Put simply, God happened. Acts 2 opens and closes with a description of what God did that day. It begins with the outpouring of His Spirit and it ends with his adding to the church those who were being saved.
What model of church do we see in Acts 2?
1. Committed to discipleship (the Apostle's teaching)
2. Committed to relationships (fellowship)
3. Committed to worship (breaking of bread)
4. Committed to prayer
The outcome of the commitment was that the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. God may have added 3,000 as a result of the events of the day, but the daily growth comes as a direct result of the ongoing life of the church. The point here is that the church, when it’s working right, will grow.
Recasting the vision
One simple question: What kind of church has God called us to be?
Our mission is a simple one: To know God (ie to build a strong personal relationship with God) and to make God known (ie to share that relationship with other people).
Building a great church in Cotton End, Shortstown, Wixams and maybe Wilstead.
We’ve set this mission and vision in the context of:
- Journey: The spiritual journey we are all making and the journey that we invite other to join.
- Family: The church local, and the church global.
- Community: The people around us, the people we are called to serve and to reach.
- Mission: Our great purpose in God’s hands is to engage in his mission to the world. To love people into a deep and growing relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
What kind of “local church”?
“I believe that the local church is the hope of the world. I believe to the core of my being that local churches have the potential to be the most influential force on planet earth. If they get it and get on with it, churches can become the redemptive centres that Jesus intended them to be. Dynamic teaching, creative worship, deep community, effective evangelism, and joyful service will combine to …strengthen families, transform communities and change the world”
This is a quote from Bill Hybels, I think it’s from Courageous Leadership.
If “the local church is the hope of the world”? What kind of local church is the hope of the world?
If we can describe the kind of local church that is the hope of the world then by our own admission "we get it" We actually understand. And we get it, then it's time to get on with it.
How do we move towards becoming this kind of church?
In order to become the church we believe God is calling us to become, we need to change. That’s not a negative thing to say. If we are going to grow as individuals we know we need to change. If we are going to become better followers of Jesus Christ we know we need to change. So it follows that we will not wake up tomorrow suddenly transformed into the church we so desire to become for the glory of God.
In order for this great church, this healthy church, this growing church, this missional church to come into reality, we will need to become great, healthy, growing, missional followers of Jesus.
What experiences do we need in order to become those followers?
Is it more teaching? Teaching helps, but it’s not the answer alone.
Imagine the day when…
What is your dream, your wildest dream? Mine is simple. A Christ-centred, community focused, growing church serving Cotton End, Shortstown, Wixams and Wilstead. Not four separate churches, but one church resourcing mission and ministry in diverse and innovative ways in these communities.
We won’t all see it quite the same way. But we all should have a dream of some kind. The challenge is, by the grace of God, to see that dream become a reality.
Of course we know that unless God builds the house, those who labour, labour in vain. But that doesn’t say, “Don’t dream.”
Committed to growing
This is about personal spiritual development. Earlier we noted that the continued growth of the early church arose from their commitment to be the prevailing church described in Acts 2. The Health-check assessment is there to help. My promise is to do my best to provide the encouragement and teaching to help you grow, your promise must be to help yourself to grow. No programme will help you grow unless you follow it through. At the gym you might hire a personal trainer to help you establish a personal programme for fitness, but unless yo choose to follow that routine, you will not reach your goal.
It requires: An act of disciplined choices coupled with prayerful devotion and dependence upon God by his Spirit.
Counting the cost
Jesus said never embark on a course of action without first counting the cost. Whether it’s going to war, building a house or following him. The truth is that there’s a cost to staying still as well as a cost for going forward. Nothing is without a cost. And it’s not just about financial costs or though there will be some significant costs involving money.
Cost #1: You will have to give up more of your time. A project like the celebration in Shortstown is gong to cost time and effort. It won’t happen if we don’t do it. It won’t happen because everyone else will do it.
You may have grown used to the idea of only having to come to church once on a Sunday. If the Shortstown Celebration was to be on a Sunday afternoon, would you consider that too much to ask of you or would you consider it a price worth paying if it’s going to make a difference.
Cost #2: It won’t be instant. We will have to commit to a long-term plan. This cannot be a few meetings and then a slow death as enthusiasm wanes.
Cost #3: You may need to move house. Perhaps it won’t be you, perhaps it will be me! But are you willing, if God were to call you, to make the move to reach a new community?
"Lord, we get it. Help us to get on with it!"
