CHARACTERISTICS OF A 
HEALTHY CHURCH
Part 1

2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

2:43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

2:44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;

2:45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

2:47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Acts 2:42-47

What makes a healthy Church? There are more seminars today on how to build a mega Church, how to increase finances, how to build a Church staff, seminars on curriculum, culture relevance issues, etc.

What is often lacking however is how to build a "healthy" Church by Biblical standards!

The Church after the day of Pentecost appears to be the healthiest and most powerful, it is the model we often look to as the "Ideal Church",so it seems fitting that if we want to discover how to have a healthy Church we learn from the example of it in the book of Acts immediately after the day of Pentecost.

What makes a healthy Church? What makes a Church alive and vibrant, healthy Churches that are alive are not so by accident!

ILLUS: Live churches are constantly changing. Dead churches don't have to.

Live churches have lots of noisy kids. Dead churches are fairly quiet.

Live church's expenses always exceed their income. Dead churches take in more than they ever dreamed of spending.

Live churches are constantly improving for the future. Dead churches worship their past.

Live churches move out in faith. Dead churches operate totally by human sight.

Live churches focus on people. Dead churches focus on programs.

Live churches are filled with tithers. Dead churches are filled with tippers.

Live churches dream great dreams of God. Dead churches relive nightmares.

Live churches don't have "can't" in their dictionary. Dead churches have nothing but.

Live churches evangelize. Dead churches fossilize.

The Bible clearly shows us what makes a healthy Church, they are the characteristics of God's plan for His Church to be triumphant, they are doctrine, fellowship, worship, and evangelism.

1. COMMITMENT TO CONTENT

And they continued stedfastly Acts 2:42a

1. It is interesting to note that the 4 qualities of the early Church are all introduced by the statement that the CHURCH "continued stedfastly" themselves to them.

a. There is nothing "casual" about their commitment as a Church!

b. I wonder if this could be said of the Church today?

2. The idea of "continued stedfastly" here means "devoted" .

a. Someone once said that God does not have a casual relationship with anyone!

b. The Church cannot afford to have less than devoted followers of Christ.

3. We are living in a day when devotion to God is at a all time low!

ILLUS: Percentage of Americans who are churched: 62% In 1776: 17% today

-- Roger Finke and Rodney Stark, "The Churching of America, 1776-1990,"

(Rutgers UP, 1992). "To Verify," Leadership.

4. The early Church was healthy because the early Christians were passionate about their commitment to Christ!

2. Doctrine!

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine Acts 2:42a

1. The first thing stated that this Church was devoted to that made them healthy is DOCTRINE!

a. It is rare for this to be considered of utmost importance today in Churches!

(1. The bible said that a characteristic of the last days would be that people will "not endure sound doctrine." 2 Timothy 4:3

(2. While it is tragic that the world cares nothing about doctrine, it is an even greater tragedy when the Church does not care that much about doctrine!

b. Too often, even in some revivals, doctrine is pushed aside for experience!

c. Healthy experiences however must be guided by doctrine, and not the other way around!

2. All healthy revivals in history had as a characteristic an INCREASE emphasis on preaching and the Word, not a decrease!

a. Lasting revivals are nourished by solid biblical preaching.

b. Momentary revivals that last only like a brushfire usually are evidenced by an avoidance of preaching in favor of experiences.

3. The Bible is quite clear on the importance of the Word,

Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Romans 10:17

a. Sometimes the Church can be misled into thinking that other things are more important than the Word of God, emphasis sometimes shifts to physical needs over the Word of God.

b. We must be careful not to neglect the Word in favor or other things as greater priorities!

ILLUS: A missionary in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, reports that recently an African pastor passed through on his way home to Chad, where civil war was raging.

"What would you like to take to complete your forty-four pounds of baggage allowance?" asked the missionary. "Sugar? Powdered milk? Medicine?"

"If I could have some Bibles or a few good books..."

"How's that?" the missionary asked.

"Back home we lost everything in the war, and we learned to place less importance on that which passes away and more importance on that which lasts."

The missionary mused: "Was I dreaming? We have heard so often 'The hungry stomach has no ears' that we misread the Epistle to the Romans to say, 'Faith comes from what one eats,' instead of

"We must not fail to share our bread with those who are hungry, but neither dare we forget that 'man shall not live by bread alone.'" --

Charles Daniel Maire. Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 3.

4. It is no accident that Doctrine was placed at the top of the list here!

2. COMMITMENT TO CARING

coninued stedfastly.....and fellowship 2:42b

1. While doctrine was at the top of the list, it did not mean that these other items were LESS important, they were AS devoted to the rest of this list as doctrine!

a. Here the devotion is to CARING for one another.

b. Called here "fellowship".

c. It was devotion that moved them to act toward one another.

ILLUS: In Booker T. Washington's autobiography, Up from Slavery, Mr. Washington recalled a beautiful incident of an older brother's love. He said the shirts worn on his plantation by the slaves were made of a rough, bristly,

inexpensive flax fiber. As a young boy, the garment was so abrasive to his tender, sensitive skin that it caused him a great deal of pain and discomfort. His older brother, moved by his brother's suffering, would wear Booker's new shirts, until they were broken in and smoother to the touch. Booker said it was one of the most striking acts of kindness he had experienced among his fellow slaves. What a beautiful illustration of "bearing one another's burdens," which we are admonished to do in Galatians 6:20. --James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited

(Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 117.

2. Devotion finds a way to express itself!

2. Decision

2:44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;

2:45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. Acts 2:44-45

1. They did not just look at their own lives and their own needs, they cared deeply about one another, so much that under the difficult circumstances of the first century they even pooled their resources together and shared them so that they could all live in an environment of difficult persecution.

a. The Christian life is not just a set of doctrines, but is the WORD MADE FLESH just as it was in Christ, but now in us!

b. Even as Christ gave Himself for us, we are to give ourselves to one another.

2. It is the acts of love and fellowship that let others know that good doctrine is at work in our lives!

a. it is often the practical stuff that shows God's love and the power of the Word!

ILLUS: A man came to the pastor one time and said, "I don't know what's wrong with my life, but that first Christian joy I knew has passed by. I still live a moral life. I go to church. But how can I recover the lost radiance of my faith?" His pastor said, "this is what you should do: go to the store and buy a big basketful of groceries and go to an address of a poor family I will give you. Then when you have given your gift, you sit down with them to find out what they need. Let them know that you are interested in them and that you are their friend. Then lead them in the Lord's Prayer before you leave, and the radiance will come back."

b. Devotion to doctrine is measured by those doctrines lived out in our lives!

3. Real devotion cannot be devoid of action, or it is just

sentimentality and not spirituality!

a. It is not devotion to just "FEEL" for our brothers and sisters in Christ if we can do something to minister to them.

b. We are living in a society that has separated feelings from actions, let this not be true in the Church!