God's Plan for Church Growth
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Context
Context
Good morning Church! It is so good to be back with you all today, and I hope that everyone is feeling much better.
I hope that you are as excited to get a Word from God, as I am to share the Word of God today! If so, we are going to be in for an awesome service!!!
I just want to let you know up front, that I have a somewhat lengthy lesson for you today. I don’t know how we will turn out, but if you’re worried about getting to the Mexican restaurant on time, now would be the time for your exit.
I will say this though, if you will stay with me today through the message; if you will give God your undivided attention for the next hour or so, you will be blessed. It’s going to be a bumpy ride. It’s going to be convicting. It’s going to be good!!! The Word of God will tear down your flesh and build up your Spirit all at the same time. Trust me, it is worth it.
If you have your Bibles, would you wave it in the air like you just don’t care? Whew, it is amazing to see that everyone has their own personal copy of the Word of God! I just want to say that if you do not have your very own personal copy of God’s Word, I want to heavily encourage you to get one. Charles Spurgeon once said, “A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to a person who isn’t!”
I want to ask everyone to stand for the reading of the Word this morning. We are going to reading from Acts 6:1-7.
1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.
3 Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;
4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch,
6 whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.
7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
The ending of Ch. 5 last week left us on a high note. The apostles had been arrested, they were brought before the council and tried, they were beaten and released with stern warning to never teach in the name of Jesus again.
One might say, “Brother, I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound to much to me like a high note.”
If Ch. 5 stopped there, I would have to agree with you, but it doesn’t!!!
After they were released, it says in vs. 41-42”
41 So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.
42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
Wow!!!
What an amazing testimony! These men were so selfless that they considered getting beaten for Christ as a privilege.
They then went back to the Church and continued proclaiming Jesus as the Christ!!
That, my friends, is a positive note!
As the apostles continued teaching jesus faithfully, the Church continued to grow.
That is where we pick up this morning:
Content
Content
The Success of the Church (vs. 1; 3)
The Success of the Church (vs. 1; 3)
To get an idea of what we are talking about here, I want to read just some of the verses that we have already covered, so that we get a good foundation for where we are:
15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said,
40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”
41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
1 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them,
2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.
4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
11 So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.
12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch.
13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly.
14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,
15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.
16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
The Obedience of the Leaders
The Faithfulness of the Leaders
The Strain of the Church
The Strain of the Church
1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
The Church is now experiencing a fantastic problem: Growth! As with everything else in life, with growth comes growth pains. As the Church grew to a certain point, it outgrew the number of ministers it had. Up to this point, it seems as if the apostles were handling most of the needs of the Church themselves. We now see that this is no longer feasible. The apostles were not able to continue doing what they were called to do, which was to pray and study the Word, and “Serve Tables” at the same time.
With this, the devil creeped in and tried to use one of his most favorite tricks: to tear apart a group of people that God brought together, by turning them against one another. The most effective way to tear apart any organization, family, or group is to tear it apart from the inside out. When a group has been brought together by God and then work in unity with God, they are almost an unstoppable force. This is what Gamaliel alluded to in Ch. 5 when he told the council that it would be futile to try and fight against God (vs. 39). But if you can get the people to turn on one another and fall apart from the inside out, they loose focus of the true enemy and turn on each other. Once this happens, their external awareness is weak and they are much more vulnerable to outside attacks.
To really understand what is happening here, we have to first understand the two groups mentioned.
First, let me state that the women in both groups were Jewish. The distinguishment of these two groups was tied more-so to their beliefs and practices, than their family line.
There are the Hebrews
The Hebrew women were women from Jerusalem. They were born and raised in Jerusalem and had completely Jewish customs and traditions.
They spoke the Aramaic language. They also considered the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, to be the only true version of God’s Word. They strongly forbid any other version of the Word of God to be unholy and even sacrilegious.
They held very closely to the laws of God from a very conservative mindset. Because they were considered to be “God’s Chosen People”, they had very little interest in other cultures, and were very closed off to most people who were not as they were.
There are the Hellenists
The Hellenist women were women who had been pushed out of Jerusalem, or chose to leave, during the Dispersion.
The Dispersion is referred to the time in which the Jews were heavily persecuted, which in turn left many Jews living in the provinces surrounding Jerusalem, but not in Jerusalem itself.
This could be families from the Babylonian or Assyrian captivities of the OT, in which Jews were taken captive and forced to marry into other nations families.
This could also refer to what is commonly called the “400 years of silence”, which is the span of time between the OT and the NT. During this time, three different nations ruled over Jerusalem nationally: Medes/Persions, Greeks, and the Romans.
When we open in the NT, the Romans are in control over Jerusalem.
This is easily proven through verses we have already covered earlier in the book of Acts:
Acts 2:5-12
The Hellenist (Proselytes, Grecian Jews) spoke Greek, as well as other languages. Because of this, they did not read the Tanakh, but rather the Septuagint, which was a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. This caused in many situations, a language barrier between the children of God. There were actually different synagogues within Jerusalem for them to worship. There were synagogues for the Hebrews, which taught from the Tanakh in Aramaic, and then there synagogues for the Grecian Jews, which taught from the Septuagint in Greek.
These women also studied God’s Word, just in a different language, and held closely to it, but there were differences culturally. They dressed different, ate different foods, acted differently, and probably even had some differences in their morals.
Many scholars have come to the conclusion that man of these Hellenist widows had moved back to Jerusalem after their husbands had died. They came back to their homeland. Many of them could also be from the feast of Passover that just took place. Maybe they were converted during one of Peter’s messages and they were simply trying to go deeper into their faith. Either way, they were not considered by the Hebrew women to be genuine people of God. They were different.
Now all of that information is necessary for us to get the real message of this text.
We could stop here and offer reasons for why this happened: judgmental Hebrew women, liberalism within the Hellenist group, or we could even say that the devil simply good at what he does and that they simply need to keep pushing forward. Even though all of those things are going on, and even somewhat true, none of those things are the root cause for what is happening.
We see the real problem, starting in vs. 2:
2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.
3 Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;
4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
The 12 disciples came together, talked and prayed amongst themselves, and decided that the complaint was actually valid. The truth of the matter was, there simply was not enough leaders within the church to take care of the needs within the church. They agreed with the people.
A man once said, “It is better to put ten men to work, than for one man to try and do the work of ten men.”
After surveying all of the facts, they decided that they simply needed more people to serve.
The Solution of the Church
The Solution of the Church
2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.
3 Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;
4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch,
6 whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.
Not all problems are bad. I know that when we say there is a problem, it usually bears a negative connotation, but many so-called problems, are actually opportunities. I want to share 3 opportunities that we can see right in the text today:
The Process (Opportunity to Examine our Ministry)
They Summoned the Disciples
We have to understand right off the bat who exactly “The Disciples” are.
This is not referring to the 12, or even to the 120. This is referring to thousands of believers who had trusted Christ as their savior.
The term disciple means follower. That is why those who followed a Jewish Rabbi were referred to as their disciples. They were following them.
The New King James Version Chapter 2
41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
English Standard Version Chapter 3
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.
16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.
18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.
19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
The Sought out the Deacons
There are numerous forms of polity within the Church, too many to name in fact, but regardless of where you land in that list, this text today has a word that we all need to hear.
It says in vs. 2 that “the 12 summoned the multitude of the disciples”, and then it tells us in vs. 3 that the 12 said, “seek out from among you seven men”.
The 12 brought everyone together and said, “This is what we have decided to do”, but then they told the people to pick the men. There is clearly a line of authority within the apostolic leadership to make decisions, but there is also clearly a role within the church to make those same decisions.
Listen, we don’t have time to get into that today. The big picture is not so much how they went about it, but rather why they did it that way.
The People (Opportunity to Express our Love)
We have already talked in depth about the tension that was going on within the Church at this point. We have already seen why there was tension within the Church at this point. We have also seen that the apostles recognized and agreed with the fact that there was a problem within the ministry of the Church. There were widows who were getting overlooked, simply because there were not enough people appointed to serve.
They were genuinely concerned with God’s people. They loved the people and wanted the people to be treated just. It was their love for the people that was driving this decision. it wasn’t arrogance, pride, or fear of the people of getting voted out. They loved them and truly wanted to help them.
Instead of playing into the tension that was already there and further dividing the people, they found a way to bring unity back to the people. They told them to pick out the seven men from among themselves, and vs. 5 tells us that this “pleased the whole multitude”. They were happy that the problem was getting resolved, and they were also happy that they were a part of the solution.
Look at the end of vs. 5: it says that Nicolas was a proselyte from Antioch.
The Purpose (Opportunity to Exercise our Faith)
One of the hardest things for leaders to do, is to allow others to take responsibility.
We worry if they can handle it.
We worry if they will do it the same way we would have done it.
We worry if they are ready.\
We worry about a lot of things.
I will say that there should be a certain level of discretion used when putting someone into the leadership of your Church. Being a leader is a very big deal. When you are a leader, you have the spot light of everyone on you. Though it should not be this way, when a leader messes up, it is as if the whole Church sinned, or it becomes a license for sin for everyone else. When you are a leader, you must take that very seriously and hold that very precious to your heart.
With that being said, we must also realize that someone coming into a leadership role may not be as good as someone who has been in a leadership role for years. That is ok. We all grow as we serve God, and they will too. Preachers get better with time. Teachers get better with time. Singers get better with time. The more someone does something, the better they get at it. That is just the way life works.
This is how we exercise our faith. We trust that God will raise up people will a teachable Spirit. We trust God to raise up people who want to learn and grow, people who will take constructive criticism and get better because of it, people who are self-driven, people who have a heart to serve God.
We also exercise our faith as we teach these people how to lead and then turn them loose to do so. We trust that God will guard them throughout their ministry, bless them for their service to God, and build them up as they seek Him in their lives.
Commitment
Commitment
We must learn from our early church leaders and from the Word of God how to properly, and effectively, grow the Church.
The tactic used by Satan to destroy the Church, works just as well in reverse. You can tear apart any group of people most effectively from the inside out. You also build any group of people most effectively from the inside out.
We must teach and train our people the ways of God. As they grow in Christ, they will naturally have a desire to share their faith with others, which will result in external growth as well. The end goal is not to add bodies in the pews, it is to build people up to serve in the Kingdom of God.
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.