“The First Christian Fellowship”
Pastor Allan H. Kircher
Sermon series: God’s vision and power for Shell Point.
Acts 2:42-47
The early church, as recorded in the Book of Acts, was a dynamic, growing church that turned the world of its day upside down!
In spite of incredible opposition & terrible persecution - first from the Jewish authorities & then from the might of the Roman Empire itself –
the church began & grew so dynamically that within 300 years the Roman Empire had surrendered to the gospel of Christ, & the emperor himself had become a Christian, too.
How was this possible? Why did it happen?
What was there about the early church that gave it the strength, enthusiasm, & unity to face incredible odds
& outlast strong opposition in its conquest of the hearts & lives of those around them?
They possessed a purity of devotion to the risen Lord unmatched in succeeding generations.
They had the direct connection between receiving the Word and acting on it.
A contagious commonality sprang up among them.
This was really a church, nothing more and nothing less.
Its life was completely defined by the devotion to those spiritual duties which make up the unique identity of the church.
Shell Point will continue to be effective in bringing sinners to Christ when it manifests the same key elements of spiritual duty that marked this first fellowship.
To have a new beginning in Christ we must understand the primary force behind Christian fellowship,
The nature of the fellowship and the response we make in fellowship.
Nowhere do we get a closer look at the nature and character of the first fellowship of believers than in the later part of Acts 2.
Here we have a brief but clear description of the fellowship of the first believers.
It serves as a model for all believers today.
It was a Scriptural Church
The amazing thing about Pentecost is that their attention was not drawn to some man or church doctrine.
It was drawn to the apostles' teaching.
A commitment to the apostle’s teaching is foundational to the growth and spiritual health of every church
Peter wrote, “Like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to your salvation” (1 Peter 2:2).
A believer should count it a wasted day when he does not learn something new from, or is not more deeply enriched, by the truth of God’s word.
The church today ignores the exposition and application of Scripture at its peril,
as the warning of Hosea to Israel suggests; “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6).
The church cannot operate on truth it is not taught; believers cannot function on principles they have not learned.
At Shell Point it is not so. That’s what wed. and Sun nights are all about. Learning and growth.
We have had over 40 saints here on those nights yearning to grow and be fed biblical truth.
What is even more awe-inspiring of this first church is their preaching was entirely from the Old Testament.
The New Testament believers were founded upon the fulfillment of God's promises as revealed through Moses and the prophets.
It is troubling to think that at times we think we only need the New Testament.
We really can't understand how our faith is undergirded by the power of God until we see it supported by everything that God has done in redemptive the history of the Old Testament.
It was a spirit guided church
They weren't passive listeners; they were active listeners.
There is a thirst to hear and learn more about their newfound life of spiritual freedom in Jesus Christ.
they were active participants in what was being taught by the apostles.
I believe we are getting there, but I also believe we have some ground to cover.
What they were being taught was impacting their hearts and lives.
Isn’t God impacting your hearts through His messages and studies?
Try to imagine the pioneer spirit of the first settlers in this country as they probed deeper and farther into this vast wilderness. They were seeking new horizons. There was a great excitement in this newfound country. The excitement led them to probe into the deep wilderness.
It is here in Acts 2 that we catch a glimpse of the pioneering spirits of our spiritual forefathers.
When Peter stood up and proclaimed the possibility of their spiritual freedom, they only had a thirst for more.
They were looking for new horizons. The excitement of seeking and finding God was in the air.
The excitement of a New World created in the image of the Firstborn was in the air. (Ephesians 2:10)
"Worship does not satisfy our hunger for God; it wets our appetite."
Jesus said, "If any man has ears to hear, let him hear."
And he said unto them, “Consider carefully what you hear, he continued, With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more"(Mark 4:23-24)
In other words you get out what you put in…..
They were not caught up into the charisma or personalities of the people proclaiming the message.
The focus is on God and his message of salvation.
They had the true unique experience of knowing they are one in body, spirit and mind.
Fear came upon them when they saw the many wonders and signs done by God through the apostles.
You have seen them in your life too……
They never lost sight of God. His message proclaimed their salvation . . . their freedom.
The excitement of a new beginning for a new life was in the air.
I’m so excited and pumped up of what God is doing in this church. I hope and pray you too can feel that God’s moving.
They were a Christ Centered Church.
Fellowship is symbolized by obedience to the spiritual duty of the breaking of bread.
We just experienced this last week.
Communion exemplifies the unity of believers, since all partake of the same Lord.
All believers meet on common ground of the foot of the cross.
Their focus was on Christ's sacrifice winning the victory for them.
This was the central focus of their new life.
The apostles presented Jesus as the fulfillment of the messianic promise of the Old Testament.
It was God's wisdom and power that made their salvation possible.
No more animal sacrifices for them . . . God had made his Son to be sin for them. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Peter had shown them that Jesus was approved of God by the miracles, wonders and signs he did in their midst.
It was a fellowship focused on God through the message of the cross.
That's where the possibility of being born again begins for every man, woman and child.
It begins by focusing your life on the cross.
The first believers were excited because they were focused on building a new life in Christ through the enabling power of God.
All the Believers Were Together
It was a fellowshipping church
Listen to Luke's simple description of worship.
"All the believers were together and had everything in common.
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.
For a Christian to fail to participate in the life of a local church is inexcusable.
In fact, those who choose to isolate themselves are disobedient to the direct command of Scripture.
Hebrews 10:24-25 charges believers to “consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.”
The Bible does not envision the Christian life as one lived apart from other believers.
All members of the universal church, the body of Christ, are to be actively and intimately involved in local assemblies.
They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people." (Acts 2:44-47)
Our home groups, Jenny, Nancy…we need more.
Togetherness is important because it is encouraging.
Church attendance is often substituted for fellowship.
To some fellowship is like a jar full of marbles. The marbles are in the same jar but there is little togetherness. The marbles have little effect on each other as they roll around in a jar. They just bump into one another.
But real fellowship is more like a jar of grapes that bleed on one another.
Fellowship should allow our faith to rub off on one another.
The first believers had real spiritual needs that led them into fellowship with others.
As they came into this fellowship of other believers with the same needs, they naturally bled on one another.
Too often church attendance turns us into iceberg Christians where we just float around and bump into one another.
One fellow visited a church and gave his description of those in attendance. He said, "I don't want to say that it was a cold church, but the ushers had on ice skates."
You see, the deeper we get with God, the deeper we get with each other.
And the deeper you get with God, the more He strengthens you in the Spirit.
Let us ask ourselves, “How much Jesus is in us?”
Is it going to hide in stride or show and glow?
The first fellowship meeting had little to do with church attendance and everything to do with togetherness.
"Even within the family, Americans are unique in their feeling that each member should have a separate room, a separate telephone, separate tv’s, separate places in the home to eat our dinner
We seek more and more privacy, but are more alienated and lonely when we get it."
It was a church that felt the responsibility for each other.
This is one of the major drawing powers of worship.
They were, "Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need."
These offerings were coming from those who had "glad and sincere" hearts.
No one could bear to have too much while others had too little.
They are not just giving money; they are giving up their possessions and goods; they are giving themselves.
These offerings were coming from those who had "glad and sincere" hearts.
It reveals the heart and core of worship as they responded to God by responding to each other.
It was an awe inspiring church
Everyone felt a sense of awe, not some, everyone.
It wasn't the design of the service . . . contemporary or traditional . . . it was God.
Everyone sang of the praise of God from their hearts.
They understood God's love made their worship possible.
His love and devotion made possible a new life.
It wasn't their behavior; they had just finished nailing God to the cross.
Their response in worship was due to the power of God.
Hearts were responding to God's presence.
Their worship was a result of being drawn to God through the effect of the cross.
They were confident that Christ lived and died so they could be free from sin.
This was the drawing power of the occasion.
Luke describes the worship service in the simplest terms.
"Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
All the believers were together and had everything in common." (Acts 2:42-45)
The first fellowship of believers was made up of those who had a sure knowledge of their salvation through Christ's death and resurrection and were now enjoying his living presence.
They were sure of who they were because they were sure of Christ.
They were thoroughly convinced, soundly converted, and Holy Spirit-filled believers.
Imagine for a moment, sitting in a packed William Brice stadium in Columbia, just as your home team wins.
Imagine the excitement in the air as the home team scores the winning touchdown in overtime.
But imagine for a moment, being the only one seated in that empty stadium when that winning touchdown is scored.
Would you shout near as loud? Would you be nearly as excited in an empty stadium as you would in a packed stadium?
Excitement breeds excitement.
However, the euphoric excitement of your favorite football team winning would pale into significance when compared to the excitement on Pentecost.
There is no comparison of me winning vicariously through the men on the field and what I have won through the vicarious death of God's Son.
Now, there is a real win!
Now there is a brand new life, which can be had each day of my life.
There is a victory to scream about.
When Christ won that victory over Satan on the cross,
it was my personal salvation that was won.
He won for me a new life filled with glories of God's grace.
I wish that every worshipper of God today could restore the excitement of heart seen on Pentecost.
It was a church filled with Joy
Praising God also produces joy.
To praise God is to recite His wonderful works and attributes.
The goal of the first fellowship was to exalt the Lord, and that produced true happiness.
Those who glorify themselves and seek the preeminence will never know lasting joy.
Joy comes to those who give God glory.
They were worshipping God because of their experience of God.
They had experienced the reality of their salvation.
How can one not be joy filled?
They saw the one behind it all. They never lost sight of God.
"Praising God" was the natural expression of their hearts for the supreme blessing they had found in Christ.
What would happen to this church today if we sought to duplicate the spirit of that first assembly?
It would probably be scary to most of us today.
A sincere fellowship is always attractive.
Attractiveness is the natural quality that flows from a genuine fellowship.
People want to know the source of it all.
That helps church growth more than anything does.
There were no outsiders or insiders.
No charter members on Pentecost. Everyone was in the "in crowd."
They were simply in Christ.
They were from different nations, spoke different languages, and I am sure that their cultural dress was much different,
but Jesus Christ had broken the barriers.
This made the first century believers attractive to outsiders.
There was a great quality of togetherness.
Because we are "in Christ," we are reconciled together forever to God.
An old tract called "The Seven Togethers" summarizes the completeness of our union with Christ.
It says we are:(1) crucified together with Christ (Gal. 2:20);(2) dead together with Christ (Col. 2:20);(3) buried together with Christ (Rom. 6:4);(4) made alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:5);(5) raised together with Christ (Col. 3:1);(6) sufferers together with Christ (Rom. 8:17);(7) glorified together with Christ (Rom. 8:17).
The word together is significant.
In that one word we see all the barriers to fellowship removed.
This made them attractive to the world.
This resulted in God adding to their number daily those that were being saved.
There was a winsome attractiveness about these believers.
Luke records that they "praised God and had favor with all the people."
There were no arguments over names, formulas, creeds, rituals or tradition;
it was just a simple heartfelt response to God and one another.
No argument over baptism, church names, or the kind of music, or the order of worship,
or the kind of worship . . . contemporary or traditional . . . or which church to join.
There wasn't even an argument of whether they should or shouldn't attend the temple gatherings where the blood of daily animal sacrifices continued to flow.
There is attractiveness about this spirit.
In fact, it was there that others saw the attractiveness of the fellowship of the first believers.
It was that attitude that brought others into a relationship with God.
Nowhere is the pure pristine spirit of fellowship more eloquently described.
The early believers were walking as the Spirit gave them enabling power.
They were following the Spirit-guided teaching of the apostles.
It was here that we see the first believers unified, magnified and multiplied.
It was a powerful testimony to the unsaved.
The risen Lord continued his ministry from heaven and people continued to be saved.
It was the continued searching, learning and worship of those who believed that made a new beginning for each of them possible.
It was in their fellowship that they received the instruction, encouragement and power to begin life anew.
Conclusion:
They were not even called Christians at this early date.
In fact, at this early date this body of believers doesn't even have a name.
They were simply described as those “. . . who received his word" and as "those who were being saved."
They had no official name, no creed book, or organization.
They were simply believers who received the truth-saving message of salvation,
which set them on a new road headed straight for their new life in Christ.
These verses do not close with the establishment of the church,
they really only show us the beginning of the church.
It was here that the transformation of life on planet earth begins.
It is where it begins for each of us.
It is here that the all-powerful Spirit of creation sets about the work of recreating life anew for each of us.
It was here that their minds were enabled by the Spirit of God to know the unlimited wisdom to maximize the thought of the mind for the purpose of developing their God-given potential.
That is where it begins with each of us.
We cannot go on in the book of Acts without this concept
Essentially, it begins as we make the same responses they made when God harvested their souls during the greatest harvest festival of all on Pentecost.
It all begins when we are willing to personally experience the seven togethers: When we are willing to
(1) become crucified together with Christ (Gal. 2:20);
(2) become dead together with Christ (Col. 2:20);
(3) be buried together with Christ (Rom. 6:4);
(4) be made alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:5);
(5) be raised together with Christ (Col. 3:1);
(6) become sufferers together with Christ (Rom. 8:17);
(7) become glorified together with Christ (Rom. 8:17).
Their final concluding commitment to togetherness began at baptism.
Now that they have buried the old me,
they are beginning to discover the new me through the Spirit's enabling message and through the mutual encouragement of those of like precious faith.
The era of comfortable isolation for us American evangelicals is ending,
because its justification is crumbling and because the misery and destitution of the world is coming too close now to ignore.
And as it approaches, local churches in whom the Spirit of God dwells will feel themselves drawn to some fairly radical reorientations of lifestyle,
reorientations calculated to maximize good deeds for all men and especially for those of the household of faith.
And I am optimistic that Shell Point will manifest compassion for refugees and for missions
and with so many people who are really zealous for good deeds
—that Shell Point will move ahead with the Spirit in these years, whichever way the spirit blows.
God willing we will not be content with minimum church.
We will become a great church, a great servant church, filled with maximum good deeds in the name of Jesus.
That's the local church we have to be if we want to display the wisdom and power of God to the principalities and powers.
That's what we have to be in our new era if we want to be a credible witness that moves people to glorify our Father in heaven.
God have mercy on us if we’re just going through the motions!
Our mission is one of eternal consequences, & we must never lose a sense of urgency about it.
Our goal is not just to be counted among the regulars on Sunday morning!
We’re here to make a difference in a dying world.
