Being a Connected Church:
So far we have looked at the overall concept of what it means to be a “Connected Church”. So we understand that the Bible teaches that the call of God’s church is to be connected to God, God’s people and God’s purpose. Last week I took you through the concept of being connected to God. There are three parts…
You connect to God, first and foremost, through Christ. We looked at the second part and that is being connected to God through communication, specifically through Him communicating to us by the Scripture and us communicating to Him through prayer. And lastly, we discussed what it looks like to be connected to God through obeying His commandments.
Last week we looked at what it means to be connected to God’s people. We said e are God’s people because Jesus first loved us. We said we are God’ people once we have had faith in Christ and made part of the family of God. And then we explored the primary ways we connect to God’s people thought loving each other and laying our lives down for one another by making each other a priority. Let’s pick up where we left off in Acts 2.
In Acts 2, we see a church that is connected to God, God’s people and God’s purpose. We’ve already covered verses 42-46, but let me go over them again so that when we pick up where we left off you will get a hint of God’s purpose in the text.
Read Acts 2:42-46 (and verse 47)
(v. 47) “…praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
With that, we are ready to jump into our main text for today’s message. We are back in John 15 for the third time, this time we will finish the chapter.
Read John 15:18-27, then pray.
What is God’s Purpose?
Jesus chose us and appointed us for it… (v. 16) “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit…”
Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit so that we could accomplish it… (v. 26-27) “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
When we are rightly connected to God and God’s people, God’s purpose will be accomplished…
(Acts 2:47) “…the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
So what is it? What is God’s purpose? What we would be disciples that make disciples.
John 15:8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
The fruit comes from being a disciple that makes disciples. What is a disciple? A disciple is someone that is rightly connected to God, God’s people and God’s purpose.
So let’s bring it all together by talking about what it looks like to be connected to God’s purpose.
Being connected to God’s purpose means…
We are disconnected from the world.
(v. 18-19) “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”
We are consistently producing works.
(v. 24) “…the works…”
We are intentionally being witnesses.
(v. 26-27) “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
We are helping people walk the walk.
(v. 26-27) “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
Genesis 2:18 (NASB)
“…the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
It is about making disciples.
