Greg Laurie - Secrets of the Early Church (01/31/2018)
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Pastor Greg Laurie shares the secrets of the early church in Acts 2:42-47, showing how the first believers turned the world upside down by staying devoted to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, prayers, joyful worship, and seeing the Lord add new believers daily—it's God's simple blueprint for a healthy, vibrant church that every believer should rediscover today.
Why We All Love Secrets
All right. Well let's turn in our Bibles to Acts chapter 2. And the title of my message is Secrets of the Early Church. How many of you like secrets? Raise your hand. Oh don't be embarrassed. Oh I don't. I think everybody likes to hear a secret.In fact if you really want to get someone to listen in, maybe when you are having a conversation at a table in a restaurant, just say, whatever you do, don't share this with anyone. It is a secret. And everybody's ears will perk up. We all like to know inside information.
My granddaughter Stella loves to hear secrets. In fact a lot of times when we are out and about I will say, now we can go to that place the regular way or we can go the secret way. Oh I want to go the secret way. Well I just take a different street. That is all. But she gets all excited. We went the secret way. We went the secret way.
So we all like secrets. Well here before us in Acts chapter 2 are what we might describe as secrets of the early church. Now they are not secrets in that they are hidden. The fact of the matter is they are plain as day. But they are secrets in that they are either ignored or apparently unknown by many in the church today.
Rediscovering God's Blueprint for the Church
I am amazed at how many people have missed the memo of what we are about to read. Because this really is for us in a very simple and easy to understand way God's blueprint for the church. This is how He wants the church to run.You know there are some saying that we need to re-envision the church for today. I disagree. I don't think we need to re-envision it. I think we need to rediscover it. We don't need to redefine what God has already defined. We need to get back to the church the way it was in the beginning. Because this is the church that turned the world upside down.
Dealing with Hypocrites and Imitations
Now some people are sort of anti-church. Well, you know, I don't know. I am really not into the church. I don't believe in organized religion as they like to say. I am just a very spiritual person. And besides, there are so many hypocrites in the church.If that is your attitude, that means that the devil's ploys have worked very effectively in your life. You see, Jesus told a parable known as the parable of the wheat and tares. It is the story of a man who planted a crop of wheat. But in the evening his enemy, his adversary, his competitor, came over and planted tares among the wheat.
Now tares are a little plant that initially looked just like wheat. But as time passes they will actually uproot the wheat. And so there will always be an imitation whenever there is the genuine. Whenever you have something that is done right, someone will do their version of it. Right? And I could give you many illustrations of this. But I think you all know what I am talking about. There are always imitations.
So imitations remind us there is a genuine out there somewhere. Well as we look at the early church, guess what? They had hypocrites too. They had rivalries. They had heresies. And they had some pretty radical immorality being practiced right in their midst. Fact of the matter is, one of Jesus' handpicked disciples turned out to be a full blown hypocrite and betrayer. And of course I am speaking of Judas Iscariot.
So this is nothing new. And the objective in the enemy, in putting the imitation next to the genuine, is to cause a person to say, Well it is too hard to figure out. And because there are fake versions, it is all fake. What a silly conclusion to come to. Because there are fake versions, that means there certainly is a genuine version out there as well.
So if you are saying, Well I am not going to go to church, or be a part of the church because there are hypocrites, here is my message to you. Don't let that keep you away. There is always room for one more.
The Unique Power and Bond of the Church
Having said that, we should know that Jesus Christ was committed to the church. It is the only organization that He Himself ever started. And there is really nothing in the world like the church. The church has many critics but no rivals.And I am amazed at the special bond that can take place between followers of Jesus Christ. That can transcend every other barrier. That can break through every other barrier I should say. Racial barriers. Social economic barriers. National barriers.
I have had the privilege to preach all around the world. I mean I have preached in New Zealand, Australia, Africa, Hong Kong, China. I mean I have been to so many places. Ethiopia. And I find that when I get together with God's people, there is a bond there.
Listen. I am proud to be an American. Ok. I want you to know that. I think the United States is the greatest country on the face of the earth. So I just wanted to say that. But listen to this. Yes. I am a Christian first and an American second. I am even more proud to be a part of the church. And a member of the body of Christ. And so that is where my primary loyalties lie.
The Secret: Every Christian Does Their Part
Well here in Acts chapter 2 is a story of the church that changed the world. What is their secret? Maybe it could be summed up like this. Every Christian believed they were called to do their part. Let me repeat that. The secret of the early church. Listen. Every Christian believed they were called to do their part.They seemed to understand that every person mattered. There is a famous story from Sparta. You remember those 300 Spartans that faced the Persian army. Memorialized in the film 300. Also in a much older film called 300 Spartans. But it is based on a true story.
And as this story goes that I am talking about, a Spartan king was boasting to a visiting king about the walls of Sparta. And that visiting king looked around. He said he could not see any walls. And then the Spartan king said, You see in Sparta every man is a brick. These are the walls of Sparta pointing to his army.
Every man was part of the wall so to speak. And in the same way in the church every one of us is a brick. All in all you are just another brick in the wall. Right? At least that is what Pink Floyd told us. But we are also described in the Bible as a living stone.
1 Peter 2:5 says, You are like living stones built into a spiritual house. So in the church you should not be a spectator. You should be a participator. You know it is easy to play armchair quarterback. But it is another thing to be down in the field on the team. And that is where God wants all of us to be.
The Credit Goes to Those in the Arena
President Theodore Roosevelt made this statement. And I will quote, It is not the critic who counts. Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena. Whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood. Who strives valiantly. Who errs. And comes up short again and again.But there is no effort without error and shortcomings. And so what he is saying is, You know it is easy to stand back and criticize. But the credit goes to the man or the woman who gets out there and does the work of the kingdom of God. Maybe they make a mistake here. Maybe they don't get it right there. But I would far rather try and make a mistake than never try at all.
So here at Harvest, listen, we are a hands on ministry. And we want to encourage you guys to get involved in what we are doing. And as time progresses we are going to tell you about a lot of great opportunities that are going to be available for you to serve the Lord here and impact our community.
The WELL Church Acronym
But Ephesians 4:15-16 says, We are to hold on to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ who is the head of His body, the church, under His direction. The whole body is fitted together. Listen. As each part does its own special work it helps the other parts grow so the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.So the key is every one of us does our part. So let's pick up where we last left off. It was the day of Pentecost. The Spirit has been poured out in great power upon the disciples of Jesus. Supernatural power has been on display and the disciples are speaking in new languages. A huge crowd gathers and the question is asked, What does all of this mean?
The formerly cowardly Simon Peter, who only a short time before had denied his Lord, now filled with the Holy Spirit, boldly stands up and preaches the gospel. And the result is 3,000 people believed. So now we have our first introduction to the New Testament church.
In Acts chapter 2 verse 42. I am going to read down to verse 47. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and the breaking of bread and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
Now all who believed were together and had all things in common, they sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all as anyone had need. So they continued daily with one accord in the temple. And breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all of the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
The church that turned the world upside down was a healthy, vibrant church. You could describe them as a WELL church. They were in good health. And so I am going to use that word WELL as an acronym. W-E-L-L. Aren't you impressed I can spell the word WELL?
And here is what it is an acronym for. They were a worshiping church. They were an evangelistic church. They were a learning church. They were a loving church. Every one of these principles was in play in the church that changed the world. So that is for the sake of helping you to remember it. But now I am going to change the order and follow the pattern as laid out by Acts chapter 2.
A Learning Church: Steadfast in Doctrine
So let's start with, They were a learning church. Verse 42, They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. You know, this is a principle that we can employ to summarize the book of Acts. It is the Spirit of God working through the word of God in the hearts of the people of God.These folks were empowered by the Spirit. And the way they showed it was by studying the Bible. A Spirit filled church will be a Bible studying church. You know sometimes they are heard of services where people say it was so great the Spirit was being poured out and there was no preaching. And there was no message from the Word. Now that is my kind of church service. Not mine.
I think that if the Spirit of God is working He is going to be working through the Word of God. You know it is an interesting thing Dr. Luke, the author of Acts, could have brought a lot of things to our attention about this church. They after all were vibrant, joyful, and rapidly expanding. But he makes a point of reminding us that they studied together.
It could have been a temptation for these first century believers to look back with great fondness on Pentecost itself and say, Why can't every service be like Pentecost? Remember the Spirit coming upon us in divided flames of fire? Remember all the languages we have spoken? Well that was like the explosion that started the engine. Now it was time to drive the car. And they are reveling in the Word of God.
And what is true of the church should be true of us as individuals. If you are really Spirit filled you will be drawn to this book. If you have no interest in the Bible, if you find the Bible boring maybe you need to ask yourself this question. Do I know God as I really ought to? And have I been filled with the Spirit.
Because you see the Bible is alive and powerful. Even if it is not a living Bible. It just resonates with power. Hebrews 4:12 says, The Word of God is alive and powerful. Sharper than any two edged sword. Martin Luther said, The Bible is alive. It speaks to me. It has feet. It runs after me. It has hands. It lays hold of me.
Dangers of Marginalizing or Disregarding Scripture
And this is important to point out because I see some trends in the church today. One trend is to disregard the study of Scripture. I have heard some ministers say, Well you know questions are the new answers. Let's not have a sermon. Let's have a discussion. Let's talk about the latest film or share our doubts and our struggles.Besides it is arrogant for us to say we know what the Bible teaches. Because God is too big for us to understand. And His truth is too mysterious for us to know with certainty. In fact let's skip church altogether and just drink coffee and criticize Christians. I have seen this happen.
But another trend is to marginalize the Word of God. You know you go to a church service and they have their videos and their drama and their film clips and their testimonies and sometimes even their dance. And then at the end they might have a little sermonette. You know a short little talk by the minister. The problem with that is sermonettes produce Christianettes. You see.
So the early church they reveled in. They studied the Word of God. And churches have marginalized the Word of God. You will never hear a message begin with, Let's turn in our Bibles to. In fact you will notice a lot of people, if not most of the people, will not even bring their Bible. And the sermons will tend to be topical. How to spice up your sex life. Or how to manage your money. Or how have a better relationship. Or whatever.
And those things are not bad topics to address. The Bible does address them in various ways. But I think it is far better to go through books of the Bible and let the text direct the message. Instead of imposing my thoughts on the text, let the text affect me. And I want to exposit the text.
Let's unpack what the Bible says because I don't feel I need to make the Bible relevant to you. I believe the Bible is relevant. I don't come up here saying, Well I need to make the Bible exciting and fun. No. I believe it is all those things already. I think my job is to let the lion out of the cage. Okay. And let you discover how wonderful this message really is.
The Importance of Sound Doctrine
So here is what this is saying. The first century church studied doctrine. Notice it says they studied the apostles' doctrine. That is a word some people are afraid of. Oh, I am not really into doctrine. Doctrine, schmachtrin. I just love Jesus. That sounds nice, doesn't it? But that is crazy talk. And I will tell you why. If you are not careful with your doctrine, you might end up loving the wrong Jesus. Or believing the wrong things.We are told in 1 Timothy 4:16, watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them because if you do you will save yourself and those who hear you. C.S. Lewis gave this warning years ago. Quote, If you do not listen to theology that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones. End quote.
So the early church studied doctrine from the Word of God. They love the Word of God. And here at Harvest we love the Word of God. And if you do not love the Word of God then you do not want to come here. Because every time you come we are going to open the book and we are going to let God speak to us through it. Because it does not matter what Greg thinks or says. But it really matters a lot what God has to say.
So that is our source. That is our authority. That is what we are going to focus on. Because Jesus says, In the volume of the book I have come. Lo, it is written of me.
Even Paul Preached Long—And People Listened
There is a story in the book of Acts that we will get to later where Paul was visiting the church and preaching. And he started in the morning on Sunday and went on. And he was still going strong. Listen. At twelve midnight. Wow. And the people were probably just sitting in their spellbound. Well one guy got a little sleepy, understandably. His name was Eutychus. He was sitting on a window sill and he fell asleep and fell out of the window three stories to his death.So here is Paul preaching away. And someone says, A guy just fell out of the window. Paul stopped. Went over to Eutychus. Prayed for him. Raised him from the dead. And went back and finished his sermon. Now that is my kind of preacher.
So you see people even fell asleep when Paul was preaching. And by the way I can tell when you are falling asleep. I don't know if you know this but you know how you can see me right now. I can see you too. Even in the back row. And I know all the tricks. You know when you are falling asleep but you want to look spiritual so you will just like you are praying but your head nods periodically. Also snoring is a good indicator you are actually not praying.
But they loved the Word of God and they studied the Word of God. You know God has ordained preaching and teaching in the church. Some people might say, Well you know I like to just listen to Christian radio and watch Christian television. I will pray for you if you get your teaching through Christian television. A lot of crazy stuff out there. But I listen to the radio a lot. And hey I do too. So I am not criticizing that. That is great to be supplemental.
And maybe with extenuating circumstances you can't get out. Thank God for the Internet we are on right now. And people can watch this service all around the world. Anywhere they can access a computer or a mobile device or whatever. So that is great. And we welcome all those folks watching.
But nothing takes the place of getting together with God's people in the church and studying the Bible together. Okay. So those things are good. Those things are good. But they are not a replacement for getting together with God's people. Because something supernatural, something wonderful happens when the Word of God is proclaimed. And you hear it in person with fellow Christians. There is a freshness and an immediacy.
And I want you to know that I take what I do very seriously. You might not think so because of all the lame jokes I throw out. But actually I really recognize that when I stand up and speak from the Word of God that it is a great responsibility. And I want to do it to the best of my ability. But I see it as a great privilege.
Preaching: God's Chosen Method
And to those that are called to preach the Word, God says in 2 Timothy 4, Preach the Word. Be persistent whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct. Rebuke. Encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to right teaching. They will follow their own desires and they will look for teachers who will tell them what they want to hear.I believe that a preacher should preach. I don't think a preacher is supposed to be a social commentator, a philosopher, a politician, or a stand-up comic. I think that a preacher is supposed to get up and speak. And some pastors like to describe themselves as well I am actually a life coach. Another preacher describes himself as a cultural architect. Really? I am just a preacher. I am sorry. I am not ashamed to say. I am just called to get up and preach the Word of God.
But what is preaching really? Well one of the great preachers of Christian history is Martin Lloyd-Jones. And he defined preaching as logic on fire. I like that. Logic on fire. He said preaching is theology coming through a man who is on fire. Thus we offer theology without apology.
And I don't know how some guys do it but they manage to take the word and make it boring. Listening to them is like watching paint dry. I don't know where the problem is. But I told you the story before of a preacher that was asked to get up and say a few words which is asking a lot because preachers tend to go on and on and on.
And so this was in a public meeting and the moderator was there and said, Go on reverend just say a few words. You are supposed to talk like five minutes. And so five minutes go by. Now it is ten minutes, not fifteen minutes. So the moderator clears his throat hoping the preacher will get the hint and stop preaching. And the guy continues on. It is now twenty-five minutes. And now the moderator is getting frustrated, pounding down his gavel. Thirty minutes the preacher is still going strong.
The moderator can't take it anymore. He takes his gavel and throws it at the preacher. He barely misses the preacher and hits an elderly man who had fallen asleep in the front row. The old guy woke up, saw the preacher who was still speaking, and said to the moderator, Hit me again. I can still hear him.
There is just no excuse for boring preaching. Some people can take dynamic passages and somehow drain the life out of them. Some preachers are all content, but no passion. Some are all passion, but no content. We need both. C.H. Spurgeon said, quote, There must be light as well as fire. Some preachers are all light and no fire, while others are all fire but no light. What we need is both fire and light.
So this church believed in preaching because God established preaching. Remember Jesus Christ Himself was a preacher of the Word. When He began His ministry we read in Matthew 4:17, from that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Then Jesus sent His disciples out to preach as well. Matthew 10:7. He said, As you go, preach, saying the kingdom of God is at hand. Listen to this. Preaching is God's primary way of reaching lost people. 1 Corinthians 1:21 says, In the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those that believe.
Now that didn't say foolish preaching but the foolishness of preaching. Or a more literal translation would be the foolishness of the preached thing. It amazes me that God has ordained verbal proclamation as a primary way that He has chosen to bring people into the kingdom of God. I really don't know why He has done that. But that is exactly what He has done.
From Cartoonist to Preacher
And I never wanted to be a preacher. Trust me when I tell you that. But my life's goal ever since I was a little boy was to be a cartoonist. Not toon cars. To draw cartoons. You see. And I drew comics for the school paper at Corona del Mar High School. And I corresponded with Charles Schultz who drew Peanuts. And I submitted my cartoons. Some of them were published in Surfer Magazine. I mean that was my goal in life.My fallback plan was that if that didn't work out I wanted to own a pet shop. Who knows why. Ok. If that didn't work I will have a pet shop. So I became a Christian at the age of seventeen. And after I accepted the Lord I wanted God to use me. And I was going to Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa.
And I went up to Pastor Chuck. And I said, Hey Chuck. I am a cartoonist. And I did this little drawing off of one of your sermons the other day. And I showed it to him. And it was a little booklet I wrote called Living Water with little cartoon characters. And telling the story of salvation. Or the plan of salvation I should say.
And Chuck liked it. And so we printed it up. And handed them out. And they were all gone that night. And so we printed up ten thousand. They were gone. Then we printed up a hundred thousand. They were gone. And then there were like literally millions of those crazy little things printed up.
So I thought I am going to be a Christian cartoonist now. Now I have a new goal. A Christian cartoonist. And so that is what I was doing. And some graphic design as well. But I felt that God had given me an ability to talk to people about Jesus. And I started doing little Bible studies here and there. And I just saw the impact of God's Word when it was verbally communicated.
And I began to wonder if the Lord would call me to preach. It was not something I aspired to. But it was something I felt that God maybe was calling me to. Like most people I was terrified of getting up in front of a crowd. You know by the way that is usually people's number one fear. When you poll people and say what are your greatest fears. Number one is almost always the fear of public speaking. Often worse than the fear of death. Which I find interesting. Ok you have a choice. You can die or speak. Kill me now.
So it is not something I wanted to do. But it is something that I felt God called me to do. Because I saw the impact of God's Word. I have had the privilege of sharing it in so many different settings. And I am always amazed at how God's Word transforms people.
So this is what the early church focused on. And you know people will have a lot of things they will think about when they are choosing a church. Well what kind of youth ministry do they have? And you know what are the facilities like? And how long does it take to get in and out of the parking lots? And you know these are the things people think. How close is it to my home?
You know what? Those are not the primary things you should be looking for in a church. The question you should be asking yourself is, is the Word of God being taught there? Am I being spiritually fed there? Now those other things are fine. And they have their place. But it is truly that these folks continued in the Word of God.
Notice verse 42, They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine. This phrase continued steadfastly speaks of a real passion. A real passion. Not a casual attitude. But there was a real commitment to hearing God's Word.
Listen. We need anointed preaching today. But guess what? We need anointed listening too. Having an openness to receive God's Word. 1 Peter 2:2 says, Like newborn babies you should crave and earnestly desire spiritual milk so that you may grow thereby.
One must come not only to hear the Word of God, but one must also come with a desire to apply the Word of God. Jesus said, Whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, He is like a wise man that builds his house upon a rock. Therefore, it is attention with intention.
When you come here to our services, come with your Bible. Needless to say, come with a notebook. We will put verses up on the screen here for you to jot down. And you can look them up later. But you know, don't arrive late. Don't leave early. Turn your cell phone off. And pay attention. Because this is the Word of God. It is not about me. Because it might be someone else up here teaching the Word of God. But it is about giving honor to the message of God's Word. And a serious attitude in hearing it.
A Loving Church: True Fellowship (Koinonia)
That is only point number one. It is going to be a long sermon. Not too long. Okay, number two. They were a loving church. Look at verse 42. They continued steadfastly in fellowship. This word fellowship comes from a Greek word koinonia. It is a very hard word to translate quite honestly. It can be translated partnership, communion, fellowship. It is a word that is quite expansive.But the idea that is being communicated here was, as they were being taught the Word of God, they wanted to share it with others. I don't know about you, but when I find a good restaurant, I want to take people there. You know? Hey, check this out. And not only should you go to this restaurant, but order this. This is a thing to order. And you like to see them discover it as well.
Well, you know, I think when you really are being blessed and being taught the Word, you want to share it with others. You know, fellowship is more than just socializing. I mean, you can socialize around a lot of things. You can go to a car show and talk about cars. And you can go to a gun show and talk about guns and, you know, a lot of things you can talk about.
But when we come to church, we will talk about all kinds of things. But our primary reason is to talk about the things of God. Right? And guess what? The Lord likes it when we talk about Him together. Malachi 3:16 says, Those that feared the Lord talked with each other and the Lord listened and heard. And that is an interesting phrase in the original language. It means to prick the ear, to bend down so as not to miss a single word.
Have you ever heard your name brought up in a conversation and they didn't know you were there? What? You know, you are just, you know, what? What are they saying about me? God pays attention when His name is spoken. He actually bends down and listens.
You know, my granddaughters come up to me and say, Papa, listen. I have to tell you this. If you are talking to me, conversation is probably going to stop. And I want to find out what they need or what they want. You know, you just sort of perk your ear up for that. And that is how God is when we talk about Him.
Fellowship is praying together. It is serving together. It is growing and aging together. These are the fibers of fellowship. Fellowship with God and fellowship with other believers go together. 1 John 1:3 says, We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard so you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father.
Listen. When you are walking with God you will want to be with God's people. Let me turn that around. If you are not walking with God you probably won't want to be around God's people. But I find when you are in fellowship with the Lord, getting into God's Word, you want to share it with fellow Christians. You want to be around fellow believers and so forth.
And so I find that people that are out of fellowship with God are almost always also out of fellowship with other believers. And you will find yourself saying, well there is just too many hypocrites. Or I don't like this. Or I don't like that. And you know a lot of times the problem is not with the church. The problem is with you.
A person with covered sin in his own life will always be trying to uncover sin in others lives. Let me repeat that. A person with covered sin in his own life will always be trying to uncover sin in others lives. You would think that the most hypercritical people are the most spiritual people, right? Not at all. The very opposite. The most critical people are usually the more sinful people. The more godly people are more humble and aware of their shortcomings. And they want to help one another instead of tear down one another.
So the early church got into the Word of God. And they had fellowship together.
A Worshiping Church: Joyful and Reverent Praise
Point number three. They were a worshiping church. They were a worshiping church. Verse 46 and 47. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple. And breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all of the people.This phrase, gladness and sincerity of heart, literally means with unaffected joy. So there was joy. There was vibrancy. But there was also reverence. Because verse 43 tells the Spirit came upon every soul, and wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
So those are elements that should be in our worship. There should be reverence and joy. The Spirit filled church will be a worshiping church. The Spirit filled Christian will be a worshiping Christian.
Just as something wonderful happens when God's people get together and study His Word, something extraordinary happens when God's people get together and sing His praises. The Bible tells us that He inhabits the praises of His people. Jesus said, when two or more are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them.
Now that verse is not saying that God only shows up when people worship because God is omnipresent, right? You know, God is here when you are not here because God is everywhere. God will be waiting for you in your car and then later in your house and then over at In-N-Out Burger or Chick-fil-A or, you know, wherever you go afterwards.
But He manifests His presence in a special way when His people lift up His name in praise and worship. I think it is really exciting when we have our crusades. And you have 45,000 people worshiping God. I remember our crusade a couple of years ago on our 20th anniversary. It was Sunday night. Chris Tomlin was there. And he led us to worship. We were having a firework show. Remember that? How many of you were there? Oh, wow. Really? That is great. How many of you weren't there? You weren't there. I am kidding. That sound meant nothing. I am not even sure what that meant. But it was a great time. I mean just honoring the Lord, fireworks firing off, a bunch of people had gone down in the field and accepted Christ.
And by the way we are going to do that at the Dodger Stadium. A little plug. Dodger Stadium. 9, 10, 11. Harvest Crusade. One night we will be having Chris back. And we are going to have a great time. But wow. When we cross those denominational barriers and we just praise God. That is a powerful witness I think.
Because we might as well get in the habit of singing to the Lord. You know Christianity is a singing faith. Let's be honest. We have the best songs of any other religion. Right? Our songs rule. They can't touch us at Christmas. We have all the good songs. And we are just getting started. And then new songs are being written all the time. Why? Because we have something to sing about. Not weird depressing chants and strange melodies that you can't even really discern. No. We sing to the Lord with a new song. And in heaven we are going to sing.
Revelation 15 says, What looked like a sea of glass was mixed with fire and standing beside the sea there were those who had been victorious over the Antichrist in His image. And they sang the song of Moses. You say, But Greg I don't have a good voice. Oh well neither do thousands of people that try out for American Idol. It didn't stop them. Why should it stop you?
You might say, Well Greg you know I just didn't always feel like worshipping. Do you think the first century believers always felt like praising God? They were harassed. They were beaten. They were mocked. Well that was before breakfast. These guys faced persecution on a massive scale. But they were thankful to God.
That is why we are told in Hebrews 13:15, By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. Yes sometimes worship can be a sacrifice. But the Bible doesn't say give thanks to the Lord when you feel good. It says give thanks to the Lord because He is good.
That is how Job was able to worship God after calamity came knocking on his front door. He lost his health. He lost his livelihood. And the most tragic thing of all he lost many of his children. But yet we read Job worshiped and said, Naked came I into this world. Naked go I out. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Do you think he felt like having a praise service? But he honored God. And the first century church worshiped the Lord.
Worship as a Powerful Witness
And did you know that your worship can be a witness? I want you to notice something. Look at verse 47. They praised God. They had favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily to those that were being saved. Is that somehow suggesting that there could be a connection between worship and witness? I think so.I think it is a powerful testimony to the outside world when a Christian can praise God despite hardship. Christians lose their jobs. Christians get cancer. Christians die in automobile accidents. Christians lose loved ones. Christians lose loved things. They face all the hardship that people in the world face. But when they see us praising God despite the adverse circumstances and not turning to the spirits but instead being filled with the Spirit. When they see us honoring the Lord that is a powerful testimony.
And I think it is an important witness for a non-believer. You know I came to Christ initially because I saw a bunch of Christians worshiping the Lord. It was on my high school campus at Harbor High. And I was into drugs. I was taking LSD on the weekends and smoking pot every day. I was just an idiot. But I still wanted to be a cartoonist and have a pet shop. But I was just a kid with no direction in life.
And I was walking across my high school campus and there was a group of Christians sitting on the front lawn singing songs. And these were real simple songs. They weren't the songs like we have today. These amazing songs. They were like real basic songs with like four chords. You know. G, C, D, E minor. Every song had those chords. And they would just sing these little songs.
And I was into all this music like I was into the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix and The Doors. And so I thought of myself as a real musical aficionado. And so I am into all this great rock and roll. And there are these Christians. Jing, jing, jing, jing. There was nothing aesthetically attractive. But it was the very weirdness of it that sort of interested me. Like why are they singing songs about God at lunchtime on the front lawn of the high school campus.
So I sat down far enough away where people wouldn't think I was joining them. But close enough where I could sort of eavesdrop on what they were doing. And as I watched them sing these very simple songs about God I was moved by it. Because you see I knew some of the people that were singing. I knew them because I had known them from years before. I used to party with some of them. I saw the change in their life. I thought, they really seem happy. They really seem like they are singing to God. I mean, I saw the connection. It opened my heart up to hear the Word of God proclaimed.
And I think the same is true in the early church. They worshiped the Lord. It was a powerful testimony. Probably the classic illustration is the story of Paul and Silas, right? They are arrested for preaching the gospel. The jailer beats them with wooden rods and then puts them in the deepest part of the dungeon. Fastens their feet in these stocks and they are just in miserable pain.
And I just love the verse that says, At midnight Paul and Silas sang praises to God. At midnight. What a perfect time to do it. And then it says, And the other prisoners listened. And the word that is used there for listen means, Heard them with pleasure.
Have you ever been driving in your car and a song comes on? Oh that is my favorite song. You turn it up. You listen with pleasure. I like that song. That is how the people were listening. They had never heard a worship service in that prison. And the jailer was listening too.
Well an earthquake comes. Shakes the walls. The prisoners now can escape. And the jailer is getting ready to kill himself because the penalty for having your prisoners escape was death. And Paul says, Don't kill yourself. We are all still here. And what does that jailer do? We read that he goes to Paul and says, Sir, what must I do to be saved?
Why? Because Paul and Silas were able to worship God despite the hardship they were facing. And that opened the jailer's heart to hear the gospel. So you see, worship and witness can go together.
An Evangelistic Church: The Lord Added Daily
And that now brings us to our final point. They were an evangelistic church. So let's review. They were a learning church. They were a loving church. They were a worshiping church. They were an evangelistic church.Verse 47, The Lord added to the church daily those that were being saved. You know, the world watched this and was amazed. These Christians learning and loving and caring and worshiping and praying. And it just drew people in. And there was continual evangelism happening in the early church. And there was no apology for it.
And that is what should happen in any church that is doing it the way God wants us to do it. Because new believers are the lifeblood of the church. As I have said before, if you show me a church that doesn't have a flow of new believers coming in, I will show you a church that is stagnating.
And why is this? Because new believers will help us older believers stay on our feet spiritually. You see, the Great Commission is not to just go out and preach the gospel. It is to go out and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all things that Christ has commanded. And lo, He is with us even to the end of the age.
It is to go and make disciples. What does that mean? It means you go out to the best of your ability. You seek to lead a person to Christ and help them to grow up spiritually. Take them under your wing. Help them grow in their faith. They are going to ask you questions about things you have forgotten. They are going to get you studying your Bible like never before.
That is why older believers need newer believers. And of course newer believers need older believers to temper them and to keep them strong. Help them get a good foundation. And I have found that as I give out God gives back to me. The more I give out the more God gives to me, Jesus says in Matthew 13:12, whoever has or passes it on, to him more will be given. And he will have abundance. But whoever does not have, who is not passing it on, even what he has will be taken away from him.
Proverbs 11:25 says, A generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will be watered himself. As I give out to others God replenishes me. There are times when frankly I am not quite running on empty but maybe I am at a quarter tank. I am kind of tired. I am a little bit drained. And I will minister to someone or I will give a message. And I will find when I am done I am at full again.
I actually get filled as I think of others and stop thinking about myself. And a lot of times we are so obsessed with ourselves and how I feel and taking my temperature. And hey forget about yourself. You know think about somebody else. And share the Word of God with them and encourage them. And you will find that God will replenish you in the process.
The early church understood this. And they gave out. And they helped young believers grow in the faith. This is the church that turned their world upside down.
Are We Turning the World Upside Down—or Vice Versa?
So how much like this church are we? Well I don't know. It seems to me nowadays the church is being turned upside down by the world. It seems like the world impacts us more than we impact the world. Because we are ashamed to be the church. Let us just be what we are. And be thankful that God has called us to be a part of it. Make no apology for it. And apply these principles in our own lives.You know if you would be a learning Christian, if you would be a loving Christian, if you would be a worshiping Christian, if you would be an evangelizing Christian, you would find that there would be the same results in your own life.
Invitation: Join God's Family Tonight
So maybe some of you have joined us here tonight as a visitor. And it is sort of like you walked in on a family discussion. Has that ever happened to you before? You know you go over to someone's house for dinner and they get into some big family discussion. You are like I want to go now. I am not really in this family.Well that is kind of what you walked into tonight. You know we are kind of talking about things that matter to Christians. And maybe you are not a Christian yet. And you don't fully get all the stuff that we are talking about. Well let me just say a word to you. You can join our family.
You say well how do you get into this family of God? Well you are not born into it. You are born again into it. The Bible says for as many as received Him He gave them the power to become sons of God. Oh you can be raised in the church and raised in a Christian home. But there still has to come a moment in every person's life where they say Jesus forgive me of my sin. I want to know you in a personal way.
God loved you so much that 2,000 years ago He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die in your place on the cross and pay the price for all the sins you have committed. And if you will turn from your sin and put your faith in Christ tonight you can be forgiven and you can join God's family.
And it is really not so much about joining this church as much as it is joining the church. When I say the church I mean that body of believers is made up of followers of Jesus Christ. The family of God. And I ask you are you in this family?
Maybe a lot of you have come from broken families. Many have. But this is God's family. And we have our flaws and we have our shortcomings. We will admit that. But there is nothing like it. As I said earlier the church has many critics but no rival. There is nothing like being a part of God's family.
And I want to invite you to join God's family and invite you to open your heart to Jesus Christ tonight. So you can walk out of here knowing that your sin is forgiven and be confident that if you die you will go to heaven.
Now I started a little bit earlier by talking about this prediction on this coming Saturday about the end of the world. You know there is a bunch of atheists throwing parties as they are mocking this. And in a way I almost kind of understand it. You know they just think you religious people are all so idiotic. And it is idiotic these statements that are being made. But they are making a joke out of it.
But here is what they are not thinking about. Yeah the end of the world isn't going to come Saturday. But the end of their world could come tonight. And we never know when the end of our world will come. Forget about the world. Talk about your world. And by that I mean that moment when boom. Your number is up man. There is nothing you can do to change that.
So what you need to do is be ready to go and be right with God. And if you are not sure if you are ready to meet the Lord I am going to give you an opportunity to get right with God tonight. Listen. There is no more important thing you will do in life than responding properly. Appropriately. To this invitation that I am going to give to you now. To ask Christ to come into your life. Who will forgive you of your sin. Make you ready for his return. And give you the confidence that you will go to heaven when you die.
If you have not done that. Do it now. As we pray together now. Let us all bow our heads. Father I pray for any person right now that is here with us. Or maybe watching on the Internet. I pray Lord that they will see their need for Jesus Christ. And that they will put their faith in you right now Lord. Help them to come to you. We pray.
Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we are praying together. How many of you would say tonight, Greg, I want Jesus Christ to come into my life. I want Him to forgive me of my sins. I want to know that when I die I will go to heaven. I am ready to say yes to Jesus. I am ready to follow Him. Pray for me.
If that is your desire. If you want Jesus Christ to come into your life. If you want Him to forgive you of your sin. If you want to go to heaven when you die, if you want to be ready for the Lord's return, would you lift your hand up wherever you are sitting right now and I am going to pray for you. Just slip your hand up and I will pray for you tonight. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Over here on this side. There in the back. In the very back. God bless you as well. In the middle. God bless you over here on the other side. Just lift your hand up. God bless you over there in the corner. God bless each one of you. Anybody else? You want Christ to come into your life. You want your sin forgiven. Let me pray for you. Just lift your hand up. If you haven't lifted it yet, lift it now. I will pray for you. God bless you.
Father I thank you for each one of these that have taken this little step of faith. And help them to take the next one and receive all that you have for them tonight we pray in Jesus name. Amen.
Listen. Those whom Jesus calls, He calls openly and publicly. And we are going to do the same in a moment. Our worship group is going to lead us in a song of invitation. And I am going to ask if you raise your hand with me during that last moment of prayer saying that you want Christ to come into your life. I am going to ask them when the song begins you would get up out of your seat, walk down these aisles, and stand up here in the front. And when you get here I am going to lead you in a prayer.
Now why do I ask you to come publicly like this? Because Jesus said if you will acknowledge me before people I will acknowledge you before my Father and the angels in heaven. But He added, If you deny me before people I will deny you before the Father and His angels. So this is a way to acknowledge Him publicly. To say, I mean this. I am serious.
Maybe you did not raise your hand. But you want to make this commitment to follow Christ. You come as well. I am going to ask that no one leave right now as that is distracting. Let's all be praying for these that are making the most important decision of their life.
So again if you raise your hand, even if you did not, but you want Jesus Christ to come in your life. You want your sin forgiven. You want to know that when you die you will go to heaven. You want to be ready for the Lord's return. As the group sings, you get up out of your seat. Walk down here to the front. And when you get here I will lead you in a prayer. Get up and start coming right now. Come on. Make your stand right here. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you.