The Ideal Church (March 1, 2026)

If I were to ask what YOUR Ideal Church would be, there would be SO MANY opinions and ideas. Right? Lights, music, carpet, chairs, pews, colors and the list goes on and on.

There are many people looking for the ideal church. This kind of church is found in the Acts. The first four chapters of Acts give us the fivefold reason for the marvelous success of the early church.

•     IT WAS A PRAYING CHURCH

•     Acts 1:14 ~ “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”

•     Acts 3:1 ~ “Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.”

•     Acts 2:42 ~ “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

•     Acts 4:31 ~ “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”

•     If we want a great church, we must have a praying church: more prayer and less pleasure; more fasting and less feasting; more upper-room praying and less supper-room playing.

•     IT WAS A UNITED CHURCH

•     Acts 2:44 ~ “And all who believed were together and had all things in common.”

•     There is a lot of truth in the saying, “United we stand, divided we fall.”

•     In unity there is strength. In this church they stood up with their pastor.

•     Acts 2:14 ~ “But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.”

•     Psalm 133:1 ~ “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”

•     We ought to stand together and rally around the Truth and not around personalities and programs.

•     IT WAS A GIVING CHURCH

•     This church was concerned about others and sacrificially gave of their means.

•     They had heard Jesus talking about giving.

•     Matthew 23:23 ~  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”

•     Luke 6:38 ~ “give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

•     They had heard Paul preaching about tithing and giving.

•     Hebrews 7:1–2 ~ “1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.”

•     They saw Annanias and Sapphira held back part, like many do today.

•     Acts 5:1–2 ~ “1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”

•     A giving church is a growing church.

•     Malachi 3:8–10 ~ “8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”

•     IT WAS A SPIRIT-FILLED CHURCH

•     Acts 2:1–4 ~ “1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

•     The average church today is full of unconcern, envy, jealousy, and worldliness. So there is no place left for the Spirit.

•     Ephesians 5:18 ~ “… but be filled with the Spirit,”

•     If the church is Spirit-filled, there is no room for carnal things.

•     The Spirit told the early church what to do and when and where to do it. And the Church obeyed the Spirit.

•     Romans 8:14 ~ “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

•     IT WAS A WITNESSING CHURCH

•     Acts 4:33 ~ “And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.”

•     Would it not be wonderful if it could be said today, “Great grace was upon them all”?

•     After the Great Commission ...

•     Mark 16:20 ~ “And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.]]”

•     Why was the early church such a great witnessing church?

•     They were Spirit-filled (Acts 2:1–4).

•     They had power with God (Acts 1:8).

•     The Lord worked with them. They witnessed not only of salvation, but of healing as well (Acts 3:1–8).

•     Too many times we work alone. God save us from this, for the results are not lasting!

•     All members of every church should be witnessing members. We should witness in church, in homes, at work, and on the streets.

•     The early church witnessed ...

•     Daily (Acts 5:42)

•     Everywhere (Acts 8:4)

We should strive to be an ideal church!