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Restoring the Unity and Focus of the Church

Restoring the Unity and Focus of the Church. Acts: The Unfinished Story of the Church Series [14] Acts 6:1-7 June 3, 2012 Pastor Paul K. Kim. THREE TACTICS OF THE DEVIL ’ S ATTACK TO DESTROY THE CHURCH*.

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Restoring the Unity and Focus of the Church

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  1. Restoring the Unity and Focus of the Church Acts: The Unfinished Story of the Church Series [14] Acts 6:1-7 June 3, 2012 Pastor Paul K. Kim

  2. THREE TACTICS OF THE DEVIL’S ATTACK TO DESTROY THE CHURCH* • PERSECUTION:Attack on the church by threats and force—e.g., the apostles’ imprisonment, threat, & beating (Acts 4:1-22; 5:17-42). • CORRUPTION:Attack on the church by internal moral corruption—e.g., the hypocrisy of Ananias & Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). • DISTRACTION:Attack on the church by distraction from the unity and focus of the church—e.g., dissension between the Hellenists and the Hebrews and busyness that sway away from the top tasks of the church leadership (Acts 6:1-7). * Adapted from John R. W. Stott [The Message of the Acts, p.120]

  3. WHAT PRACTICAL LESSONS CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS EXAMPLE? 1) On Spiritual Discernment: We must discern what distracts us from the church’s focus well as unity in solving problems. 1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.” (vs. 1-2) • Behind this complaint, there were two problems: (1) the dissension and (2) swaying away from the leadership focus. • To solve these problems, the church needed to keep the unity in the holistic movement without losing the focus. • We must learn to discern the Spirit-led way of restoring the focus of leadership while keeping the unity in good work.

  4. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Acts 2:42

  5. WHAT PRACTICAL LESSONS CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS EXAMPLE? 2) On Pastoral Leadership: The priority of pastoral leadership must be given to prayer and the ministry of the word. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men  of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (vs. 3-4) • The primary calling of pastoral leadership is spiritual—not organizational—namely, prayer & the ministry of the word. • This focus is rooted in the biblical portrait of the church—i.e., the church is a spiritual community not an enterprise. • Because of the increasing distraction in our time, it takes vigilance for pastors/churches to keep this priority of pastoral leadership as the focus of authentic spiritual community.

  6.  1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 2 Timothy 4:1-3

  7. WHAT PRACTICAL LESSONS CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS EXAMPLE? 3) On Diversity of Ministry: God’s calling of all Christians is to share the work of ministry through each person’s diverse spiritual gifts. 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus,  a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. (vs. 5-6) • The diversity of ministry means there is no superhero in building up the body of Christ—apart from Christ, the Head. • The qualification of lay leadership is also first character, then competence [fitting gifts] for various ministries. • To be a healthy church, (1) everyone ought serve in some way and (2) lay & pastoral leadership must be Spirit-filled.

  8. WHAT PRACTICAL LESSONS CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS EXAMPLE? 4) On Marks of Growth: Two marks of healthy church growth are (1) increase of God’s word and (2) multiplication of the disciples. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. (v.7) • This is the first of Luke’s six summary statements for the holistic movement of the early church in the book of Acts. • These two—the Word and the disciples—are inevitably connected and rooted in the work of the Holy Spirit. • We are to keep the church healthy for genuine growth by (1) being faithful in increasing/spreading God’s Word, and (2) calling people to follow Christ as a true disciple.

  9. Our Need for Spiritual Discernment and Faith We have now seen the three tactics which the devil employed in his overall strategy to destroy the church. First, he tried through the Jewish authorities to suppress it by force; secondly through the married couple Ananias and Sapphira to corrupt it by hypocrisy; and thirdly through some squabbling widows to distract its leadership from prayer and preaching, and so expose it to error and evil. If he had succeeded in any of these attempts, the new community of Jesus would have been annihilated in its infancy. But the apostles were sufficiently alert to detect ‘the devil’s schemes’. We need their spiritual discernment today to recognize the activity of both the Holy Spirit and the evil spirit (cf. Acts 5:3). We also need their faith in strong name of Jesus, by whose authority alone the powers of darkness can be overthrown. - John R. W. Stott

  10. THREE PRACTICAL QUESTIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE • What is a potential distraction from our church’s focus and unity? From my personal calling and focus? • In what ways can I participate more in sharing the work of ministry through my own spiritual gifts at CrossWay (or at your home church)? • How can I value spiritual leadership (i.e., character over skills) in my own serving/ministry? At CrossWay (or at your home church)?

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