Welcome back to the podcast! We've previously looked at seven marks of a healthy church in Acts 2:42, and today we'll revisit that topic. We're going to look at five more marks to help you view your own church, or a church you're curious about, through a biblical lens!
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Q. How do I know if a church is healthy?
- This is a question we get all the time when people are moving to a new area
- What should you look for in a church? How do you know it’s functioning biblically?
- To be sure: there is no perfect church out there
- Today’s message is not intended to be overly critical
- But there are healthy churches and there are unhealthy churches
- And the litmus test is easier than you think
- Note: We answered this the first time back in Acts 2
- The question for that lesson was: How Do You Grow a Church?
- The basic idea was that healthy things grow
- The seven marks of the early church, a healthy, growing church: baptisms, biblical teaching, authentic community, commitment to prayer, financial generosity, friendliness to outsiders, and dependency on Christ. Acts 2:42-47
- Today we’re going to answer the question again
- This time almost 30 years later
- The events in Acts 2 take place around 30 AD, the year of the Ascension.
- The events in Acts 20 take place during Paul's third missionary journey, which occurred around 53–57 AD.
- Paul is sharing his final thoughts with the elders in Ephesus. We’ll extract 5 marks of a healthy church.
Acts 20:16-17 (NLT) 16 Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus, for he didn’t want to spend any more time in the province of Asia. He was hurrying to get to Jerusalem, if possible, in time for the Festival of Pentecost. 17 But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him.
- Didn’t want to be delayed by the church, but sent for elders
- I get it! Hard to get out of church sometimes because of all the relationships!
- So he sent only for the elders
- In a hurry: Probably because he was bringing offering for the believers in Jerusalem
- Paul wrote Romans from Corinth during the timeframe of Acts 20
- Romans 15:25-27 (NLT) 25 But before I come [to Rome], I must go to Jerusalem to take a gift to the believers there. 26 For you see, the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have eagerly taken up an offering for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem. 27 They were glad to do this because they feel they owe a real debt to them. Since the Gentiles received the spiritual blessings of the Good News from the believers in Jerusalem, they feel the least they can do in return is to help them financially.
- Pentecost marked the birth of the church (Acts 2)
- But it probably also
