Is Prayer Your Steering Wheel or Your Spare Tire?

Gary Minnick

Midland SDA Church

November 2, 2019

I have in my hand a "church key. Do you recognize that? (a pop bottle opener) Why do we call that a church key? Is it? No! It won't work. It's not a church key. I have in my hand another key. Do you think that will work? Is this the key to the church? Well, it is; and it isn't. What is the spiritual "key to the church?" Well, let's talk about that.

Some churches have parking problems; other churches have plenty of parking.

Some churches are successful; others are not. They are not growing and increasing in number.  Their expenses are more than they handle.

Some churches have kids running around making more noise than the older people can stand; other churches are deathly quiet.

Some churches have less money; other churches may not have any money problems: they don't spend much.

Some churches are growing so fast you don't know everybody's name; in others everybody has known everybody's name for years.

   Some churches are filled with tithers, others are filled with tippers.

What makes a church successful? Fortunately, the Bible has the answer. All you have to do is look at the first church. They were very successful.

 In Acts 2: 42-47 is the success story of the early church. They had 3,120 members. Here is what made the early church successful and vibrant. Here are ten keys to strong churches.

Key # 1--- Acts 2:42-- They devoted themselves to the apostle's teachings. They were faithful and true to what they had been taught: to the truth, to the doctrines, to their learning. They were students of the Bible. They knew the truth. They knew what they believed in.

When a church drifts away from Bible preaching it disconnects itself from the source of life, Jesus. When a pulpit has social preaching instead of Bible preaching you are drifting away from success. Social preaching is to church members what uprooting a garden plant is to a gardener. I believe that we need to make sure that in our churches that we stay close to the Bible. Not only in the church, but in the homes, you need to dig for truth every morning. Each member must also personally and daily dig for truth in the Scriptures.

KEY # 2--- Acts 2:42-- Not only did they devote themselves to the apostle's teachings, but they devoted themselves to fellowship, the breaking of bread. They associated together. They had a lot of good fellowship together. I think, perhaps the best counterfeit to what goes on here at the church is what goes on down at the neighborhood entertainment places.

The neighborhood entertainment places. dispensing worldly evil ideals instead of grace.

People go there because they get fellowship there. No questions are asked. No sermons are given.

The entertainment places flourishes not because people are alcoholics, but because the human heart desires fellowship with the world. So, they seek a counterfeit at the price of eternal loss.  “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?  Jeremiah 17:9

Matthew 13:15
For this people's heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.'  Also Ps.51:10

 We need to invite others to come to church. To have fellowship with them. Become friends. Break bread together. Journey to heaven together.

Key # 3--- Acts 2:42 says that they devoted themselves to PRAYER. You can't have a successful church without praying people. We must be a people of prayer. Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire? How do you know that you need to use the spare tire? Because it has gone flat. All the air has gone out of it. Your spiritual life may have lost all its zeal and you may not even realize it.

The morning is the gate of the day, it should be immersed with prayer. Each end of the thread on which the day's actions are strung on and should be anchored in prayer. If we felt the majesty of life, we should be more careful of its mornings. He who rushes from his bed to his business and doesn’t take time to worship is as foolish as though he had not put on his clothes, or cleansed his face, and as unwise as though he had dashed into battle without arms or armor.

 It is our privilege to bathe in the softly flowing river of communion with God, before the burden of the way begins to oppress us. -- Charles Spurgeon, we need to have a life of prayer.

A little prayer: -I WANT TO THANK YOU LORD FOR BEING CLOSE TO ME SO FAR THIS DAY. WITH YOUR HELP I HAVE NOT BEEN IMPATIENT, LOST MY TEMPER, BEEN GRUMPY, JUDGMENTAL, OR ENVIOUS OF ANYONE. BUT I WILL BE GETTING OUT OF BED IN A MINUTE, AND I KNOW I'LL REALLY NEED YOUR HELP THEN.

You can't live a Godly life without prayer. You're sometimes going to make wrong decisions without prayer. We need to begin the morning with prayer.  You have to have gas in your car to have power don’t you. Is there any difference? Gas dial shows us when we are on empty. Our conscious should tell us.

Key # 4-- Acts 2:43 says that Everybody was filled with AWE. We need some of that! The early church had a deep heart experience with Jesus. An inward reverence for God. They knew they had something special.  What was it? They had the Holy Spirit in their lives. Their admiration and wonder for God were fresh and precious. Miracles were happening. They had the truth and they knew it. We serve an Awesome God! Keep fresh in your heart how great our God really is. He is our hope and salvation.

KEY # 5--- Acts 2:43 Many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles and witnessed by all these people. For a church of action: they were out doing these things for Jesus.

The first church produced fruit. They were busy for God. They went out and preached the message and in many ways they helped people and miracles followed them. They lived a life of service to others.

 These early Christians did not cloister the good news to themselves, but they spread the good news. We can be in helping others you strengthen yourself. We need to be a people that shares Jesus with others, and to help others. We need to be a people who Witness in various ways. We need to look for opportunities in how we can reach out. Have we asked in prayer for opportunities to do so?

KEY # 6--- Acts 2:44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. They were unified. They had unity. All the believers shared their assets and their time. I appreciate that about our early church history. Did you notice all the trouble’s the early church had?  Did they have a secret ingredient? Yes, unselfish love for one another.  How about this church? I believe God wants His people unified.

Unity is one of the ingredients required to make up a successful church. Take a chocolate chip cookie for an example. A cookie requires several ingredients such as sugar, flour, oil, etc. Just so a church needs ingredient to make up the congregation.

 If I took the chocolate chips out of this cookie, what would I have? It wouldn't be a chocolate chip cookie anymore. If you leave this church as one of the viable ingredients of the church, we won't have the same church. It's not the same without you. You are a vital ingredient to this church. We need you. We have God given gifts and talents. We don’t want to bury them in the ground. We need to plug in the lamp if we want it to light. Unity is a vital ingredient for a church to have. I praise God for the unity in this church.

KEY # 7--- Acts 2:44(last part) and 45 It says they had everything in common. They sold their possession and goods and gave to everyone as they had need. They were a church of UNSELFISH GENEROSITY. I like that about the early church.

The early Christians followed Jesus example by giving generously. Jesus gave His life for them, and they wanted to give as much to Him as possible. They sold their possessions for the cause that they believed in with all their heart.

A young evangelist was in need of a new suit. He didn't have much money. He found a pawn shop that had acquired a surplus of nice-looking black suits from an undertaker. He bought one for a bargain. Only after getting the suit home did the young preacher realize that the suit had no pockets!

 In a funeral home you don't need pockets if you're in a casket and you're dead. In death you can't take it with you. The time to give is when you're living. Someday, your money will be worthless.

KEY # 8--- Acts 2:46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread together in homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. Every day!  Every day they had daily Worship. They attended church as often as possible. Those early Christians attended church every day! They actually went to the church and worshipped every day! EVERY DAY! Now, I believe we need to be more often in church. Church attendance ought to be special to us.

So often it's not. We need to be in church not just for worship service, But other times too. Often at times my wife and I would just go into the sanctuary, and spend time in prayer and communication with God.

The sanctuary is not common ground, but it is holy and we need to treat it as such.

II Peter 2:20 makes a statement about the danger of not attending church. Did you know there is a danger in that? "If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than were at the beginning." It would have been better for them not to have found the way of righteousness than to have known it and then turned their backs on the sacred commandment that was passed on to them.

Don't leave the church. The church is important. It is vital for your Christian walk with Jesus Christ.

There are a lot of excuses for not attending church. Can you imagine a diehard sports fan giving reasons for giving up sports? Can you imagine a sports fan saying, "I'm not going to watch any more football in the fall, no more baseball in the summer, an no more basketball in the winter? I'm not going to attend those games. Forget it! I've had it all. I quit! I will never again attend sports.

Here are some of the reasons that people use to excuse themselves.

- Every time I went, they asked for money.

- The people I sat next to were not friendly so I'm not going back.

- The seats were too hard and not comfortable at all.

- The coach never came to my house and visited me.

- The referees make decisions that I can't agree with so 'm not going back.

- The game sometimes went into overtime and I got home late, and I can't stand that!

- The music there wasn't my style of music.

- Games are always scheduled when I am busy. I want to be somewhere else.

- I suspect that I was sitting next to some hypocrites because they came just to see their friends and just sat there and talked the whole time and didn't even participate in the game.

- I was taken to too many games by my parents when I was growing up, and I'm getting away from that.

- It is so crowded; I didn't have any elbow room and I had to park way out: no room for parking up close. I'm not going back.

Can you imagine such a thing! I will tell you that a Christian without a church is like a honey bee without a hive. Life is just not as sweet! The church is built for keeping Christians strong. Jesus is the corner stone.  Jesus went every Sabbath. Hebrews 10:25 (NIV) says, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another- -and all the more as we see the Day approaching." We need to be in church. Quitting church is like quitting Jesus. Christians begin missing quite often before they quit!

KEY # 9)-Acts 2:47 Indicates that the early church PRAISED God. They had a life of praise. Do you have a life of praise? I enjoy just praising God. Did you ever pray a prayer just of praise? It'll do something for you. James White used to come down the aisle of the church praising God and shouting praises to Him. I wonder if some churches would disfellowship him for that today. He had enthusiasm, shouting praises to God. You know, I believe preachers do a better job when there are lots of "AMENS" from the congregation. One reason so many ministers preach powerful sermons is that their audiences support them.

The early church praised God. They lived a life of praise instead of doom. They were a happy people, a rejoicing people. God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, and the church is the gas station where you get that fuel; as well as your home; your own personal Bible study; as well as point to number ten that's coming up next. Jesus is the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. Wise people praise Him.

I want to ask you a question: This early church that's mentioned here in Acts 2: they grew phenomenally. Did they advertise? Do you think they advertised? I believe they did. And I think the best advertisement for Christianity is a loving and loveable Christian. People could see the smiles on their faces. They could see these people praising God. A rejoicing Christian is one of God's best advertisements. That was a factor in the growth of the early church. So, laugh a lot, and........when you are older, all your wrinkles will be in the right places. Praise God!

KEY # 10--- Acts 2:47 says they were respected and loved by everybody. They had the favor of all people. They were loving and loveable. Christians should be the most loving and loveable of all people. When you come into God's church you will be warmly and lovingly received. When you go out you will be respected. The church grows when its members are honest in their community; when they pay their bills; when they keep their word. Christians ought to be people who live the Christian life who don't have a double standard.

These ten keys, that I have gone over with you, can be expressed in a negative way. The cause for failure in churches today, all ten of them,

1- The Unread Book                          6- The Unbroken heart

2- The Uninvited friend                      7- The Ungiven gift

3- The Unbent knee                           8- The Unattended pew

4- The Unimpressed Soul                 9- The Unhappy member

5- The Unused witness                     10-The Unresected Saint

When you come to church,              

Enter Expectantly

   Kneel Prayerfully,

     Study Diligently

      Worship Reverently

       Give Generously

        Listen Attentively

         Leave thoughtfully

          Share Truthfully

           And come back regularly

Let's try our best to be the type of Christian that others will look at us and say, "I want to be a member of that church. That church has something. And that something is Jesus Christ. I think it is high time that the last church gets the spirit of the first church so that we can all go home together.

Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?