Acts #01: an exposition of Acts 1:1-11. This message by pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, May 19, 2013.
Intro:
Vance Havner suggested that “most churches begin at 11 o’clock sharp and end at 12 o’clock dull!” I know I’ve help to create that notion. In fact once I dreamed I was preaching and I woke up and I was. That’s embarrassing. We’ve all got our own stories about church and it’s failures. We can talk about what we like and what we don’t like. Yet church is like family – I can talk about it all I want but I don’t want someone else talking about my family. Since we’re family today I want to talk about church. The church (by that I mean the church as a whole, the institutional church) is in trouble. Look around you. We are not what we were a few years ago. Churches are closing in record numbers. It has been estimated that 6 out of 10 churches across the U.S. will close their doors in the next 10 years. 85-90% of our churches in the Tulsa Metro Baptist Network are plateaued or in decline. I know the pastors of 4 churches that have closed their doors in the last year and probably another 3 or 4 who are not far from it. We can name some of the factors leading to this. First would be the fact that there has been a major shift in culture. This is not your grandfather’s America. I might even argue it’s not your older brother’s America! Add to that the economic whoas we are experiencing, the lack of confidence in institutions, the rise of the internet, social media and other means of connecting…the church has fallen on hard times. Add to that the fact we’ve not alway helped ourselves. We’ve been slow to respond. There’s been an unwillingness to change and adapt to new methodologies. What do we do about it? We could sit here and scold the rest of the world for not understanding and not embracing and loving the church…a solution that might make us feel better about ourselves but will not have any affect on the world outside. We could poll the unbelieving world and ask them what they want and then do our best to give them that. Of course the problem is we can never beat the world at its own game. And of course there is the fact that we are not free to make the church what we or anyone else wants it to be. Only the Lord of the Church can determine that. If only there was someone who’s done it. Someone who faced a pagan unbelieving world and built a vibrant, thriving church against all odds.
That’s right. Someone did and their story is found in the book of Acts. Our text this morning is found in Acts chapter 1.
Text: Acts 1:1-11
- Acts in volume 2 of Dr. Luke’s writing to his friend Theophilus.
- Luke the physician was a missionary and traveling companion of the apostle Paul.
- He is writing to his friend about the life and work of Jesus.
- The name Theophilus was a common name meaning “lover of God” or “loved by God.”
- The Gospel of Luke refers to him as, “Most excellent Theophilus” suggesting he was a person of influence.
Acts begins with, “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach…” This introduction ties Acts with the Gospel of Luke and also implies Luke’s perspective on the story. The Gospel = what Jesus began to do, Acts = what Jesus continues to do through His church. In a real sense, the book of Acts is still being written. Now I understand the canon of Scripture is closed and God is not still giving revelation – but the work of our Lord continues through His body – the church.
Luke is writing sometime in AD 60-62 giving us the story of the early days of the church at it’s work. With that in mind let’s look at this opening section.
As we hear Luke’s report from the first century and process it through the our 21st century experience what does Luke say to us about the church?
As we explore the first 11 verses of Acts I think we are reminded that…
Thesis: The vibrant life and ministry of the church is based upon three great foundational truths.
- Our identity is found in Christ; His person and work. (1:1-3)
- Our power rests exclusively in the person and power of the Holy Spirit. (1:4-8)
- Our focus is on the eternal rather than the immediate. (1:9-11)