Introduction:    Far too many churches are not reaching people because they are more concerned about themselves than the community. They are self-centered rather then people-centered. God wants us to be an inside-out church. An inside-out church takes all the love, fellowship and joy of the Lord outside these walls to the community. In fact, being an inside-out church is a Biblical mandate: (Mat. 28:19-20) “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…” An inside-out church goes to the community; it doesn't wait for the community to come to it. An inside-out church is not simply satisfied with giving to missions that extend "to the uttermost part of the earth." Rather, it also focuses on its own "Jerusalem," the local unsaved, un-churched community. Are we making enough of a difference in this community that people would care if we were gone or would they even notice our absence? Are we a caring church? Caring churches are made of caring people. And inside-out churches are made of inside-out people. We cannot expect this church to be concerned with reaching our community until we are individually concerned with reaching this community. How can we reach our community? From four different passages of Scripture, I want to give your four ways we can become an inside-out church.

III.       OUR CHURCH MUST SHARE A GOOD TESTIMONY OF JESUS (Acts 2:42-47)

            A.        A Description Of The Jerusalem Church

1. This passage gives us a glimpse of what the very first church was like... an inside-out church. It serves as a model for all churches.

2. Acts 2:42 says they "continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine," that is they were heavily involved in the study of the Word. A critical factor in any church is the importance of Scripture. That's DISCIPLESHIP!

3. Acts 2:42 also says they continued in "fellowship." This is further explained in Acts 2:46, They were "continuing daily with one accord" that's not a Honda, but a special intimacy as God's people. They broke "bread" from "house to house." They "ate their meat (or food) with gladness and singleness of heart." They were devoted in FELLOWSHIP.

4. Acts 2:47 says they were "praising God." Notice also in Acts 2:42 that they were "breaking bread" which probably refers to communion. They were devoted "in prayers." This was a church that practiced WORSHIP.

5. Acts 2:43 says, “many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.” God was pouring His power through these people. Acts 2:44 says that "they had all things in common." Acts 2:45 says they "parted" their possessions "as every man had need." They were involved in MINISTRY.

6. Acts 2:47 says that they had "favor with all the people," that is the community. Also note that ”the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Because of their faithfulness in EVANGELISM, every day people were being saved and becoming part of the church.

            B.         The Testimony Of The Jerusalem Church

1. What believer wouldn't want to be a part of a discipling, fellowshipping, and worshiping, ministering, evangelizing congregation like that? No wonder God was adding to them daily! No wonder they grew so quickly!

2. What kind of testimony did this church have in the community? What kind of things were they saying about their church? Did they say, "Our church is pretty good, but Pastor Peter preaches too long?" Did they say, "I like my church, but the Apostles try to run everything?" Did they say, "Sure, we're growing, but they always ask for money?" Did they say, "We have a good church, but I don't like all the music we use?"

3. They didn't say any of those things. How do I know? Look again at Acts 2:47, they were "having favor with all the people." "All the people" refers to their community. The church was an inside-out church. They so showed the joy of the church on the outside, that the people wanted to be on the inside.

4. They would not have had "favor with all the people," God would not have been adding "daily" to the church if they had a poor testimony.

            C.         The Testimony Of Our Church

What kind of testimony does our church have? Are we known as a Bible-teaching, DISCIPLING church? Are we known for having great FELLOWSHIP? ...anointed WORSHIP? ...concerned MINISTRY? ...dedicated EVANGELISM? Every church has a testimony. That testimony is shaped by the actions and words of the people who make up the church.

IV.       OUR CHURCH MUST EXHIBIT A POSITIVE EXAMPLE OF JESUS (Phil. 2:14-16)

            A.        Free Of Complaints & Disputes (v.14)

1. Without "murmuring" carries the idea of a low-key type of whispered whining.

2. "Disputings" is a stronger word. It refers to a verbal expression of disagreement, which stirs up suspicion, distrust and doubt.

3. We are to "do ALL things" without a negative griping attitude. Certainly no one should ever hear us complain or dispute about our church. However, no one should ever hear any form of "murmuring" or "disputing" about anything. Whether in the work place, school, home, neighborhood, such words are almost always destructive of our Christ-like example.

            B.         Our Example Must Be "Blameless," "Harmless" & "Without Rebuke" (v.15a)

1. "Blameless" basically mean "without hypocrisy." Anytime you point out the flaws in a church or in a person, your flaws become more apparent. Also, you need to careful that no one outside our church can point to you and say, “If that person is a Christian, then I don’t want any part of it,” or “Your church is filled with hypocrites like so and so.”

2. "Harmless" literally translates "unmixed." Sometimes good wine was mixed with bad wine making the good wine taste bad. We are to be "unmixed" with sin. A little sin will spoil our savor to the world.

3. "Without fault" comes from a word that referred to unblemished sacrificial lambs. In other words, our testimonies should be untarnished.

            C.         Our Example Must Be As Lights To The World (v.15b)

1. Paul says rightly that we live "in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation." Ours is a world of crooks and perverts!

2. Against such a dark backdrop, we ought to “shine as lights in the world."

Conclusion:     A group of believers traveled to Barcelona to witness at the Olympic games. When they arrived they were told that evangelism was specifically not allowed. Instead of becoming angry, they went to work cleaning up the streets. Impressed, the officials allowed them to do outreach. The point is the officials were impressed because these Christians were willing to BE the good news even before they began to SPEAK the good news!

We must live out the Love of Christ in front of the world before the will respond to that love on a personal level. The old saying is so true which says, “They won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”