Rev. David Holwick O
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
April 15, 2012
2 Thessalonians 1:1-5
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I. Growth isn't easy.
A. How they do it in China.
A few years ago The New York Times reported on a new trend in
China.
Hundreds of young Chinese women and men endure a painful
procedure to gain a few inches in height.
Their hope is that this will improve their social and
professional status.
It is call the "Ilizarov procedure" and costs $6,000.
First the doctor breaks the bones in your shins or thighs, then
he puts special leg braces on you.
These braces pull the bones slightly apart and have to be
manually adjusted four times a day.
Then you wait until the bones grow back and fuse together,
which usually takes about six months, plus a three-month
recovery.
Said one 33-year-old, 5-foot-tall woman (aiming for 5-4):
"I'll have a better job, a better boyfriend, and eventually
a better husband.
It's a long-term investment."
#17269
B. As a Christian, how hard are you trying to grow?
1) I hope you are not breaking any bones in the process.
a) But genuine growth is never easy.
2) You have to decide if you want to grow, then you have
to figure out WHERE.
a) Real growth is not just in one direction.
b) You have many dimensions where you can develop.
II. The early church was famous for its growth.
A. It spread rapidly across the Roman Empire.
1) By the end of the first century it was found in many
major cities.
2) By contrast, how much impact has our church had in 100
years?
B. One of the towns Paul reached was Thessalonica.
1) The two letters he wrote to this church are among the
earliest Christian writings.
2) The book of Acts tell us Paul was only there three weeks
before he was driven out by opponents.
a) Yet before he left, there were a number of converts.
b) Acts 17:4 tells us:
"Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul
and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing
Greeks and not a few prominent women."
3) Even after Paul left, the church had a reputation for
aggressive evangelism.
a) In his first letter to them, Paul says their faith
had become known everywhere.
b) Thessalonika is still a major city in Greece today,
with a population of around 800,000 and many
Christian monuments.
C. "To the church of the Thessalonians." 1:1
1) Churches are assemblies of people.
a) Early Christians never spoke of Church with a capital
"C", as in a world-wide movement.
b) "Church" always meant local congregations.
1> This one happened to be in Greece.
2) It was a good church.
a) Not only were they evangelistic, they were enthusiastic
about Bible prophecy.
1> And like us, they often got too excited about it and
came up with wild interpretations.
b) Morally they had a good reputation, even though they were
surrounded by a very permissive culture, as we are.
3) Paul was thankful for them and pointed out how they expanded.
a) Their faith was growing.
b) Their love was increasing.
c) They persevered despite tough pressure and persecution.
III. Numbers don't tell the whole picture.
A. The early church had some impressive numbers.
1) Although we are not given exact details about Thessalonica,
the book of Acts tells of thousands of converts.
On the day of Pentecost, the birthday of the Christian
Church, Acts 2:41 says,
"Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about
3,000 were added to their number that day."
Several other passages speak of "more and more" being
added to their number.
2) It was not all in one direction.
a) Some fell back, abandoning their faith.
B. How do our numbers stack up?
1) We were big in the 1960s and 1970s, dropped below 100
in attendance in the late 1980s, and climbed to over 140
five years ago.
2) Since then we have dropped back.
a) Lots of churches have, of course.
b) But it is not a trend you want to take lightly.
c) More people mean more excitement, more spiritual gifts.
1> It should also mean more people are becoming
committed to Jesus as their Savior.
2> This should always be our main motivation in
numerical growth.
3> Numbers represent real people, it represents souls.
3) What can we do to grow again?
C. Numbers of conversions or attendance are not the entire answer.
1) The Bible mentions on other qualities, like faith and love.
2) These are intangible.
a) You can't put a number on them.
b) But you can sense if they are increasing or declining.
IV. Growing in the intangibles.
A. You need a flourishing faith.
1) Faith is not a static thing, so that you can coast after
you make your decision for Christ and are baptized.
a) Every day, Jesus can become more important to you.
2) I see evidence of this with many of you.
a) Your Facebook posts become more spiritual.
b) You tell me how you spend time with God each day,
or at least try to.
c) Some have shown a desire to study the Bible in more
depth.
3) You have to be careful not to miss the big picture.
Mega-pastor Rick Warren notices that churches are filled
with people who have attended for decades but show
little development in discipleship.
He thinks one of the biggest barriers to growth is the
misconception that all you need is Bible study to grow.
He says many churches are built on this myth.
He calls them "classroom churches."
Classroom churches stress the teaching of Bible content
and doctrine.
But they give little, if any, emphasis to believers'
emotional, experiential and relationship development.
Warren believes it takes a variety of experiences with God
to produce true spiritual maturity.
In addition to Bible study, it takes worship experiences,
ministry experiences, fellowship experiences and
evangelism experiences.
Mature Christians do more than study the Christian life
-- they experience it.
To Christians who fool themselves by thinking all they need
to do to grow is attend Bible studies, the book of James
warns,
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive
yourselves. Do what it says." (James 1:22)
#17200
B. You need an expanding love.
1) Some of you are very loving Christians.
a) Others of you are working on it.
b) Some of you NEED to work on it.
2) Cultivate a caring attitude toward other Christians.
3) Learn to love those who are hard to love.
a) The impact can be tremendous.
Early this year, an atheist in Texas sued his town to
ban having religious displays on public property.
Every Christmas they had put a manger scene in front
of the courthouse.
Patrick Greene dropped his lawsuit when doctors told
him he had a detached retina and might go blind.
The bills were mounting, he had been forced to retire,
and he couldn't afford to carry through on the suit.
What happened next flabbergasted him, in his own words.
Local Christians took up a collection to pay his
medical bills.
They have raised $3,500 so far.
Greene told his local paper, "They said they wanted to
do what real Christians are supposed to do - love
you - and they wanted to help."
He says he plans to write about their gesture in a
book, tentatively titled "The Real Christians of
Henderson County."
#63580
V. Growth is not just a concern in the church.
A. How is love growing in your personal life?
1) Common trajectory:
a) infatuation and romance, hanging all over each other.
b) marriage and intertwined lives.
c) business-like relationship.
1> You care for each other, but that dentist
appointment is what really occupies your mind.
2) The spark can diminish.
a) For some, it cools way down till it is barely an ember.
b) It needs to be rekindled.
1> Active caring.
2> Not taking each other for granted.
3> Planning special things together.
B. The best love comes from a faith-filled heart.
1) Faithfulness is not just keeping your vows.
2) It is having a heart that is filled with God's love.
3) Pray for one another and encourage each other in the things
of God.
VI. Grow despite pressure.
A. Genuine growth keeps going against all the world can throw at it.
1) The early church was under constant attack.
a) Usually it didn't result in martyrdom.
b) It was the more subtle pressure of being ostracized,
rejected, discriminated against.
B. True love and faith will not be defeated by troubles.
1) Although experienced Christians may lack some of the fire
and zeal of new converts, they are usually more steadfast.
2) Years of disappointments, doubts, and failures temper you.
3) What you believe becomes more real, more solid.
C. Troubles can actually be a gift in disguise.
One hundred years ago today, the greatest ship of its time
sank on its maiden voyage.
I am speaking of course of the Titanic.
More than 1,500 passengers died.
The "unsinkable ship" had done just that, and on the tragedy's
centennial we remain captivated by the story.
Many movies, documentaries and books have familiarized us with
some of the passengers, such as millionaire John Jacob
Astor IV or the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown.
Yet one of the heroes of the Titanic is someone you never heard
of.
Preacher John Harper and six-year-old daughter were traveling
on the Titanic so he could preach at one of the largest
churches in American, Moody Church in Chicago.
He was not only going to do a revival at the church, he was
going to be their next pastor.
When the Titanic hit the iceberg, Harper successfully got his
young daughter on a lifeboat.
Being a widower he may have been allowed to join her but instead
he chose to give others one more chance to know Christ.
Harper ran from person to person, passionately pleading with
them to be saved.
Harper was heard shouting, "Women, children, and the unsaved
into the lifeboats!"
When the ship finally went under, John and 1,500 others ended
up in the frigid water.
Harper swam up to one young man who had climbed up on a piece
of floating debris and asked him, "Are you saved?"
The young man replied that he was not.
The preacher took off his life jacket and threw it to him and
said, "Here then, you need this more than I do..."
Harper's last words before going under were, "Believe on the
Name of the Lord Jesus and you will be saved."
His body was never found.
Four years after the tragedy, a survivors' meeting was held in
Ontario, Canada.
A young man told how Harper had given him his life jacket
after he rejected his invitation.
But shortly after that, Harper had drifted back to him.
This time, the young man gave his heart to Christ.
He was one of only six people to be picked up from the water by
a returning life boat.
He told the gathering, "I am Harper's last convert."
You won't see John Harper in any of the Hollywood movies.
It doesn't matter - he did what God wanted him to do.
While other people were trying to buy their way onto the
lifeboats, John Harper gave up his life so that others could
be saved.
The passengers of the Titanic were strictly divided into three
classes - first class, second class and steerage.
Immediately after the tragedy, the White Star Line in Liverpool,
England, placed a board outside its office with only two
lists: KNOWN TO BE SAVED and KNOWN TO BE LOST.
The owners of the Titanic had simply reaffirmed what John Harper
already knew.
There are people who know Christ and will spend eternity with
God in heaven and many others who will not.
Which list are you on?
#5291
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 5291 “An Untold Titanic Story,” submitted by Rev. Dick Lewis. Original
source is “The Titanic's Last Hero" by Moody Press, 1997.
#17200 “Toward Spiritual Maturity,” by Rev. Rick Warren, Baptist Press,
http://www.baptistpress.org, October 27, 2002.
#17269 “It Isn't Easy To Grow,” New York Times, June 10, 2002.
#63580 “Christians Pay Medical Bills For An Atheist,”by Michael Hannigan,
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/23/christians-pay-medical
-bills-for-atheist-protestor_n_1375684.html?ref=mostpopular>,
March 23, 2012. Original story comes from Malakoff News.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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