CPAC 26th April 2009
It’s Time to “Acts” and Finish the Book! (1) Acts 1:1-11
"If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself."
– St Augustine
Sermon:
Show my original oil painting of a “Vase with Daisies and Anemones” by Vincent van Gogh (1887)….
Show a print of Claude Monet’s “Bouquet of Sunflowers” (1881) and link it to the comments that follow….
You will know that at the moment Te Papa museum has an exhibition of original paintings by Claude Monet and other Impressionists.
When you see prints of Monet’s paintings they look wonderful don’t they, but the prints are only a shadow of the beauty of the original paintings.
You can buy Monet’s prints over the internet for about $20!
The originals will cost you a six figure sum, no doubt.
When you see Monet’s original work, or that of any famous painter, you gain a much, much greater appreciation of how talented these painters really were.
When you stroll through Te Papa museum you can learn a lot more about Monet and his paintings than you may already know,
simply because you are able to study his original paintings.
Let’s extend that thinking now to the original church.
This book was a Christmas gift to me from Linda and Melanie two years ago!
You can see that it's not a coffee-table book.
In fact, it's big enough to be an actual coffee table!
This book records the accounts of the original church under the heading “The Acts of the Apostles” (refer to and show the book)
It’s not the original account.
It is a short record about the original account.
It’s still significant and very meaningful, but it represents only a shadow of the original account.
This illustration, like the illustration of the paintings,
highlights a very important principle of church health and church growth.
You see, for us to truly understand the church and really appreciate what it is supposed to be like,
and if we are to stir our passion about our potential as a church family, then, the fact is, cheap copies won't do.
We need to study the original, that is, the original church.
We need to learn from its principles and patterns of ministry.
Then we need to implement those patterns, adapted according to the context in which we live now.
So over the next few weeks I want us to take a close look at the very first church, the original church that was established by the very first Christians after Jesus ascended to heaven.
The life of this original church has been very carefully recorded in the Book of Acts.
The author of the Book of Acts is Luke, the same author as the gospel of Luke.
Luke was a gentile, who Paul says was his "excellent physician" (Colossians 4:14).
So Luke is Dr Luke, a medical doctor.
The Book of Acts is a history book, one of five historical books in the New Testament.
The other four are the gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John which are historical accounts of the life of Jesus Christ.
Acts is an historical account of the life of the original church.
It is exciting, action-packed history book filled with fascinating people, life-changing events, and crucial ideas,
hence the title, "the Acts of the Apostles..."
The Book of Acts is like a sequel to Luke's gospel and we see this in the first verse of Acts where Luke says,
"In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach..."
But in a real sense you could say that Acts is a sequel to not just Luke but the other three gospels as well
and I say this because of the way the other gospels end.
Matthew ends with Jesus' RESURRECTION.
Mark ends with His ASCENSION.
Luke ends with Jesus' PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
John's concludes with Jesus' SECOND COMING.
And in the first eleven verses of Acts Luke presents all four of these key themes and shows how they relate to the church.
So really Acts is more than a sequel-it is a BRIDGE that takes us from the life of Christ in the Gospels to the practical, everyday outworking of what Christ taught.
Acts is a bridge because it connects the life of Christ to the life of the Christian.
In the Gospels we are Christ's admiring audience.
In Acts, we are the ones on stage.
How can we as a church benefit by looking at the “original church” in the Book of Acts?
1. We'll have a biblical standard to follow.
It’s so important that we pattern ourselves according to God's original design, not according to the latest trend or programme or dare I say, another church.
We must never be a photocopy machine church, that is, a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy.
The only way to get a good copy is to copy the original.
It’s vital we copy the New Testament church model and fit it into our context of life today.
The key focus of the original church was to seek and to save the lost.
Last week Craig Marsh talked about encountering God in transition.
He believed that CPAC was about to go through a transition of moving into new ways of understanding, believing, and operating as a church.
God is stirring up something within us as a church.
He said one of the hallmarks of a church in transition is that they will have an eye for those who are “lost”.
We all were once lost - read Ephesians 2:8 but “God saved us by His grace when we believed. We can’t take credit for this, it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago”.
Craig said that as a church God wants us to understanding that the “lost” are more ready than we may realise & the harvest is fast becoming ripe.
People need to know that God considers them His masterpiece.
The lost need to know God’s saving grace in their lives.
We, the church, are God’s only means through whom they will know.
Cynthia Nichols had a dream … an admonition to today’s church:
'Going With The Flow' by Cynthia Nichols
“I saw a wide stream flowing past where people stood on either side.
As the murky black water neared a precipice it flowed faster and ran deeper. A strong undertow drew it to the point where it roared headlong over the edge.
In the gathering darkness, which made the stream appear even blacker, a girl came drifting past. Those watching saw her, and from where they stood, could quite easily have grabbed her before she reached the rapids above the falls. But they didn't.
They murmured and pointed, even referring to her by her name, but not one ventured to help pull her out of the currents' ever increasing strength.
They were still pointing and murmuring when she tumbled over the falls and was gone.
One piercing scream drifted back to their ears and for a brief moment, they looked a bit distressed. But, it was a very brief moment indeed and then they simply picked up where they left off - murmuring and pointing as yet another person drifted into view.....” (unquote)
Remember, the woman in Auckland a week or two ago who chose not to help a young woman crying out for help?
Soon afterwards that young woman was raped.
Satan's goal is to rape the beauty of God's creation - we are that beauty.
It needn't happen - we are more than conquerors. As God’s church we are called to share the life-saving message of the gospel with people and then to help them grow as disciples so they can join us in this task of saving the lost and those who are in trouble.
It’s something we must never forget!
2. Acts shows us that anything is possible when we are empowered by the HOLY SPIRIT.
The best illustration of this is seen in the lives of the disciples themselves.
There is no way that on their own they would have been capable for the task that Jesus gave them in Acts 1:8.
From a purely human standpoint it was ridiculous to think that those first apostles could be His witnesses in Jerusalem, much less in Judea and Samaria and to the utter most parts of the earth.
But Acts records that they received power and guidance and wisdom from another Source, the Holy Spirit.
The same Holy Spirit power is available to you and I today.
When we repent of our sin and ask Jesus to come into our heart and life as Lord and Saviour, He does.
From that point on, just as Jesus promised He is WITHIN us... "always-even to the end of the earth." (Matthew 28:20)
Our English words for "Holy Ghost" has its roots in an old Anglo-Saxon word from which we get our word, "guest."
Let this remind us that the Holy Spirit is indeed an ever present Holy Guest in the lives of all who believe in Jesus,
always ready to give us what we need to do God’s will.
Remember, God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.
And that supply comes from the Holy Spirit.
Do you see what this means for CPAC?
There is nothing we can't do as long as we rely on the power of God's Holy Spirit living within us.
The late A. W. Tozer said,
"If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today 95% of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference."
Well, we don't want that said about CPAC!
We want to be a church known for doing things that would be impossible, apart from the power of God.
3. When we come to the end of the 28 chapters in Acts, we'll discover that this book is unfinished!
There is no formal ending to the book of Acts.
There is no climax.
It just stops after recording about 34 years of history from A.D. 30 to A.D. 64.
In fact, it ends with the hero, Paul, in prison.
We are left wondering what's going to happen next.
God did that for a reason.
The book of Acts is unfinished.
That’s because God is not finished.
He is still working in and through His people, us, His church.
In fact the literal Greek translation of the title of this book is this: "Acts of Apostolic People" – ie. no definite article, just ACTS...as if there are more ACTS to come.
A favourite clip from the Lord of the Rings movies is toward the end of the second film.
Frodo and Sam are working their way through a forest trying to get to that volcano in Mordor where they can destroy the evil ring.
And as they walk along Sam asks,
"I wonder if we'll ever be put into songs or tales?
I wonder if people will ever say 'Let's hear about Frodo and the ring.'
Maybe the kids will say, 'That was one of my favourite stories. Frodo was really courageous wasn't he dad!'
And, the dad will say, "Yes my boy, Frodo was the most famous of all hobbits and that's saying a lot."
Then Frodo chimes in, "Well, Sam, you left out one of the chief characters in this story we are writing: Samwise the brave. Kids are sure to say, 'I want to hear more about Sam because Frodo wouldn't have gotten far without Sam.' (unquote)
Well, when we get to heaven and we all look back on the history of the church...I wonder what they will say about you and me?
I wonder what will be said about the chapter we are now "writing" in the continuing history of the Acts of apostolic people.
Will they say, "CPAC was a great church! They constantly sought God's will and sought God’s vision for them. They faithfully followed and served God. And they relied on the power of the Holy Spirit...oh, God did amazing things through that church!"
I pray that people will say those things about CPAC, and that above all, God would be glorified.
If God is to be glorified in the life of CPAC it has to start with each one of us, each individual.
So may you and I begin a new chapter of the Acts of God in our individual life right now.
May we commit to always listen when His Holy Spirit speaks.
May we pledge to trust in, and rely on His power, instead of our own.
May we decide right now that we will always ACT when God tells us to.
Like young Samuel said to God, may we even now say,
"Speak Lord for Your servant is listening." Amen.
