Family Devotion: What We Should Be Doing Together
We’ve spent the last month looking at the early church that’s found in the book of Acts. For 3 of those four weeks, we looked at the idea of community, of becoming a family in this church like we see in that church in Acts. I’ve been very encouraged by the responses that I’ve gotten from people over these last three weeks. People truly want to be a community and, from what I’ve heard, you’re willing to do some of those things that will help to make that happen. That’s good because it’s going to take that kind of intentional effort on all of our parts to stay connected even as we see God’s blessing of growth in this place.
Now that we’ve looked at the benefits, the building blocks, and the barriers to community, I want to turn our attention to what our priorities need to be. Being a community is just one aspect of being a healthy church. You can see many different examples of community in the world today, most of which have nothing to do with God or Christianity. There are lots of groups that, on some level, fill the needs that we have to belong, and the need for support, and the need to be complete. There are groups that are built on the togetherness of the people and on what they share in common, the same building blocks that we have for community here. The difference in the church, what sets us apart, and what allows us to see God meet the needs that we have in ways that other groups simply cannot do, is what we choose to stand on.
We had a family reunion a couple of years ago at Mahaffey Camp in Western PA. Now, if you want a case study in community, it would be this group of people. Each of the seven children is in some sort of ministry and truly loves the Lord and also enjoys a wonderful relationship with each other. Each of the cousins, from my little one year old cousin to my cousin that’s pushing 40, truly loves each other and enjoys being together. The older cousins take the little ones up into the woods to catch salamanders, just like our aunts and uncles used to do with us. When we all gather together, there is nothing that comes close to the enjoyment of being a part of this family. In keeping with tradition, we all gathered, one evening for a family picture. Now, our family keeps growing. I have aunts still having babies and the cousins are all getting married and starting their own families, the community is getting bigger and bigger every time we meet. This makes it tougher to get a picture together. My uncle had the brilliant idea of standing people on a picnic table. Eight people climbed up on this table and the rest of us stood beneath it. We smiled and tried to look appropriately happy for the picture and then we heard a creak. It was soft at first and then it got louder and the table began to sway. People began to bail off of it but it was too late and the table came crashing down. Everyone got away except for my cousin’s husband. They had just been married and this was his first family event, he ended up getting his leg stuck, we thought it was broken, but he was just sore for a few days, welcome to the family!
Our numbers had grown so large that to accomplish what we wanted, we tried to stand on something that was not designed to support us and we crashed. As this early church community grew, their health was not just in the fact that they were growing numerically. A growing church is not necessarily a healthy church. Their health was in what they chose to stand on, what they were devoted to, their priorities both on an individual and a corporate level.
AC 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Those are the four solid legs that the church community stood on. As we grow here, there are a lot of things that we could choose to stand on as a church. There are a lot of programs and causes that seem to make sense and that we could give our time and attention to. But unless our base of community is firmly supported by these four legs, eventually, as we add weight, as we grow, things are going to begin to creak and groan and everything will come crashing down with the potential for a lot of people to be hurt. We are called to be a people who are devoted to the things of God.
Devotion, or lack of it, is shown by what our Christianity looks like, not just in here, but outside of this service that we enjoy together each week. When we are devoted to something, it will dictate our behavior. In fact, when we think of devotion, most of us tie it to an activity, we think of the discipline of personal or family devotions, of time spent in God’s word and in prayer. Growing up in our home, we used to do family devotions together each evening. I remember these very clearly because they bored me to tears! As soon as the devotional was finished, all of us children would volunteer to close in prayer. We would all but beg to pray. The reason was simple, we weren’t super spiritual, we just didn’t want my mother to pray. My mom knew how to pray and each thing that she prayed for reminded her of many more and her prayers could go on for a very long time. We called this time devotions but for us kids, it was something that we had to do, there was no devotion on our part, we were, in many ways, just going through the motions.
We have churches today that are filled with people who would fall into the same category as us kids. They are physically present in church but it is more out of habit or obligation, they are simply going through the motions, they may be devoted to church, devoted to the people, devoted to the programs, but they lack the aspect of devotion to God, to those things that are going to lead to personal and community wide health and growth.
For us to sustain growth and be a healthy ministry we need to be a devoted people. We need to be standing on these 4 things that provided the foundation of the early church.
The first leg that the early church stood on was a devotion to the Truth. They devoted themselves to the:
1) Apostle’s Teaching
Now I want to look at two aspects of this. First, this means that we, as a church need to be devoted to preaching the Word of God. Notice where it was that the early church turned for the Truth, they went to the Source. They went to the men who had been with Jesus. These were the men who had lived with Him, learned from Him, seen the miracles and the Power. These were the men who had received the promised Holy Spirit, that had the Spirit of the Living God within them, that had been commissioned and set apart by Christ to proclaim the Gospel and to give an eyewitness account of what Christ had done.
1JN 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
They had seen everything we have written for us in Scripture plus so much more.
JN 21:25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
These were the men who had seen all of these “other things as well.” When the church first began, the people were devoted to the Truth, to what these men had to teach.
But as this early church grew there were some who began to move away from this teaching and to turn to other sources for their truth. People began to weigh in with their own unique interpretations of the apostle’s message, and you see conflict and confusion arise in the church. You see heresy being taught and cults and sects branching off of the church, the further away that men got from the Source, the more garbled and self-serving the message became.
Have you ever played that game telephone. You sit in a row and the first person whispers a sentence into the ear of the person next to them. That person whispers the same phrase to the person next to them and so on down the line. By the time you get to the end, the phrase has been twisted and warped to the point that it is no longer even close to what it originally was. Sometimes that’s because we miss a word or two, sometimes it’s because people intentionally change it to make it sound better. There are some who have been playing this game with the gospel. They are proclaiming a message in the name of Christ that no longer looks like what was originally given. Through personal interpretation and, in some cases, intentional twisting, the Gospel that’s preached in many churches is a watered down, agenda driven, warm fuzzy mess. We need to be devoted to the Truth. Where do we find the message of the apostles today? We find it in God’s Word, in the NT. It’s been recorded for us. If we yank out the leg of the Apostle’s teaching, our ministry will not be able to support the growth we’ve seen and will not be able to stand. We will be a church that is devoted not to the teachings of its pastor, or the teachings of its elders, but to the teachings of the apostles and of Christ Himself, found in the Word of God.
The other aspect of this point is that each of us individually needs to be devoted to the teaching of Scripture. It is not enough to simply expect the preacher to be your only source of learning and feeding, to only crack open God’s Word on Sunday mornings. You have to be in the Word on your own. It is incredible what God can do in our lives through this simple discipline. And do not neglect the Word for other writings. There are so many great books out there that are written by men and women of God and that have helped millions of people grow in their faith and get through hard times. Be careful not to fall into the trap of elevating those books to the level of Scripture. The Purpose Driven Life is a good book, but it’s not the Bible. Max Lucado writes some incredible stuff, but it’s not the inspired, infallible Word of God. As you seek to grow personally, there is no substitute for God’s Word. Being devoted to it means that you are intentionally and consistently spending time reading the Bible and studying the Bible. Other books can supplement the Word but none can replace it. Be in the Word, know what you believe. Know the Truths, know the Commands, know the Promises, and know the doctrines.
1 timothy 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Make certain that your doctrine and beliefs fall in line with the teaching of God and not just the teachings of man. We are to be devoted to allowing the Word of God to teach and guide us. That’s the first thing that we are to stand on.
The apostles were also devoted to the:
2) Fellowship
This was the second leg on which they stood. We’ve really looked at this idea of fellowship within the community a lot over the last few weeks so I won’t spend a lot of time here. The Greek word that is used here is Koinonia. It literally means sharing. In the early church, they were devoted to sharing what they had with others. They shared their lives, they shared their wealth, they shared their time, they shared their homes, if it was in their power to share and help, they did it. And as God used them to meet the needs of others, there was a bonding and a kinship that was built that went way beyond a surface relationship and it built them into the tight knit community that they were. You cannot exist in a community where you are meeting the needs of others and they are meeting your without the deepening of relationships taking place.
Erin had one momentary bout with insanity early in our dating relationship. She dumped me. It was while we were working at Delta Lake Camp and a man named Sparky, who some of you know, saw me sitting alone and sat down to talk with me. He listened to me, he helped me, he showed that he loved me and it is something that I never forgot. He met the need I had right then for companionship and understanding and we have had a close relationship ever since. For those of you who have to know the end of the story, Erin and I got back together.
We see the deepening of relationships through the devotion these men and women had to the fellowship, sharing with each other. As the relationships deepened, we’re told later in the passage that they developed to the point that they were all in one accord. They were on the same page! The Greek word used there is where we get our word for orchestra.
One of the things I dreaded most when I was a youth pastor was having to go to band concerts. This to me was nothing short of torture. I had two teens that were part of a junior orchestra and they asked me to attend their concert. We got there as the orchestra was warming up and it was hideous. Each instrument was playing whatever it wanted and the sound had me wracking my brain for an excuse to leave. Then the conductor stood up and the concert began. Those kids were amazing. When they each played alone the result was unbearable but when they were on the same page and following the lead of the conductor, the music was beautiful.
When we are devoted to the fellowship, outside of these walls and inside, when we’re all on the same page and our eyes are fixed on Christ, the conductor, He will lead, and we will be able to produce something beautiful and something that is pleasing to all who hear it and see it. But it takes devotion, we can’t just think it’s a good idea.
RO 12:9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
We have to be devoted to each other and to the fellowship of the Body of Christ if we want to be able to support the weight of healthy growth.
The third leg that that growing community of Christians stood on was the Breaking of Bread.
3) Breaking of Bread
Now, the way that this is worded, it is most likely not talking about simply eating together. Although that is something that this group did together on s daily basis. We talked two weeks ago about the benefits of eating together and opening our homes to each other. That would be more an aspect of the fellowship and the people’s devotion to that. Most likely, Luke (the author) is referring to following the command of Christ and partaking of Communion together. Because of the events that followed, the image of Christ in the Upper Room at the Last Supper is one that would be seared on the minds of the apostles. They would remember vividly His command to remember His sacrifice through the breaking of the Bread and the passing of the cup. At the time, it made no sense to them. Now, as they taught it and lead others in it, it made perfect sense and would have a deep and significant meaning for them.
So often communion becomes a habit, something we add on to our service once a month and we fail to recognize the privilege that it is for us to partake of it together and the benefits that it has for us as a body. It is a time of focusing on God, it’s a time of confession and forgiveness. When we are devoted to remembering the Lord’s sacrifice together through communion
1) Reminds us of who we serve
2) Reminds us of the sacrifice that was made
3) Reminds us of our common ground
Communion reinforces the idea of oneness and unity with in the church. As we share in this intimate time together, of identifying with Christ’s suffering, God will use it to make us one and to heal our hearts.
1 Corinthians 10:16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.
We must be devoted to the remembrance of what Christ accomplished for us on the cross. It helps to clear away all of the unnecessary stuff and focus our thoughts back on the basics.
Communion Service
Finally, the last leg that allowed the church to stand was the devotion to:
4) Prayer
The topic of Prayer is not something that we can do justice to in the short time that we have left but I want to give you a few quick thoughts. Samuel Chadwick, the author of several books on prayer, says: “Prayer is the acid test of devotion.” Devotion to God and the desire to follow Him will result in a healthy prayer life. It must or it cannot be called devotion. The church is called by God to be a house of prayer. Not a house where people pray sometimes but a house of prayer. This is our lifeline to God, our avenue of communication with the Head of the Church, the One that leads and guides and equips us for ministry. We must be a people who devote themselves to prayer both individually and corporately. I think that this is probably the weak leg that we’re standing on right now. What’s going to happen is that if we try to put to much more weight on that leg without truly being devoted to prayer, the whole thing is going to come down.
As you look through the book of Acts, you cannot dismiss the link between prayer and the many miracles and wonders that God performed. The disciples received the Spirit as they prayed together. Peter and John were on their way to the temple to pray when they healed the beggar there. The first deacons of the church were installed after a time of prayer. When Paul and Barnabas were set apart for Missionary work it was with prayer. Listen to:
AC 4:31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Prayer moves the hand of God. Prayer enables us to accomplish what it is that God has set us apart to do. Over and over again we see that God acted when His people prayed. Paul writes this to the people of Colossi:
COL 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.
Paul knew that the key to his effective ministry was the prayers of God’s people. That has not changed in the last 2000 years.
C. Peter Wagner, an authority on church growth, has this to say, “The more deeply I dig beneath the surface of the church growth principles, the more thoroughly convinced I become that the real battle is a spiritual battle and that our principal weapon is prayer.”
If we want to see God move, if we want to see strongholds broken and Satan defeated, if we want to see people come to Christ, if we want to see God use our teaching and our preaching then we have got to be devoted to prayer. Do you pray for this ministry on a daily basis? Do you pray for your pastor and elders and missionaries? If you understood how vital those prayers really are then nothing would be able to keep you from doing it. Devote yourselves to prayer. This is not your pastor talking, it is a command from God. We are looking for ways to increase the ways that we pray corporately, as a body. One change that is coming is that at the end of the month, the last Sunday night of March and each month following, we are going to begin having a Call to Prayer. I am asking each of you to make it a priority to be there to pray together. Don’t use the fact that you don’t want to pray out loud or you don’t know what to say be an excuse, devote yourself to prayer.
If we want to see God accomplish great things through us, it begins and ends with prayer.
With God’s help, we have made great strides towards being a healthy ministry and a healthy community. As we look at these things that we are to be devoted to, it is evident that we still have a lot to work on to be the ministry that God is calling us to be. We can’t hang our hats on the numerical growth that we’ve seen and interpret that as the only sign of health. There are a lot of big huge unhealthy churches out there.
The summer after my Junior year of college, I worked full time for a couple in the Nyack area doing odd jobs. One of the jobs that the wife asked me to do was to cut down and pull out a bunch of weeds on the hill in front of their home. It was a steep hill and it was very overgrown. They lived in a wooded area on the side of a mountain overlooking the Hudson River. As I started to work, there were some things that were obviously weeds and I cut them away and pulled the roots out. I don’t know anything about plants but I thought that I had done a phenomenal job. I had cut back all of the underbrush and left these very nice looking skinny trees that were about 10 feet tall. The next day when I showed up for work the lady told me that I had to finish weeding. She took me down to the hill and pointed to those “trees.” They were actually just really tall weeds that had been allowed to grow for so long that they passed for a healthy plant. They eventually would have grown large enough to choke out and kill some of the real trees around them. I figured from the size of the plant that it must be healthy, when in fact it was just another weed.
It is entirely possible to attract people to this ministry with great programs and razzle-dazzle and smoke and mirrors. We may look good and grow like crazy but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re healthy. Our health comes from what we’re devoted to, as a ministry, and in each of our lives individually. When our growth is flowing from and supported by a devotion to God’s Word, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and to prayer, that’s healthy growth. That’s growth that God is in and that he will bless. It’s not easy. It’s easier to sit back and stay the same. But when we are willing to devote ourselves to a healthy ministry, and stand on these four things, we will begin to see God move in ways that we never imagined and we will see the model of that early church begin to take shape here in this place. This can happen when we are a ministry, not that likes the idea of, or is in favor of, or believes strongly in, but is devoted to the things of God.
