Sermon Tone Analysis

How the Church Prays

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We tend to think of Christianity as a personal relationship with God.

And while that is certainly true it is only partially true.

Unfortunately we have allowed our churches in the past century to preach a Gospel that reinforces that idea.

And while we must call people to penitent Faith in Christ alone...

We have to at least acknowledge that the way we have done this in the past has caused some to have an overinflated view of Christianity as personal and autonomous, separated from others.... here is what I mean.

As has been popular in the last century, Altar calls and responses at the end of church services often ask people to close their eyes and raise their hands to receive Christ.

The prayer that these people are lead through is usually something to the effect of, “Ask Jesus into YOUR HEART”.

Think about it… If this is what has passed for Gospel preaching in the American Church, it would be easy to understand how people are left to think that what they are receiving from God is nothing more than a personal decision that can be kept private.

They can easily think that the repeated prayer they pray is some sort of magical words that save them.

This lends itself to creating a culture where the corporate gathering is undervalued.

Now, I would say that none of these things are bad or wrong and we would affirm most of these things, yet if that is all we are giving people it is no wonder that most people believe Christianity is about a personal relationship with God and that others shouldn’t intrude in that.

Yet that undermines the Church and our receiving a call into a Community of Believers that is a family and looks like a body.

We live in a culture that really prefers anonymity and autonomy.

We live in a day and age where technology has all but replaced the need for face to face interactions.

With Social media at the forefront of communication people can portray the best versions of themselves, publicly living the most fun parts of their lives from the comfort of their couch at home in their PJ’s.

The need for human interaction has become drastically lessened as we have become better connected and tethered to our phones and computers in what can only be described as borderline addictive ways.

It is no wonder that the idea of preaching the Gospel is given in such a way that says, “This is a personal decision that you quietly make by repeating this simple prayer, and then you are saved.”

Oh, and by the way, now go to church…???

Your acceptance into God’s family is a closed eyed personal repeated prayer, and then just come to big gatherings and let the person up for you.

It was Bonhoeffer who said, “The Gospel in my brother is stronger than the Gospel in me, and the Gospel in me is stronger than the Gospel in my brother.”

That is why we need to preach it to each other, and pray it with each other, and live it our in each others lives.

It was Bonhoeffer who said, “The Gospel in my brother is stronger than the Gospel in me, and the Gospel in me is stronger than the Gospel in my brother.”

That is why we need to preach it to each other, and pray it with each other, and live it our in each others lives.

Christianity is a corporate matter, and while the Gospel saves individuals from Hell, it saves them to God’s family that is meant to be a means of Grace to the individual in keeping them stronger until we are all delivered from this world to our Father in heaven.

The text we have before us today is one that clearly shows us the importance of corporate prayer.

At all American sports events we we start by singing the national anthem.

This is something that happens regardless of the sport.

And when you think about it, the national anthem doesn’t have any bearing on the game being played.

It doesn’t help a team score touch downs, it does help them score run or make baskets or shoot goals.

It has gotten to the point where it seems as though it is completely unrelated to what everyone is there for.

It is treated as a traditional cultural moment that people must endure until its over so that what they really came for can happen.

The Anthem is an add on… It is not what you came to the game for, it was thrown in there as an add on.

So people endure it or are inspired by it but the moment passes.

Why do we do this?

Originally the thought was that we should recognize the freedoms we have, that ours because others have fought and died for us to be a free people who can enjoy life.

It was a means of connecting our citizenship to our daily activities.

And whether this is still the case or if it has lost all value for some, I don’t want to get into that here, but rather draw the conclusion that for the athletes on the field it is not something that will actually help them win.

For the fans who participate it is a moment of remembering and then is easily forgot.

And it is no wonder… We are all American’s playing a game against each other, so the connection to our citizenship is something that is taken for granted.

However it can be inspiring in the moment to hear more than one voice sing it, and especially when every fan and athlete sings in unison… Yet the moment passes and even then it is unrelated to what is happening on the field of play.

I want you to hold that thought of this example as we work through the text today.

Because my opening thought is that we can sometimes treat corporate prayer in the church as we do the national anthem at a sporting event.

It is nice to do, Pray together that is, but once the prayer is over, let’s get to why we came here.

Corporate Prayer should be our initial response and not treated as an Add-on

Prayer is a major theme in scripture, and something we should be well acquainted with.

And corporate prayer is something that Binds the hearts of God’s people together in the midst of life when they face any hardship.

Yet some have treated it as a means by which we DO something that will cause God to react or will stop God from acting.

As we will see from the text before us today, We serve a Sovereign God and yet there is human responsibility in connecting to our Heavenly citizenship as a people… Especially when the Mission of the church is at stake.

The Mission of the Church is to Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all of creation and Make Disciples of all kinds of people.

How will the early church respond when that Mission is being attacked?

Let’s look at the text...

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Now please remember where we are in the story here… Peter and John were arrested at the temple because of the miracle preformed on a lame man that caused a disturbance in the temple during prayer.

Peter preaches the Gospel and the number of believers grows to 5,000 men.

As they stand before the Sanhedrin council they again Preach that Jesus is the only way to salvation.

They are commanded not to teach in Jesus name and these guys tell the leaders they cannot listen to them.

Now look what happens… they do not go home and wait until Sunday morning to give a missionary update in the bulletin.

They gather with believers and report what had happened.

I’m sure everyone on the outside of the temple heard what happened in the temple and that Peter and John were arrested and they were praying for them.

So when they are released they immediately go to there people.

True Biblical Community is important in times of great need

God has created us to be in community with each other and when he saves us he brings us into his family, and this family is made visible by the other believers around us.

As we look at the early church we see the importance of the biblical community they were surrounded with.

And as they came together peter and john tell them what was said and how the chief priests and elders responded to them.

And they all went on social media and started complaining about the Jewish leadership in an effort to get different leaders elected… They all posted memes that said, “type AMEN if you agree with me”... NOPE!

Look what their initial response was when the mission of the church is attacked...

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Before we read this prayer I want us to notice that Corporate Prayer was the first thing they did together.

They didn’t gather to dwell on their problems, they immediately connect their heavenly citizenship and God’s master plan for life to their current struggle.

They pray right away...

Being faithful in prayer is an earmark of believers.

But when we gather we pray corporately as the early church.

I would like us to notice HOW they prayed.

There is Theology in their prayers, there in scripture in their prayers and the is Faith in their prayers.

Let’s look at their prayer here...

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I don’t know about you, but when I read this I think, “How did they learn how to pray like this?” Is it just me who reads Scripture and thinks, wow that was an amazing prayer?

How does thew church pray??? Hold that thought...

Let’s take this prayer apart a little to see if we can learn and how we can grow in matters of corporate prayer.

They had Theology in Prayer

Theology is a word that mean the study of God or our understanding of God.

It is important to point out that everyone is a theologian… Everybody has a theology or an understanding of God.

Not all are right but everyone has formed an opinion based off of something.

That is why we have the Bible.

This is a supernatural book that God himself wrote through the hands of men as his Spirit carried them along.

The Bible is a book about God, not about us.

It is a revelation of God to us.

As we look at the prayers we find in the Bible we see and understanding of God that he wants us to know about him.

They are more than just patterns of words or structures for us to pray when certain circumstances come against us.

Biblical prayers are preserved in scripture for us to learn about God because he wants us to know him in these ways.

So what do we see in this prayer that reveals the nature of God to us?

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Sovereign Lord… What does Sovereign mean?

Sovereign means to posses supreme or ultimate rule...

Sovereignty of God is the Christian teaching that God is the supreme authority and all things are under His control.

... Sovereignty is an Attribute of God based upon the premise that God as the creator of heaven and earth has absolute right and full authority to do or allow whatever He desires.

They Call God Sovereign Lord… R.C. Sproul said of this title Sovereign Lord here is a term used to express the total creative power and control of the Lord over all His physical creation and over the affairs of humanity.

They mention That the Sovereign Lord made the heavens and earth and sea and everything in them...