May 15, 2011
Morning Worship
Text: Acts 2:42-47
Subject: The Early Church Pattern
Title: What Church Is Meant To Be
How many of you spend time thinking back on earlier days and wish that it could be like it was back then? I remember the simpler life when I was a child. No video games, cell phones, computers… How in the world did we survive? Here is how I survived. When we moved out of St. Louis County to the country in St. Charles County – that sounds funny now because St. Charles County has been one of the fastest growing areas in the US for many years – anyhow, it was country back then, and when we moved there I spent most of my spare time outside. Summer or winter, spring or fall, it didn’t matter. I was outside enjoying nature and stretching my imagination by connecting myself to the settlers and Native Americans who must have walked the woods before me. And I still remember those times of my life and how simple it was as well as how pleasurable it was. Many of you can relate to what I just talked about. Our younger generation is looking at me right now and thinking, “How boring!” I’m pretty confident that in thirty to forty years our young people will be longing for the simplicity of their childhood life too.
Now, Let’s go beyond our personal lives. Let’s talk about church. How many of us spend time thinking about the good old days of church? I remember when people used to stand outside and look in the windows to see what “Holy Rollers” did. I remember that one time when the Holy Spirit fell so suddenly that all people could do was fall to their knees and weep. I remember when we used to tarry around the altars until we received something from the LORD. I remember that morning when Carolyn Bremmer was baptized in the Holy Spirit. Too often we look back and wonder, “Why can’t it be like that again?” The truth is that in the same way that my childhood experiences are different than the experiences of our youth today, so are our church experiences. You cannot rest on the experiences that you had with God in the past. Your children cannot have a relationship with Jesus based on your past experiences. The question arises, “Do you have difficulty getting to where you want to be with the Lord because of the way we do church?” Is the music too loud? Is it the wrong style? Are there too many old people? Are there too many young people? Are we using the wrong translation of the bible? Those are all questions that churches everywhere are trying to answer in the attempt to be the perfect church.
In reality, if we really want to be consistent in our church experience, it is a personal decision that each of us has to make. Do we really want to get back to having the kind of experiences that stirred us in the past? If so, then maybe what we need to do is not look back to past experiences, but to go all the way back to the early church to see what it looked like, and then pattern our church after the biblical model. The desire to experience God is still your choice. But know this, we can move forward by going all the way back to Acts 2:42-47.
Read …
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Lord, open my eyes to see and my ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
I. The Pattern for Having Church (v 42) 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer… Let’s break this down. 1) They… who is that? The church. It is talking about the three thousand that were saved on the Day of Pentecost. Keep this in mind – According to Acts 2:9-10, those who were saved were visitors to Jerusalem from fifteen different areas of the Roman Empire. Apparently, after they were saved they didn’t go home. They stayed in Jerusalem. 2) What did “they” do? They devoted themselves… In order to have church the way it is meant to be you need to be devoted. The KJV says it this way – They continued steadfast… This devotion was not just a one-time event, but was an ongoing process. 3) What did they devote themselves to? To the Temple in Jerusalem… no that’s not it. To the Law of Moses… I don’t read that anywhere. To the Jewish leaders… Nope – not there. But there is a list of four things that they devoted themselves to.
II. Devoted to the apostles teaching… Look at verse 43. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. Some theologians will look at this verse and say, “See, signs and wonders aren’t for today. That was only for the apostles.” Actually, signs and wonders are connected to the apostles’ teaching. What are some of the things that the apostles were teaching? 1) Acts 17:1-3, 1 When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ… They were teaching the basics of Christianity. 2) They connected those basics with signs and wonders… Throughout the course of history God has revealed Himself to mankind progressively – little by little. At this time in the history of the church the gospels had not yet been written. So the apostles were telling the new believers the things that Jesus had taught them – not just about salvation for eternal life, but about the completed work of salvation and all the benefits that come with it. Sixty years later John would write what he was probably teaching them at this time. John 14, 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. That connects the signs and wonders then to the whole church and not just the apostles. How do I know that is what they taught? Because we see later in Acts 6 that the people chose seven laymen to take care of the ministry of waiting on tables and that those laymen (most notably Philip) went on to have a ministry that was confirmed by signs and wonders. How would he have known that unless the apostles had taught him about the power and authority that had been given to believers? If you devote yourself to the Bible you are devoting yourself to the same apostles’ teaching. Personally, I hope that the things that you hear from me are not original. I just want you to get the full meaning of what the bible teaches.
III. Devoted to the fellowship… I want you to pay close attention to one little word in this part of the passage – the word “the”. In the original language the definite article “the” is included and it kind of changes the meaning. They weren’t just devoted to hanging out with other Christians and sharing their testimonies. They were devoted to “the” fellowship – the church. With the help of the apostles teaching they would understand that it is Jesus who is building the church. That devotion includes genuine care for one another. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. You cannot have a true heart for “the fellowship” without having a heart for fellowship. The Greek word used here is "koinonia" and it means, “partnership” or “to share in common with”. Christianity is relationship based. Therefore the church must be relationship based. We must understand that we need each other. You have all heard the old saying that God helps those who help themselves. That’s not a biblical principle. The Greek word koinonia could even more accurately be translated as “community”. Paul gives us a clearer understanding of the idea in 1 Corinthians 12. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. The huge redwood trees in California are amazing. They are the largest living things on earth and the tallest trees in the world. Some of them are 300 feet high and more than 2,500 years old. You would think that trees that large would have a tremendous root system, reaching down hundreds of feet into the earth. But that is not the case. Redwoods have a very shallow root system. The roots of these trees are, however, intertwined. They are tied in with each other; interlocked. Thus, when the storms come and the winds blow the redwoods still stand. With an interlocking root system they support and sustain each other. They need one another to survive. So do we! Go back to verses 44-45, All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Can you see the vast difference between biblical fellowship and communism? The awe of God mentioned in verse 43 motivates people to give. Atheistic communism motivates people to take. The three thousand that were saved were out-of-towners. They didn’t have means to sustain themselves. The church provided for them so they could learn from the apostles and then take that message back to their homes and start all over again.
IV. Devoted to the Breaking of Bread… This is corporate worship. This is an area where modern day churches have missed out. When Rome recognized Christianity as it’s official religion in 380 AD congregations began to build church buildings to meet in. What did they do before that? 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. This is the pattern of corporate worship in the New Testament church. 1) They met daily… Can you imagine that? For some of you once a week is quite a bit to ask. To think that we might come back on Sunday night is unimaginable. Then back on Wednesday? – That is for religious fanatics. But the whole church met together daily in the Temple courts. Now, for all of us who are feeling pretty good about ourselves right now for our regular church attendance, get ready to get taken down a notch or two. 2) The early church got much of its teaching from meeting together at the Temple, but real fellowship took place somewhere else. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts… Ok, now that’s a little radical. We’ve never done it that way before. No, we haven’t. When did we stray from the biblical pattern? Let me ask you a question. Where is the one place where you can really get to know another person? Around a table while sharing a meal… The idea of breaking bread could refer to a time of communion or more likely it is a time of just getting to know one another. It happens in the comfort of homes. Here is the pattern we see unfolding. Christians meet in corporate worship in a central location (the local church). Then they take what they learn from the “apostles teaching” and take it home with them. Then, they meet with other believers and also invite non-believers into their homes to just have fellowship and share their lives with one another. Over the years, we have participated in different small groups like this. We met in houses. We shared our faith stories. We shared our struggles. We shared our victories. We shared our hearts. We worshiped together. And of all the really important spiritual experiences I have had in my life, a majority of them took place in these home meetings. People offering fervent prayer for one another when they were never taught to pray that way. People falling under the power of the Holy Spirit at a time when no one really understood it. Encouraging one another with victory stories. And helping others who were struggling get through the night by their knowing that someone was praying with them. Oh, and being able to share the gospel with the unsaved and see them give their lives to Christ. Turn over to Acts 5. I want you to look closely at this passage. 12 The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. The apostles were doing the same thing that they were doing at the beginning. The believers were meeting in corporate worship in the Temple courts (Solomon’s Colonnade). But the unbelievers would not meet with them there. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. If they weren’t going to the Temple, then where were they getting saved? They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts… The biblical pattern for the church will lead to church growth. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
V. Devoted to Prayer… That is the very last thing in verse 42 that is mentioned. But by no means is it the least important. You know, the one thing that the early church would recognize was the importance of prayer. As Jews it was customary for them to pray daily and they would use their Jewish prayers. The more they used them they would begin to give them a Christian slant. I know that every one of you prays. But here is the difference between what the early church did and the way we pray. They prayed together. They lifted their voices to God together. They bound their hearts together. They experienced corporate worship and prayer at the temple. They practiced group prayer in smaller groups in homes. But they prayed together. Acts 4, 23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God… 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 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. In Acts 12 there is the story of Peter being thrown into prison. Herod saw that the Jews were so pleased when he had James killed that he was going to do the same to Peter. You know the story of how the angel came and helped Peter escape from prison. 11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.” 12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. What do you think they were praying for? I think they were praying for Peter’s release. What happens when the people of God pray corporately? They place where they were meeting was shaken…
So let’s recap. We need to be devoted to
1. teaching… to many people say that they get more from the Lord without being in church. That is satan’s plan. He does not want believers in church where the word of God can be poured into their hearts. He doesn’t want you to hear about your authority over him. He doesn’t want you to know that sin and death and sickness are all part of his plan. He doesn’t want you to know that you can cast out demons, and pray for healing, deliverance, protection… or to pray a prayer of salvation and be saved. All of us know someone who isn’t in church and needs to be here. Get them here for the teaching. Or give them a CD to listen to.
2. fellowship… you need to be devoted to a church and the people in the church – regardless of their social status, color, nationality or religious background. The church is not your body – it’s His. There is a great quote from William Temple that says, The church is the only cooperative society in the world that exists for the benefit of its non-members.
3. the breaking of bread… that is talking about small group meetings. Do you want to make an impact in your community? Then consider providing a place where unbelievers would be willing to come and talk and hear what believers have to say outside a church setting. Then watch the church grow.
4. prayer… We still meet on Friday mornings for corporate prayer. Normally it is just three of us. Is it too hard to get up and come over to spend time in corporate prayer? Let me make it easier for you. Starting next Sunday the fellowship hall will be open for prayer from 9:00 to 9:25 AM for prayer for the Sunday School classes and the Sunday services, for the church and every ministry that takes place here.
The key word in all of this is the word “devoted” Are you?
