Bible Verses for Sunday Service July 31, 2022
Revelation 5:12
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
Romans 8:9
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
Announcements:
Steve’s first announcement was a reminder to us that next week is Fellowship Sunday with refreshments served between Sunday School and Church.
Peacemakers’ annual conference runs August 18-21. This conference will help equip you to be a peacemaker in all aspects of your life, not just in church. This important ministry develops Christians’ relationship skills, including conflict resolution. The conference is held at the Double Tree in Billings. If you want to learn more about the Peacemaker ministries, you can go to rw360.org. The domain name stands for a 360 degree view, an all round view of Relational Wisdom. You can find information on the annual conference here.
Although we don’t want to think about it, the end of summer is approaching, and so is the traditional end of summer picnic. Pastor suggests a potluck in Huntley park after church on August 28th.
Awana begins on September 14. Please pray regarding whether you should help with this ministry. To get everything prepared for the opening, we will have a leaders meeting August 31st.
Pastor read a thank you from the Witschis for the meal that they received. Phil also advised on the updates posted on the website. You can sign up to provide a meal here. If you are baffled by technology, please let Gaylene know and she will sign up for you.
Special:
Today is the fifth Sunday in a month. Today’s offering is dedicated to the church’s building fund. Steve gave a report on the planned construction and timelines.
Sermon:
Returning to Acts, Pastor preached on “A Model Church” using as his text Acts 2:42-47. He answered the question, what made the church in Jerusalem such a model church? Pastor developed two ideas, the first one in depth. He illustrated this idea of a model church by describing an experience in an amusement park, the board that has a picture and a hole where the head would be. In these fun distractions, the model is that we stand behind the board and put our heads through the hole. Our family or friends then take a picture, our head on the body of a muscle man say. Pastor’s idea is what makes this fun is that there is a great mismatch. But for the church, there should be no mismatch to the model outlined in Acts.
For his first point, Pastor pointed out that a model church would have devotion. He next went through aspects of this devotion, firstly to the scriptures. This is primary in that we have the Word of God. Next, a church would have a devotion to fellowship. In the Acts church the members held property lightly, and sold it when needed to provide for others. Church members also shared time in homes in fellowship, including meals. Worship was something else that the Act’s church was devoted to. Again, you see that in how the church met for worship at the temple. Lastly, the church in Acts devoted itself to prayer. Pastor remarked that you read the phrase “met together to pray” 31 times in the 28 chapters of Acts. These qualities are wonderful aspects of a devotion to Our Lord. Are we as devoted as we could be?
Besides the devotion, how else should we consider the Acts’ church? Pastor advised that observing the effect of church life is telling. For the members of the Acts’ church, the effect on themselves was liberating, enabling them to live a simple, grateful life. But, besides themselves, the effect extended to others. Members demonstrated a magnetic personality such that the church grew. After Peter’s first sermon at Pentecost, Acts tells us that 3000 was added to the believers in Jerusalem. A few chapters later, we find out that the church numbers 5000. Are we magnetic in our life such that we attract others to Christ like the Acts’ church did? Let’s make that our focus today.
Accessing the Service, Bulletin and Sermon Outline:
Here are the pages from the bulletin, click on the images below to see them full size:
If you would like to have the sermon outline, you can download it here, a pdf file.
Here is a video record of the service on Rumble, an alternative to YouTube.
If you would like a link to this service you can find it here. Perhaps you would like to share it with your friends. You could also share that link on social media, if you use any of the providers.
Lastly, if you would like to see all the services, you can find them here.