of his earthly ministry Jesus chose twelve men to be his close followers.

One of them, the infamous Judas Iscariot, betrayed him.

-After Jesus returned to heaven, someone had to be chosen to replace Judas.

This passage shows us the criteria and significance of being an apostle.

A Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us.

For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

-An apostle was someone whom the Lord Jesus had given both the authority and the responsibility to share eyewitness testimony (not myth/legend) of who Jesus was and what He did through His life on earth, especially His death and resurrection.

-Only someone who had been with the Lord during His whole earthly ministry until the time He was taken up to heaven can be qualified to be an apostle.

ii) In this sense Paul doesn’t qualify.

Paul himself admits he’s an exception, he’s an apostle born in the wrong time () because he only saw the risen Lord after the Lord had ascended into heaven.

But the key thing is the Twelve apostles all recognised Paul’s apostolic calling.

iii) So are there still apostles today?

Not apostles like this no.

Because firstly no one today was around when Jesus was on earth, and secondly none of the other apostles are alive to validate your apostolic calling.

iv) If the office of the apostles still continued, there would be no need for our NT.

We can just rely on the apostles of our day for truth about Jesus.

- It was only because the original apostles were irreplaceable that their testimony and teachings had to be preserved in writings of the NT for the churches to read long after they were gone.

What did the apostles teach?

We move from who are the apostles to what did they teach?

-people think all religions are the same-all religions teach people to do good works.

So all religions are same.

- Lets challenge that claim by examining what exactly did the apostles teach/emphasize?

-The book of Acts recorded some sermons by the apostles and here we shall look like at Peter’s very first sermon on the day of Pentecost in .

-In short it is very Christ-centered.

- Even at such a Spirit-filled event as Pentecost, with speaking in tongues etc, Peter doesn’t really draw people’s attention to the Holy Spirit directly but instead preaches about Christ.

The Holy Spirit is sent because of who Jesus is and what He did as Messiah (God’s anointed one).

-But we don’t have time to study the whole sermon so we can only look at parts of it.

This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him

36 Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We can summarise the core teaching of the apostles in three points.

Jesus was crucified by sinners according to God’s sovereign plan

- Christ’s death was no accident.

It was not plan B. It was not as if plan A was Christ comes and do something else, and the people love Him with their whole hearts.

- it was the will of God to crush Him but not by an invisible hand but by the hands of wicked men.

- its written that “Herod, Pilate, the Romans and the Jews all did to Christ what God’s hand and plan had predestined to take place”.

-This is where we face the tension between God’s absolute sovereignty over sin and suffering, and human responsibility over their own sin.

- A tension that the Bible never tries to explain or resolve.

It just assumes.

So must we.