Jeremy Hoover

The church is "one heart" when everyone works together for the greater good and to glorify God. That heart is broken whenever someone acts selfishly for their own benefit. Are you mending the church's broken heart or breaking it?

Sermon: Broken Heart

The church is whole when is of one heart. We break God's heart--and the church's heart--when we practice deception within the church. Are you breaking the church's heart or working to mend it?

Please review these study notes on possession from Acts 4:32-5:11, Sunday's sermon outline, and the slides.

Are we a church that prays or a praying church? The difference is big. The former fits prayer in but ultimately focuses on itself first. The latter is focused on God and lives by prayer.

In Acts 4:23-31 we learn from the early church how to be a praying church. Listen to this sermon and share it with others. Check out the slides, the sermon outline, or the slidecast here.

Review the sermon outline and slides for Sunday. Pray through Acts 4:23-31 and consider how God may be calling you to more prayer.

As we begin a new year, we should resolve to stay close to God's will for us. In Ephesians 4, Paul points out that God's will for the church is that the church grow in maturity. We need to believe and act in order to do so.

In Acts 2, we see an example of what a maturing, growing church did: they focused on discipleship, fellowship with each other, deep care for each other (even selling property to care for each other), and outreach in the community. As a result, God blessed them so they could continue blessing others.

Let us resolve to focus on those core doctrines in Eph 4:1-6 and on those core practices in Acts 2:42-47 to become the growing, strong, mature church God desires us to be.

Sermon: The Church's New Year's Resolutions

Be sure to be here Sunday for a discussion about what we should resolve to do and be in 2010.

If you'd like to read ahead, please read and meditate on Ephesians 4:1-16 and Acts 2:42-27.

This is a video summary of our bible study from yesterday, Nov. 15, 2009. We discussed what distracts us from being committed to the biblical goals of caring for each other and reaching out to others.

This video summary covers our discussion of Acts 10 and how to read the bible in context.

Here's a thought: What if, in trying to recover the "pattern" of the early church, we overlook the actual patterns that exist?

It's interesting that in the Church of Christ, we claim to represent and follow the biblical "pattern" for worship that is supposedly so easy to find in the New Testament yet is spread out through several different books by different authors. But we ignore the "patterns" that exist.

For example, let's look at two passages: Acts 2:42-47 and 1 Cor. 14:26-40.

Acts 2:42-47, of course, relates the church experience of the very first church. I fall in line with those who see no reason why this report shouldn't be normative for all churches. Several things describe this church:

• They are devoted to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, sharing in meals and the Lord's Supper, and prayer.
• They seek God's presence and are filled with awe.
• The take care of each other in radical ways.
• They are together and share community in ways we crave but largely don't experience.

Equally so in 1 Cor. 14, we find a church experience that is very participative. The whole church ought to actively contribute to its worship, not spectate or consume what "professionals" offer.

These two examples are found in actual passages where details unfold. They are not scattered throughout the New Testament and we do not have to pick through a verse here and a verse there to "uncover" the "clear"(?) pattern.

What if we focused on these patterns? One thing we might learn is that there never really was a uniform "pattern" that all churches followed. There appears to be a more free-flowing attitude of sharing, fellowship, and ministering together. This was, of course, expressed in many different ways.

What can we do to recover these elements of the early church today?