6/10 Sermon: God's Vision for the Church

Last Sunday at the Family Church here in Gainesville, senior pastor Philip Griffin asked a question: how much do we look like our picture? He showed an old image of his family from years earlier and compared it to the way they look now...Christians today also have an old picture to compare notes with, from Jerusalem just weeks following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.  The apostles were assembled, hidden in an upstairs room...and the Holy Spirit descended upon them, empowering them with the power of God to go out and build his kingdom.  Pastor Philip's scripture of focus is Acts 2:42-47, which you can read through Bible Gateway by clicking on the passage...

Emboldened and equipped by God, the apostles set out to build their fellowship.  Pastor Philip listed six areas that the Bible passage showed their focus: they were intentional about making disciples, they were dependent on prayer, they served each other as family, they were multi-ethnic and did it well, they were incredibly generous, and they loved those far from God.  Initially, Peter, John, James and company had been ruled by their faults, fears, and failures, relying on their own strength and not God to advance his kingdom.  But with the Holy Spirit they quickly set out on their mission: to make believers and disciples out of others.  Pastor Philip believes that it wasn't just a matter of conversion of these people from all parts of the earth, but rather that those who were saved that day were also assigned to the apostles for discipleship.  God intends for us to either be disciples...or be making disciples, and that has been the direction our church has taken in the past few years.  Attending church on Sunday is fine, our pastor stressed, but there is a lot more to it than that and that true fellowship as practiced in the early Christian church necessitates a greater commitment of time and one's self than just sitting through a weekly service...definitely some food for thought...

You can watch Pastor Philip's sermon by clicking on the following link to the church's YouTube video website: [TFC Videos]. The Family Church, at 2022 SW 122nd Street, meets each Sunday morning at 9 an 10:30 for the weekly message, praise and worship music, prayer, fellowship, discipleship, and learning.  Lots of friendly people there...looking forward to the next message...