My life, my dominion

Okay. it's been like what 4 weeks since i blogged about the sermon in church.
And while I would like to post one post per sermon that has obviously not been posible (coz i'm a lazy git) so i'll ty to amalgamate the series into one.

Wat am i doing that i am so free to blog? well i'm basically waiting for my lecture.Woke up late and in the end couldn't get onto campus early enough to do some work before my lecture.

Anyhow yes so the last one was the message that the Church must be a Spirit empowered church, because the first church was set up at pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down upon the gathered believers and for the first time we had a gathering of people in a church (not the physical building of course).

The 2nd half of Luke's account of the ascension in ACTS 1 points to how the church should be after being empowered by the Spirit.

The Church should be a Jesus centered church.

To start with, the first act of the church was to fill Judas' place so that the twelve would be complete again. y? because allegorically, the tweleve apostles were ro represent the 12 new tribes of the the new church of israel. Y? so that the prophecies regarding Jesus and his ministry maybe continued as it as when we has around.

Therefore, the church should
a. center it's message on Jesus
b. Develop the mindset and character of jesus
c. Disecern the nature of Jesus

So to start with what is the MEssage on jesus to be?
It sohuld start with Where Jesus IS Now?
1. Jesus has ascended but will come again
2. he is nowin heaven as Man, Having carried our burden in flesh and bone (thus the explanation for his ascension and lack of remains)
3. he is now our high priest and sovereign exalted to the right hand of God.
4. but most importantly, Jesus still rules as Lord.

In the example of the pre-pentacostal church, we see the choosing of Matthias through the drawing of lots. What is important is to remember that this was a choice by chance but that thte disciples prayed before casting lots. The post pentecostal church is now guided by the Spirit which is why we can have confidence in the Lord

The second part of the message is to know Jesus's will solely.
Just as the 11 prayed to choose matthias, so too the church is to discern the will of JESUS and to do it.
many a time we are all caught up with the function of the church, how people feel about the church, how many people are coming to church. When at the end of it all all that matters is that the church do the will of Jesus. In focussing on humand standards we risk usurping Jesus's place at the head of the church with our own desires. Even the Holy Spirit is humble and testifies to Jesus Christ being Lord, what then sohuld the church be doing?

So how does this apply to us?
Well simply:
Are we willing to accept that the chruch is Christis not ours?
It sohuld be as Christs will not ours
We should serve in Christ's church not Our church.

The church should be a pentecostal church Part 1. Acts 1:12-14

First let us look at pentecost and the portion in which it deals with prayer.
What were the early christians doing at pentecost? They were told to wait in jereusalem for the one that would come after christ.
So what were they doing? Praying.
Through prayer they gained power.

So what are the points about this sermon?

Through prayer we face our weaknes
Through prayer we seek power
Through pryare we will be surprised by God's answer.

Facing weakness.

Praying is a humbling experience. (the bowing of heads, kneeling, clasping of hands, the closing of eyes) but more than that we are coming to plead for forgiveness and intercedence from the only one who can save us.
The first church did not start off with songs, worship, missions, concerts, camps, bible studies, the first church prayed. Praying is CRUCIAL to the church. Prayer meetings are the most pwoerful of the spiritual purposes. Where God's people come together o plead with God, acknowledging that they need Him and that the church is fundamentally about him. And it is through this prayer that the church came to be empowered and continues to be empowered by the holy spirit.

-to be continued-

Labels: Sermons