(slide) A Spirit-Filled Church

I am so honoured to be invited to Christian Philadelphia

church this morning.
Hong Kong has been my home for the past 36 years. My
Chinese isn’t up to preaching to you in Cantonese, but I
can assure you my heart is! ( say Chinese heart in
Cantonese ) What face, yellow heart!!!

Before I became a full-time pastor 20 years ago , I was in

the insurance field and I met Samuel (Yung) in the
eighties. He remains a good friend and an inspiration to me

I need to tell you I love the church of HK!

The thing that gets me up in the morning is the unity of

the church. There is only one church in Hong Kong.

I have spent the past few years encouraging the church in

Hong Kong to not look back but to RESET, RENEW and
REVIVE. (repeat)

Church physical numbers worldwide may be down, but

online numbers across the globe have literally soared.
Churches have begun to take their focus off of just their
Sunday services and begun reaching out - feeding the
poor and caring for those struggling with the physical,
emotional and practical strain of a world that was suddenly
different, with war, polarisation and hatred compounding
the virus effects.

In short, we have begun to be the church instead of

doing church
Repeat

 The season had taking its toll on churches and leaders,

with some high profile casualties.
I was sad, I started to pray, started to dialogue with
other church leaders in HK and around the word…. and I
waited on God for His perspective on the church of today

As I waited, this is what I believe God encouraged me with

only a few months or so ago

(slide) I saw a picture of a chair with four legs.

I was led to study the early church in Acts 2 (v 42-47) and
sense God is raising His church up in this season to be
church as He intended it be
Historically…. we’ve as a worldwide church tended to
balance on single legs like great preaching, great
worship and even great venues . Maybe even major
donors!
Now this has all been stripped away, maybe for ever.
The four legs I sense are prayer, community,
generosity and the word of God
AND When these are aligned, evangelism will flow
(perhaps through workplace- only place where numbers
can be added daily!)

……..

God says, I am going to turn the world’s perceptions of

church upside down. Too often we have based our
perception on the reputation of a pastor or leader (this
has been flawed in recent times) or by the size of a
church’s ministry. From here on in, the ‘success’ of the
church shall be determined by the love of the people.

It is a new day and it is a new way.

Today….We are going to focus on the early believers in Acts

2 and how they did church.
Acts 2 shows us how the Holy Spirit miraculously
reversed the curse of Babel and instead created a new
community through the gospel.
The picture we see of this 1st century AD community is a
wonderful reminder of what the church can be.

Babel brought kingdoms and thrones of separation and

confusion the heavenly throne of God’s Kingdom brings
peace and unity,

(slide) Philip Yancey, in his amazing book 'What's So

Amazing About Grace?',) says this ‘At the height of the
Cold War, Billy Graham visited Russia to meet with their
political and religious leaders. Many conservatives in the
US criticised him for not taking a more prophetic role.

One accused him of setting the church back 50 years.

Graham responded, "I am deeply ashamed. I have been
trying very hard to set the church back 2,000 years”’

So today…..as it were, we’re going to ‘back to the future’

2000 years and look at the first church. What we notice
first of all is:

(slide) A healthy posture (wish I had one, trainer)

NOW…… A word of warning, We must not glamourise the

early church. They had their own set of problems! A
perfect church has never existed and will never exist!

AND another word of warning… Being a Christian does not

mean nostalgically looking back to the ‘good old days’.

We can, and we will, look at how the early church

related to God, one another, and the world.

We will find a beautiful picture of how the church, with

all of its imperfections, can be a community like no other.

Let's consider three postures of the early church:

inward, upward, and outward

(slide) a: The church had a healthy inward posture

Upon receiving baptism, these 3,000 new believers
immediately began devoting themselves to one
another

b The church had a healthy upward posture

This new community experienced God deeply.

c. The church had a healthy outward posture

This new community not only moved toward God and
each other well, they also moved toward the world

The early church, though flawed, is a wonderful model

for us. The way it emulated these postures is a challenge
for all churches today, and for you here in Philadelphia

We will be examining these areas, asking hard

questions, and resting in the gospel to find strength
and motivation to fulfil them.

This is why Christ gave Himself up, to create a community

like nothing the world has ever seen.

May the ONE church in Hong Kong be that

community

And Acts Chapters 1/2 tell the story of how the

resurrected Jesus had ascended to the Father so the
promise of the Father, the precious Holy Spirit, would be
poured on the church, fulfilling the prophecy shared in
the book of Joel centuries before

But what I want to do, before we focus on Acts 2: 42-47,

is to set the scene as it were.

As I re-read chapters 1 and 2 this week, I was reminded of

four foundations to the birth of the early church and they
can be summarised in four words
And they are effectively the entry points for our sermon
And they are:
Waiting
Together-ness
Receiving and
Boldness

lets look at them one at a time

(slide) Waiting

waiting on God
Look at Ch 1

(slide) 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with

them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave
Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised,
which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John
baptised with water, but in a few days you will be
baptised with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:4-5)

perimenein περιµένω to wait for, to await

No one enjoys waiting. Example MTR

I’m learning that waiting on God is actually very

important in our relationship with him – and it plays a
key role in our spiritual development.
Waiting does not have to create bitterness, anger or loss
of hope: it can establish a deeper trust and knowledge

 of who God is and his love for you. I pray that you
would experience him intimately as you wait on him.
But think about it for a moment - Jesus told his disciples to
wait.
They did not know just how long they would have to wait.
Imagine your pastors inviting you to a prayer meeting with
no end time

This lasted TEN days. And the reason they were able to
endure this (in my opinion) was ….

(slide) Together-ness
(slide) In Acts 2:1 we read: When the Day of Pentecost
came, they were all together in one place

The Greek word for in one place, homothumadon

ὁµοθυµαδόν, is translated in some other versions as ‘with
one accord’
They were in the same place spiritually, as well as
physically

Unity is not uniformity. We don’t have to look like each

other, think like each other and act like each other. But we
can be of ONE heart, ONE mind and ONE purpose,

Let’s read on what happened as a result of being ONE

(slide) Receiving
(slide) 2 When the day of Pentecost came, they
were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound
like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven
and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that
separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of

 them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to

speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Jerusalem was filled with visitors—God-fearing Jews from

all over the known world- gathering to give thanks for the
first of the harvest, and to celebrate the giving of the
law at Mount Sinai.

It is here—not in a secret stable or on a lonely

mountaintop, but in the middle of a city bursting with
people who have come to seek him—that God shows up.

God, creator of the universe, who has existed from before

the beginning of time, is physically present by his Holy
Spirit.

Wind from heaven fills the whole house.

Wind, just like that Elijah felt in the cave.

Fire, like Moses saw at the bush that didn’t burn up, like
the fire that consumed Elijah’s soaking sacrifice.

And God speaks. Not through a prophet or priest, but

through 120 uneducated, uncultured Galileans, so that
everyone can hear and understand in their own language.

It is the story of the tower of Babel in reverse.

When the visitors eventually go home, they will return
changed, taking with them the experience of
Pentecost, the Spirit living in them, the law written on
their hearts, the first fruits of new life in Christ

Lastly we see….

(slide) Boldness

Peter put his hand up!

Peter the denier, who denied Jesus three times became
Peter the evangelist.

This is why we have John 21 and the story of Peter’s

restoration
Why Jesus asked Peter three times’ Do you love me?’ I
was there at that spot just over 3 years ago!

Remember…..Jews from all over the known world are in

Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost

Peter took his opportunity and begins to preach….

Throughout the sermon, Peter hammers away at a single

point: Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour, and people
must put their faith in him. This turning to Jesus in faith
is summarised as a simple charge in (2:38): (slide)
“Repent and be baptised”. BUT What are these Jews to
repent of? It is their rejection of Jesus as Messiah and
Saviour!

The result:

(slide) 41 So those who received his word were

baptised, and there were added that day about three
thousand souls

I gotta come clean now….

If I was Peter, if I was the disciples, what I would have
done is……. after 3000 responses to my altar call I would
have started planning the next evangelistic meeting,
maybe we need a bigger venue and, oh, let’s get our best
worship band.

Who knows next time it might be 5000 …or even 10000!

But my friends, church is not a 1.5 hour service. It is not

even a gospel meeting, an evangelistic rally

Over the next few minutes, we are going to be looking at

how the early church responded to this influx of new
believers

And in doing so, I believe we are going to be redefining

church

redefining church

We are going to be looking at the legs on my stall, and we

are going to be challenged

1. (slide) WE GATHER AROUND GOD’S WORD.

A Word-Rooted Church

We opened chapter two with Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13);

then we heard Peter preach and 3,000 people repent and
believe in Jesus (Acts 2:14-41). Those who stay behind
in Jerusalem and don’t return to their homes in the
countryside, they form the first church. It’s like they
almost naturally come together to do what they’re
supposed to do to be a church, and it starts with
gathering around God’s Word.

(slide) Acts 2:42a, 43 (NIV) They devoted themselves

to the apostles’ teaching… 43 Everyone was filled
with awe at the many wonders and signs performed
by the apostles.

 The Word of God, together with the Spirit of God unites

us despite our different ethnicities and backgrounds and
movie and food and exercise preferences. We gather
around Jesus and his Word.

1. (slide) WE GATHER AROUND GOD’S WORD. and

next

(slide) 2. WE SHARE MEALS AND TAKE COMMUNION.

A Hospitality-Driven Church

Last Sunday I was 70 (yeah I know). But what we did

church after service was take out an entire Japanese
restaurant. Those who couldn’t afford it were sponsored. It
made church feel like family

(slide)Acts 2:42c, 46b (NIV) They devoted

themselves… to the breaking of bread… 46 …They
broke bread in their homes and ate together with
glad and sincere hearts,

The early church would eat together and celebrate the

Lord’s Supper as part of the meal. It was a continued time
of fellowship, focused around Christ, aided by food.

yes….(slide) 2. WE SHARE MEALS AND TAKE

COMMUNION and next

(slide) 3. WE PRAY TOGETHER.

A Prayer-Centred Church

(slide)Acts 2:42, 47 (NIV) They devoted themselves…

to prayer… 47 praising God…

In Acts we find the early church praying together and

worshipping God. Have you ever heard “A church that
prays together stays together.”

We as churches have much to learn about prayer. I know

your elders share a special burden for this topic and are
people who really practice what they preach.

yes….(slide) 3. WE PRAY TOGETHER.and next

(slide) 4. WE DO LIFE TOGETHER

A Community-Based Church

Christianity is not just a Bible study, it’s a lifestyle.

(slide) Acts 2:42b, 44-46a (NIV) They devoted

themselves… to fellowship… 44 All the believers
were together and had everything in common.
45 They sold property and possessions to give to
anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued
to meet together in the temple courts…

Church is not a building or a place but a fellowship—

people doing life together

(slide) 4. WE DO LIFE TOGETHER

How do we do church together?…

1. We gather around God’s Word.

2. We share meals and take communion.

3. We pray together.

4. We do life together..

5. So what’s the fruit of all this? What’s the outcome?

(slide) THE RESULT? WE GROW

A Kingdom-Minded Church

The last verse ends like this.

(slide) Acts 2:43, 47 (NIV) Everyone was filled with

awe at the many wonders and signs performed by
the apostles. … 47 praising God and enjoying the
favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their
number daily those who were being saved.

The result of this church family studying the Scriptures

together, doing life together, sharing meals and communion
together, and praying together is there’s something so
unique, distinct, and wonderful about them that others
can’t help come to faith in Christ. It’s not that they don’t
evangelise and witness. They do; but how they live
positively influences their witness.

 to remind you (slide) THE RESULT? WE GROW

This is what I want to see for Philadelphia and the church

in Hong Kong.

As we conclude, I am going to make a declaration.

I invite you to stand with me, say Amen with me and join
us as we do CHURCH TOGETHER

PRAY

The Church declaration

2 Chronicles 7
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall
humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and
turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from
heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land.

Father
We are the church
That You have established
That you gave life to by your Holy Spirit
But we have made the church to be things other than you
intended
We have been guilty of building our own kingdoms and not
yours
We have worshipped the gifting of men rather than the one
who has bestowed their gifting on them
We have exalted pastors, preachers, worship leaders,
buildings
We have worshipped at the altars of big numbers, big
donors

We have been divided. Church fighting church

denomination fighting denominations
We have placed our dogma ahead of relationships
We have wandered far away from the church you intended
us to be

Father we humble ourselves before you and choose today

to repent of our sin, our pride, our worship of mammon
We are sorry when our religious zeal has placed the law of
Moses above the grace of Jesus
We are sorry for inventing man made rules to replace the
work of your spirit
We are sorry of making church a building a place to go to
rather than a thing we are

We pray for a new awakening - fresh wind and fresh fire.

Renew your church from top to bottom. Remove the
judgmental spirit from me. Free me from Old habits and a
spirit of religion and religiosity

Help me to be an ambassador of reconciliation. Give me a

fresh love for your church and give me a servant heart

I declare that the church of Hong Kong shall become your

church. A pure and spotless bride awaiting the return of its
bridegroom

I declare this is a new season a new beginning and that the

church will rise up to be the church you ordained on the
day of Pentecost

I speak Unity to the church. I take authority in Jesus name

to any spirit that would seek to cause division. I take an
axe to the root of quarrelling, denominationalism and
competition

 I declare that there is only one church in Hong Kong the

church of Jesus Christ and that you Lord Jesus are its
Head.