1st Century Christianity PART 3

1^st Century Christianity PART 3

1 Peter 4:12-19

Intro: 

* Last post we continued a small series on 1^st century Christianity.  We discussed the second characteristic of being a 1^st century Christian, and that was Sharing the Gospel.  If we are going to be true Christians we must have a desire and burden to reach the lost. (Method, Message, and Mission) Looking back to the first post was Studying the Word of God.  One reason they were first called Christians in Antioch was because of their desire to get in the Word of God. (Learned, Lived, Loved)  We need to be getting back to the foundation of TRUE Christianity.  This post we are going to look at the third and final occurrence where the term Christian is used.

1 Peter 4:16

“Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.”

• Reason for Suffering

*World hated Christ:  If we are living the Christian life of the New Testament then we will have sufferings.  Many people think Christianity is a life of ease, but they are sadly mistaken.  If we are Studying the Word and Sharing the Gospel we will Suffer for Christ. (Philippians 1:29)  Once we identify ourselves with Christ we will suffer because the world hates Christ and everything about Him.        1 John 3:13, “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you”

*It pleased God the Father:  Isaiah 53:10, “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him…”  It pleased God to crucify His Son so you and I could be saved.  If we are to be 1^st Century Christians then we will suffer to see others saved as well. (ex. Paul, Peter, Jim Elliot, and others)

• Response to the Suffering

*V. 13, “But rejoice,” During the midst of our sufferings we must not take our eyes off the Cross.  We must never take our eyes off Christ and His suffering for us.  Nothing compares to the sufferings of Christ and our sufferings we go through.  We must REJOICE!  1 Peter3:14, “But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;”

• Results from Suffering

*V. 13, “when his glory shall be revealed”   No matter the outcome, God will get the glory from our sufferings.  Matthew 5:11-12a, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.” 

Conc.:  Looking back the past three posts we can see a progression in how to be a 1^st Century Christian.  Study the Word, Share the Gospel, and as a result, we will Suffer for Christ.  I just want to ask the question, “Are you Sold out or a Sell out?”  Are you living that life that will cause you to suffer for Christ sake?  Where does He measure up in your life?

1st Century Christianity PART 2

1^st Century Christianity PART 2
Acts 26:1-32

Intro:

                Last post we began a small series on 1^st century Christianity.  Last post we discussed the first characteristic of being a 1^st century Christian, and that was Studying the Word of God.  One reason they were first called Christians in Antioch was because of their love for the Word of God.  Last post, I asked you where the Word of God measures in your life.  We need to be getting back to the foundation of TRUE Christianity.  This post we are going to look at the second occurrence where the term Christian is used.

Acts 26:28 – Sharing the Gospel

                “Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.”

• The Method Paul Used

Paul didn’t use the “

Romans Road

” or the “Good person test.”  I have nothing again these methods of witnessing, but all Paul had done was give his testimony. 

In verses 9-12 he tells of his life BEFORE Christ.

In verses 13-19 he tells of his encounter with Christ

In verses 20-23 he tells of his life AFTER Christ

                There was a change in Paul’s life and he was telling others about what Christ did for him!  2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

• The Message Paul Preached

Paul was preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  He was letting the people know how to be saved.  In verse 20 he preaches to them repentance.  The Gospel is called the “Good News.”  The Gospel MUST be our message to the lost.  We MUST preach to them of repentance and faith in Christ alone! 

Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

• The Mission Paul Had

In verse 29, Paul indicates to Agrippa that he wanted Agrippa and all that heard his testimony to be saved.  In verse 32 Agrippa states that Paul could be a free man, but Paul appealed to go see Caesar.  He wanted all of Rome to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ! 

                Romans 10:1, “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.”

Conc:

                If we are going to have a 1^st century church we must have a burden for the lost.  Our message must be the Gospel and NOTHING else!  Do you have a burden for the lost?  This is another check-up:  Where does the lost measure up in your life?

Becoming a 1st Century Christian

1^st Century Christianity

Acts 11-17-26

Intro: 

*Looking at today’s “style” of Christianity, you can see that there are some things that need to change.  The term Christian means to be “Christ like”.  I believe we really have lost a true understanding of who Christ is and what He did.  A lot of churches are closing doors and it almost seems like others are competing with others.  Church has become a place where people are more concerned with outward appearance.  They sit on their pews and attend faithfully to the house of God, but never tell others about Christ and they call themselves a Christian.  There are people who give money to the church and that’s all they ever do and call themselves Christians.  We, as a church body, have lost the real meaning of what TRUE Christianity is all about.  Let’s look go back to the beginning of the local church and see what they did to “turn the world upside down”. (Acts 17:6)  In the KJV there are three occurrences where the term Christian is used.  I believe looking at these verses; we can get a better glimpse of what TRUE 1^st century Christianity should be like. It has been said that we cant reach an IPad generation with an 8 track ministry.  While I agree with this statement in regards to reaching this generation, but I believe we need to get back and stay true to the fundamentals of what caused the 1st Century church to grow!

Acts 11:26 – Studied the Word

*“And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”

·         Learned the Word – “Taught much people”

*They were taught the Word of God and were eager to hear it being taught and preached daily.  Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God…Rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”  These disciples were hungry to learn from the Word of God.  The Bible should be the foundation and base for what we stand on!  How strong are you in the Word of God?

·         Lived the Word – “First called Christians”

*These disciples lived what they learned.  The Bible says in James 1:22, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

*How often do we, as “Christians”, do things to make ourselves look good?  We do things to make ourselves look good and see what we can gain, instead of doing it because it’s what the Bible says to do in obedience to Christ!

·         Loved the Word – “that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church”

*John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

*These men and women were doing something so big that the news of their actions reached all the way back to Jerusalem.  They loved the Lord and His word. 

Conc:

*Looking at the 1^st century church we can see they had a love for the Word of God.  Where does the Word of God rank in your Christian life? 

I'm self-righteous and so are you!

One of the BIGGEST problems with today's local assemblies is self-righteousness. Now before you stop reading this post because I called you self-righteous, hear me out! It is very easy to look at others and point out their faults or how much more talent you have than them. While some of your assessments maybe true, you are still demonstrating self-righteousness.

I arguably live in, what is known as, "the Bible belt." Every road you turn down you can find a "Baptist" church. Now I bet you're saying, "Wow! You mean there are sooo many people that go to church and you have to keep starting new ones to keep from over populating the building?!" I would love to say YES, but sadly the answer is NO. There are so many churches because people can't get along with each other, and the root of the problems was the seed of self-righteousness.

The Bible says that our righteousness is "as filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6) No matter how good I think I am compared to those around me means nothing when I stand before Christ! He should be our standard and not others. Because our righteousness is filthy the Bible says that Christ came to make us righteous!

2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

It breaks my heart to think that so many church going people who think they are living better lives than those who never darken the doors of the church. These people have been going through the motions of religion so long that they have themselves fooled! They will end up in Hell just as those who reject the Gospel openly.

Mat 7:22-23 "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

May we stop comparing ourselves to others and strive to be more like Christ!

In Christ,
Bro Chris

What is Motionsickness?

Motion sickness is defined as, "a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system's sense of movement." As lovely as this sounds, this isn't the kind of motion sickness this blog is going to be about. I am talking about Being sick of going through the motions of religion. Now I don't consider myself to have "arrived" and know all the answers to fix the problems with the local church, but I am just sharing my perspectives and maybe they might make some sense. (after all that's what a blog
Is for? Right?)

The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:5, "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." Too often we finds ourselves "going through the motions" at church. If you are reading this, I'm sure you can think of a "schedule" your church may go through. Let's face it, we are creatures of habit, the songs we sing, offerings we take up, the prayers we pray, etc. All of these are good, Paul also wrote that we should do things decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40), BUT we sometimes focus more on the "schedule" and leave the Lord out.

My prayer for this blog is not to make people angry, but hopefully to encourage people to step out of their comfort zone and do something for the Kingdom of God! There are many people still living off of what they did for Christ 15-20 years ago. There is work to be done NOW! Let's quit going through the motions and serve Him today!!!

2 Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

In Christ,
Bro. Chris