Preached by Chris Broom, 4/20/2008

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O’Donnells and Adams Visit Chicago and Strengthen the Church

Building a Great Church, part 9 - Third Missionary Journey - Outline

We were incredibly encouraged to have Chris and Kerri-Sue Adams, Mike and Pam O’Donnell and their children with us if only for a brief stay. These two couples have been so dear to Theresa and I over the past decade. They have been at the core of the building of a great church in Syracuse as well as the effort to plant our church here in Chicago, and God-willing, the DC planting this summer.

God really encouraged us in our faith and partnership with the Central New York Church this weekend. We had a young woman named Tricia that would not leave our Latin devotional until she got baptized. She studied all night long and was baptized at five in the morning on Saturday. That story was shared at the Sunday morning service in Syracuse, New York and inspired a young woman named Maniya who studied all night and was baptized around two in the morning on Monday. It is truly inspiring to see the book of Acts lived out in front of our very eyes even as we study it.

Chris and Kerri-Sue are giving up so much to enter into the ministry at this time. Chris has built quite a teaching career and recently stepped down from a position where he was an instructional technology administrator overseeing 52 school districts in upstate New York so that he could train for the ministry under the mentoring of a much younger man, Andrew Smellie. I am so proud of Chris’ humility and determination. Upon their return to Syracuse, the Adams will be leading the Central New York Church of Christ with the O’Donnells by their side. Please keep them in your prayers.

Chris Broom

• 2 Timothy 2:2 The importance of teaching.
• Acts 2:42 Devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching.
• Acts 4:2 Greatly disturbed by the Apostles teaching.
• Acts 5:25 Strict orders not to teach in His Name, yet they filled Jerusalem with the teaching.
• Acts 5:42 They never stopped teaching.

1. You can’t teach what you don’t know. Acts 18:24

• Apollos was an incredible preacher and yet he stops short.
  He didn’t know about the baptism of Jesus.
• Pricilla and Aquilla invite him to their home and teach him more adequately. Then they fill in the gaps.
• You can’t learn if you are not humble.
• Apollos debated publicly proving from the scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. (Later in Acts 19:8, Paul would argue persuasively about the Kingdom of God.)
• How well do we know our Bibles?
• We won’t argue persuasively if we take people’s reactions personally.

2. The most radical thing you can be is consistent. Acts 19:8

• Paul met with the disciples and had daily Bible study in the lecture hall of Tyrannus:
• Some publicly maligned the way.
• The pattern of the early disciples was to preach daily in the leading cities, raise up people and the whole Province of Asia heard the Word of God.

3. You better have your own convictions. Acts 19:13

• Seven sons of a Jewish chief priest named Sceva tried to use Jesus’ name without really knowing Him.
• Jesus’ name was held in high honor.
• Now, many believers came and openly confessed evil deeds.
• We need deep convictions about our need to confess our sins (James 5:16).
• Big bucks were lost (50,000 days wages). So what! It’s better than losing your soul.
• The Word of God grew in power.
• There is no power if you don’t obey it with all your heart.
• In Acts 19: 23, a riot breaks out because the Word of God is obeyed and so many people repent and stop buying idols that the cities economy is affected and the local business men are furious.
• We need to pray for the day in Chicago when so many people repent and stop buying garbage like pornography and drugs that the whole city gets ticked off.
• We will be persecuted when that day comes.
• We need to have deep convictions about evangelizing the world and how to do it according to the scriptures.
• In Acts 20:1, we see that Paul is building a band of Prophets that can lead churches and travel from church to church encouraging them, keeping them united and keeping them focussed.
• He had found these evangelists in the cities he had visited:
  - Sopater from Berea
  - Aristarcus and Secundus from Thessalonica
  - Gaius from Derbe
  - Timothy from Lystra
  - Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia
• It is so exciting to see the band of Prophets God is forming here in the Chicago International Christian Church.
• We need Godly men who are marching side by side with other Godly men in order to evangelize the world.
• In Acts 20:7, we see a young man named Eutychus who falls asleep while Paul is speaking on and on.
• We must love the Word of God and love church. We must love preaching and love getting preached to if we are going to evangelize the world.
• We must have deep convictions about pouring ourselves out and never leading a boring Bible study.
• If someone doesn’t love God or His Word, they will be bored no matter what you do.

4. Teaching God’s Word is hard work. Acts 20:13

• Great Humility is hard work. You have to be willing to look your worst if you want to become your best.
• Tears are hard work. You don’t cry for someone that you have not labored for and poured out yourself for.
• The task of testifying to the Gospel is hard work.
• Innocent of the blood of all men is hard work.
• We must declare the whole will of God. i’t easy to declare the partial will of God.
• Building relationships that will knit us all together is hard work.
• Night and day with tears is hard work.
• Night and day because people are always having problems.
• Tears means love. Let’s pour ourselves out. If you do, you will have relationships like this!

Categories: Building a Great Church, Sermons