Sermon Tone Analysis

Acts Series:

Back to the Beginning: when Church was Church

*Prayer, Power, Proclamation*

*Acts 2:1-41*

In Acts chapter 2 we find "The World" in Jerusalem.

God-fearing people from all over the world, 16 regions named here had gathered to worship the Lord.

They had celebrated Passover, then the Feast of Weeks or the 7 week Feast of the Harvest or of Pentecost.

It was a time to celebrate the Lord to care for the poor, to remember their deliverance from Egypt.

This 1st day of the week, 50 days after the Passover God was about to SHOW HIMSELF through his CHURCH for the FIRST TIME.

Colossians 1:15 says he is the /"firstborn of all creation"/

 

This feast of Harvest would see a great Harvest of souls as Jesus would be the first to know the power over death and would bring about salvation and live by the power of the Spirit and now he ushers a new dispensation as the Church is birthed in power and presence.

We here at New Life Baptist Church are preparing for a 10 day focus on the Lord in May.

May 5-15.

We will begin with the National Day of Prayer and participating locally calling for the Lord's blessing on our city and country.

Then beginning on the 6th we will seek the Lord's face for 10 days.

6 am and 6 pm every day we will gather to pray.

Many fast and pray.

Beginning on Wednesday the 11th we will also gather at 7:00 each evening for Proclamation Services where God's People will be challenged to walk with God and those without a relationship with Christ will be called to Follow Christ.

Those days will be days of Prayer, Power and Proclamation.

That brings us to Scripture for today and we will use these three words to guide our outline of this part of Chapter 2

What were the keys here on this day to the Early Church.

IF we are going Back to the Beginning: when Church was church, the first thing we see is …

 

*1.

Prayer*

 

Read Luke 24:51-53; Acts 1:14, 15b

 

Deuteronomy 16:11 - tells us that the Feast of Weeks ends on the 50th day in the Temple, the Place of God's Name.

But they had stayed together, 120 of them, for 10 days, both in the Upper Room, and the Temple

They continued in Prayer and Worship at the Temple.

Why?

Jesus had given them instructions that they would be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the Uttermost … so what was the importance of the component of prayer.

These people always seemed to have answers for Jesus about what to do and what not to do, when to set up the Kingdom, who would get to sit with Jesus.

Why are they devoted to praying now?

 

    1.

Recognized that this was NOT something that they could produce - Jesus had cast a vision for them that I believe SCARED THEM so they NEEDED to Pray

 

    2.

They Recognized, FINALLY, that God was NOT operating by THEIR Agenda nor by THEIR Wisdom

      a.

what was their agenda?

- Chapter one - verse 6 - "/Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel?"/

      b.

their agenda had been an earthly Kingdom and they finally realized that God was doing something different -

      c.

We MUST realize that God is doing his OWN thing and Prayer is the place to find out what God is doing if we are going to join them

    3.

Recognized that the plan, the path, and the power to implement were going to come from God

 

If we are to be a church like the FIRST CHURCH we must come BACK to the Realization both in our head and in our actions that we aren't sharp enough, smart enough, talented enough, to conceive or achieve the plans of God, We NEED his wisdom, his power, his hand.

Prayer is where we gain that.

One of the most powerful, honest, and great prayers is found in 2 Chronicles 20.  King Jehoshaphat and God's people are under attack.

His prayer is found in verses 6-12 of 2 Chronicles 20 - /Oh Lord, God of our Fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven?

You rule over the Kingdoms of the nations.

Power and Might are in your hand, so no one can withstand you.  9 If calamity comes upon us, … we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you … you will hear us and save us … 12 … we have no poer to face this vast army … We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."/

We need to pray because We Don't know what to do

So our eyes, heart, thoughts, should be on the Lord

 

We have a great task to the Church of Jesus Christ but as we seek God's face, be warned, It is costly to Pray. 

/4586// Prayer Costs/

/"I want you to spend fifteen minutes every day praying for foreign missions," said a pastor to some young people in his congregation.

"But beware how you pray, for I warn you that it is a very costly experiment."/

/"Costly?"

they asked in surprise.

/

/"Yes, costly," he replied.

"When Carey began to pray for the conversion of the world it cost him himself.

In mission to India/

/"Brainerd prayed for the dark-skinned savages, and, after two years of blessed work, it cost him his life.

In Service/

/"Two students in Mr. Moody's summer school began to pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth more servants into His harvest; and, lo, it is going to cost America five thousand young men and women who have, in answer to this prayer, pledged themselves to the work.

/

/"Be sure it is a dangerous thing to pray in earnest for this work; you will find that you cannot pray and withhold your labour, or pray and withhold your money; indeed, you will find that your very life will no longer be your own when your prayers begin to be answered."/

/-F.

E. Marsh// /

If you pray for God to reach your community it's going to cost you some freedom to walk past a neighbor in need of Christ.

If you pray for Christ to reach the world it is going to cost, money, time

If we want God to reach Metro St. Louis, it's going to cost New Life Baptist Church

If we want New Life to be a Church like Heaven, it's going to cost us in comfort, in tradition, in experience, in style, in attitude, in plans, relationships, in money

The disciples ~/ followers sought the Lord in prayer and God Poured out his Power on them

 

Power is what we seek, but there is NO POWER for us without the Currency of Prayer

No Power without the currency of surrender

 

The first church devoted themselves to prayer and then God poured out his Spirit in Power on them

 

*2.

Power*

Read Acts 2:1-13

 

What was the Source of the Power?

The Source - The Holy Spirit, God had promised that he would pour out his spirit on them.

He had promised that he would baptize them with Fire, with power.

We place a lot of focus on the wrong things when it comes to looking at Pentecost.

We will see what empowered them, but the "who" of Pentecost is more important.

Pentecost is about Jesus Christ keeping his Word and pouring out the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit being true to his purpose and Glorifying and lifting up Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Let's look quickly at what the Holy Spirit used to empower this early Church, this Fellowship of Believers.

The Church was FILLED individually with the Holy Spirit and these same people who were clueless before the cross, afraid after the cross were now BOLD in the other side of the tomb

 

The Holy Spirit gave them

 

  *A*.

*Gifts* necessary for the Task

    1.

after the rushing wind and the fire came down and separated and baptized them into one body

    2.

they began to speak in other "tongues" NOT in this case UNKNOWN tongues, but literally other languages

    3.

Why? -

      a. to show God's power

      b.

because it was NEEDED for all of these people to be drawn to God as his WONDERS were proclaimed to them in their OWN language.

I'm sure all or most spoke Greek, but the praises of God were being sent up in THEIR language and that drew them to hear the proclamation of the gospel.

4.

What we need to see here today as a church is that when we humble ourselves and seek God's face and his Spirit is free to move in our lives, he will GIVE us the Gifts that are necessary for the tasks at hand.

    5.

we don't have another outpouring just like this because there wasn't another gathering just like this

    6.

God doesn't always move the same but if we let him he WILL move and empower us as needed

 

Remember that the WHO is more important than the WHAT

 

But I wanted us to see something else today from this first church that I think was a vehicle by which God was able to empower this fellowship through the power of the Spirit … They were …

 

 * B*.

*Together* in God's House

    1.

When we separate ourselves from the body we diminish our POWER