A United Church with a Kingdom Focus
Pastor Tan Thai · Oct 1, 2016
This sermon from Acts 4:32-36 examines the early church as a model for the church today in a changing world. Pastor Ken Good emphasizes that unity, generosity, testimony of the resurrection, and sacrificial giving are essential foundations for the church to fulfill the Great Commission.
The sermon opens with a practical question: how do Christians and churches navigate a transitioning world and nation? Pastor Ken Good argues that the early church in Acts serves as a guiding model, since today's world increasingly resembles the world in which the early church lived. That church was a melting pot of believers from every nation, class, and social background, all united in worshiping the Lamb of God as described in Revelation 5:9-10.
The sermon presents five core characteristics of the early church. First, they were one in heart and mind — this unity was a prerequisite for the church to be effective, to impact its community, and to fulfill its purpose. The pastor emphasizes that Satan has two primary goals: to keep people from trusting Christ and to divide the body of Christ. The early church stayed focused on four things: absorbing the truth of Christ, embracing those who belong to Christ, proclaiming the good news, and ministering to the needs of those in the body.
Second, believers voluntarily shared everything — not under compulsion, but as an expression of compassion, mercy, and grace. The pastor uses the image of two-year-olds fighting over toys to illustrate human selfishness, citing James 4:1-3. Third, the apostles testified to the resurrection of Jesus with great power, something only possible when the body of Christ is unified and undistracted by internal conflict. Fourth, there were no needy persons among them because those with property voluntarily sold it and placed the proceeds at the apostles' feet for distribution according to need — a culture of sacrificial giving that every church must cultivate.
The sermon concludes with the example of Barnabas — called the 'Son of Encouragement' — a generous, encouraging man who saw the best in others and sacrificed for them ahead of himself. Barnabas defended Paul when no one else would (Acts 9:26-28), helped build the church at Antioch (Acts 11:22-26), and stands as a model for the qualities every Christian should pursue.
The application section reminds listeners that we accomplish far more together than individually, that true treasure is stored in heaven not on earth (Matthew 6:19-21), and that meeting others' needs glorifies Christ (Matthew 25:35-40). The pastor calls the church to maintain unity and a Kingdom Focus in order to impact their communities, cities, nations, and world for Jesus Christ.