Okay, this morning was a little ambitious in scope and I (in retrospect) think you could have benefitted from a detailed outline, so here it is:
The Reaching Church is a Passionate Church (the glory of God and treasuring Christ)
• Preeminence (Col.1:17-18; Acts 1:6)
• Providence (Acts 1:2,7)
• Promises (Acts 1:8)
• Praise (Acts 2:47)
• READ PASSION STATEMENT AGAIN
The Reaching Church is a Powerful Church
• Christ’s Authority (Matt.28:18)
• Spirit’s Empowerment (John 16:12-15; Acts 2:1-13; 5:12-16)
The Reaching Church is a Proclaiming Church
• Centrality of Preaching (Acts 2:14-41; 3:11-26; 4:8-22; 7:1-53)
• Whole Counsel of God
• Exclusivity of Christ (2:36; 3:19-21; 4:12; 7:51-53)
• Seizing Every Opportunity
The Reaching Church is a Praying Church
• Acts 1:14; 2:42; 4:23-31
The Reaching Church is a Providing Church
• Acts 2:45; 4:32-37
• Example for future mission offerings
The Reaching Church is a Pure Church
• Doctrine (Acts 15) – One of the reasons for the maintaining of the Jerusalem church (guard the doctrine of the church for the foundation of other churches)
• Membership – Regular basis (Acts 2:42-47) / Unusual circumstances (Acts 5:1-11)
• Polity – Early example (Acts 1:12-14) / Apostles (ex. Elders) & Deacons (Acts 6:1-7; 14:23; 15:4)
The Reaching Church is a Persecuted Church
• Apostles (Matt.24:9)
• Deacons (Acts 6,7)
• Church-wide (Acts 8:1-3)
The Reaching Church is a Planting Church
• Where does all this lead?
• To a Church Planting movement
• Churches that have a passion for God’s glory and Christ as the supreme treasure. Churches going in the power of the Holy Spirit. Churches that centralize on the proclamation of the Word of God. Churches that pursue purity on every side (doctrine, membership, polity). Churches that are not fearful of persecution, rather embrace the idea as God permits for the furtherance of His glory and kingdom until He returns!
• In large part, God did this throughout the known world largely through Paul, the centerpiece of the very persecution that scattered them abroad in the first place! – YOU CAN’T PLAN THIS STUFF!
• Radical? YES! Isn’t the NT church radical? Don’t we try to explain the radical nature of the church off on the fact it was in a different culture? We are preparing people for heaven! That is the culture of scripture!
CONCLUSION:
• Trust God’s placement of your life!
• As a church we are to help foster church planting movements!
• Go on a trip.
Grounded 
I thought that the 8 characteristics of a reaching church as presented in your sermon on Sunday were excellent. I particularly liked the ending whereby we plant churches (whether in NW Arkansas or SE Asia) that also have these 8 characteristics so that the multiplication continues. This has been a great series!
LikeLike
UBC decided in 1991 that we wanted to be a “sending (reaching) church” but we lost our way for a while. Thanks for taking us “back to the future” and reminding us that our Vision 2000 was to be a church carrying the message of Jesus to the UofA, NW Arkansas and the world through a gifted and committed group of people known as the church of University Baptist.
It’s my hope that we will remember that our first mission field is our home, then our workplace then the world.
LikeLike