The Church That Was Walking With Christ Series

THE CHURCH THAT WAS WALKING WITH CHRIST

Acts 2:43-48

Dorn Ridge June 29, 2014

Audio Link to sermon: http://chirb.it/J1xG6E

INTRODUCTION:

1.) This morning I want to look at another message on the theme of the Church that is pictured in the Book of Acts.

2.) This is the third message in this series, and also the third one from the second chapter of the book of Acts.

3.) Today, I want us to take a look and see the some pictures of the Church when the church is walking with Jesus Christ.

4.) In particular, there are three things I want us to focus on that happens when the church is walking with Jesus Christ.

A.) The power of God is present.

B.) The Love of God is practiced and

C.) The worship of God is perpetual.

I.) THE POWER OF GOD WAS PRESENT.

1.) Everyone was filled with awe.

A.) Acts 2:43

aa.) This verse of Scripture speaks of everyone being filled with awe, which is correct.

ab.) The problem with this word is that today, we have perhaps lost some of the significance of that

word and statement.

aba.) Today, the words: “Awe” and Awesome” have become overused and cheap in their meaning.

abb.) Today almost anything is mislabelled as being awesome when really it is not.

ac.) According to beta Dictionary.com, the word awe means:

aca.) an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand,

sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: in awe of God; in awe of great political figures.

acb.) Archaic. power to inspire fear or reverence.

ad.) In other words, according to the dictionary meaning of this word the church in Jerusalem saw the power and workings of God within the church.

ada.) They witnessed the moving of the Spirit of God and were humbled with reverent fear.

adb.) There was a conscious awareness of the active moving of the Presence, the power, and the Spirit of God within the Church.

2.) The reason for the awe:

A.) There were many wonders and signs performed by the Apostles.

aa.) Acts 2:43

B.) Notice who was performing these miraculous signs and wonders.

ba.)It not say the entire Church, or even many of the church.

bb.) The only ones empowered with these special manifestations of God were the Apostles.

bc.) It was the Apostles who were doing these miraculous signs and wonders, but it was not something for merely their own benefit.

bca.) The working of the power of God verified them as official representatives of Jesus Christ for the church.

C.) This empowerment of the apostles was not to give them glory, but to bring glory to God and to Jesus Christ.

ca.) We can see evidence of this in a healing in the next chapter.

cb.) Acts 3:2, 7-16

II. THE LOVE OF GOD WAS PRACTICED.

1.) The believers were together.

A.) Acts 2:44

B.) The church was in regular fellowship with each other.

ba.) Often today, the church only sees each other on the Lord’s Day.

bb.) This early church at Jerusalem came to care for and to love each other, and wanted to be in each other’s

company.

bba.) They were intentional in coming together throughout the week.

bc.) They were gathering in each other’s homes for meals, and to share together, and to grow closer to each

other as the body of Christ.

bd.) Several years ago Bill and Gloria Gaither wrote a song titled “Getting used to the Family Of God”

bda.) The words and chorus of that song go like this:

Going together, enjoying the trip,

Getting used to the fam’ly

I’ll spend eternity with.

Learning to love you,

How easy it is,

Getting used to the fam’ly of God.

Climbing the mountains,

Crossing the plains,

Fording the rivers,

Sharing the pain.

Sometimes the losses

And sometimes the gains,

Getting used to the fam’ly of God.

Reaching our hands

To a brother that’s new,

Learning to say

That I really love you,

Learning to walk

As the Father could do,

Getting used to the fam’ly of God.

be.) Brothers and Sisters, that is what the church in Jerusalem was doing.

bea.) They were getting used to the family of God, and learning to love each other in Christ.

2.) The believers had everything in common.

A.) This is not something like social communism that various governments have tried to force on the people.

B.) This was the prompting of the Holy Spirit of God in the lives of fellow Christians.

ba.) It was a motivation that came simply because of learning to love the body of Christ.

bb.) This was a moving of the Spirit of God to help with the physical needs of the entire body of Christ.

bbc.) It was a generosity that even caused some to sell possessions or property in order to assist others in