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Anytime the gospel is preached great things can happen. “ I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16). “ The word of God is living and powerful” ( Heb 4:12). Churches grow when God is involved. Acts 2:1-11. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Anytime the gospel is preached great things can happen.◦“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is
the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16).
◦“The word of God is living and powerful” (Heb 4:12).
Churches grow when God is
involved.
Acts 2:1-11
It’s important that the apostles were in Jerusalem.◦Of course, that’s where God had said the church would
begin (Is 2:1-3).◦The apostles are obeying Jesus by staying in Jerusalem.
“Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Lk 24:49, ESV).
The apostles would begin their testimony to Jesus in Jerusalem (Acts 1:8).
Twice we’re told that the apostles spoke from God.◦The apostles were “all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (v 4).
◦The crowd: “We hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God” (v 11).
You know that for men to be converted, the gospel must be preached.◦ In the Old Testament, the word of God was highly valued.
“The LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: ‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth’” (Jer 1:9).
“Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them” (Ezek 3:4).
◦ The New Testament connects hearing the Word of God with our faith. Jn 20:30-31. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17).
Churches grow when God is
involved.
That principle runs throughout the New Testament.◦“The hand of the Lord was with them [men from
Cyprus and Cyrene who were preaching in Antioch], and a great number believed and turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21).
◦“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (1 Cor 3:6).
How does that work practically?
One: You need an assembly.
The apostles were all in one place (v 1).◦We need to assemble if the church is to grow.
One: Jesus is with us when we assemble.◦“Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am
there in the midst of them” (Matt 18:20). Two: Worship can turn unbelievers into believers.
◦1 Cor 14:23-25.
◦Commit to being here during the meeting.
Two: You need a fullness of truth.
The Holy Spirit overwhelmed and filled the apostles.◦“Baptism” of the Holy Spirit.
“I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mk 1:8).
“Baptize” in Greek means “to immerse.” ◦The apostles could speak for God.
“When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (Jn 16:13).
The Bible is the lasting impact of Holy Spirit baptism.◦“These things we also speak, not in words which
man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches” (1 Cor 2:13).
◦“Prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet 1:21).
The conversion of sinners only happens through the preaching of Scripture.◦“Those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that
day about three thousand souls were added to them” (Acts 2:41).
◦“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16).
◦“It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Cor 1:21).
If God is to use us to bring people to His Son, we need a fullness of truth.◦“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all
wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another” (Col 3:16).
◦Commit to spending time in Scripture.
Three: You need a crowd.
“When this sound occurred, the multitude came together” (Acts 2:6).◦“Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us
go up to the mountain of the LORD’” (Is 2:3).◦“Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel
them to come in, that my house may be filled” (Lk 14:23).
What would happen when if we really came to understand that “Churches grow when God is
involved?”
We’d work together with God in His vineyard.◦“We are God’s fellow workers” (1 Cor 3:9). ◦“We then, as workers together with Him also plead
with you not to receive the grace of God in vain” (2 Cor 6:1).
Are you a worker in God’s vineyard?
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