Title: The Presence of the Church
Contents
Title: The Presence of the Church
Text: (Acts 2:42-47)
[42] As they were taught by the apostles, they devoted themselves to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer alone. [43] Everyone was afraid, but many wonders and signs were revealed through the apostles. [44] All who believed were there [45] And they sold their possessions and possessions, and distributed them according to the needs of each one, [46] and day after day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple together, breaking bread at home, and eating food with joy and sincerity. [47] And they praised God, and received praise from all the people, and the Lord added day by day those who were being saved.”
Today's text (Acts 2:42-47) records the life of the early church where people gathered to worship, learn, pray, fellowship, and share with one another. Historically, there are cases where the church has made mistakes, but the church, the body of Christ, has been fulfilling its role as the last bastion of human history over the past 2000 years. The topic of today's message is where is the existence of such a church? It was always with us from the beginning to the end until the church became a church, and what we should always be with in our current faith is “a life of prayer”. In this way, the body of Christ, the church, and its presence is “prayer.”
First, the life of prayer is the presence of the church.
In Mark 9:17-29, a man brought his son who had a dumb demon to Jesus and asked him to heal him, and the disciples complained that he could not heal him. Jesus asks, O unbelieving generation, how long I am with you, and how much I will endure you, bring him. The child's father said, "Lord...If you can, have pity on me and help me..." Jesus rebukes, saying, "If you can, nothing is impossible for those who believe." Abby shouts. I believe. Help my unbelief. The Lord heals him by commanding, “You dumb and deaf demon”.... Come out of the child and never go in again.... The disciples came and asked the Lord, Why couldn't we cast out demons? Said the Lord, this kind cannot come out by anything but prayer! He does. Nothing can be accomplished without prayer.
Nevertheless, the disciples are not zealous in their prayers.
In Matthew 26:40, while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord saw the disciples sleeping and rebuked them if they could not stay awake for one hour. Even if you pray, you should not just pray, but pray with sweat. You must pray with all your heart and earnestly. If you look at Luke 22:44, “Jesus prayed more earnestly and with all his might, his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Today's prayer time was filled..... I attended the worship/prayer meeting tonight, so this was enough ..... If you attend the prayer meeting with this kind of heart, you will not be able to undertake any major tasks.
In Acts 3, it was also a time of prayer when the crippled man at the temple gate experienced physical and spiritual restoration. Peter and John went to pray about the ninth hour (3 pm), but the Jewish historian Josephus records that they regularly offered three times, at 9 am at noon and 3 pm. In fact, it was almost the entire day of prayer. Many people are interested in the miracles of Jesus and the miracles of the apostles Peter and John, but in fact, what we should be interested in is the time we spend praying, the way we pray with sweat, and the way we pray all day even when we are busy. When he prayed like that, the crippled man actually stood up and the grace and miracle of salvation took place. In the name of the Lord, I bless you that Salim Church also experiences grace and miracles while praying.
The church that prayed all day was the early church in Jerusalem. Jesus also said that my house is a place where all people pray (Mark 11:17). Eventually, the crippled man stood up, and through Peter, through gatherings, learning, ministry, and evangelism, the number grew to 3,000.
Second, there is history when Christ is revealed.
Peter and John said to the lame, I have no silver or gold, but in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, I command them to rise and walk, and they caught him and raised him up. When Peter and John raised the lame, they gave him the most precious gift in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. In Acts 3:12 and below, when all the people saw the crippled man walking and jumping and praising God in the temple, they marveled, and grabbed Peter and John, and gathered them together at Solomon's Port. Men of Israel, why do you look at us, as if our godliness and power made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus... The faith that comes through faith in the name of Jesus is thus completely healed in the sight of all of you...
There were many church activities (serving, giving, serving, etc.), but when the Lord Jesus Christ was revealed, his name was recorded. Many people went up to the temple to pray during the prayer time, but among them, Peter and John were recorded in the Bible. Why were Peter and John written among so many? It is because after they experienced such miracles, even when many people tried to worship them, the name of Christ was revealed. Without this kind of Christian faith, if all ministries such as worship, education, service, relief, service, etc. are carried out, it will inevitably be broken. We must pray and fight and win.
In the past, I knew that service and service were only available to large churches and not to small churches. In terms of the facilities of the church, there was a big difference between the Nongcheon church and the city church. But now it must be a church that reveals Christ.
Conclusion: Praying and revealing Christ is the church's presence.
When someone prayed and there was no answer, when my prayer request came true, I was depressed, saying, “It is a miracle of God.” At that moment, a single word broke his marrow. It is a miracle that God answers my prayer request and it comes true. However, fulfilling God's wish on this earth is a "more difficult miracle" and a "real miracle". That's right. We focus our prayers on making our wishes come true, but God tells us to pray for the fulfillment of His will.
In such a place, there is grace, there is healing, and there is gratitude. Also, the church must become the church when Christ is revealed.