The Growing Church

Sermon Summary:

This powerful theological journey takes us from the very beginning of creation to the birth of the church, revealing an astonishing truth: heaven and earth were never meant to be as separated as we often imagine them. Starting with Genesis and moving through Acts 2:42-47, we discover that God created both heaven and earth as twin realities, always intending them to intersect. The incarnation of Jesus represents the ultimate merging of these realms—God literally dwelling among us. But the story doesn’t end with the resurrection; the ascension is equally crucial because it places a human being, Jesus Christ, on the throne of heaven, ruling over all creation. Then comes Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit descends, bringing heaven to earth once again. We, as the church, are now the living temple where heaven and earth meet. This isn’t just ancient history—it’s our present reality and mission. We’re part of a global enterprise spanning every nation, called to be disciples who know God, experience God, and serve God. The commission to make disciples isn’t merely a religious activity; it’s our participation in God’s grand plan to fill the entire earth with His glory, continuing the intersection of heaven and earth until Christ returns.

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Sermon Points:

Key Takeaways:

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• Heaven and earth are twin realities created by God and designed to intersect, not remain separate
• God has always desired to dwell with His people, from Eden through the tabernacle and temple
• The incarnation launched a new era where heaven came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ
• The ascension established Jesus as the enthroned King who already rules from heaven over all creation
• Pentecost reversed the Tower of Babel and launched the global mission of the church through the Holy Spirit
• The church is the new temple of God where heaven and earth now intersect
• Jesus already possesses all authority in heaven and on earth; we are not waiting for Him to become King
• The church must be filled with disciples, not just members, requiring intentional discipleship
• First Baptist Arlington’s mission focuses on knowing God, experiencing God, and serving God
• The discipleship framework includes being saved, shepherded, shaped, and sent
• The church’s mission is part of a grand sweeping story from creation to the eschaton

Scripture Reference:

• Acts 2:42-47 (primary focus)
• Genesis 1:1
• Isaiah 65:17
• Revelation 21:1
• John 1:1-14
• Matthew 10:7
• Matthew 28:18-20
• Matthew 24:14
• Psalm 72
• 1 Corinthians and 1 Peter 2 (referenced regarding the church as temple)
• Ephesians 1 (referenced regarding the Holy Spirit as guarantee)

Stories:

• A testimony from a church member about Psalm 23 providing comfort and encouragement (mentioned at the beginning)
• The Transfiguration account where Peter, James, and John recognized Moses and Elijah on the mountain, illustrating that those in heaven have some form of recognizable manifestation
• A preacher’s conversation with a woman on an airplane where he described the church as a global enterprise with hospitals, schools, homes for children, care for the elderly, food pantries, and medical/dental offices
• The story of the church’s renovation and the installation of the Carolingian Cross with Acts 2:42 inscribed around it in the Welcome Center floor
• The humorous exchange with John Hoffman about choosing the scripture for the Welcome Center, where he initially suggested “Jesus wept” as a placeholder

Sermon Transcript

So many times you and I have turned to Psalm 23, haven’t we, for comfort and encouragement. And so I’m grateful to hear this testimony today. Well, here’s what I want to do this morning. I want you to look with me and if you have your copy of the New Testament at Acts Chapter two. And what I would like to do this morning is take you into my theology class so that we can better understand why the church and what the church is supposed to be about.

So we’re going to do a really quick overall view of the Scripture this morning. So are y’ all ready? Can you. You’ve had your pastoral heart touched this morning by this powerful time of worship. Now I want us to have our theological brains touched.

Is that all right? So look at Acts 2. Pentecost has occurred, and these early believers are gathered in Jerusalem. And now the question is, what did they do next? So Luke gives us this summary statement.

I’m entitling the message. The Growing Church so look with me at Acts 2, verse 42. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.

They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. And every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes. They ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

So this is the launching of the church. And what I would like to do this morning is set the launching of the church and the mission of the church in its Biblical, theological and eschatological context. So that’s what we’re going to attempt to do this morning. And I’m going to ask you to stay with me as we make our way through it. So here’s where we’re going to start.

We’re going to start with heaven and earth. The Bible contains the story of how heaven and earth have been connected since creation and will be connected in eternity. Since the beginning of time, the Triune God has been revealed through this dynamic and incredible reality. God, His Word and His Spirit all are on display since creation. And by the way, just as an aside, that’s one way to communicate the reality of the Trinity to anyone.

Oftentimes in our conversations with our Muslim friends, they struggle with the conversation about the Trinity. And so one of the ways you can move past that is Say, do you believe in God? Yes. Do you believe in God’s word? Yes.

Do you believe in God’s spirit? Yes. Well, there you go. And so that is one way for us to communicate the reality of the Trinity. But here’s what I want you to do this morning with me.

I want us to connect heaven and earth. Because we have so separated heaven and earth sometimes in our minds that we misunderstand. I believe what God intended from the very beginning, because heaven and earth are twin realities. And we need to stretch our cosmology today because heaven is God’s space, if you will. Earth is humanity’s space.

But remember, God created both of them. That’s what the scripture tells us. And he has revealed himself through his creation. So let’s just remind ourselves what the Bible says in Genesis 1, verse 1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth.

Sometimes we think the heavens have just always been there, but that’s not what the Bible says God has always been. But God actually created the heavens and the earth, and he’s not done. As a matter of fact, as we keep reading the story as it unfolds in front of us, here’s what Isaiah. What God says in Isaiah 65, verse 17, See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. So he’s not actually done regarding heaven and earth.

As a matter of fact, when John is given a glimpse of the future in Revelation 21, verse one, John says, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. And so the cosmos, if you’ll think about it, heaven and earth is actually one huge temple that is the place where God actually dwells. We have glimpses of that in the Biblical story, in the tabernacle, in the temple where heaven and earth actually intersect. That’s what the Jews believed, because God has always desired to be with his people.

And what’s going to be in our future in the eschaton, where there’s going to be a new heaven and a new earth. And when you read Revelation 21, the Bible says there will be no temple in the new heaven and the new earth, because you won’t need one because God is present with his people. So let’s start right there. Heaven and earth created together by God as twin realities. Now, stay with me.

There’s a whole lot that happens between Genesis and John. So it’s not that it’s not important. I just don’t have time to talk about it all today. Okay, let’s go all the way to the Incarnation. What happened at the Incarnation?

Well, God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, I obviously. But the ministry of Jesus Marks the launching of a brand new era. Here’s what’s happened. Heaven has come to earth. This is also known as inaugurated eschatology.

In the Incarnation, God has come to us. He takes on human form. Jesus will fulfill all the prophecies regarding the Messiah. But there’s going to be a new Revelation, and that is this. God is now actually in the flesh.

That’s the new Revelation. It’s a brand new era. John, if you’re paying attention, when John opens his Gospel, do you remember what John says in the beginning?

But how does he start in the beginning? What is he doing? He’s hearkening you all the way back to the book of Genesis. Heaven and earth created by God. And now heaven and earth are going to intersect one another.

In the beginning was the Word, and. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. And through him all things were made.

And without him, nothing was made that’s been made. Skip down to verse 14. And the word became flesh and made his dwelling. Tabernacled is what the Word means among us. Well, if God is going to be present, guess what else will be there?

His glory. And so John says, we’ve seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father, from heaven, full of grace and truth. And so, in other words, this new era has now been launched. It’s a new beginning. God is up to something.

And the kingdom of God is now going to be a reality on the earth. That’s why Jesus said in Matthew 10, verse 7, as you go proclaim, the kingdom of heaven is now near. It’s a new era. Jesus represents the intersection between heaven and earth just in his person. God created it all.

And you and I have. Somehow we live in this, this, this Platonic separation sometimes between heaven and earth. And I understand that we’ve got to do that for the sake of understanding what heaven and what earth is all about. But here’s what I want us to see. That is that in Jesus, heaven and earth have now intersected.

And he is bringing heaven to this earth. As a matter of fact, Jesus will tell us to pray that God’s will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In other words, even in our ministry life, if you will, heaven and earth are supposed to intersect. Now stay with me. Now we get to The Book of Acts.

And the most amazing thing happens in Acts 1, the Ascension. Now, you and I are Baptists, and for the most part, we just skip right past the Ascension. We’ve got the resurrection, we’re good. But that’s an incomplete understanding of what’s going on because here’s what’s happened in the Ascension. Jesus ascended to the father in Acts 1.

This is a significant event in the dawning of the age to come. God’s original plan for humanity and creation has now become a reality. Heaven and earth have merged together. And I want you to think about this with me. A human being, Jesus Christ, is now enthroned with the Father and Jesus is Lord over all the earth.

Think about that. When Jesus ascended into heaven in his physical body, a human being has now ascended into heaven and he is now in charge. We’ve over spiritualized it sometimes and we’ve disconnected heaven from Earth. And I get it when we talk about heaven, here’s the thing, we just don’t know enough about it sometimes. And so we are very limited in the language we use.

So I want to clear something up real quick before you freak out. All of your loved ones who know Jesus, I believe, are in heaven with Jesus, but they may not be there like you think they are, because sometimes you and I think they’re in this bodiless kind of form where they’re just kind of floating around without any kind of identity. Now, on one hand, the soul, of course, is eternal, but they do have some kind of manifestation or else it wouldn’t make sense. How do I know that? Because when Peter, James and John were on the mount of Transfiguration and two people came from heaven to to earth to meet with Jesus, you remember who they were?

Moses and Elijah. They didn’t have on name tags. That’s not how they knew who they were. They just knew who they were. And they weren’t just floating spirits or they wouldn’t have recognized them.

They had some kind of manifestation. We don’t fully understand it, but here’s what’s now happened. Jesus has now ascended into heaven. He’s moved into another dimension. It’s hard for us to get our minds around it.

I understand it. But heaven and Earth have now intersected. And if you think about it, this was God’s original plan. To begin with, he created human beings. He said to human beings, now take my image.

And I want you to go and rule over the earth. I want you to co rule with me. And so heaven and earth would merge together. But what happened? Human beings decided to go their own way, and they decided they would rule over Earth themselves.

When I say that, I’m really talking about us. We’ve all gone our own way. And so because of our sin, our fallen nature, God has sent his own son from heaven to Earth. And now guess what’s happened at the Ascension. He’s received him back.

And here’s what I want to make sure you and I know. We are not waiting on Jesus to return so that he can be king. Come on, y’. All. He’s already king.

He’s already king. He’s already enthroned in heaven. Heaven is the CEO’s office.

He’s ruling already from heaven. We’re not waiting on him to come back as king. He’s already king. And when he returns, everybody will know he’s king. So the Ascension is a huge piece to this story.

He’s a king. His kingdom just looks different than we might have expected. And he’s a different kind of king. But the age to come is already among us now. But he’s not finished.

The story doesn’t end in Acts 1. He’s enthroned in Heaven. But now there’s work to be done to continue the intersection between Heaven and Earth. Are y’ all still with me? What’s got to happen next?

Pentecost. Not all is finished. You see, the world is still separated. The world is still in chaos. And so at Pentecost, the Spirit of God was given after the ascension of Jesus as a demonstration that God always desires to dwell with his people, just like in the Tabernacle, just like in the temple, just like in the Garden of Eden.

His presence now guarantees the manifestation of his power so that his purposes will be accomplished. What happened in Acts 2? We didn’t read it today. We read the conclusion. All of a sudden, these followers of Jesus were filled with the Spirit of God.

There are people from all over the world who in Jerusalem, speaking all kinds of languages. And all of a sudden, the apostles and the followers of Jesus are filled with the Spirit. And they start proclaiming the Gospel in language in which languages in which they are not trained. And what’s happening in front of us is a reversal of the Tower of Babel. And this is not just some special super hyper spiritual thing for these followers of Jesus.

This is a signal of the global dominion of Jesus, his message, his rule, his power is for everybody and will be over everybody. It’s the universal claim of the Gospel, the global dominion of Jesus. And it launches the Mission movement of the Church. Once again, heaven and earth intersect. Jesus is taken up and the Holy Spirit comes down.

So now heaven has come to earth again. And His Spirit is going to empower us to carry out his will. Peter saw it. Everybody’s watching it. And finally, Peter says this in Acts 2.

I know what this is. This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel in the last days. God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people. And what does the Spirit of God do? Well, he graces us with the presence of God.

He gifts us so that we can serve God. He guides us so we can follow him every day. He guarantees our eternity. Ephesians 1. He grafts us in the family of God.

He governs us through the power of his presence. He glorifies Jesus. So the Holy Spirit, given to the church, launches the next chapter. Now, with that said, let’s get to the heart of what I want to show you this morning. The church.

Why the Church? And what’s the Church supposed to be doing? Well, the church is the new global community of God’s people. The church is the new temple of God. I want you to notice that that’s what the scripture teaches.

God is present with his people once again. As members of the church, we’ve been commissioned to the task of making disciples of all nations and filling the earth with his glory. This is a global community. You’re not a part of just some little BDO group of people that meets at 301 Center Street. You are that.

But you’re a part of a global, eternal community. In other words, this gospel is going to be proclaimed all over the world. We have a missionary endeavor, all languages. As a matter of fact, one day the Book of Revelation tells us we’re going to stand before the throne and we’re going to hear all these tribes and all these people and all these languages proclaiming the good news of the gospel. But for those that are waiting on the temple to be rebuilt, it’s already been rebuilt.

You and I, the people of God, with Jesus. We are the new temple. Heaven and earth now intersect. First Corinthians, first Peter 2. God created us.

Jesus saved us. The Spirit’s empowering us. You know why? Because Jesus has all power in heaven and on earth. Let me remind you.

Matthew 28. All authority. What Jesus says. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey Everything I’ve commanded you, and surely I’m always with you to the end of the age.

And then after he says that, he leaves. So how can he be with us? He sent his Spirit, and so his promise is fulfilled. The whole earth is going to be the dwelling place of God. The whole earth is.

And Jesus, along with his people, we are the temple. The church is spread out to the four corners of the earth, fulfilling prophecy. In Psalm 72, the Bible says, may he rule from sea to. To sea, from the river, the Euphrates, to the ends of the earth. May the whole earth be filled with his glory.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, and the gospel of this kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations. Then the end will come. In other words, this is a global task, and you and I are part of it. When you step into the church, you step into this context of ministry, you step into this missionary endeavor and. And you become a part of the global community.

And God is using us to accomplish his mission to begin with so that heaven and earth can come together once again. Now, come on, y’. All. I was watching this preacher the other day, and he said he was on an airplane and this lady was sitting next to him, and they were just kind of talking. Finally, she said, what do you do?

And he thought to himself, what do I do? He said, well, I’m actually a part of a global enterprise. She said, really? He said, oh, yeah, we’re in every nation. She said, wow.

He said, oh, yeah. We’ve got hospitals all over the world. We have schools. We actually have homes for children that no one else will care for. She said, wow.

He said, we even care for the elderly. We take care of the indigent. We have pantries where people can come and receive food and care. We actually have offices where we do medical and dental care. She said, wow, what in the world is this enterprise?

And he said, it’s the church. Have you ever heard of it?

Well, that’s what it is. You and I are part of this global community. We’re this project, if you will, is what N.T. wright says, where this working project of the new community is called the church. And so if the church is going to fulfill its mission, it has to be filled with disciples, not just members.

Let me say that again. It’s got to be filled with disciples, not just members. So intentional discipleship is necessary. The church must be intentionally engaged in making disciples. This church want you to read Acts 2 this week, spend some time in it, look at what this very first church did, they were committed to discipleship, instruction, worship, community, generosity, engagement.

They were the very first church. So from creation, the cosmos, the children of Israel, Christ himself, the Messiah, his life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, and now the church. We’re the ones that are living out the intersection between heaven and earth. How does it happen? It happens when you and I become disciples.

Jesus had been discipling his followers up to this point. Now he’s ascended to the Father, ruling from heaven. He’s given his spirit. And now they take up the task and they start making other disciples. Learning, providing instruction, loving fellowship and community.

They’re generous, radical generosity. They. They’re living in the community. And what does the text say? God’s adding to their number daily, those who are being saved because they’re sharing the life of Jesus, they’re growing as a church.

You and I today, all these years later, we are supposed to be disciples. And here’s what I want to encourage you in this next season, this next era in the life of our church is going to be all about intentional discipleship. So here’s what you’re going to be seeing at First Baptist, Arlington, Flourishing together, following the Jesus way. What does that look like? Well, it looks like this.

Knowing God, experiencing God, serving God. That’s what we’re going to be about. And we’re going to put all our energy into it, helping people understand. Here’s our insider language. Saved, shepherded, shaped and sent.

Everybody needs to be saved. Everybody needs to be shepherded. Everybody needs to be shaped, and everybody needs to be sent. That’s a disciple. And so you and I, as a church, are going to give our full energy, our full attention to it.

You know why? Because the mission is so critical, we are fulfilling a grand endeavor. We are playing our part in this grand sweeping story from the very beginning to the eschaton. And you and I are crucial. We have a crucial role in it.

So years ago, when we remodeled our church, renovated everything, renovated this room. But before we ever got to that, we built a new welcome center right out here facing Center Street. And when you walk into our church, we greet you with a message. It is this scripture ring that’s inlaid in the floor in the welcome center. Let me show you a photo of it.

It is the Carolingian cross. Y’ all know it, right? You’re gonna walk right across it every time you walk into the welcome Center. Anyway, if I don’t have a photo, you can see it out there today. And guess what’s around it Acts 2:42.

They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship and to the prayers and to the breaking of bread. In other words, when you walk in this church, you’re greeted with our mission. And here’s the image. When you and I die, and if we have our funeral in this church, and when they take our body out of this church, guess what happens? We take our bodies after someone’s died right out these doors, and guess where we go.

The last thing you touch in this church is that cross and that commission. Well done, good and faithful servant. That’s what we’re saying. It greets you and it bids you adieu. We’ll see you later.

Till we all come together one day. There it is, right there. Y’ all recognize it, don’t you? I love that. You know, when we first were putting that scripture ring in place, John Hoffman was doing it for me.

And I was struggling with what text to put. I was praying, praying. He kept saying, pastor, would you send me the text? I said, I’ll give it to you when God gives it to me. He finally sent me a mock up.

He said, I’ll put my favorite verse on until you get yours. And it said, jesus wept. Said, okay, we’re not going with that one, but I appreciate it. We’re going with this one. It’s a powerful statement, theologically sound.

It’s rooted in our missionary endeavor and it’s connected to eschatology. This is what we’re going to be about until Jesus comes. Praise his name. May it be so. Let’s pray together.

Well, we love you. We thank you for your love for us. We thank you for the testimony we’ve heard today, both in worship and in reading your Word and the Word being proclaimed and taught. Thank you for what you’ve taught us. We pray that it’ll be instructional, informational, inspirational.

Lord, as we seek to do your will during this season in the life of the church and our church, we pray in Jesus name, Amen.