Acts  4_31-37      To Anyone As They Have Need

Rev. David Holwick  Y               Sermon following mission trip to Haiti

First Baptist Church                           Communion Sunday

Ledgewood, New Jersey                              

August 13, 2000

Acts 4:31-37


TO ANYONE AS THEY HAVE NEED



  I. The Early Church.

      A. Most churches, especially Evangelical ones, look to the early

            church as a goal.

          1) We want to "do church" the same way they did.

          2) We want to experience Jesus the same way they did.

          3) We would love to have the same results they did.

              a) At least as far as their growth is concerned.

              b) Their suffering can safely stay in the first century!


      B. Our recent mission trip to Haiti gave me glimpses of the church

            of Acts.

          1) We had many wonderful experiences.

          2) We gave, and we also got.  I think we got more.


II. What the early church was like.

      A. It was a praying church.                                    4:31

          1) In Acts 4 the government had put pressure on the church

                leaders to stop preaching, which was disturbing the city.

              a) They responded by preaching even more.

              b) They also gathered for prayer.

              c) The prayer was so powerful it was confirmed by an

                    earthquake.

              d) Even better, the Christians felt God's power and

                    boldly spoke out for God.

          2) It was comforting to know our church gathered for prayer.

              a) You met day and night to pray for our trip.

              b) Your support was a great encouragement to all of us.

          3) The Haitians also pray a lot.

                 We had a united devotional time at the work site.

                 They sang songs in Haitian and we sang the same songs

                    back in English.

                 When it came time for prayer, I prayed the English

                    prayer but the Haitian prayer was done by a worker,

                       not the Haitian pastor Torchon.

                 A mason named Prince got on his knees in the dirt,

                    folded his hands and said a prayer from his heart

                       which was deeply moving.


      B. It was a united church.                                     4:32

          1) "Heart and mind" would refer to a unity of the most

                intimate kind.

          2) Our group also had a wonderful unity of spirit.

              a) Even after some grueling days hauling rocks we met

                    at night for devotions.

              b) Some of our best discussions were around the dinner

                    table and would stretch into the night.


      C. It was a sharing church.                                    4:32

          1) One of the most remarkable aspects of the earliest church

                was its attitude toward possessions.

              a) They freely shared with one another.

              b) We know from other passages they also shared material

                    goods with non-believers.

          2) Haiti gave me some insight into materialism.

              a) Most of the people own very little.

                  1> Visit to woman's shack which was wallpapered with

                        newspaper.  Only two small rooms, one table.

                     It was close to a wide sewage-filled ditch.

                     Most of the children were barefoot.

              b) They are very generous with what they have.

                  1> The workers offered us sugarcane to munch on, and

                        fresh coconuts.

                  2> A woman's cooperative in Cite Soleil will

                        distribute our school supplies and shoes.

                  3> When one young woman had her baby taken from her

                       to the U.S., she turned to the church for help.

              c) We live in a different world.

                  1> People of our church were great in raising supplies.

                      A> We were given money, school materials, dozens of

                            shoes and even a limo ride.

                      B> But to be honest, none of us sacrificed.  Not

                            even those who went on the trip.

                      C> We are like the rich people dropping off bags

                            of gold in the temple, and the Haitians are

                               the widow giving two copper coins.


      D. It was a witnessing church.                                 4:33

          1) Throughout the book of Acts we find the Christians telling

                others about Jesus.

              a) They knew God had done something dramatic.

              b) They felt his grace on their lives.

          2) Few people witness like the Haitians do.

              a) On Sunday the streets were filled with families walking

                   to church, Bible in hand.

                 Even in the poorest neighborhoods they wore their best

                    clothes.

                 (In a land that is supposed to be 80-90% Catholic, it

                     was interesting that almost everyone we ran into

                        was an Evangelical Protestant.)

              b) Every other car is a Haitian taxi, called a "tap-tap."

                 Most of them had religious slogans painted on their

                    front, sides and rear.

                 "Jesus is coming."  "All things are possible with God."

              c) What most impressed me was encounters with two total

                    strangers on two separate occasions.

                 Each one came up to me and spoke some English.  Each

                    said he was a believer in Jesus.

                 And each asked me to pray for them.

                 Then they left without asking for any material help.

                    One was named Ezekiel.

                    The other was Damitel, who is a Sunday School

                       teacher.


      E. It was a charitable church.                                 4:34

          1) The generosity of the early church was not just an attitude

                but an action.

              a) They made dramatic contributions to help the needy.

                  1> If there was a need, they tried to meet it.

              b) There were hypocrites (the next chapter with Ananias

                    and Sapphira) but there were also shining examples

                       like Barnabas.

          2) Through your generosity we built a house for two families.

              a) Both of them helped to build it.

                 One mother, the one with the newspapered shack, cried

                    because the new house was too nice and she could

                       never afford it.  She will.


                 Gale Hull also cried when she looked at the crude walls.

                 I thought she was discouraged, but through her tears

                    she said it had taken years of planning and work

                       but now it was becoming a reality.

                 She has known these two families for years.

                    She knows their struggles and their spirituality.

                 We did not finish, but the next group will.


              b) The philosophy of "Partners In Development" is that

                    we are helping people help themselves.

                  1> PID makes micro loans - $20 to no more than $330.

                      A> One man used it to buy a used sewing machine,

                            which he uses to repair used clothes.

                      B> Others set up tiny businesses, of which we

                            saw tons.

                         Every other person in Port-au-Prince is selling

                            soda or water packets.

                         They are a hard-working people.

                            While we zonked out in the shade of our tent,

                               they kept hauling rocks and shoveling

                                  concrete.

                  2> Ultimately Haiti will have to help itself.

                  3> It is our privilege to give them a hand.

          3) The needs of our world can be overwhelming.

              a) The poverty in Haiti, even in the capital city, seemed

                    endless.

              b) I took lots of slides of starving dogs, mounds of

                    garbage and haphazard huts.

              c) But bit by bit, good things are happening.

          4) Should Christians care about poverty?  Aren't souls more

                important?


             Amy Carmichael was a missionary to India in the 1800's.

                She was a radiant Christian and charmed everyone.

             Her key ministry was in setting up the Dohnavur Fellowship,

                an orphanage for abandoned children.

             Amy ministered to the whole person and emphasized their

                physical needs, education, and character-building.

             To those who charged she was not evangelistic enough,

                Amy responded:


             "One cannot save and then pitchfork souls into heaven....

                 Souls are more or less securely fastened to bodies...

              And as you cannot get the souls out and deal with them

                 separately, you have to take them both together."

                                                                    #2525


III. What they had, we can have.

      A. There are many good things about our church.

          1) We are not perfect, but people here like to give.

          2) I hope we can always present challenges to you to harness

                this compassion.


      B. We need to keep the early church as our example.

          1) We need to aim for their growth. (Haitians do)

          2) We need to aim for their spiritual boldness.



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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:


#2525  "Souls And Bodies Go Together," from the book "Jerusalem To Irian

          Java," by Ruth A. Tucker, 1983, page 241.


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