Although the early church had faced opposition from the religious leaders in Jerusalem, the death of Stephen precipitated a new, more intense wave of persecution. But while persecution may throw the church into confusion it doesn’t throw God into confusion. As the early church scatters Luke tells us the story of the next step in the fulfilment of the command of Jesus to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.
Interestingly it’s through the scattered church, not the centralised, Apostle led church of Jerusalem that this new phase comes about. There is no sense of Philip being commissioned to go to Samaria, it’s just the place where he arrives as the church scatters.
In was through those who had been scattered by the persecution that followed Stephens’ death that the gospel was preached in Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch. It was from Cyprus that a group of believers travelled to Antioch and preached to the Gentiles, and it was the church in Antioch that commissioned Paul and Barnabas to set off on their first world mission trip.
Evangelism was never meant to be centred on the few who had the gift, on the few who had been with Jesus, but was always meant to involve every person.
What you need to know about persecution!
#1 It’s inevitable
Luke 21:12ff "But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.
John 15:18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
2Tim.3:12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
#2 It can’t separate you from God’s love
Rom. 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution
#3 It’s a step towards character
Suffering produces perseverance and perseverance character (Rom.5:3)
Responding to persecution
Whatever form it takes, persecution comes to us all. Our response must be integrated into our lifestyle as followers of Jesus. Our response might be to withdraw, to consolidate what we have and to erect barriers to keep us safe from the outside world. But there’s a problem with that. The outside world is the reason we are here. Whether we face persecution or not, the mission goes on. God is building his church, Jesus is actively transforming lives and he invites, he calls, he commands us to be partners with him.
Lessons from the scattered church
Lesson #1: You can bring the gospel to a new community
As we have seen, this mission trip focused on one person, Philip. One person available to God, doing what he could do. Not an apostle, specially commissioned, just an ordinary member of the church. Yes, Philip was one of the group along with Stephen who was chosen in Acts 6, but he was chosen for his faithful life to serve food. He wasn’t set apart as an evangelist or missionary. He just ended up being one because he found himself in a place where the local didn’t know Jesus.
Lesson #2: The gospel crosses old barriers
I wonder if Philip went to Samaria because he knew no self-respecting Jewish authority would follow him there. Perhaps he felt a common bond of rejection with the Samaritans. Whatever the reason, by seeking simply to serve God, he ended up sharing Jesus across an old barrier.
Lesson #3: Evangelism isn’t the preserve of the apostles
And it’s not the preserve of the deacons either!
We’ve already talked about this a little, but the truth is that God looks for the available heart. I’m sure you know the illustration that if an evangelist preached every night and through his or her ministry 1,000 people became Christians each night, in three years a million people would become Christians.
Sounds impressive.
The population of the world is 6,000 times that.
On the other hand, if just one person reaches one other person in one year, and then those two reach two more, and those four reach four more… in a single generation the whole world can be reached.
If we always leave evangelism to those whom we think have the gift, then we’re in danger of abandoning whole generations.
Lesson #4: You can’t keep the kingdom down
The statistics keep telling us that fewer and fewer people go to church today than in previous generations. Our own experience convinces us that people are harder to reach than ever before, that they have more doubts, more questions and less interest in traditional faith values.
But the kingdom still grows.
Lesson #5: The scattered church needs to be a connected church too
Acts 7 presents all sorts of problems and challenges to the church. What actually happened when Philip preached, did the people actually get born-again, actually become fully fledged Christ-followers, or did that have to wait until the apostles came? Are there several phases to conversion, is an experience of the Holy Spirit always a separate experience?
What we must remember is that Acts is a description of what happened not a prescription for what will or should happen all the time.
Perhaps the apostles realised that if the church were to remain connected then they would need to go and be seen to be blessing this new congregation of believers. They needed to make a public statement that Paul would later articulate as there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free.
An old barrier was broken, but old prejudices would take a while to dismantle.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Sunday, October 1, 2006
God's Big Plan: Build Great Churches
I’m so grateful that Jesus promised to build his church rather than ask me to do it! I’m also grateful that he’s invited us to be a part of what he builds and to be the agency through which he does the building.
That Jesus builds his church is made clear from Luke’s introduction to Acts and to the story of the early church as it unfolds. So the only conclusion we can come to is that Jesus will and does build his church. But what kind of church does he build? Moreover, what kind of church does he want to build with us and through us?
I believe the answer is quite simple. He wants to build a great church.
I think the early church was a great church. It was not a perfect church. But it was a great church. And I believe that Jesus still builds and still wants to build great churches.
A great church has to do with character and commitment, with the discipleship of its members and the choices it makes in ministry and mission. A great church not only has a great hope in Jesus Christ and the gospel of Jesus, but it has a great influence and a great ministry in and to its community.
I believe that God’s call is to build a great church not a big church. If big comes as a by-product of being great then that’s… great. But I don’t want to be a part of big a church that is not a great church.
The characteristics of a Great Church
#1 Devoted to biblical teaching and standards
You must never violate the principles of God in order to gain the blessing of God. " (Andy Stanley)
In other words there can be no bending of the rules, no stretching of the point, no shortcuts to God’s blessing. We cannot live one message and preach another. And that goes for principles of friendship and family as much as it goes for the moral teaching of the Bible.
In Eph.4 Paul calls us to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. He characterises this in terms of humility, gentleness, patience and love.
Two keys to this lifestyle
Key #1: Consistent Exposure
By this I simply mean reading and seeking to understand the word of God. In Psalm 119, the writer asks this question:
How can a young man keep his way pure?
To which he offers the simple answer: By living according to your word
God’s charge to Joshua was: Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Key #2: Disciplined Choices
I will walk in my house with blameless heart.
I will set before my eyes no vile thing. (Ps.102)
In a visual age, this is one of the most challenging verses of the whole Bible.
Life is full of choices, you make choices everyday, the challenge is to make good choices, to make godly choices.
#2 Devoted to each other
Committed relationships require:
Jesus said love would be the hallmark of being his followers. Paul talks of love as the greatest spiritual gift we can have.
In the New Testament church these committed relationships were expressed through:
There is no social class, no caste system, no “in” crowd and no “out” crowd
A great church has a positive reputation. To be highly regarded did not mean that people were queuing up to join, far from it.
#3 Devoted to God
The early church devoted themselves to prayer and the breaking of bread.
A great church is built by a great God who builds great people. God is not in the business of “fixing up” people, he’s not a repairman. He’s a life changing, heart renewing, freedom granting, grace outpouring God. As he commits himself to us, he calls us to commit ourselves to him…If you will be my people, I will be your God, rings out from the Old Testament. Throughout Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea and others, God speaks passionately about his relationship with the people he loves.
#4 Great outcomes
What is this great outcome? Growth. Lives transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We have the greatest message that carries the greatest possibilities for the greatness changes in the lives of every single human being on the planet.
In Acts 2 we are told that the Lord added daily those who were being saved.
Think about it. A daily addition to the church. Can you imagine what that might look like for the church in Bedford? For us?
Conclusion
Great churches are characterised by three things. They are:
If God only builds great churches, then we are a great church, but we can become greater. I don’t want to be part of a big church if that means not being part of a great church. I do want to be a part of a great church.
But a great church needs great people. Great in God’s hands, great in God’s eyes.
Do you want to be a part of a great church too?
If God’s big plan is to build great churches then I want us to be a great church, built by the great God, to bring great change.
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