Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Jesus told His disciples that the harvest was plentiful but the workers are few and then told them to ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field.
Obviously they did what Jesus said to do because our church is evidence of that task fulfilled.
In fact, 93 years ago on August 26, 1926, the first service was held in this building after it was constructed.
Many of you had parents and grandparents that were part of that first service.
In fact, I am certain that we could do a spiritual genealogy and trace our roots even further back to the time right after Jesus told his disciples to ask the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers.
The church, as described in the Book of Acts, demonstrated life after the spiritual harvest.
Any one that has ever gardened or farmed knows that life after the harvest includes process, preparation and resowing.
The same thing takes place in a spiritual harvest.
We will always need to be about the Father’s business until Jesus calls us home or He returns to get us.
Until then, we need to be a church that thrives for the sake of the Kingdom of God!
So how do we do just that?
We see many characteristics in the Book of Acts that we would be wise to model today.
Listen carefully as we read about some of those characteristics from .
As we examine this passage, let’s look at how the church was exemplified, unified, magnified, and multiplied.
The Church Exemplified (vs.
42-43)
We see in the first phrase of this passage that the people devoted themselves.
The word devoted is a very interesting concept.
It means to continue steadfastly.
It is giving oneself continually.
It is persevering and not growing faint.
Specifically, the people in the church devoted themselves to four activities.
The four activities of the church included teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.”
Teaching is a process where the truth of scripture is brought out.
In the early church, the apostles taught the truth of the scripture in what we have now as the Old Testament.
They were led by the Holy Spirit.
John
They were fulfilling part of the Great Commission:
John
I promise you as long as I am able to be your pastor, you will get sound teaching that is biblical, relevant and applicable.
“They devoted themselves to the fellowship.”
Fellowship is from the word koinonia which means association, community, and joint participation.
Fellowship happens when believers can sit together and enjoy the presence of each other’s company.
We have great fellowship here at our church and it gets richer every time we gather together!
1 John 1:3
“They devoted themselves to the breaking of the bread.”
Some believe this was a reference what we know as the Lord’s Supper.
Some think this was a time of fellowship where the people had a meal together.
If you study the words used here to describe “the breaking of bread,” you can see there are many instances of these words being used in other places in the New Testament.
Acts 20:
1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 11:23-25
It was a Jewish custom to have bread and wine at the table.
Many hold that at the end of a meal there was a time to remember the Lord and this was done so through the Lord’s Supper.
It is safe to say that the breaking of the bread consisted of both participating in the Lord’s Supper as well as a type of fellowship meal.
Nevertheless, we as a church would be wise to exemplify this as well.
“They devoted themselves to prayer.”
Prayer has always been a vital activity of the church.
We see in that prayer the people were constantly in prayer.
Indicates that there were also specific times of prayer which the people gathered to do so.
It is evident in addition to private prayer, there were prayer services and prayer meetings held consistently in which the church gathered to pray.
Jesus had given the apostles the example of prayer has it had been prominent in His life.
Prayer especially emphasized unity heart and mind among the believers.
Corporate prayer unites God’s people in commitment.
This prayer included both men and women.
Verse 43 shows us that the people outside the church were in awe because of the wonders and signs that were done by the apostles.
This reminds me that the church should a place where signs and wonders can be discussed for the glory of God.
Awe refers to a type of reverence that helps us recognize God’s power at work.
When we acknowledge God’s power we are one step close to having a commitment of faith in Jesus.
The more we recognize His power, the more we will be devoted to teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer.
This exemplifies the church.
It also unifies the church.
The Church Unified (vs.
44-46)
In verses 44-46, we see what happens when a church is unified.
They did worshiped together and had everything in common.
The church was unified in their giving.
They put their possessions together to create opportunities to minister to those in need.
We see evidence of this later on in .
It is important to note here that this was not an expression of socialism or communism.
These actions were voluntary and not mandated by a government.
The goods were not commonly distributed but were given to meet the needs as they arose.
This is a beautiful example of the church helping those in need.
We are fortunate to be able to pull our resources together here to help those in need in our community.
Over the past year we have been able to pay electric bills, buy groceries, help people with gas, help people with medical needs, and help with families with childcare and the ability to purchase diapers, just to name a few.
The church was unified in its worship.
tells us that they continued to meet together in the temple courts, broke bread in their homes, and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.
One of the things I love about our church is when we meet together and share a meal.
I witness conversations among out people as they live out this idea of being glad and having sincere hearts.
We see an implication here that the worship was joyful and reverent.
The New English Bible calls this “unaffected joy.”
Since God sent His Son into the world and now given His Spirit, the church had plenty of reason to be joyful.
This tells me that every worship service should be a joyful celebration of the mighty acts of a Mighty God!
Our worship should never be dull.
I am so thankful we have worship that is purposeful and meaningful.
This is
I also see from this passage that worship should be a daily affair.
Sometimes logistics prevent us from being in this sanctuary on a daily basis, but we certainly can be about worship in our homes and even in our work places.
What a beautiful example of a church having the beauty of a structured service and the flexibility of a home meeting.
The traditional and the spontaneous!
The church needs both as it is unified!
When the church becomes unified, it becomes magnified!
The Church Magnified (vs.
47a)
Verse 46 continues into verse 47.
“They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.”
The word for favor is from the Greek word charis.
It is the same word that is used for grace.
When grace is practiced, it grows.
If someone extends you grace, unless you are just a cold hearted individual, that grace will be magnified.
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