To Meet Needs

Daniel Daugherty

Rosebud Christian Church

Why Church? • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

Acts 4:32–35

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Introduction: In her book Grapes of Wrath Or Grace, Barabra Brokhoff tells the story of:

A group of American tourists were taking a bus tour in Rome led by an English-speaking guide. Their first stop was a basilica in a piazza, which was surrounded by several lanes of relentless Roman traffic. After they were all safely dropped off, the group climbed the steps for a quick tour of the church.

Then they spread out to board the bus, which was now parked across the street from the church. The frantic guide shouted for the group to stay together. He hollered out to them, "You cross one by one, they hit you one by one. But if you cross together, they think you will hurt the car! They won't hit you."

There is always much to be said for unity, especially unity of the Spirit. This unity is vital in all areas of the church. As we continue in our series Why Church? We are looking at the importance of why we come to Church, why we meet with one another. Last week we looked at Acts 4 and talked about how meeting together brings God Glory. This week we are in the same passage to look at another reason and that is to meet needs. There are so many needs to be met within the Body of Christ. There are those in the body who are hungry and thirsty, poor, and depressed. The church is asked through scripture to stand up and meet these needs.

My prayer for us this morning is that we walk away challenged to make church a priority so that needs can begin to be met.

Pray

Read: Acts 4:32-35

Look at this! This is absolutely amazing to me! This is the early church’s reflection of Jesus. A God who gave so much! A God whose love has no bounds! This passage is evidence of their reflection of that same God. How do we reflect that same God? How do we meet needs?

I believe we must meet with hearts ready to...

Application:

Generously Serve

We meet to serve each other. Make sure needs are met in our church. Physical and Spiritual. This is what the early church did. Check our Acts 2:45

Acts 2:45 ESV

And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

We see in Acts 6 there were people being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. Formed a group to take care of these needs. They made sure that all those who were within their midst had their needs met!

Then, after they took care of the needs of their own, they reached out to those outside of the church. We need to take care of each other, then we need to allow that generosity to seep over into the people outside our church family. In Matthew 25 Jesus tells of the sheep and the goats. The Sheep- Those who selflessly served others in the name of Jesus. The Goats- Those who selfishly lived their lives seeking their own glory and gratifications. Jesus tells both these groups that whatever they did for the least of these they did for him. We must check our hearts and motives in this life.

When we make church a priority we will begin to develop a servant’s heart. Meeting needs through service is essential to your maturity as a Christian.

Generously Give

This is always a tough one! Walls begin to be put up at the sound of the word give. Like service, giving generously is also essential to your maturity.

The reality is, without generous givers, needs can’t and won’t be met. This was the same way back in the early church. The truth is that people near and far will always have needs.

The modern church has seemed to turn giving into a guilt trip and a socialistic practice. This is not a guilt thing, this is not socialism, giving is about sacrificial love and giving from the heart. Check this out, 2 Corinthians 9:7

2 Corinthians 9:7 ESV

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

The Greek word used here for cheerful is hilaros, which is where we get the English word Hilarious. Is God asking us to give hilariously? I believe that God asks us to give so cheerfully that it causes laughter and rejoicing!

What does your giving look like? Not just money, but time and effort. Would it cause laughter and rejoicing? Is it infectious?

Conclusion: Why Church? To Meet Needs! In this life we will never be without needs. We will always be in need of physical and spiritual things. So, one of the functions of the church is to meet those needs. We need to meet those needs for our own people and for those who are outside our church. What would it look like if the church generously gave and served? What if when people looked at Rosebud they began to rejoice because of what God is doing with the generosity of our people?

I challenge you this morning to really examine your commitment to meeting with each other. When we make it a priority we grow in generosity. We will begin to serve in the name of Jesus and everything we do for the least of these we do for Jesus.