Preaching the Gospel Means Preaching Jesus ~ Acts 2:21-36

Continued from ‘Death Could Not Hold Him…’

Preaching Jesus – God’s Chosen Method for Sharing the Gospel

This kerygma, delivered by Peter under the inspiration and power of the Holy Spirit, had its intended effect. It reached its intended audience. And while we shouldn’t be surprised at all, there is  something very eye opening and surprising about the results of all of this. Peter preaches in power, but what he says lasts about 22 verses. He said some more things, but they are not recorded as we will see next week.

 

[box] But these 22 verses under the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit had the effect of causing 3000 souls to be added to the kingdom of God this very day. It begs the question for us today — where is that power? Where are those results? Could we expect the same thing to happen today? What would it take? I don’t have any ready answers for that.[/box]

 

We know that God calls people to himself . He foreknows and predestines. He calls and regenerates and justifies.  He sanctifies and glorifies. Salvation belongs to our God start to finish. But we also read at the beginning of this message that through the foolishness of this  kerygma, God has chosen to win people to himself.

It is through this method, by this message of Christ, his life, death, resurrection and exaltation, that people hear and are saved. If we will see those in our own lives be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, it will be by the same message and the same method.

[box] Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. God is immutable. He never changes and his ways of drawing people to himself are the same. We need the kerygma in our pulpits. We need the power of the gospel being thundered forth from every pulpit in order to see the thousands come in.[/box]

 

Reformed Baptist, Magnolia, Tx, Koinonia Church

 

The Mission of the Church — To Share the Gospel

We need reminders and reinforcement of the fact that there is nothing more important that we as a church could be about. This is the mission of the church to see souls brought to Christ. This is job number one! Everything else takes a back seat. It begins right here in our midst.

 

[box] Our children need to know that Jesus is the son of God and that his life and death and resurrection have meaning for us today. They need to hear it over and over again, until it sinks down deep into their hearts. Our God is mighty to save — he has the power over death. He has exalted our King in heaven where he will remain until the last enemy is defeated.[/box]

 

Then, every single one of us who have trusted in Christ will be raised from our graves incorruptible to spend eternity with Christ. So shall we ever be with the Lord. This is the message of the kerygma. Our didache, our teaching, should reflect these truths. It should drive them home. It should dwell on these things. There is no greater service we can provide.

Our worship times need to focus on the exaltation of Christ. We can do no better than choose songs which focus on the supremacy of Christ–songs which recall a part or all of the gospel story. Sing them again and again until they are a part of us. We can’t improve on that!

 

Reformed Baptist, Magnolia, Tx, Koinonia Church

 

 An Invitation to Come to Jesus

The apostle Paul spoke some extremely important words to the Corinthian church. I am going to use these words to challenge you this morning as we finish up. He said:

 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,   that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 1st Corinthian 15:3-4

Here is the challenge to each of you. I have done the same thing the Apostle Paul did in Corinthians and the same thing Peter did today. I delivered to you a message of first importance, and now it is time for every single one of you to respond. 

There are only two ways that you can respond this morning, but every single one of you will make one of those responses. You will either accept the words I have said to you or you will reject them.

Christians you will hopefully re-confirm in your own hearts that these are truths for you personally. Some may reject the message of the gospel and dismiss it here in this place. But some of you may have heard this message for the first time today with new ears. You may be saying right now, “I have never heard those things explained in a way I understand, and I now realize that I need to make Christ my Savior and my Lord.”

If that describes you today, we are going to have a time of prayer at the end of our service in just a moment. If the Lord is speaking to your heart to be saved, to accept the gospel message and make Jesus your Savior, I want you to come while Christians are praying and allow Pastor Mark or myself to pray with you. If you are a young person and don’t want to come by yourself, you can ask mom or dad to come with you–that would be fine.

But don’t delay this morning. Don’t put it off. If God is speaking to your heart then you come and talk to us about how to be saved–right now, this morning.

After we have this time of prayer, then pastor Mark will lead us through communion. Christians pray that God will move right now.

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://koinoniachurch.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Pastor-Dan.jpeg[/author_image] [author_info] Pastor Dan Woody is a founding elder for Koinonia. He has been serving churches as a pastor for the past 13 years. He and his wife Peggy are the parents of two sons, Chris and Jonathan. Pastor Dan is currently studying for his Mdiv with The North American Reformed Seminary. His interests include music, and most outdoor sports like golf, hiking, tennis and fishing. [/author_info] [/author] 

Watch the sermon below to hear the entire message.

Posted by Koinonia Church on Sunday, August 5, 2018