Churches that Thrive

A lot of time and energy is spent trying to get people to come to church to hear God's Word and to celebrate but if I understand the early church correctly the coming together was a culmination of all that was happening during the week. Acts 2:42-47 makes it very clear that salvation was occurring daily and that the believers were the ones who were doing the witnessing and the work of bringing salvation. There is nothing wrong with salvation happening at church but if that is where all Christians believe it is supposed to happen and that it is the pastors' job to do it then the Christian misses out on what God originally intended. The way the Christians spent time together during the week and ate together and opened the Word of God together was enough to bring about a lifestyle of outreach and mission. There are four things that were present that I think we need.

1) They were committed to the teaching of the Apostles. This is a challenge to those who are given the responsibility to teach the Word. What are we giving out that is worthy of someone being devoted to. It has to be so much more than stories and feel good sermons that do very little to create a workable faith that sustains during the week. It has to be sermons that create an "awe" in those believers who listen intently and are committed to sitting under our spiritual teaching. This is a task that is so deeply important to the spiritual growth of the believers in our churches.

2) They were devoted to the fellowship. This is an area that I think we have missed. We have tried to convince people for years that their "church attendance" is what God uses to measure their devotion to Him. The Bible tells us that they were devoted to the fellowship, the body, not he building. How many Christians come to church and totally miss this because they have fulfilled the job of church attendance but are not devoted to the body. Devotion to the body means that we do everything within our power to make sure the body is healthy and maturing. There are a lot of ways that we assemble as believers that shows our devotion to the body but wherever it is it must bring life to the fellowship not harm.

3) They were also devoted to relationships with one another outside the walls of the church. Christians lived with a sense of community that involved communal living which involved confession and Lord's Supper together. Real Christianity involves getting involved in the spiritual development of one another.

4) Finally they prayed together. When we pray with and for one another together, it just does something healthy for the body. Obviously when the church lived this way people came to Christ. We need more of that.

The rest of that passage really gives great insight into the results of Christians who live for God and are devoted to the things that please God, not the things that please us.

A church that lives together in community and devotion is a church that will stay together and impact the world for the sake to the Kingdom.

Waiting to go...

I love the way Luke follows up in his 2nd book in Acts 1:1-5. Jesus gives the command to his Apostles not to leave Jerusalem until God had given the okay by empowering their mission with the Holy Spirt.

I wonder how often I get ahead of God's timing by trying to attempt something that I am not empowered to do. Without the Holy Spirit going with me then there is no heavenly power to accomplish the task. There are many noble tasks that need to be done and it seems that they need to be done now, but without Holy Spirit empowerment then the results will not be what God intended.

So waiting until the Lord says go is just as important than the "going." Going under our own power and influence will make for a discouraging journey and for a less than desirable results. So the key to success in the work of the Lord is:

1) Living under the power of the Holy Spirit and

2) Not doing anything that is not ordained by God and fueled by the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

What have I been trying to do that God never told me to do? I have a feeling that there are a lot of things that I attempt that He never intended for me to do. If they were of Him and empowered by the Holy Spirit then there would be no doubt that they were His because there would be no human explanation for the results. The Apostles waited and when they went there was a huge explosion of Christian growth that can only be explained by Holy Spirit power.

Understanding Which Battles to Fight

I always have admired Peter. He seems to represent so many of us who claim to be followers of Christ. One of the most revealing stories about Peter is the story of his denial of Christ. I have always admired the boldness of Peter. He was the one who seemed to be the most fearless of the disciples of Christ. He knew exactly what to say when the questions came up about loyalty but when the tests came his actions often came up short of his words.

We can quickly criticize someone like Peter for his denial of Christ but we are not so unlike him. Here are some things that I believe we need to understand about Peter's denial of Christ so that we will not fall victim to the same failures.

Luke 22:47-62

1) Peter was willing to kill for Jesus but he was not willing to die for him.

I can't tell you how many times I have heard Christians fight about beliefs in Christ but have not been willing to get out of the ring with other Christians and get on the front lines of battle where the real fight is. We love to talk about how we would do something if we were in someone else's situation but never put ourselves on the battlefield for Christ. Peter was trying to fight a battle that Jesus didn't approve of and failed to fight the one that mattered. We have to be careful about what battles we fight. Make sure they are approved by the Commander in Chief and that they promote the kingdom and not hinder it.

2) Peter followed Christ from a distance.

Following Christ means to follow Him when His popularity is waning. Peter loved it when he was present for the healing and miracles but when Christ was taken prisoner he began to distance himself from the radical teachings of Christ and denied that he even knew him. The days of Christianity being popular are fading and there may be a time in the not so distant future that following Christ closely will mean that we are treated cruelly. We can't distance ourselves from Biblical teaching and standing close to Christ.

3) Peter hung out with those who opposed Christ and tried to blend in.

Finally, Peter tried to distance himself so much from Christ that he sat with those who opposed Christ, not for the purpose of telling them about Christ, but for the purpose of self preservation. He didn't want to be associated with Christ if it meant an unpleasant life for himself.

Too many of us are more interested in fighting about Christ and not enough of us are fighting for Christ. Get on the front lines and let's do battle where Christ has commanded us to.