About

Big Apple Chapel is a New Testament based church in New York City, modeled after the pattern of the early church, with a strong emphasis on following Christ as a community of His disciples.

Services
  • Sunday - 10:30 am
  • 520 8th Ave, 16th floor
    New York, NY
  • phone: +1 (973) 837-1041
 

Sermons

BAC Sermons

Big Apple Chapel: We're Different by Design

2014-11-02

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In the pages of Scripture, we see believers obeying our Lord's commission to make disciples of every nation, by gathering in public and private places for:             

1) deepening their knowledge and appreciation of God and His desires for them;
2) relational experiences with each other…based on the revelation of God;
3) witnessing experiences with others…based on their relationship with God.

The New Testament church put a lot of emphasis on being faithful to the Lord and His instructions for the church.
How they obeyed (form) His commission was always subservient to their obedience (function).  Believers in each culture and generation have the responsibility to use or develop the forms  that help work out or achieve their function.

BAC is  a body of baptized believers, submitted to the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to each other,
            organized and uniting TO BRING GLORY TO GOD by making disciples of every nation. 

We seek to accomplish this purpose through our:

I. The Principle:  WORSHIP...We provide an environment in which believers can worship in Spirit and in Truth.
We gather to celebrate the person of God, praise the Lord in word and song,  exalt Him in the eyes of others,  commemorate Him in the Lord's Supper, give thanks to God, pray to Him, offer sacrifices to Him, and respond in reverent obedience to His revelation.

Our Practice: A time of EXALTATION begins our service. Our focus is on the person and works of God. Worship* is a response to revelation. The first Lord's Supper (Communion) was a Passover* meal, in which the participants praised God beginning with how He revealed His power and love in saving them from Egypt. Their contemplation of God was not like viewing an old masterpiece in a museum, but it continued with a review of how God had acted in their lives from that initial salvation experience right up to the present. Nor did it stop there, but included a response to the yet unfulfilled promises of God for the future. It was a time joy and gladness!

At BAC we celebrate the Lord's Supper every week, recalling not just how He saved us by dying for our sins (so we don't have to) nor just remembering the promises He'll fulfill when He returns, but we also share with each other how God has revealed Himself to us during the past week: revealed His power in answering prayer, or saving or delivering from physical or spiritual danger, or worked all things together for good for His children, or how He's revealed Himself in Scripture. We praise Him with our testimonies, songs, and prayers.

II. The Principle: INSTRUCTION...We provide teaching and learning experiences centered around God's word to bring everyone to full maturity as reproductive disciples of Christ. We encourage each believer to grow in Christlikeness and equip themselves for service through: not only exposure to systematic teaching of the Scriptures, but also through personal and small group Bible studies,  and discipleship relationships. We desire that each believer be able to apply God's truth in their own lives and in the lives of others,
knowing how to live as Christ's disciple, and how to help someone do the same. 

Our Practice:  In our EDUCATION time, we continue our response to God's revelation, by focusing on His Word, and its implications for our lives. We look at the Scriptures to see what they say about what God's like, what we're like, what He expects of us, and what we can expect of Him. Our teaching time is interactive, encouraging questions and discussion to deepen understanding, affirmation, and application. Our desire is that as every man matures they will become an elder and participate in the teaching duties.
We encourage development of Bible study skills so that each disciple can feed themselves and teach others to do the same. To that end we gather to study the Scriptures inductively as well as topically, as need and interest arise. Believers are encouraged to understand God’s purpose for their lives and develop a plan for bringing glory to God.

III. The Principle: FELLOWSHIP...We share the Spirit of Christ as members of God's family.
We relate to each other in loyal love, as interdependent fellow servants,            in a caring, and accepting community; sharing our lives, needs, and resources; and interacting in such a way that we learn from each other, edify each other, and stimulate one another to Christlikeness.

Our Practice: In our EDIFICATION time we provide opportunity for believers to fulfill their responsibilities to take what God’s given them and use it to build up each other, ministering grace to others’ needs. In small groups we share insights into God’s Word and ways, share prayer requests, and pray for each other. We encourage believers to develop accountability relationships in order to help each other determine and experience the perfect and unique will of  God for their lives.

IV. The Principle:  EVANGELISM...We individually and corporately witness to the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ in such a way that the Holy Spirit brings people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Our Practice: We promote lifestyle evangelism as the major means of bringing our neighbors, friends, and co-workers to the Savior, and occasionally engage in group outreaches to expose non-believers to witness of the Body of Christ. We encourage understanding and serving the needs of those in our spheres of influence, in such a way that they see the relevance of Scripture to their lives, the love manifested by the Body of Christ, and their personal need for our Savior and Lord.