The
Church’s Spiritual Inventory
Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A. Carey
Nieuwhot is a contemporary writer and church researcher. In a recent article
he talked about the changes affecting
religion in many countries throughout the
world.
1. He cited a report by CNN that talked
about the decline of Christianity in countries
like The Netherlands, Belgium,
Switzerland, New Zealand and Australia. The report
predicted that within 100 years religion
in the countries would be extinct.
2. Nieuwhot also discusses the changing
face of churches in the United States. He
notes that churches approach the changes
in culture in four ways.
1. Blame – pointing fingers at all of
the bad things that are happening.
2. Justification – citing all of the
reasons why the church is declining.
3. Resignation – throwing up our hands
and saying, “we can’t do anything about it.”
4. Repentance – instead of blaming
others or trying to justify ourselves we examine
ourselves with an attitude of
prayer, fasting and repentance.
B.
What do you think about the church? With increasing frequency I hear people say,
“I
want a relationship with God but not the
church.”
1. Some people view the church as
insensitive, dogmatic, controlling and judgmental.
2. Others see the church as a caring,
considerate family. I have often heard people
who have gone through times of crisis
say, “I can’t imagine what I would have done
without the church.”
C. We
need to take a spiritual inventory of the church. To conduct such an inventory
requires us to go back to God’s blueprint
for the church in the New Testament. The
book of Acts particularly provides us with
a pattern for the church to follow. What do
we learn about the early church as we look
through Acts?
I. THEY KNEW THEIR IDENTITY.
A. What
is the church in its relationship with Christ?
1. The church was conceived by Jesus
according to Matthew 16:18, “I also say to
you that you are Peter, and upon
this rock I will build My church; and the gates of
Hades will not overpower it.”
2. The church was purchased by Jesus.
Acts 20:28 - “Be on guard for yourselves
and for all the flock, among which
the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to
shepherd the church of God which He
purchased with His own blood.”
3. The church is loved by Jesus.
a. Ephesians 5:25- “Husbands, love
your wives, just as Christ also loved the
church and gave Himself up for her.”
b. Throughout the book of Revelation
the term, “bride” is used to describe the
relationship of Jesus with those
who are redeemed.
4. The church is the body of Christ.
a. In Acts 9:4 Jesus asked Saul
(Paul), “Why do you persecute me?” Why did
Jesus use this language? Saul
was persecuting the body of Christ, the church.
b. Ephesians 1:22-23- “And He put
all things in subjection under His feet, and
gave Him as head over all things
to the church, 23 which is His body, the
fullness of Him who fills all in
all.”
5. We must never fall into the Devil’s
trap of thinking that the church is not
important. It is extremely important
because of its relationship to Jesus.
B. What is the church in its relationship
to Christians?
1. The church is not the place but the
people.
2. The church is not brick and mortar.
It is flesh, blood and spirit.
3. The church is not “them.” It is “us.”
4. Consider this poem: “It Isn’t the Church.”
If you want to have the kind of a church Like the kind of a
church you like,
You needn’t slip your clothes in a grip And start on a
long, long hike.
You’ll only find what you left behind, For there’s nothing
really new.
It’s a knock at yourself when you knock your church; It
isn’t the church–it’s you.
It’s really strange sometimes, you know, That things go as
well as they do,
When we think of the little–the very small mite– We add to
the work of the few.
We sit, and stand round, and complain of what’s done, And
do very little but fuss.
Are we bearing our share of the burdens to bear? It isn’t
the church–it’s us.
So, if you want to have the kind of church Like the kind of
a church you like,
Put off your guile, and put on your best smile, And hike,
my brother, just hike,
To the work in hand that has to be done– The work of saving
a few.
It isn’t the church that is wrong, my friend; It isn’t the
church–it’s you.
s://www.happypublishing.com/blog/it-isnt-the-church-its-you/
II. THEY KNEW THEIR IMPORTANCE
A. The early church understood their
mandate with laser accuracy. They did not take
a “shotgun” approach. They knew what
their purpose was.
B. I want to give you three supporting
pillars of the early church’s purpose. Everything
they did falls under one of these
purposes.
1. Evangelism
a. According to Acts 8:4, the early
church went everywhere preaching the word.
Everywhere Christians went they
preached Christ and established
congregations. Why? Because they
considered the spread of the Gospel to be
crucial. They took Jesus’ great
commission seriously.
b. Matthew 28:18-20- “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying,
“All
authority has been given to Me
in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore
and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that
I commanded you; and lo, I am
with you always, even to the end of the age.”
c. There are three imperatives
(commands) in these verses.
1.) “Go.” As you and I go about
our daily lives there must be an intentionality
and focus to what we are
doing.
2.) “Teach.” You are not saved to sit on a pew
and occupy space. You are
saved to serve. God did not
send His Son to die for you alone. He is
concerned for your lost
neighbor just as much as He is for you. This is why
the book of Acts is not
filled with so many of the things that consume our
church life today. It is
filled with teaching and preaching.
3.). “Baptize.” Baptism is a
direct command of Jesus Christ. It is not an option.
It is not merely symbolism.
It is not an elective. The early church practiced
it without exception.
d. The result of their evangelistic
outreach is reflected throughout Acts.
1.) Acts 2:41- “So then, those
who had received his word were baptized; and
that day there were added
about three thousand souls.”
2.) Acts 4:4 - “But many of
those who had heard the message believed; and
the number of the men came
to be about five thousand.”
3.) Acts 6:1 – “Now at this time
while the disciples were increasing in number.”
4.) Acts 6:7- “The word of God
kept on spreading; and the number of the
disciples continued to
increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of
the priests were becoming
obedient to the faith.”
2. Equipping.
a. According to Ephesians 4:11-13 – “And
He gave some as apostles, and some
as prophets, and some as
evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12
for the equipping of the saints
for the work of service, to the building up of the
body of Christ; 13
until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, to
a mature man, to the measure of the stature
which belongs to the fullness of
Christ.
b. Too many churches have adopted a
“clergy-laity” paradigm where the work is
carried out by a few selected
individuals. This is not the model of the New
Testament church.
3. Encouragement.
a. Hebrews 3:12-13 - “Take care,
brethren, that there not be in any one of you an
evil, unbelieving heart that
falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage
one another day after day, as long as it is still
called “Today,” so that none of
you will be hardened by the
deceitfulness of sin.”
b. Hebrews 10:24-25 – “And let us consider
how to stimulate one another to
love and good deeds, 25
not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the
habit of some, but encouraging
one another; and all the more as you see the
day drawing near.”
C. When we consider the decline that has
occurred in the church today it is easy to
blame our culture or the “times” we live
in. I believe that a large part of this
responsibility lies with us. We have
“majored” in “minors.”
I((. THEY KNEW THEIR INSPIRATION.
A. What was their source of power?
1. Have you ever considered what
happened when the church was established?
a. It was not established by
individuals who came together for a convention.
b. There was no human charter. There
was no human initiation.
2. The church began through the power
and work of the Holy Spirit.
a. In Acts 2 the Holy Spirit was
poured out with tongues of fire and the sound of a
rushing wind on the day of
Pentecost.
b. Peter said this was a fulfillment
of Joel 2:28- 29, “It will come about after
this that I will pour out My
Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters
will prophesy, your old men will
dream dreams, your young men will see
visions. 29 “Even
on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in
those days.”
c. After the first sermon had been
preached the people asked, “what shall we
do?” They were told to “repent
and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins and
you shall receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
B. Everything the early church did was
fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit.
1. They preached by the power of the
Spirit. Acts 4;31 reveals, “And when they had
prayed, the place where they had
gathered together was shaken, and they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak the word of God with boldness.”
2. They prayed in the Spirit.
3. They did not rely on their own
initiative and wisdom.
C. Every day your spiritual tank needs to
be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.
The reason is simple. Your tank leaks!
CONCLUSION:
A.
Perhaps you have heard the story of the Lifeguard station located along a
treacherous coastline. Each year the
volunteers were responsible for
going out into the water to save hundreds
of people whose ships had crashed on the
dangerous reefs. As the Lifeguard station
grew in notoriety it was decided that they
needed more adequate shelter. The built a
small building but their focus remained on
saving those lost at sea. As the years
passed they spent more time in the shelter and
less time at sea. They began equipping
their building with all types of comforts. With
each passing year they spent less and less
time rescuing those in trouble. Eventually
they became a prominent social club while
neglecting their original purpose.
1. We are grateful for the wonderful
facilities we possess.
2. May we never forget our mission outside
of these walls.
B.
What does our spiritual inventory say about us as a church?
1. We may audit the finances.
2. We may inventory equipment.
3. What does our spiritual inventory look
like?
C. If you need to
respond to the Gospel today we welcome
