realCHURCH - A Culture of Encouragement

Read Heb 3:1-14

Many would have seen the world's premier cycling race, the Tour de France on TV. For 21 days these incredible athletes travel almost 200kms a day, thru mountain ranges and a maze of country roads. Lance Armstrong won an incredible 7^th Tour – something they reckon while take a long time to be repeated. One picture that sticks in my mind, is him tackling a 20km mountain climb with a 10 degree incline, knowing that this was the decisive part of the race to break his opponents. The crowds sensing the moment were crowded on these small roads parting only as he approached, encouraging him and willing him to the top. 15 million people line the roads over 4000kms. He won the race that day even though there was a week still to go. The natural skill is without question, but by his own words it was the power of encouragement that gave him that extra edge.

Someone once said "Encouragement is the oxygen of the soul." And GK Chesterton said "The really great man is the man who makes every man feel great." The church should be a frontrunner in the encouragement stakes, and the people in it should be a people who live encouraged lives and are an encouragement ourselves to others, both within and outside the church.

1. Why encourage?

§ Encouragement has healing properties – ability to lift heads and hearts and helps people see what God sees.

§ It is the best teacher – often reveals blindspots and helps people understand themselves and situation better.

§ It creates its own environment = it is like fertilizer that encourages things to grow

§ It lowers the casualty rate = More than one million people in Australia

experience depression, anxiety or related substance use disorders each year.

Depression affects one in five people at some point in their adult lifetime. Depression is second only to heart-related illness in terms of disability in Australia – resulting in a profound impact on all aspects of life. Depression accounts for three to four days off work per month for each person experiencing depression – that's over six million working days lost each year in Australia.

§ It determines our course – who do you surround yourself with? If you want to move forward need to be in a place of encouragement.

2. Encouragement is a lifestyle not a personality!

See Heb 3:12-13 "…encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today…". It is our calling to put courage in others, to help make them bold, firm and resolute, to call them to our side and strengthen them. A culture of encouragement is what we must have in the church. It is not about platitudes that simply make people feel good temporarily, but an appreciation of the value, worth, contribution and destiny of others. It is about doing all we can to encourage others over their mountain and onto the victory line. It knows no limits or time restrictions – it is bold, generous and timely.

How do this?

§ By words – hold power of life and death, courage or fear. Put word in their hearts. Proverbs 10:21 - if people depended on our words for life would they die or live?!

§ By example – not just rhetoric but showing how to be encouraged. People are watching what you do, how you respond etc

§ By your presence – being near when needed. People should feel encouraged when your around.

3. There are a number of means of encouragement that the bible mentions

§ God encourages = Luke 3:21-22 "You are my son whom I love, with you I am well pleased." Divine encouragement before divine commissioning = he had done nothing yet, yet Father is in his corner putting strength in him.

§ Word encourages = Rom 15:4 – it is thru the scriptures that we are encouraged and have hope. .

§ Personal testimony encourages – Acts 16:40 where Paul and Silas get out of prison and immediately head for Lydia's house where they encouraged the brothers. They understood others were taking their marker off them.

§ The prophetic encourages – Acts 15:32, 1Cor 14:3, 31. The prophetic we read about in the NT is not the doom and gloom stuff of the OT prophets, but is there to strengthen, encourage and comfort and build up the church.

§ Giving and generosity encourages – Acts 4:36 see Barnabus who is named son of Encouragment living an extravagantly generous life, where he sells a field and lays money from it at the apostles feet. When we are generous with our finances, talents, energy, time, gifts and hearts it strengthens the hearts of others.

§ Leaders are to encourage us – 2Chron 30:21-27. One of biggest things leader needs to be doing with people. Even if you are not a church leader you are a leader in some way in your life (eg parent, at work, amongst friends etc) and your task is therefore to put courage and strength in others as a priority. I believe a godly leader is an encouraging leader – and even discipline has an encouraging heart behind it, because we want to encourage you to godliness and restoration.

§ Apostolic ministry encourages us – Col 4:7-8, 1Thess 3:2-3. In 1Thess 2:11 Paul says "We dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God." This is why our relationship with apostolic ministry is so NB to healthy church life. It helps us keep our eyes on the big picture of what God is on about thru the nations.

4. Who are we to encourage?

§ Encourage the weak = Is 35:3-10, 1Thess 5:14. Most obvious one. We are not to make people dependant on us but times of crisis are key times to be looking to put courage in someone, pulling them alongside and strengthening thru comfort and setting them back on their own feet again.

§ Encourage the next generation = Deut 1:38, 3:28. Lord tells Moses to encourage and strengthen Joshua because he will be the next generation of leader. Parents with kids task is to put courage in your kids. We should always be looking to train up next ones to run past us.

§ Encourage those in battle = 1Sam 23:15-16. Help others to find strength in God. Lift up their arms eg Joshua and Caleb for Moses. We all have battles to fight at times and that is a key time for us to encourage.

§ Encourage others in their service = 2Chron 35:1-2. A culture of appreciation is paramount to ensure a serving culture is maintained. Tell those who serve how much you appreciate them and what they do

§ Encourage people to fellowship = Heb 10:25 "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…". It is the task of all of us to collectively encourage people to not neglect fellowship. If someone misses a meeting there should be a host of concerned friends encouraging them (not telling them off!). Encourage by showing value to them and value to us by them being there.

§ Encourage one another in apostolic ventures = Acts 18:27. There is a natural tendency to want to stay and be comfortable, but we should be putting stremgth in one another to live a going, apostolic lifestyle.

§ Encourage others regards their future = 1Thess 5:11. Help people to interpret the present thru the eyes of the destiny God has for them. Encourage people to scope and see impact of decisions they make.

§ Encourage others in their faith = 1Thess 3:2-3. To believe in the bigness of our God and His ability to break into any situation, no matter how overwhelming or impossible it may seem.

§ Encourage other to remain true to the Lord with all their heart = Acts 11:23. Put strength and courage into others not to be halfhearted, but sold out for Jesus. Best way we do this is to be like this ourselves!

§ Encourage to pay attention to our physical wellbeing = Acts 27:33-38. We think it is a no-go area but when done wisely it is part of ensuring our overall wellbeing as physical, emotional and spiritual are all interconnected. What we pay attention to is what we value – we need to be encouraging one another is keeping fit, eating well etc.

5. Some practical pointers

§ It is often not what you actually say or do, but the how that is more important. A word, a note, a touch, a hug of appreciation is often enough. Taking a genuine interest in others is a huge form of encouragement. Be enthusiastic and sincere in your encouragement

§ Look for the truth and bring that out – don't try and fake it.

§ Encouragement takes practice in order for it to start becoming a natural part of you. It can seem stilted at first but it will get easier.

§ Look for opportune moments to encourage – you will find many every day in your own home! If more couples, parents could get this right and look for the good in one another it would do away with much of trauma we go through. Someone once said "we live by encouragement and die without it – slowly, sadly and angrily".

realCHURCH - An Empowered People

Read Acts 1:1-8

"One cannot read this book without being profoundly stirred and, to be honest, disturbed. Stirred because we see Christianity, the real thing, in action for the first time in human history…Here we see the church in its first youth, valiant and unspoiled…a body of ordinary men and women joined in an unconquerable fellowship never before seen on this earth. Yet disturbed for surely this is the church as it was meant to be. It is vigorous and flexible, for these are the days before it ever became fat and short of breath thru prosperity, or muscle-bound by organisation. These men did not make "acts of faith", they believed; they did not "say their prayers", they really prayed. They did not hold conferences on psychosomatic medicine, they simply healed the sick. BY modern standards they may have been naïve, but perhaps because of their very simplicity, perhaps because of their readiness simply to believe, to obey, to give, to suffer, and if necessary, to die, the Spirit of God found that he could work in them and thru them, and so they turned the world upside down." JB Philips

Jesus clearly underlies the Nb of the power of the presence of the Holy Spirit for the newly birthed church. A New Testament church is to be a Holy Spirit empowered and alive church, where we understand and live in the fullness of His authority, power and action. We see this when:

q Jesus sends out the 12 (ie the first disciples) it says in Luke 9 that "he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick" - and then he says not to take anything else with them!! Teaching them reliance on God's spirit.

q Later He sends out the 72 in Luke 10 and they reported back that even the demons submittted to them in His name

q In John 14:15- "...And I will ask the father, and he will give you another counsellor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him or knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you..." and later in vs 26 "...All this I have spoken while with you. But the counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you..."

q Paul reminds the church in Corinth that his preaching was not simply with wise and persuasive words but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power (1Cor 2:4)

q Since we live by the Spirit let us keep in step with the Spirit (Gal 5:25)

When one does a sweep of the whole of Acts we can see this clearly:

q Holy Spirit was the source of all guidance = iin Acts 8 we see him leading Philip to the eunuch, in Acts 10 he prepares Peter for the coming of Cornelius' men; in Acts 11 Holy Spirit tells Peter to go with them; in Acts 11 He shows Agabus about the coming famine; in Acts 13 he directs the apostles to set apart Paul and Barnabus for the task of taking the gospel to the gentiles; in Acts 15 He guides the decision of the council in Jerusalem; in Acts 16 he leads Paul, being kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching in Asia and led to Macedonia instead; in Acts 20 He tells Paul what awaits him in Jerusalem. The early church was a spirit-guided community

q All the leaders were spirit-filled men = in Acts 6 the first deacons had to be spirit-filled; in Acts 6&7 speaks of Stephen being full of the Spirit; in Acts 11 says same of Barnabus; in Acts 20 Paul tells Ephesian elders that the Holy Spirit has made them overseers.

q The Holy Spirit was the source of courage and power = Acts 1:8 says the disciples would receive power when the Spirit comes on them; as a result of Pentecost there came a hunger for word, fellowship, worship, prayer, signs and wonders, generosity, evangelism (Acts 2:42-47). Acts 3 the healing of cripple at gate Beautiful. Peter's courage and eloquence before Sanhedrin in Acts 4:8 is due to Holy Spirit (they were "ordinary unschooled men"); believers prayed for boldness to proclaim the word and Holy Spirit fills them and they do exactly that (4:31); Paul overcomes opposition of Elymas the sorcerer by power of the Holy Spirit (13:9); the Holy Spirit brings joy in the midst of persecution (13:52)

The pattern for any New testament believer and church is to be Holy Spirit empowered & alive! This is the wine that our wineskin needs to contain! John Stott said "We do not need to wait for the Holy Spirit to come; he came on the day of Pentecost. He has never left the church." Yet it is often very easy to grow cold/familiar with the Spirit of God and have at best a distant relationship with Him.

What good is it to have a wonderful wineskin if it is not containing the new wine? We can have the best facilities, the best programmes, the best muscians, the best children's ministry teachers, the best communicators, the best administrators, the best mission statement, we can read the bible more than others, we can fast and pray continually - but these are little good without the breath of God's spirit blowing thru and reigning within. Paul tells us in 2 Cor 3:6 that we are "ministers of a new Covenant - not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life"! God's Holy Spirit is key to New Testament church life!

The scriptures tell us that the Holy Spirit does the following:

q makes Jesus increasingly real to us ie he points to Jesus (Jn 15:26)

q confirms that we belong to Christ and are God's children - Rom 8:9, 16

q he gives us power and boldness to witness – "There is no better evangelist in the world than the Holy Spirit" Dwight Moody - Acts 1:8

q he equips us with spiritual gifts to get the job done - 1Cor 12:8-11. Scripture tells us that the gifts have a 4-fold purpose:

1. To glorify the Father and the Son - Jn 14:13 & 15:26

2. To build up the body - 1 Cor 12:7-27

3. To equip the church for carrying on her work in the world more effectively - Eph 4:12

4. To prove that God is there! 1Cor 12:1

q he makes our praying more effective - Rom 8:26

q he opens up God's word to us - Jn 16:13

q he guides us into all truth -

q he takes us into new depths of worship (Worship me acceptably in Spirit and in truth - John 4:24)

q fills us with Gods love - Rom 5:5

q fills us with joy - Acts 13:52

q he directs us (eg Spirit stopped them at times and told then to go at others)

q helps us in our weakness (rom 8:26)

q reveals the will of God to us - 1 Cor 2:9-10.

q gives us weapons for spiritual warfare - Eph 6:17-18

So how do we live in the power and life of the Spirit?

1. It starts with an understanding that the Spirit is a person and desires a relationship with us! He is one of the God head and Jesus refers to him as another exactly the same (allos). He can be grieved, he speaks, he teaches, he pleads with God - all things a person does. If not in relationship with Him then you are with another spirit. (1Jn 4:2)!

2. On salvation we receive God's spirit.

Gal 3:27 tells us that on conversion the Spirit baptises us into Jesus. Rom 8:9 also says that if we do not have the Holy Spirit we are not Christians! John (Jn 16:8) tells us it is the Holy Spirit that convicts the world of sin. It was Him who brought us to the point of salvation.

3.. We then need to be baptised in His spirit.

Now Jesus baptises us into the Spirit (John 1:33). It was a clearly distinguishable event from salvation. The disciples were saved the NT way in Jn 20:22 after Calvary, and Jesus breathed on them and they received the Holy Spirit, but they are then baptised in the Holy Spirit 40 days later at Pentecost. Prior to that they were saved under the Old Covenant - Jesus had not died yet and become the sacrificial lamb.

Paul was saved on the Road to Damascus and was only baptised in water and the Spirit 3 days later (Acts 9).

The only example of it happening simultaneously with salvation is where Cornelius and his household believe and are baptised in the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:44).

4. We then need to maintain the fullness of the Spirit.

Baptism does not lock us into a place of eternal spirituality and effectiveness from which we can never lapse. Because we have been endued with power, we have become an even greater threat to the enemy, and he will redouble his efforts to bring us down eg Jesus tempted in the desert after his baptism by the Holy Spirit (Mat3:16-4:3).

Paul writes to the church and urges them to be filled with the Spirit (= keep on being filled) - Eph 5:18. He also writes to the Galation church and challenges them for lapsing into legalism and trying to complete in human effort what the Spirit started (Gal 3:1-3). We need to actively maintain and grow our relationship with the Spirit. This happens "positively" when we give out thru ministry (Luke 8:46), "negatively" when we sin or grieve the HS by denying Him control, or "neutrally" simply by allowing life to overrun us and not spending time getting refreshed in His presence. Give HS access and time daily, throughout the day.

realCHURCH - The Simplicity of New Testament Church

Read Acts 2:42-47

We have been examining what the Bible has to say about the church – to grade a diamond you have to measure it against perfection, not imperfection – it is the same with the church. There is no such thing as a perfect church if you find one the moment you join it it becomes imperfect!!

Today I want us to look at the simplicity of church. We often end up complicating and clouding the church. This text we have read gives us one of the first pictures of early church life after the resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The one thing that strikes me immediately is the simplicity, the joy, the presence of God that was clear for all to see. This is a back to basics message, but sometimes it is the simple things, the familiar things that get lost in the malais & complexity of modern day life. We need to recapture/unblock the simplicity of NT church life.

1. APOSTOLIC FOUNDATION

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching" (vs 42)

We need to grow deeper in the truth of God's word!

"to devote" = enthusiastic/zealous attachment or loyalty, or great love. Comes from the Latin word which means "dedicated by vow".

This was not just casual religious activity, but a passionate, love based commitment that knew the importance and priority of God's word. They did not have the privelege of the Bible like we do today, and they needed to carry the word in their hearts. Today we excuse our biblical illiteracy to ourselves, saying it is all "here in the bible" anyway. Or if we do not read the word for a week, month or more we say it is OK because we serve a gracious God. But grace is about God's law on our heart and how does it get there without input.

I believe we need to recapture a love and passion for God's word, that is based on understanding that our health & well-being is dependant on this. To build on the word is like building on the rock and to build without the word is building on the sand (Luke 6:46-49). We should be taking every opportunity to grow deeper in God's word, because it is life! See Ps 1:1-3 for what a man is like who meditates on God' word.

2. INCLUSIVE FELLOWSHIP

"They devoted themselves...to the fellowship." (vs 42)

We need to grow warmer to one another! In the light of what we said devotion was earlier we need to give ourselves to wholehearted relationship building. Christianity was never intended to be a "me-alone" lifestyle, but a "we-together" lifestyle. Jesus drew 12 men around him that he called his "friends"! We must see each other not as fellow church members, but as friends first. We must persue the same covenant relationship that God has with us, with one another.

2 greatest commands are Love God, Love One Another - the Message translates this text as "these are the pegs upon which everthing else hangs". The key to this is being together not only like this but also in one another's homes (met in temple courts and house to house). This does not mean you need a 5-star home before you can have people there - a home is a place where your heart is - where you are you. Whether we have much or little we need to be in one another's homes.

"If a local church is to become a gospel church, it must not only receive the gospel and pass it on, but it must also embody it in a community life of mutual love." John Stott.

3. JESUS FOCUS

"The devoted themselves...to the breaking of bread" (vs 42)

We need to grow closer to God! Breaking of bread is all about that. Jesus told us to do this in remembrance of Him = bringing to awareness who Christ is and what he has done for us. Our passion and desire needs to be to come to a deeper understanding and revelation of who He is. It is all about Christ, who was and is and is to come! Every thing we do, every song we sing, every life we touch, every thought we think, every decision we make needs to be about Jesus - not is some wacko-religious way but in a way that acknowledges the centrality of Christ to our lives. Place where we come face to face with our sin.

4. IMPACTING PRAYER

"They devoted themselves....to prayer." (vs 42)

We need to grow stronger in God's resources!

We cannot get away from the simplicity of the wisdom of God that prayer needs to be our priority and passion. Prayer makes "great power available dynamic in its working" (James 5:16 AMP). Prayer is where we engage with God and tap into the resources of heaven - where God's power is allowed to break into circumstances, situations that outside God seem impossible to overcome. It is where we see nations break open, cities turn around, families & marriages rescued, the destinies of our kids secured, our own hearts shaped etc. It is deep calling to deep!

5. GOD'S PRESCENCE WAS WITH THEM

"Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles." (vs 43)

God's prescence came as a direct result of the simplicity of their devotion. There was a reverence of God in their midsts, and that created the atmosphere for the power of God to be displayed. Their expectation of God was right where He wanted it to be - HIGH! Atmosphere was charged with anticipation. We need God's presence.

6. UNITY AND TOGETHERNESS

"All the believers were together and had everything in common." (Vs 45)

Oneness of heart, soul and mind see Acts 4:32-34.

• Oneness in vision


• Oneness in values


• Oneness in purpose


• Oneness in meeting need


• Oneness in priority

7. ACTIVE GENEROSITY AND SERVICE!

"Selling their possessions and goods they gave to anyone as he had need" (vs 45).

There was an explosion of practical love, compassion and generosity to one another, ensuring that there were no needy among them. They had a collective community mindset that took preference over their own wants. To serve and to give so freely is the highest form of worship because it is the heart of Jesus - Jesus came to serve, not be served! Not just finance, although definitely part of it, but meeting need = being a healing community.

8. VIBRANT WORSHIP

"They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God..." (vs 46-47).

Their praise came out of appreciation! Their praise was done with joy and sincerity (worship in spirit & in truth)! It was Christ focussed! It was exhuberant and spontaneous! Not dependant on how good the worship team doing or whether I like the song or not!

9. ATTRACTIVE LIFESTYLE!

"..enjoying the favour of all the people" (vs 47).

They had appeal to the world! The Message translates it "People liked what they saw." The liked the authenticity, the reality, the joy, the relationship, the truth, the power, the devotion! They did not hide from the world but engaged it knowing that they had what the wordl needed. We need to let our light shine!

10. FRUITFUL WITNESS

"And the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved." (vs 47)

They grew more believers! That is people believing in Christ as Lord and Saviour, radically turning away from their previous lifestyles and being born again, baptised into water as an outward sign of this inner transaction, baptised by His Holy Spirit as the supernatural enabling to live the life, integrated into fellowship where they can be discipled, and in turn reaching out and reproducing other believers. We are here to see others radically saved!