SERIES: Acts #3
TOPIC: Authentic Church; Faith, Giving, Power, Serving
TITLE: GIVE WHAT YOU HAVE – Serving God In Power!
TEXT: Acts 3:6 [1-10]
INQUIRY: What are the two key components of this passage?
We also took an overview of the book of acts noting …
FAITH PRINCIPLES REVEALED:
INQUIRY: What are the two key components of this passage?
CHALLENGE: As in the book of Judges, the people sought God (as their model), they cried out and God raised them up. When a church’s people seek Christ (as their model) and cry out, He raises them up.
After all it was Jesus Himself who promised the church:
TITLE: GIVE WHAT YOU HAVE – Serving God In Power!
TEXT: Acts 3:6 [1-10]
But Peter said, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene--walk!"
[MOLDED] In general, most things are assembled … wired, welded, or bolted together … a few things are held together by corrosion and decay – such as politics, secular institutions, and the universe. But again, in general, things of beauty and value are molded, shaped, formed … usually created by artistic and loving hands.CONCISE OUTLINE
The Church … the true, the authentic Church is such a thing.
INQUIRY: What are the two key components of this passage?
I. THE REALITY OF WHAT WE HAVE TO OFFER!TRUTH/CONTEXT: In our first message, we looked at how a handful of ne’er-do-wells would turn the world on its ear.
II. THE RESPONSIBILITY TO OFFER WHAT WE HAVE!
We also took an overview of the book of acts noting …
1) The Preeminence of Christ JesusWe have quite reasonably concluded the early church possessed just a few things we don’t have today …
2) The Prominence of the Holy Spirit and
3) The Power of the authentic church
1) We don’t have the apostles of courseSaid another way –
2) And they were much closer to Christ in time
No church, since the first century, can really claim to be less powerful than the early church, except on a few specific points; none of which are acceptable excuses for the church’s powerlessness today.The events which led up to this point:
Peter and John then go to church; they encounter a man lame since birth, healed Him, gave God glory, and preaches his second message
- Christ speaks to the disciples … post resurrection, pre-ascension
- Great Commission reiterated: [witness to the Jew first (3:25-26); Je-rusalem (1-7), Judea and Samaria (8-12), and remotest parts of the earth (13-28)], Christ ascends
- Disciples go to Jerusalem to await the promised “power” (Holy Spirit)
- Holy Spirit arrives with “power”; Holy Spirit baptizes disciples; they speak in unknown tongues
- Critics claim the disciples are drunk
- Peter intercedes and defends disciples (using Joel’s prophecy)
- First Christian sermon; Peter identifies three things God has done:
1. He has lifted up His Son
2. He has delivered up His Son
3. He has raised up His Son
- 3,000 added to the Body
FAITH PRINCIPLES REVEALED:
EXPANDED OUTLINE
- PRIORITIES: at the time proper, believers will be found in wor-ship [a reasonable spiritual service of worship Romans 12:1 (no-tice the Power of the authentic Church)]
- REALITY: believers can’t give what they don’t have, but what they have, they share with those who have not [3:6; James 2:13-16]
- ATTRIBUTION: believers give but the glory goes to God [3:6; Colossians 3:17 (“whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Fa-ther”)]; they’re not confused by God and won’t misdirect His glory
- EMOTIONS: recipients of God’s gifts are overwhelmed with emotion because they know who the gift is from [3:8]; those who witness a heavenly event will be filled with wonder and amaze-ment [3:10b,11]
- FEARLESSNESS: believers fearlessly proclaim Christ … crucified, buried, and risen from the dead [3:12-26 (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:17-19)] and coming again; remember (Peter wasn’t a great preacher by birth; 4:13)
- HARVEST: When the Good News is boldly proclaimed, souls are saved … “5,000 men” [4:4].
INQUIRY: What are the two key components of this passage?
I. THE REALITY OF WHAT WE HAVE TO OFFER!APPLICATION: Oh the preeminence of Christ Jesus, the prominence of the Holy Spirit, and the power in the Authentic Church.A. The contrast between the temporal and the eternal (natural & supernatural, truth & falsehood, powerful & powerless, righteous & unrighteous, Spirit & flesh)!II. THE RESPONSIBILITY TO OFFER WHAT WE HAVE!
B. Only when we understand the nature of the truly valuable will we grasp exactly what we have to give!
C. The mighty power of our meager resources!
A. The Giver –Must be willing, humble, empowered, faithful, and saved!B. The Receiver –1. Usually they sit just outside our gateC. We have The Truth, The Life, and The Way! [John 14:6]
2. Usually everyday since birth
3. Usually looking for the temporal and natural
4. Usually unaware of their real needs
[ROLE MODELS] People conduct most of their lives on the basis of role models.The early church for example … 1 became 2, then 12 … 12 became 120 … 120 became 3,000 … 3,000 became 5000, and this continued as long as Christ was the preeminent role model … when He was not, the church de-clined, when He is not, it declines, the church is in decline.
American’s pride themselves on their great leaders (Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Lincoln; Boone, Crockett, Reagan).
Israel is no different (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Ester, Naomi & Ruth, David and Samson, and the prophets).
Nations rise and fall on this leader-follower symbiosis … so too churches.
CHALLENGE: As in the book of Judges, the people sought God (as their model), they cried out and God raised them up. When a church’s people seek Christ (as their model) and cry out, He raises them up.
[BARGE] I’m reminded of the story of the fully loaded iron ore barge which sank in the East River near Riker’s Island in New York. Nothing tried could raise the valuable cargo; it was frozen in the mud.Each of you has something to give … not the same identical thing … but you do have something.
A young engineer said he could raise it but no one listened to him. Finally they let him have a try. He had workers chain an empty barge over the sunken vessel. For hours he had them periodically cinch up the chains. When he was satisfied he sat back and waited for the tide to come in!
For this young engineer science was preeminent, for him physics was prominent, for him the power of truth, not effort, held sway!
After all it was Jesus Himself who promised the church:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.”Thousands are crying out; most “believers” don’t respond to their cries because they don’t “believe” they have anything to offer … how can that be? God as given every believer gifts:John 14:12
But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing (gifts) to each one individually just as He wills.1 Corinthians 12:11
[AQUINAS] Henry Ironside retells the story of Thomas Aquinas during an audience with the pope … they spoke of issues concerning them both and of many theological points … when finished, the pope gave Aquinas a tour of Peter’s Basilica, proudly pointing to the accu-mulated wealth obtained from around the world … telling the English theologian they no longer had to say, “silver and gold have I none.”Repeat after me – …
Aquinas turned and look the man in the eye and sternly said, “Neither can you say, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene – rise up and walk!’”
1) I will try to make Christ Jesus Preeminent in my daily lifeGo now into your Jerusalem, your Judea and Samaria, your Israel, the remotest parts of your world, and be Christ’s witnesses.
2) I will try to make the Holy Spirit Prominent in my daily life
3) I will try to trust God for the Power to live out my life daily!
4) And I will give what I have to those who need what I have!
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