For a video of this service, click on the link below . . .
SUNDAY SERVICE – April 30, A New Church, What Happened?
GATHERING MUSIC (Opening Hymn)
Good morning to those present in the sanctuary and those watching online, I am Pastor Mel Nielsen, welcome to Centenary’s worship Service for Sunday, April 30, 2023. On behalf of the whole church, welcome, we are glad you’re here.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Our Sunday School Classes are going to deliver the supplies to the Crises Center today.
It was announced that the UWF Garage Sale garnered more than $1,300 in sales. The UWF thanked all who donated, volunteered or brought items.
OPENING PRAYER (In Unison)
Welcoming God, bring us once again into your fold. Lead us beside still waters and restore our souls. Help us see the way we should go, the way we should live. Help us hear your voice calling our name. Enliven this time of worship, that we may find true life as we join with others: praising your name, celebrating your great goodness, and sharing your love for all people.
Amen.
SMALL TALK
We have been talking about the beginning of the new church the past few weeks, and we are going to talk about the new church right up to Pentecost, which is kind of like the Church’s Birthday.
The church we are talking about is people, did you know that church means people and not always a building? That’s right, you and me and all these people are actually the church. Do you know how the church grew so big? One person told another person and they told more people and the word spread until thousands of people were in the church.
The people did not do this all by themselves, they had help, do you know who helped them? God! The Holy Spirit of God heard their prayers and helped them and gave them the strength to talk about how good Jesus is.
We are still the church and the best way for us to help everyone is to tell them about Jesus and welcome them into the church. We need to pray fist. can we do that, can we pray right now?
OFFERING
JOYS AND CONCERNS
JOYS
Bob and Bonnie Minor are moving to Cedarhurst.
Martha Vaché and Jarice Crenshaw commented on the joy of fellowship at the garage sale.
Tom Newby shared the joy of being part of the Wednesday Morning Prayer Gathering.
CONCERNS
We have ben asked to pray for Patty O’Neal who is having a PET scan tomorrow.
Reggie Jordan shared about a friend of his in need of support after being evicted from his home.
I want to take a minute to lift up all the concerns going on around the world, whether it is nature or political strife or sin, there is much we can lift up to God today.
UNSPOKEN REQUESTS FOR PRAYER
PASTOR PRAYS FOR ALL JOYS – CONCERNS – UNSPOKEN
And know let us conclude our communal prayer time together by repeating together the Words Jesus taught us.
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on Earth
As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, Forever. Amen.
SONG
SCRIPTURE READING
Acts 2:42-47
The Fellowship of the Believers
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
SERMON
April 30, 2023 – A New Church, “What Happened?”
For the past two weeks, we have been going over the beginning of the new church which was consecrated by the Holy Spirit’s appearance and the tongues of fire and the sharing of common speech. We have covered this from that time to the first sermon by Peter who instructed those new converts on the characteristics of the new church and the Way to Heaven through Jesus and the repentance of sins.
Now the church has begun in earnest and the mission and ministry plans are being tested in real time. What activities did those people of the new church get involved with? What did they deem important? We get a clear picture in our Acts reading this morning. First, the devoted themselves to the teaching followed by embracing their similarities, fellowship, breaking of bread, they sold their possessions and gave to all who had need and they did all of this with glad and sincere hearts.
God so loved the work and attitude of the new church that the Body increased in number daily those who were being saved. It is a simple Plan, so what happened? Why has the church stagnated?
One big thing happened over the course of years to the church, but perhaps the biggest road block were the people who brought the ‘unwritten rules’ into the body. Those things that were more important to people than to God.
Josh Daffern, a blogger and pastor of Centreville Baptist Church in Virginia, suggests that many churches have six unwritten rules. People attending this church shall: 1) look like us, 2) dress like us, 3) talk like us, 4) vote like us, 5) sin like us and 6) believe like us.
Meaning we segregate ourselves by those things in our own comfort zone. Even in the uncomfortable things, we prefer to be with those similar to us. The sins of society have divided people since before Jesus became flesh. Those unwritten rules of society have seeped into the church.
We cannot help it, we are what society tells us we are. Have we forgotten that we are what God has created us to be? Have we forgotten what the church was originally supposed to look like and feel like?
I am not saying we have completely abandoned God’s original plan, but I think we have strayed from that original church. What needs to change for us to regain that same enthusiasm that changed the world? Our first clue may be in the word Peter uses to describe those early converts – Devotion.
Would it be so difficult to overthrow the unwritten rules that society imposes and return to the church the Holy Spirit blessed all those years ago? Peter tells us “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
Our second clue comes at the end of the reading, sincere. These two words are the bookends of how the Apostles and new converts looked at the blessing of the church, with devotion and sincerity. I studied this list and found a lot of Centenary in there.
The first one is being devoted to the Apostles teaching. We have a few small groups outside of Sunday. We have an ever increasing number of people involved with Adult Sunday School, but there is room for more. I think it would be wonderful if we had 2 Adult Sunday school classes.
What does it mean to be devoted? If we’re going to sign on as a follower of Jesus, we cannot do this halfheartedly. We need to have total buy-in. We have a well attended Tuesday Morning Bible Study, but I think we have room for more classes there as well.
Fellowship is fun, and we do a pretty good job of fellowshipping, but I see so much potential in small groups coming together simply for the fun of it. It’s exciting to gather as Christians and share the positive energy from inviting the Holy Spirit to join in whatever it is we do together.
Next, are we still filled with awe and wonder? I get it, life is draining and negative energy is often easier to share than positive. I think Peter would tell us that we need to continually share our excitement over the life we have in Jesus. We should talk more about the Jesus moments we have in our lives every Sunday during Joys and Concerns. Next Sunday consider sharing a moment of awe and wonder with us.
That next one is kind of a tough one. Have everything in common? I think this means having the same interests in the work of the church. We need to find common ground in working together towards the greater good. I think it means leaving self fulfilling interests behind and trusting in God’s grace, to be more a part of the body instead of less.
It takes trust in God to sell your possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. The word choice is interesting here; we are to sell the things we already own.
Meaning we are to part with that which gives us comfort like food, clothing, furniture, hobby interests, etc. We are to sell these possessions because it requires a sacrifice to part with that which we care. Devotion, again, means we are all in.
If we are meeting daily with other people who are grateful, generous and glorifying God, what’s going to happen? You’re going to be more like them! You will have goodwill toward them and you will want to continue everyday.
Speaking of everyday, we could start meeting together here everyday, but I don’t believe that is at the heart of this point. Not so much seven days of worship, but seven worship filled days. How can you increase your worship of God in community with other Christians?
We break bread on a regular basis, not as often as Wesley would like, but we do share this in common with other Christians, so we might not forget the Lord’s suffering and sacrifice. Peter also attaches prayer to this part of his list. For all the good things I see about Centenary and every church I have served, the one where most churches fall far short is communal prayer.
Prayer is one of the greatest unused blessings God has given us. Yes, God wants to hear from us as individuals, but the Lord also instructs Peter to tell us that we should be praying in community as well.
We have been given a snapshot of what was going on inside the new church. We are to use this as a model for the church today, and for the most part, here at Centenary, we do. Yes there is room for improvement and growth, that is true for every church.
The Body of Christ has suffered from the very beginning to fall victim to societal pressures. We hear that later in Paul’s letters to the new churches.
It’s an unfortunate reality that 2,000 years after those first Christians met for potluck, the church has decided instead to erect fences and barriers that make it difficult for the body of Christ to be one.
We far too often prefer to keep our distance from those Christians unlike ourselves. Yet, the ideal for us as Christians is demonstrated in this text: People of faith should be able to sit down and break bread together.
My 30-year-old self would refer to me today as a doormat for my desire to break bread with those I disagree with. My new church self prefers the term welcome mat. My calling was clear, tear down walls that create barriers and instead build bridges. I needed to strip away the sin that keep me cold and distanced and humble myself to be more like the Christ.
I believe this is true for all of us, we can continue to wait until God becomes more like us or we can surrender and become more like Jesus.
MISSION SONG
FINAL WORD
Jesus hinted at the need for complete surrender in his encounters with several disciple wannabes. One fellow said he was going to follow Jesus, but had to attend a funeral. Another said he was going to follow Jesus, but had to say goodbye to his family.
The early church must have learned from this parable, because they decided to be all in. The text says they were “devoted.” The Greek word means “to continue to do something with intense effort, to keep on, to persist in.”
This new Church devoted themselves to gathering every day at the temple. They persisted, they continued in breaking bread and praying and selling their property and possessions and giving to the needy. They did all of this with glad and sincere hearts. All of this lead to the church growing by leaps and bounds. It was a God blessed plan then and I believe it is still a God blessed plan today.
BENEDICTION
Leader: Go forth in peace,
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God, and
the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
CLOSING HYMN