Sermon Tone Analysis

Secular:

The Greatest Weapon

NAS Acts 5:12 And 1at the hands of the apostles many asigns and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in bSolomon's portico.

13 But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, athe people 1held them in high esteem.

14 And all the more abelievers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly badded to /their number/; 15 to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets, and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by, aat least his shadow might fall on any one of them.

16 And also the 1people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick 2or afflicted with unclean spirits; and they were all being healed.

17 But the high priest rose up, along with all his associates (that is athe sect of bthe Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy; 18 and they laid hands on the apostles, and aput them in a public jail.

19 But aan angel of the Lord during the night opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said, 20 "Go your way, stand and 1speak to the people in the temple 2athe whole message of this Life."

21 And upon hearing /this/, they entered into the temple aabout daybreak, and /began /to teach.

Now when bthe high priest and his associates had come, they called cthe 1Council together, even all the Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent /orders /to the prison house for them to be brought.

22 But athe officers who came did not find them in the prison; and they returned, and reported back, 23 saying, "We found the prison house locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors; but when we had opened up, we found no one inside."

24 Now when athe captain of the temple /guard /and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what 1would come of this. 25 But someone came and reported to them, "Behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!" 26 Then athe captain went along with bthe officers and /proceeded /to bring them /back /without violence (for cthey were afraid of the people, lest they should be stoned).

27 And when they had brought them, they stood them 1before athe Council.

And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, "We gave you astrict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and bintend to bring this man's blood upon us." 29 But Peter and the apostles answered and said, a"We must obey God rather than men.

30 a"The God of our fathers braised up Jesus, 1whom you had cput to death by hanging Him on a 2cross.

31 a"He is the one whom God exalted 1to His right hand as a 2bPrince and a cSaviour, to grant drepentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

32 "And we are a1witnesses of these things; and b/so is /the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him." 33 But when they heard this, they were acut 1to the quick and were intending to slay them.

34 But a certain Pharisee named aGamaliel, a bteacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in cthe Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time.

35 And he said to them, "Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men.

36 "For some time ago Theudas rose up, aclaiming to be somebody; and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him.

1And he was slain; and all who 2followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

37 "After this man Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of athe census, and drew away /some /people after him, he too perished, and all those who 1followed him were scattered.

38 "And so in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or 1action should abe of men, it will be overthrown; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found afighting against God." 40 And they 1took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they aflogged them and ordered them to 2speak no more in the name of Jesus, and /then /released them.

41 So they went on their way from the presence of the 1aCouncil, brejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame cfor 2/His /name.

42 aAnd every day, in the temple and 1from house to house, they 2kept right on teaching and 3bpreaching Jesus /as /the Christ.

Personal: Not a green thumb…

* My parents were never particularly interested in gardening

* I know the essentials… by name

* Good Soil – no chemicals… no impurities… no caustics… PURITY

* Good Sunlight – Photosynthesis… turns the nutrients of the good soil into POWER

* Weeding - … Choke off the Growth… good soil attracts pests and weeds… PERSECUTION

* Watering ~/ Caring – We need to water, check for bugs and weeds… prune, remove dead leaves… etc.  Can’t leave it (quickly overgrown… killed off) PERSISTENCE

* Then… it begins to really grow, the flowers bloom, the fruit begins to show… our garden becomes PRODUCTIVE

 

Bridge: What is the mission?…

Acts makes it pretty clear…

The sign of a true church, one full of genuine believers, one that takes scripture seriously, is one that is faithful to the commands of God!!

NAS Acts 1:8 but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Squamish, and in all The Lower Mainland and the Province, Our country, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

The Hallmarks of obedience to the Great Commission - PURITY, POWER, PERSECUTION, PERSISTENCE, PRODUCTIVITY

Body:

1)      Purity: v. 5:12-5:14

·         Remember Ananias and Sapphira

·         Doctrinally

                                                              i.

Sin

                                                            ii.

Unity… One Accord

                                                          iii.

GET WITH GOD’S PROGRAM

                                                          iv.

~*~* Someone on a team not committed to the task… brings the whole team down

·         Springing out of Love of Christ

                                                              i.

Dedication

                                                            ii.

Obedience

                                                          iii.

Service ~/ Honour

·         All the “more added” to numbers

                                                              i.

Growth in purity

                                                            ii.

Growth in Accountability

                                                          iii.

Growth… because are obedient!!

Touching Our World!! - Purity

 

2)      Power: v.  5:15-16

·         Acts shows a very definite pattern in the miracles provided in the new church

                                                              i.

God gave credibility to his message and to his messengers by demonstrations of his power…

                                                            ii.

God through his power extends his influence… ~*~* Ya gotta see this…  Fireworks… Niagara Falls…

1.      vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together

                                                          iii.

Testimony Powerful

1.      Power in Life

2.      Power in Prayer

3.      Power in Transformation

·         God’s Power extends outside our church

Touching Our World!! - Power

 

3)      Persecution v. 5:12-28

Spike belt on the Roadway of Vital Ministry

Challenge from Competing Faith

1)      Liberal Theology

2)      Other Faiths

3)      Secularism (the world sucking the life out of the church)

4)      Secularism (distracting people from Faith)

·         Opposition against a strong faith

·         Army making in roads (successful)

                                                              i.

Prepare to resist a break through

                                                            ii.

God strengthens the troops

·         Not health and Wealth

·         Easy to believe in Good times

                                                              i.

Witness in trouble

                                                            ii.

God of the hurting, the sick, the weary, the needy, God of the single-mom, the dying, God of the persecuted, God of the loser… Jesus is the Champion to the loser… if I had it all I wouldn’t need Christ… but before him I surrender all, and I am RICH

Blessed are you when?

When all is going well?