Strength From Within
The Birth of the Church
Acts 2:3-4 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The church was born in that moment, through individuals who came together, each filled with the Spirit, each using the gift they had been given, to build what Christ had birthed, the family of God.
Acts 2:41-47 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer… And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
The birth of the church teaches us this: God entrusts imperfect people with His perfect plan, and the Holy Spirit gives us the strength from within to carry it.
2 Corinthians 4:7 We are like common clay jars that carry this glorious treasure within, so that this immeasurable power will be seen as God’s, not ours.
The Church Was Born in Power, Not Perfection
What does it mean when we say, “the church was born”?
- The church isn’t a building.
- It’s not just Sunday services or programs.
- The church is the family of everyone who believes in Jesus.
- And just like every family has a birthday, the church has a birthday too.
The church was “born” in Acts 2… on the day of Pentecost, about 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead.
- That’s when the Holy Spirit came down on the disciples, gave them power, and thousands of people believed in Jesus all in one day.
- The church was born the day the Holy Spirit filled Jesus’ followers and they became a family of believers living for Him together.
Ezekiel 36:27 I will put my Spirit within you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
They may not have understood it, but that inner leading was from God, placed there for them.
John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
- He wasn’t just another teacher… He claimed to be the only way to God.
- And all through the Gospels, people worshiped Him.
Philippians 2:10-11 Every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
2 Corinthians 12:9 My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
The Church Belongs to God, Not Us
Matthew 16:18 “I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”
- The church isn’t man’s idea, it’s God’s idea.
We don’t build it on our own… but we do get to participate in it.
- Jesus is the builder, but He hands us tools.
- He gives us gifts, talents, time, and resources… and says, “Come join Me in what I’m doing.”
And not only do we participate… we get built into it ourselves.
1 Peter 2:5 You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house.
- Together, He builds something greater than any of us could ever build alone.
- But here’s the grace, He invites us into the process.
1 Corinthians 12:12 For just as the body is a unity and yet has many parts, and all the parts, though many, form [only] one body, so it is with Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)…
1 Corinthians 12:18 But as it is, God has placed and arranged the limbs and organs in the body, each [particular one] of them, just as He wished and saw fit and with the best adaptation.
- Every part of the body is needed in The Family of Christ!
Our attitude should always be: WE GET TO!
- We get to steward what He’s building.
- We get to serve in the house He designed.
- We get to love God well by loving His church well.
So when we say one of our pillars is Build His Church, we’re not saying we’re the contractors drawing the blueprints.
- We’re saying: “Jesus, You are the builder… but You can use us. Put us in place, stack us together, make us a house that shows the world Your glory.”
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
That means Jesus doesn’t just tolerate the church.
- He loves her. He’s committed to her. He laid down His life for her.
The church (Family of God) welcomes the broken, restores the hurting, shows the world what it feels like to be loved.
The Church Is Imperfect, But It Is God’s Instrument
Here is the key: People aren’t the answer, God is the answer.
- But God’s primary way of working is through His Spirit in His people.
Acts 4:13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and took note that these men had been with Jesus.
So let’s answer the questions:
- Why give to the church? Because you’re giving to what belongs to God.
- Why trust the church? Because Jesus is building it, not us.
- Why stay committed to an imperfect church? Because the Spirit works in imperfect people, and He uses us together in ways He could never use us alone.
That’s the FAMILY of CHRIST. In Acts 2, God lit a flame.
- Ordinary people carried it. Sometimes they stumbled.
- Sometimes the wind tried to blow it out. But the fire has never died.
- It’s still moving. It’s still burning. And now… it’s in our hands.
And here’s the miracle: even with all the flaws, failures, and imperfections of people… that fire never went out.
- You’re sitting here right now because somebody carried it to you.
- The same Spirit that filled Peter at Pentecost‚ is the Spirit that reached your family‚ the Spirit that’s moving in this church‚ the Spirit that’s alive in you.
So don’t ever tell me the church doesn’t matter.
- Don’t tell me the FAMILY OF CHRIST is done.
- The same Spirit that birthed the church in Acts is still moving, still saving, still healing, still reaching… and we are living proof!
That’s the power of the CHURCH / FAMILY OF GOD.
God takes imperfect people, fills them with His perfect Spirit, and through them, He changes the world.