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First New Sermon of the Year!
Part of our new Quarterly Sermon Package!
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A sermon for each Sunday...January thru March 2024
New Year Sermon: SEEK TO SAVE
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Biblical Text: Acts 6:7
“And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”
It’s a new year. And we’re still here. We Christians who remain in this earthly domain have been given another chance to get this thing we call Christianity RIGHT! The only resolution we should make is to try to do better, especially when it comes to witnessing for Christ. With the evidence of our past efforts to spread the gospel behind us, we have been given another opportunity to hit the RESTART button and assess how we might improve our ecumenical outreach to the lost.
Our scripture text this morning comes from the Book of Acts, the story of the formation of Christ’s church. We think it’s tough now to spread the good news about Jesus, but here, in America, nothing could be further from the truth. We are not arrested and thrown in jail for sharing the Gospel, as in some other countries. We certainly don’t have to face the challenges the disciples endured.
Allow me to give us a short history lesson from antiquity. In the days of the early church, the disciples faced multiple challenges. Satan was unusually busy stirring up persecutions from without, and temptations from within. Peter and his fellow disciples faced great persecution in Jerusalem, the seat of the Christian movement; that is, until a Pharisee named Gamaliel stepped in and warned their detractors. Reminding the Jewish hierarchy of two past situations; the first, a man named Theudas who pretended to be a prophet and led his followers to their death at the hand of the Romans; and the second, a man named Judas of Galilee who also amassed a large following, but also perished; Gamaliel warned the Jewish Priests who were persecuting the early church, saying, “Refrain from these men [the disciples of Jesus Christ], and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought [be overthrown]: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it…” (Acts 5:38-39).
Once the Jews left Peter and the disciples alone, they were able to make gains in the formation of a solid church foundation. They appointed seven deacons to help with the daily work of the church (Acts 6:3-6), to solicit donations needed to care for widows and orphans, and to spread the good news of the Gospel. This appointment of the seven had a great impact on the growth of the Church. Our text says that “the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”
But…that was then. This is now. So how are WE doing with the growth of the Church? It only took a pandemic like COVID to scatter us. And even with a reliable vaccine to combat the virus, many are still using COVID as an excuse to stay home, even though God says we should “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together” (Hebrews 10:25).
So, let’s take a look at the Church…tell your neighbor, “That’s Us!”…How is the Church doing? Let’s break it down the way Luke did in Acts 6:7.
(continued)
(This is a Three-Point Sermon)
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