THE FOUNDATIONAL PROMISE

BLUEPRINT FOR A SUCCESSFUL CHURCH

ACTS CHAPTER 1 AND 2

THE FOUNDATIONAL PROMISE

Stop me if you’ve heard this one.  “I am just looking for the right church for myself and my family”, or “I’ve tried several churches but just can’t seem to find one that fits our needs” or surely you’ve heard “I’m not going to church because it’s full of hypocrites”. 

It is the desire of every pastor, every board member, every deacon, every faithful church “go-er” and probably every person who even casually attends a church of any kind, that “their church” becomes a successful church.

If you browse through the Christian book store or “Google” the topic on line, you will find scores of books, pamphlets and lessons on church growth.  However, in spite of that, how many churches could you point to or identify as a successful church?

As I mentioned last week, the church wasn’t the decision of a committee or the brain storm of some college professor.  It was conceived by God and it was He who put the wheels in motion.  The church was God’s desire, directed by Jesus Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit. 

Why then are we seeing more people turn away from the church than we are being drawn to the church?  Why do we see the majority of our churches either, totally collapsing, struggling to stand or continuing to exist without any progress at all?

It is my belief that the reason for this is simply because we have deviated from the original blueprint laid out by God and /or that we are trying to use faulty materials to build God’s “building”.

In the next few lessons I’d like for us to take a good honest look at “the church” and “our church” and evaluate them in light of God’s blueprint to determine how to get back on track and be the successful church that God designed. 

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After the death and resurrection of Jesus, Luke tells us that He remained on the earth, walked with, talked with and instructed His disciples for 40 days.  He, through the Holy Ghost, “had given commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen” and had spoken to them “things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3)

I’m sure He felt just like I do when I’m about to leave home for a short while.  I try to tell Keva a whole bunch of stuff that I feel is important and that I think she might overlook or forget. I’ll make “a list”, I’ll do a lot of “Oh, by the ways” and I’ll remind her of things I know she already knows but that I just want to emphasize.

Jesus had been with His disciples for 3 years.  Surely He had told them and taught them all the things they needed to know but He just wanted to “remind them” before He left to go home.

We are not privileged to what most of these things were that He shared with them during that 40 days crash course in “How to promote the Kingdom of God” but I believe by observing and listening to the things that have been shared with us in The Word we will have the necessary ingredients, the necessary blueprint, for a successful church.     

1.  WAIT FOR THE PROMISE: (Acts 1: 4-5)

I’ve encouraged you often to study and know the promises of God.  I’ve tried to express to you the vital importance of knowing the things that God has promised to those who believe in His name and follow His teaching. 

I have also tried to teach and explain and live before you a life of Holiness.  Not because this is a doctrine of the Church of The Nazarene but because it is a vital truth of the Bible and a command of God.  But I’m not sure that I have ever expressed it to you in the way we will discuss tonight.   

Being filled with God’s Spirit is NOT a doctrine.  Receiving the Holy Ghost (or Holy Spirit as modern day people like to phrase it) is not a new era idea, an alternative or an option. 

IT IS A PROMISE OF GOD HIMSELF, DELIVERED TO US BY JESUS CHRIST AND BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE IN-FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Notice what The Word says (v-4) “Wait for the Promise of the Father, which ye have heard of me”.

I’m afraid that many modern day Christians see the condition of Holiness as an option.  Because they haven’t been taught it, had it preached to them, understood it or seen it lived out in before them, they think it is just a nice condition that some people can get some day before they die. 

I heard this story that illustrates my point.  A young boy and his father were walking through their little town one afternoon and having some extra time on their hands while Mom was doing some shopping, happened to stop by the new car dealership.  They walked onto the dealership lot and walked around looking at the cars.  They walked into the showroom and were captivated by the beautiful new Buick sitting there in all its splendor.  It had been washed and waxed and “detailed” to perfection.  It had all the latest gadgets and extras.  They circled the car and admired its new lines from every angle.  They looked under the hood and were fascinated by the powerful engine.  They stuck their heads inside the car and smelled the “new car” smell.  Finally the young boy could stand it now longer.

“Wow Dad, what a great car” the young boy said. 

“Yes, it certainly is a fine car” the father replied.

“Do you like this car, Dad” the boy asked.

“Oh, I certainly do.  It’s about the finest car I’ve ever seen” the father said, not taking his eyes off the vehicle.

“Then Dad, why don’t we get it”? The boy asked honestly.

The father looked longingly at the new Buick, the shiny chrome made sparkling reflections in his eyes.

“Son, I doubt that we will ever be able to have anything like that”, he said and they walked from the dealership.

There are folk who have attended old fashion camp meetings, revivals and heard Sunday morning messages.  There are people who have listened to hundreds of holiness sermons.  They have read books, studied lessons.  They have sat through classes and read pamphlets on the topic. They admire the principle of the doctrine of holiness.  They desire the cleanness of heart that holiness promises.  They long for the freedom from the chains of sin that is taught by the advocates of this doctrine.  They can see why one would want to possess this kind of experience. They can smell the “new life” smell when they are around people who possess this “life in Christ”.  When you talk about it or teach about it you can see the sparkle in their eyes.  But like the little boy’s father, as much as they admire it, as much as they  hold this experience in high regard, as much as they even long for this experience, “they just don’t think they will ever be able to possess anything like that”.

Can I tell you that Holiness is NOT something devised by wise theologians?  Holiness is not the product of a Nazarene board meeting.  Holiness is not the invention of a committee of church leaders.  Holiness is not some “wives tale” or something that only “old folks” of days gone by could experience. 

Hol;iness is the promise of God Himself, declared and delivered by Jesus Christ, and brought about by the baptizing, soaking and filling of the Holy Spirit of God.  It’s something that God planned and God promised and Jesus bought with His blood on that killing field outside of Jerusalem one Friday evening.  It’s something that is provided by God’s Holy Spirit for every believer who will seek for and accept it.  It worked for the men and women of the first church, it worked for the men and women of your grandfather and grandmothers times and it will work for us and for our children and grandchildren who come behind us.

Acts 2:39 gives us the words of Peter as he addressed the people on the day of Pentecost.  In explaining what had just happened to the 120 folks in the Upper Room he said that “the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (That’s you and me).

Holiness is the plan of God, it is the provision of God and it is the promise of God.

In verse 8 of Acts 1 Luke tells the church what Jesus expressed to them as His expectations for a successful church.  He expected a successful church to “be witnesses”, in Jerusalem (their home town) Judaea (their state), Samaria (places where no self respecting Jew would go) and to the uttermost parts of the earth (places they didn’t even know about yet). Here was “Commands intent”.  Here is what the church was to do.  They (we) were challenged, or can we say ordered, to do this task.  And we understand that this command was not for those people only.  It is the command issued to you and I. It is a command for our day and time.  It is the task, the commission, the assignment and the duty of each person who calls themselves Christians.   

When we read this verse or when we read the “great commission” (Matt 28: 19-20) we can easily see this as our assignment.  But we seem to totally dismiss the preceding words of Acts 1:8.  You will be witnesses “AFTER” the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit) has come upon you.  You will have power “AFTER” the Holy Spirit fills you.

Just as in following a blueprint when building a house, you wouldn’t consider building the roof before you laid the foundation.  You wouldn’t construct the walls and paint them and hang the pictures on them before you built the floors.  Yet we try to “go and tell” before we are equipped. 

No wonder we can’t be successful soul winners.  No wonder we can’t be successful in our Sunday schools, no wonder people are leaving the church is droves, no wonder over half of the churches on the South Alabama District are averaging less than 25 people on Sunday morning. No wonder your children and my children don’t want anything to do with the “religion” that we try to sell them.   We’ve got the cart before the horse.  We have tried to go out and preach and teach the Kingdom of God and we don’t have the pureness or the power.  

We must follow the blueprint in order to build a successful church.  Oh, it is a noble ambition to desire to build a large church building on this spot.  It is a righteous aspiration to want to see 100’s of children and teens learning and playing and worshiping on this spot of land. I can imagine a time when we will need to hire crossing guards so that the children from the schools across the road can safely come here after school to a fine Christian day care or after school facility.  My dream of seeing my children and grandchildren attending church here and serving the Lord here is a splendid objective.

·         Cristy, can you imagine your granddaughter standing before the congregation and singing songs of praise to God?  

·         Gene can you not see Paris as a young teen-ager bringing her friends from school here and leading them to Christ?

·         Buddy can’t you see your daughter teaching young foster children about Jesus here?

·         Others of you can fill in your own dreams in this space.

But we must not; we CAN NOT accomplish any of this without following the blueprint left with us by God.

There are other items in this blueprint.  We will study other aspects of church growth and success before we finish these lessons.  But this is not the time to address them.  Studying unity, fellowship, unselfishness and praise and all the other points are important and essential for church success but if we attempt to follow the plan and leave out the establishment of the foundation, we are doomed to fail. 

I know that you know this.  You could no doubt teach it, and I know that we have gone over it before but for the sake of some who may not have been able to put it in order yet let me walk you through the simple works of grace.

 

1.  We are put under conviction of our sins by The Holy Spirit.  We realize that we have sin in our lives that are un-confessed, (“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”).  We respond to that conviction by confessing our sins and asking for forgiveness and repenting or turning from our sins with the help of The Holy Spirit.  Our sins are forgiven and we are “saved”.  That is the first work of grace.

2.  Then later on, it may be years, months, days or hours later, The Holy Spirit will convict us again about living a pure life and being filled with His Spirit.  If we respond to that conviction as we did in the first step or first work of grace, then we come to God with a request to be filled with His Spirit.

We surrender our all to Him for time and eternity.  We place our all on the altar.  We ask that The Holy Spirit come into our lives and by His presence make us clean and pure and holy. We ask for that freedom for the chains of sin.  We asked that a Holy God take up residence in our being.  And just as He promised In Luke 11:13, God gives us that Spirit.  He accepts our offering.  He fills our hearts.  He soaks us with His Spirit. And that is Sanctification or the second work of grace.     

3.  Then, as you follow the leading and guidance of The Holy Spirit, you will begin to see other areas in your life that need “tweaking”.  You may be convicted about a loose tongue, a tight bill fold, a short temper or a tall opinion of yourself.  Don’t let others point these things out to you, listen to the Holy Spirit.  He will guide you and point out the places where you need to change. 

When He does, then ask Him to help you change and ask Him to help you grow.  This is “growth in grace” (and I know that in the Nazarene denomination we don’t preach or teach a third work of grace but if we did this would be it.)

This was the condition of the “church” after the Day of Pentecost when he Spirit filled their hearts. This is where they were in their Christian life at that point in time.  And this is why they could grow. NO THIS IS WHY THEY COULD EXPLODE. 

If you have already experienced this “work of grace” and if you are living a Holy life then wonderful, let’s move on to the next item on the blueprint. 

But if you feel you are not there yet, then search your heart this week.  Find that place this week; get hungry and thirsty for the filling of God’s Spirit this week.  Don’t put it off.  Don’t try to make excuses; don’t try to justify your actions or inactions.  “For to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is a sin”.  (James 4:17)

I’m not going to conduct an altar call.  I’m not going to stand here and tell you that you have God’s fullness or that you don’t.  I’m not going to judge your intents or your actions.  I’m simply going to ask you the question that Paul asked some disciples (church members) when he came to Ephesus (Acts 19:2) Have you receive the Holy Spirit (Ghost) since you believed?

I believe I know your hearts.  I don’t believe there is a person sitting here tonight who doesn’t desire the best that the Lord has for them.  I don’t believe there is a person here who doesn’t want God’s best for this church.  I don’t think there is anyone who will see what God has to offer and make a conscious decision to “leave it on the table”. 

Our cry at this time in the life of our church should be; “Let the building begin”, “Let the movement begin”, “Let the progress begin” and “Oh, Lord let it begin with me and in me”.

The first church followed the Blueprint and we are here today because they did.  It may very well be that the decisions that you and I make here and now will determine the outcome of the lives of those who come behind us. 

What if because of your actions or in-actions, the lives of your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be altered?  I want to follow the blueprint to the “T”.  I want every nut and bolt, every nail, every board to be in its right place.  I want to have ALL that God has for me.  I know you do as well. 

And if you will honestly read and study God’s word and follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit you will see that it is God’s will for you to be entirely sanctified. (Or if that phrase or that terminology seems too old fashion for you or too strange too you or too weird for you, then generate one of your own).  It is God’s will that you be “Christ-like”.  It is God’s will that you be Holy.  It is God’s will that you be clean.  It’s God’s will that you be like Jesus. 

Holiness is not about the length of your skirt or the length of your hair or the places you go or the things that you say.  (Although when you are in the center of God’s will, those things will reflect the purity that He gives you)  Holiness is about having a clean heart that only God can provide.  It’s not something we can do but something we can and should request for God to do for us.      

A successful church will begin with people who have a hunger and thirst for holiness.  Plan and simple, it won’t work any other way.  To try and be a successful church without following the first step in the blueprint is a futile effort.

Next week we will go on to the second step in the blueprint.   I hope that when we get to that step we will have completed the first one.  It is the only way to a successful church or a successful life.