Ingredients For A Successful Church
We need some people ready to shake up our world in the same way that the Thessalonians shook up theirs. Are you ready to turn your world upside down for Jesus Christ?
Hopefully, we will discover some key ingredients that enabled these believers to change their world for Christ.
Acts 17:1-
INTEGRITY
Luke tells us that Paul's preaching was successful in Thessalonika. (v.4). Many believed including a large number of God - fearing Greeks." ("God-fearer" was a term for Gentiles who were drawn to the Jewish faith.)
They were those who were desirous for something more than their pagan culture could offer them. They turned to the God of the Jews
The world in which Christianity was conceived was a world of incomparable immorality.
Slavery was a universally accepted system. Homosexuality was rampant. Sexual permissiveness was the rule of the day. Prostitution & sexual immorality were a major part of the various religions. Human life was cheap & pleasure was primary.
Christianity introduced a new element -- integrity.
A letter written to Diognetes in the middle of the 2nd century. The letter marveled that Christians, "have their meals in common, but not their wives. They find themselves in the flesh & yet, live not after the flesh."
No wonder these Christians caused trouble in their world. Integrity had been forgotten in that pagan culture. People don't know how to react to integrity.
1 Thess. 1:9 tells us that these Christian had turned to God from idols to serve the living & true God.
Integrity emanating from the lives of Christian men & women today is what we need to cause trouble in our world. We are living in the midst of an integrity crisis.
D.L. Moody: "...you can tell a person's character by what he/she does in the dark." Macaulay said, "The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out."
A woman who wrote this letter to the IRS: "Dear Sir, I can't sleep. Last year, when I filled out my income tax form, I misrepresented my income. Enclosed is a check for $325. If I still can't sleep, I'll send you the rest."
During the last presidential election people were saying that a person's character doesn't reflect on the kind of job he/she will do in public office.
In recent years we've seen preachers suffering from a lack of integrity. We are quickly becoming a nation that doesn't know what the word "integrity" means.
And when we lose our integrity, we have lost it all. When we refuse to live by the truth, then we are not living the kind of life that will be approved by God.
INTENSITY
The Thessalonian church didn't die, Paul later writes to them
1 Thess. 1:8 "The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia & Achaia - your faith in God has become known everywhere."
They had a faith that was so intense that their reputation had become known everywhere.
We see the same spirit in Peter and John before the Sanhedrin. Acts 4:19-20 "Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen & heard." These Christians had an intensity for proclaiming an intense message. They preached Christ crucified, & Christ risen, & Christ available to all who would come.
Do we not need this intensity in our churches today? We have too many members at ease. Too many are captured by complacency. Too many have lost their intensity.
"Let's not do anything to trouble the waters." To be a world-changer for Jesus Christ I have to get out into the world & let them know what I believe.
Jesus said, Matt 11:12 "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it."
We must become Kingdom people. Kingdom people are those who put the kingdom first in their lives. We see that in the Christians at Thessalonika.
My prayer is that we would see the same in our lives.
INVOLVEMENT
Paul and his companions were willing to be involved in the lives of those of Thessalonika.
A number or years ago when Jack Parr was on late night TV, Parr made a statement which captures the spirit of our age. He told his TV audience, "I'd like to be an Albert Schweitzer, if I could commute."
A lot of modern Christians have that same attitude. "I would be a force in the kingdom of God if I just had enough time." "I wish our church could be more evangelistic, but I'm not able to witness."
There are a lot of things that we would like to see happen in our church and in our world that are not going to happen unless we get personally involved.
There are too many armchair quarterbacks and backseat drivers in the church today. Everybody knows what everybody else ought to be doing but they're not doing anything themselves.
We need people to be involved. We need your help to build the kingdom of God.
We have the most powerful force ever known in our world -- the message of a resurrected Savior. To carry out the work of Christ we must be personally involved. To conform to the will of Christ, we as a church, must be involved in the world.
Conclusion:
The disciples at Thessalonika were involved in the life of the church, intensely committed to God's work, and characterized by integrity.
Do they still make disciples like that? I believe they do! You can be one of them. You can be a world - changer; not because you are so smart, not because you know all the right things to say
But because God is empowering you to be a mighty force in His Kingdom.
Are ready for God? He's ready for you! You need to give your life to Him, NOW!