Sermon Tone Analysis
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Series Review
I remember officiating a funeral in Harford County, and as the family was being seated at the gravesite, a mangy looking dog showed up.
She was quite disruptive: She was delighted to see the crowd gathering, and made it a point to sniff everyone there.
The funeral home staff tried to shoo it off, but the dog was determined.
While the funeral home staff was tending to the dog, it ran under the canopy and stood on its hind legs and put her front paws on the widow.
Her dress was dirty.
I was horrified.
And she was deeply moved.
She told me after the graveside service that her husband was a dog-lover, and this was his way of reminding her that he was watching over her.
I’ve done dozens of funerals in my 13 years as a pastor, and these stories are not uncommon.
Whether or not they mere coincidence, they are a comfort to those who are grieving.
Often in cases like this the bereaved use words like, “He’s with us in spirit.”
We don’t just use that in death - we use it when we can’t (or don’t want to) attend an event, but what do people mean when they say that someone is with us in spirit?
Our memories never fade.
Their lives continue to influence us.
Or in the case of the funeral, maybe their loved one is watching them, providing the occasional miracle.
When Jesus told his disciples he was leaving them, he promised not to leave them alone: he would still be with them, through the presence of the Holy Spirit.
This is not Jesus’ way of being with his disciples “in spirit.”
The Holy Spirit continues to do the things Jesus began to do in his earthly life, the thing we read in the Gospels.
How do we see our church ministries and missions?
As programs or as Spirit - led continuations of Christ’s ministry on earth?
A huge difference.
Jesus, acted while on Earth, continuing to act through the holy Spirit, healing, direction, power, circumstances, calling
Sermon Introduction
Last week we saw how the Holy Spirit is the author of missions.
Jesus told his disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit, and once they receive power then they begin their ministry.
In today’s story that Debbie told us, the early church is growing.
And it has created a serious crisis.
Today’s message is for our local church.
The Gospel is personal, but it’s never private.
As John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church said,
The idea of a church growing in numbers can be exciting, but it is disruptive.
Churches can see an increase in attendance, but if they do not adapt their way of life, they cannot sustain this growth.
“There is no such thing as solitary religion.”
The Holy Spirit gave birth to the Church on Pentecost Sunday.
The church is a family.
When you accepted Christ, when you were baptized, when you took your membership vows, you joined a family.
The question for our church today is
In our story today, the church is struggling with change.
Ronald Heifetz, a professor of business at Harvard, once wrote:
“People don't fear change; they fear loss.
We don’t like change.
That’s the spoken and spoken truth of churches.
The question for our church today is not whether or not churches should change, or how we should change.
When you walk out these doors and enter the mission field, change is constantly happen.
Even inside these walls change is always happening.
The question for the early church and for us today is:
The question for our church today is:
What kind of growth would you like to see in a church?
“How will we adapt to change?”
In Acts chapter 6 the Holy Spirit is growing the church, and and along with that...
The Holy Spirit Creates New Situations
their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews e among them complained
their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing,
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews e among them complained
I remember my Pentecostal days where you had to get to church early (why?) so you could get a good parking space and get a decent seat.
Show up late and you’re parking in the mud and sitting in the overflow section.
I didn’t like to overflow section.
The sound system was terrible.
The room was hot.
If you’ve ever been in an overflow section, you know what the singing is like.
You’re not really singing with a congregation: you’re singing with an impromptu choir, and you hoped that the good singers showed up.
Some Sundays the singing was horrible.
But the neighborhood around us was growing, we were growing and we were excited about what the Holy Spirit was doing.
We had a new situation: the city of Greensboro did some major road repair, and closed off the road that led to our church.
We were mad at the city of Greensboro.
We believed that transportation planners were jerks who didn’t like Pentecostals, our pastor said it was a new situation created by the Holy Spirit.
In this case it is numerical growth.
This new situation was a real pain.
We spent three weeks making signs, walking around the neighborhoods, knocking on doors, introducing ourselves and asking permission to put signs on their street corners.
We finally realized that the Holy Spirit had a good plan after all.
But new situations happen.
If there is one constant in the world, it is the lack of constancy.
How will we see our new situations?
As an man made inconvenience or a spirit guided opportunity.
Church growth is exciting, but it comes at a cost.
Christianity already has tensions with alot of the Jewish community.
Sometimes the conflict became harsh and even violent.
(anti - semitism - coffee with the pastor)
There is friction on 2 fronts - conflict from the non-Christian community and now we have conflict within the church.
The Greek speaking Jewish Christians were arguing with the Hebrew speaking community.
The Greek speaking group is feeling neglected.
Many in the church can relate to that - youth who feel like their voice isn’t heard.
Senior adults who feel like they are being forgotten.
In this case widows who were not getting fed.
(OT background)
Notice I stopped at the word complained in verse 2 .
As we read in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, “There is nothing new under the sun.”
Complaints happen in the church, don’t they?
In the Holy Spirit has created new situations, and those new situations have created some serious challenges.
New Situations Create New Challenges
their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food
The new situation is numerical growth, which is exciting, but it can also be a real pain.
Ask anyone who has served on a building expansion committee.
Churches need upgraded facilities to accommodate growing ministries and an expanded vision.
But what do you do when 10 people have 10 different ideas about building expansion.
Ask anyone whose small group grows to the point where it is no longer a small group.
It’s hard to appoint a leader from that group and create a new one.
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