The Thriving Church, part 1
The Church That Thrives • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 7 viewsWhat does it mean for a church to "Thrive"? Does it mean that the church has lots of people and money? NO!!!! "Thriving means excitement... excitement about Christ..." Thriving means involvement in something greater than ourselves... The book of Acts presents us with a church that thrived! They made disciples... They reproduced... They were on mission together.
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I just finished reading this book (hold up book) by Toby Lofton.
I encourage you to take some time to read it… It’s a quick read. not long winded at all… but very insightful…
But I don’t want you to just read it… I challenge you to put what he shares into practice…
I want to share some of what he says in his introduction with you today. (pg 9 [a])
Are we a “thriving” church?
Are we a “thriving” church?
On page 11, Lofton states that he has served in both “thriving churches” and “declining churches” (and so have I, and i agree with his assessment)…
He states “The difference between the two… [is] always found in the spirit of the people.”
So… How do we get there?
How do we become a “Thriving Church” like the one we find in the Book of Acts?
Where do we start?
Check this out…
(skit guys – “how we pray”)
Prayer …
There is probably not a more widely confusing, talked about, or misunderstood topic in the church. Amen?
For thousands of years, people have asked the question “What is prayer?”
How do we pray to the God of creation?
Even the disciples — those faithful twelve — asked Jesus:
1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
As this video revealed, people struggle with prayer… (expound)
How do we (personally) pray? What does your daily prayer look like?
— Do we only pray a quick blessing before our meals?
— Do we say a quick prayer in the morning before we head off for our day?
— Do we simply give God a list of our needs and desires?
— How many of us take our prayer time while we are on the drive to work, while the radio is playing?
— How often do we only really pray when we have a crisis and need something?
— We often pray in our church services, prayer meetings, etc.. in intervention for someone, but does it stop there?
Don’t get me wrong those are all great times to pray!
And, they are good things to pray. God tells us to bring our needs to Him… to “pray without ceasing.”
But, is prayer more than that?
Lofton states: “Every movement of the church [in Acts] began with prayer. Prayer was like breathing. It was second nature to everything they did. Their prayers weren’t typical prayers. They were precise and intentional. They asked for specific things from God.”
- Prayer is essential to our Christian walks. It is essential to the life of the church!
We cannot grow closer to God, or even get to know Him if we do not spend time with Him.
That is what prayer is, time with God. Time spent resting in the presence of the One who created us, and who loves us…
It is time spent worshipping Him, resting in Him, feeling His love, and allowing Him to bring us life!
Martin Luther said this – “To be Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”
Say that with me, “To be Christian…”
Let that sink in for a minute.
Prayer is the very essence of the Christian Life.
It is an act of humbling ourselves and recognizing that we are not perfect, that we need help.
Prayer connects us with our savior.
Think about it.
We do not even receive Grace through Christ until we humble ourselves and pray.
We are not saved by doing good.
We are not saved through our giving.
We are not saved by claiming to be Christian.
We are only saved through our confession of Christ through prayer, amen!
For the Christian, prayer must become a way of life.
There is a church in Dallas, TX that has caught on to this. They hold a national prayer conference each year. Prayer is the central action in this church. For the people of Crossroads Tabernacle, nothing can be accomplished with out first bathing it in prayer… and that includes our worship services!
Is this how we live our lives?
Prayer must become the defining principle in our lives.
Just like the guy at the end of that video…
We must “Get Real About Prayer!”
Turn with me to Acts 10:1-4.
Who is this Cornelius?
At first glance, it may seem easy to simply say, “He was a centurion… He was a Roman Centurion that God used to move Peter,” right?
I mean most of us will recognize this chapter as the turning point in Peter’s ministry. I want you to resist this urge.
Take a closer look.
This man, this Centurion named Cornelius, was important enough that Luke does not only mention him, but he gives us a very detailed description of him.
This does not happen often in the bible, which tells us that we need to take note of this man.
Verse 1, “There was a man named Cornelius, a Centurion from the Italian Regiment.”
Luke could have simply said, “There was a Centurion.” But he didn’t, Luke wanted us to know that this man was important…
WHY?
Well… Luke tells us that he was a Centurion, Cornelius was the commander of one hundred Roman soldiers… Not only this he was an Italian…
Everything about this description paints Cornelius as a pagan man.
Not a Believer!
Luke tells us that… Cornelius was a Roman soldier… a commander in the Roman military. Which made him despised by the Jewish community… after all, the Romans were the ones who were oppressing them.
It is clear that Luke wanted us to know that… Amen?
Cornelius was not Jewish, nor was he accepted by the Jewish community.
Yet, look at what Luke tells us in verse 2, “He and all his family were devout and God-fearing.”
At first, it may seem that Cornelius was a proselyte, one who has converted to the Judaism, but Luke’s description of him makes it clear that this was not the case.
The Greek word “sebomenos” describes men like Cornelius.
— These were people who “worship while maintaining distance” from God.
You see… Cornelius was a man separated from God, yet he committed himself to worshipping him anyway!
For whatever reason, Cornelius saw something in the God of the Jews, the one true God, and he committed himself to finding and serving this God.
Look at the Greek word used here to describe Cornelius.
Eusebēs – God fearing, devout, pious.
It denotes a moral attitude .
– it is “the metaphorical idea of trepidation ranging from shame, through wonder, to something approaching fear… evoked by that which is sublime and majestic, or by the risk of failure.”
Cornelius was so committed to a God that he did not even know… a God that he himself was separated from… and he feared disappointing Him.
Cornelius lived his life in an attempt to bring honor and pleasure to that God.
Is that how we are living?
Let me ask you: “What drives your life? What drives your prayer?”
Is everything you do in your life done to bring pleasure to God?
Are you seeing the connection between the way we live and the way we pray?
They are intertwined.
Look at the end of verse 2, “he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
Now look closely at what the angel tells him in verse 4.
“Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.”
Then he tells him to send for Peter.
Do you see what happened there?!
Cornelius’s prayers and gifts became an offering to God. What?!?!
He wasn’t even a Jew or Christian?!
Yet God responded to him…
Cornelius got real about prayer, and it affected his whole house.
As Christians, prayer must become our life.
It cannot be separated… It cannot be compartmentalized… It cannot be tucked away in some private place… and it cannot be reserved solely for our personal needs!
When we truly eusebēs… fear God… everything in our lives becomes an act of prayer.
Cornelius understood this, and he experienced God moving in his life.
If we want the same, we must Get Real About Prayer.
When we get real about prayer, there are three primary things that happen.
1. When we Get Real About Prayer, God takes notice.
James 5:16
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
What makes someone righteous? (connection/commitment to our creator)
We become righteous when we get real about prayer.
Righteousness comes from humbling ourselves before God in prayer.
Now don’t misunderstand me. I am not talking about our salvation.
That comes only through our faith in Christ… but when we get real in our prayer life… when prayer becomes so engrained into our life that there is no separation… that is when our faith in Christ becomes foundational.
We have evidences of this throughout scripture.
— When Abraham got real about prayer, he became the father of the church.
— When King David got real about prayer, giants were slain.
— When Nehemiah got real about prayer, a wall was built in record time!
— When Esther got real about prayer, all of Israel was saved!
— When Christians got real about prayer, Peter experienced a miraculous escape from prison, and showed up at their door!
— When Paul and Silas got real about prayer, a jailer was saved! (in more ways than one!)
Are you excited yet?!?!?!?!?!
Somebody get excited!!!
When people get real about prayer, God notices, amen!!!
2. When we Get Real About Prayer, we are changed forever.
When C.S. Lewis returned from London to Oxford, where he had just married Joy Gresham, an American woman who was dying of cancer, he was met by Harry Harrington, an episcopal priest, who asked him what news there is.
After a short hesitation, Lewis decided to speak of the marriage and not the cancer. And so he said, “Ah, good news, I think, Harry. Yes, good news.”
Harrington, not aware of the marriage and thinking that Lewis is referring to Joy’s medical situation, replied, “I know how hard you’ve been praying…Now, God is answering your prayer.”
Listen to Lewis’s response:
“That’s not why I pray, Harry… I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God; it changes me.”
Did you hear that last part? (repeat)
Getting real about prayer means letting God change us.
It means humbling ourselves and realizing that without God, we are nothing and can do nothing, Amen!
Being changed by prayer does not mean bringing God a grocery list of needs; it is seeking His face for answers and direction.
It means our lives become obedient to God through listening to His voice.
3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
Cornelius heard God’s voice, and was forever changed by it.
Cornelius listened and obeyed.
Our lives are changed only by two things: listening and doing.
We must learn to listen to God’s voice, and to do what He says.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
3. When we Get Real About Prayer, we see God move.
Cornelius got real about prayer, and God sent an angel to bring him what he needed.
Cornelius needed to know His son Jesus.
Cornelius didn’t know that, but God did.
And He sent an angel to tell him to send for Peter.
I want you to see what happened next.
Look at Acts 10:44-48
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.
45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.
46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said,
47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”
48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
Cornelius was real about prayer… his life revealed it… and as a result, his whole house was saved!
Getting real about prayer results in seeing God move in and through our lives.
When we get real about prayer… when prayer becomes a way of life for us… we WILL see God move… in our homes… in our churches… in our community…
I am reminded of the words of St. Augustine, “Preach always, when necessary use words.”
I think Augustine would agree with me saying “Pray Always, when necessary use words!”
You see, Augustine understood what it meant to Get Real About Prayer.
God moves through our lives… our actions… not through our words.
It is the way we live our lives that matters, not the words we say.
When our actions match our words, God moves.
So, the question we face today is this, “How is your prayer life?”
Are you being real about prayer?
Has prayer become so much a part of your life that, like C.S. Lewis, it pours out of you constantly?
Are you praying… really praying… for our church?
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Our treasure isn’t JUST our money… It is EVERYTHING that we hold as important… as precious… in our lives!
If we are going to truly get real about prayer, than we have to make some changes in our lives, amen.
Our approach to prayer has to change.
We must begin to see it differently.
Prayer has to become more than a quick blessing of the meal.
Prayer has to become more than a ritual that we observe at some given time during the day.
Prayer must become more than a compartmentalized part of our lives reserved for just certain occasions.
Prayer has to stop being showy and unmeaningful.
Prayer must become regular, unceasing, and constant… It MUST flow from us like each breath we take.
16 Rejoice always,
17 pray continually,
18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
What is God’s will for us?
“Be joyful, Pray always, Give thanks.”
We have a privilege that no other religion has.
We have a God who is waiting for us to draw near. Not by our power, but by HIS.
God gave us the way… through Christ we have the privilege… the awesome ability… to live in a constant relationship with Him…
But… this only happens when we choose daily… not for an hour, not for a meal…, but for the entire day… and every day… to draw close to Him, and to let Him fill our lives with joy and direction.
We have the privilege of finding joy in all that we face through grace provided by Christ Jesus.
We can find rest in His arms, in His care, because He has already taken care of it.
That’s where our joy comes from. It is a privilege! Amen?
We have the privilege to live a life, not by our own power, but by the power of God.
We have to privilege of being called by His name to be a part of His work.
BUT… We have to embrace that privilege!!!
We have to choose to heed Paul’s instruction to “pray continuously.”
We have to learn how to make our entire life a prayer to God.
We must Get Real About Prayer!!!
So… What will you do?
Will you stand with me today and tell God that you are ready to Get Real About Prayer?
Jesus said that if we confess Him before each other, than He will confess us in Heaven.
Will you stand with me today and confess that we need God… that we cannot do this without Him… that we truly are nothing without Him?
Will you stand with me today and tell God that we are ready for our lives to be changed… that we are ready to live differently… that we are ready for revival… and that we NEED Him?
Bow your heads with me.