Bible Study & Adoration

Posted on September 2, 2006

 

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Acts 2:42-47

Those of you who know me know that I have a love for the game of baseball. But I’ve been a little disappointed in baseball the last few years. In this past Summer’s World Baseball Classic, The United States didn’t make it out of round two into the semi-finals. You can visit any Major League ballpark today and you’re almost guaranteed to see a homerun, or four! But the reason we didn’t win the Classic is that we’ve forgotten how to play the basic fundamentals of the game. Perhaps baseball needs coaches like Vince Lombardi, who began every football season’s first practice by holding up a football and saying, “Men, this is a football!”

Did you know that one of the greatest hindrances to our church’s growth and to your spiritual growth is that we’ll get so busy doing all kinds of good things, that we forget how to do the basic and best things? We’re going to “show up to grow up” and that means getting the basics right.

In Acts 2:42-47, we get all six of the basics we’re going to talk about from this one passage. Three sermons from six verses. And the first is all about Bible study and adoration.

The BASICS…

I. Bible Study – The Church in small groups.

Don’t let the word “small group” scare you. I know that there’s a trend today to move away from Sunday School and go to small group home Bible studies as well. You need to know a couple of things about this trend. First, it isn’t bad, it’s biblical. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. Second, we aren’t doing it here at Bethel. For us, small group Bible study happens through a very well-organized Sunday School.

Sunday School exists for…

A. Preparing – We grow in the Word of God.

The word “doctrine” here means “teaching.” They grew under the teaching of the apostles.

Every class is first and foremost a Bible study class. The Bible is the textbook. We have quarterlies that are like commentaries. Personally, I’ve never been a huge fan of quarterlies because so often they become substitutes. I would challenge you to read it at home and leave it at home and bring your Bibles to class instead.

B. Sharing – We get to know the people of God.

The word “fellowship” has been defined as “two fellows on a ship.” But the Greek word koinonia (fellowship) means “a sharing of souls.” A modern word would be friendship. Friendships happen in small groups, not large ones. We shake hands during our service, but you can’t get to know people here. You get to know people in the small group atmosphere of Sunday School.

C. Caring – We show the love of God.

Sunday School is also a place where we meet each other’s needs. I’m reminded of what the Saints class did this morning in taking up an offering for the Kirby family. Christine lost her brother this past week, and this class simply wanted to show love and support for the family.

In fact, (here’s a preview of Saturday’s orientation), every class ought to have a Care Leader who is responsible for notifying the rest of the class of members who are in the hospital or who face some kind of crisis.

II. Adoration – The Church gathered together for worship.

You not only need the small group aspect of Sunday School, but we need the large group aspect of corporate worship, together.

Corporate worship gives us a sense of…

A. Togetherness – We are here!

Hebrews 10:25

What Hebrews 10:25 is saying is, we need to “show up to grow up!” And, it says we ought to be doing this more as we get closer to the return of Christ. It’s amazing how many churches are doing less and less. They are doing it in the name of simplicity, and I’m okay with that concept. But we seem to have less meeting together, less Bible teaching, and less preparation for the coming of Jesus.

B. Awe and wonder – God is here!

We don’t just get together to shout and clap about being together, it’s because of God’s presence! In fact, we don’t come to church for each other or for ourselves. We don’t even come to church to hear the message, although that’s important. We come, first and foremost, for God’s benefit and for God’s glory!

Vance Havner has well said, “Too many churches start at 11:00 sharp and end at 12:00 dull!”

W. A. Criswell tells the story of a man who attended a “high church” that was steeped in formalism. He agreed with something the preacher said about Jesus so he said, “Amen!” The preacher was very distracted, but continued. He said something else good about Jesus so the man shouted, “Hallelujah!” This time the preacher lost his place in the manuscript he was reading. Finally, he said something else good about Jesus so the man shouted, “Praise the Lord” and the preacher forgot his sermon altogether.

An usher approached the man and said, “Excuse me sir, but would you mind being quiet?” He replied, “But I’ve got religion!” The usher said, “Well you didn’t get it here, now be quiet!!”

Conclusion:

Are you here today in awe and wonder of God? Are you worshipping? Do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ? I want to invite you today to say, “I’m trusting Jesus as my Savior… I’m going to ‘show up to grow up’ by joining this church… I want to adore Him for eternity in heaven.”