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 gruelling 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
Jaya," by Ruth A. Tucker, 1983, page 241.
This and 16,500 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/illust.html
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