Sermons

There are many churches popping up all over Middletown. One question we will have to ask ourselves is whether or not we are valuable to the community. What makes a church valuable? Our value is in how much of Jesus people see when they see us. Are we leading people to the Savior? Our motto says that we want people to "come as they are." When people come, they will want to know if we really mean what we say. Are we willing to demonstrate to people that we practice what we preach? Will we come as we are? Our value will be measured by how transparent we are. Because when we are transparent, open, and honest about what we have been saved from, people will see Jesus rather than us.

Luke records for us in Acts 2 that the church met together with four main purposes. They devoted themselves to apostolic teaching, fellowship, eating together, and prayer. What was the result? It went beyond just being a close-knit group of believers or even having felt needs met. It was much more! These first community groups rocked their community. No church member went without having his/her needs met. The church was glad and sincere; it was worshipful—and it influenced the community. People were added daily to the number. The book of Acts is all about the growth of the church and the resulting "going" of the church. Through the growth of Community Groups, our church will learn to "go" into the community. This is where we understand our motto best, "Come as you are. Go as Jesus says."

The resurrection screams out that God cares about this world and His people. We know that God wants to save His people from sin, but we also must realize that God is saving us TO something. We have to live in the reality and power of the resurrection. Many Christians only focus on avoiding sin but miss the whole picture of how God is moving. Our God desires us to trade our old life for resurrection life. He desires to use us to affect the world. The best way we can affect the world is to be "agents of reconciliation".

Peter's audience were suffering for the cause of their mission. This isn't the case for most American churches. When we do suffer, many Christians view the trial as a punishment or inconvenience. Yet Peter tells us to neither be surprised nor hurt by suffering, but rather joyful. The early church members were no strangers to suffering, and neither should our local congregation be strangers. They were told that their suffering was a cause for rejoicing because they were actually sharing in the suffering of Jesus. Are we willing to be involved with the mission of the church, to find our calling, answer the call, and get beyond our own comfort? A trader is someone who is willing to get beyond comfort and into the fray. A trader is willing to trade comfort for trial.