This past Sunday our fellowship studied the third lesson in our series “For Future Generations.” We learned that not only do we desire to pass along opportunity and sincere faith, but we also desire to pass along a healthy church to the coming generation.
There are many differences between a true NT church and a church that is nothing more than a shell of Christian religion. For example, an empty church proclaims sermons void of Scripture that are mere self-help, motivational, morality speeches, songs become void of biblical theology and become man-centered, and prayers voiced to something or someone out there somewhere. NT churches proclaim sermons deeply rooted in the Bible, songs lyrically theologically rich, and prayers pleading with God for mercy. Also, empty churches make secondary matters such as programs, organizations, styles of music and clothing, whereas NT churches focus on the primary issues of doctrine, Christian living, moral conviction, etc.
So how does a church pursue a healthy model. We took a brief overview of Mark Dever’s 9 Marks of a Healthy Church by using texts in Acts to demonstrate that these key principles were part of the very first church.
Expository Preaching: (Acts 2:14-36) Explaining and applying a passage of Scripture so that the point of the text is the point of the sermon.
Biblical Theology: (Acts 2:36) Holding to foundational truths as a guide in forming right thoughts in scriptural interpretation. “By His Grace - For His Glory”
The Gospel: (Acts 2:22-24, 31-33, 37-41) Affirming, Embracing, Teaching, and Proclaiming the true Gospel message as recorded in Scripture. (1) God is holy, (2) Man is sinful and destined for judgment, (3) Salvation is only found in the person and work of Jesus Christ, and (4) the means of obtaining God’s salvation is through repentance from sin and faith in Christ.
Biblical Conversion: (Acts 2:47) Every element of conversion is an act of God’s grace. Faith - Eph 2:8, Repentance - Acts 5:31, 11:18, the New Birth - John 3:3
Biblical Evangelism: (Acts 2:37-41) Honestly communicating all the points of the biblical Gospel to those who are unsaved.
Biblical Church Membership: (Acts 2:42-47) Coming together to worship the Lord Jesus Christ as a family committed to one another for accountability and growth in the Lord.
Biblical Church Discipline: (Acts 5:1-11) Lovingly confronting a brother in sin for the purpose of restoration for the sake of his soul, the purity and witness of the church, and the advancement of the Gospel.
Discipleship and Growth: (Acts 2:42) Living out the Christian life in a community of faith.
Biblical Church Leadership: (Acts 6:1-6, 14:23) God’s design for his church is for a group of men to serve the physical needs of the church who are called deacons and a group of men to oversee the spiritual needs of the church who are called elders or pastors.
Again, why do we pursue such a lifelong goal? First and foremost, for the glory of God. EPh 3:21 says, “to him be glory in the church.” We believe that the more our church reflects the NT model, the more the Lord is glorified in our church! Second, we do so for Future Generations. When our children read the NT texts on the church, we want them to say, “That sounds like my church!” We don’t want them to say, “I’ve never seen that before!”
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