You want to see what a sample of my husband’s sermon outlines looks like? It’s minus the color for emphasis. The words I don’t understand are Greek or Hebrew.
A Praying Church [Acts 4:23-33] W.B. Coker, Sr.
Greatest miracle is the Church – ordinary people
} No question of the effectiveness of the early Church
>Why? Not perfect nor without problems
} One important factor → the power of prayer!
> Still essential for the Church today!
What Makes Prayer Possible?
- Confidence in prayer → changes things
> Eastern world more open to supernatural
- Confidence in God → Creator of all things
> Sovereign Lord – Devspota = power & control
> Loving Lord – who so loved the world…
- Confidence in their relationship with God
> Jesus’ radical teaching on Abba
> Whatever you ask the Father… [Jn 15:16]
- Confidence in each other – community of believers
> Walter Wangerin → the third party in marriage
> oJmoqumadovn = unity of purpose and passion
> They lifted their voice – singular focus
What Makes Prayer Powerful?
- Precludes self-reliance → Jr 2:13
My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken
me, the fountain of living waters, to hew out cisterns for
themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
- Perfects our focus → our work ║ God’s work
> That we continue to speak Your word boldly
> You heal & do signs and wonders in Jesus’ name
- Particularizes our faith – vague in the aim [Sangster]
> Focus on our purpose, on God’s will
- Promotes fellowship – unity of the Spirit
> they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
- Prevents faltering – not “going it alone”
> …they continued to speak…with boldness
What Makes Prayer Priceless?
- Makes our relationship with God personal
We are objects known to God until we “unveil”
ourselves in prayer… By confessing our sins and
“making known our requests”, we assume the high
rank of persons before Him. And He, descending,
becomes a Person to us. [C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm]
- Confronts us with the necessity of commitment
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done
- Decisive battleground for the issues of life [Fosdick]
>Fight out the purposes of life
>Struggle with the desires of the heart
>Hunger and thirst for righteousness
>Strive for power to see & courage to do God’s will
Ann Coker 