Introduction:
A. I like the old story told of the preacher and song leader who didn’t like each other very much and refused to cooperate with each other.
1. One week the preacher preached on commitment, and how they should dedicate themselves to service. The song leader then led the congregation in singing, “I Shall Not Be Moved.”
2. The next Sunday, the preacher preached on giving and how they should gladly give to the work of the Lord. The song leader then led the song, “Jesus Paid It All.”
3. The next Sunday, the preacher preached on gossiping and how they should watch our tongues. The song leader led the song, “I Love To Tell The Story.”
4. The preacher became disgusted over the situation, and the next Sunday he told the congregation he was considering resigning. The song leader led the song, “Oh, Why Not Tonight.”
5. The next Sunday, the preacher announced his resignation, and emphasized that Jesus had led him to make that decision. The song leader then led the song, “What A Friend We Have in Jesus.”
6. One of the things we are going to talk about today is the need for us to have a spirit of cooperation.
B. A number of years ago, I went shopping for a used car.
1. I looked at adds in the newspaper and also visited a number of used car lots.
2. I had many disappointing experiences.
a. Some of the cars sounded great in the paper, but were unimpressive in person.
b. Some of the cars looked great as I walked up to them, but then they ran terrible.
c. One car was exactly the make I was looking for, but it wouldn’t stay running, the second I put it into drive, it stalled. The salesman was surprised that I had no interest in the car even though he said I’m sure it is a simple problem I can fix.
3. When I go looking for a car, it would be nice if it looked good, but more importantly it had better run well.
C. In recent sermons I have been trying to articulate what it means to be Christians only, Christians who are striving to be just like the earliest Christians.
1. I believe that it is very important that the church take only the form of the church that God intended and instructed.
2. Therefore, we should be organized only as God has specified, we should worship only as God has specified, and our mission should only be the one that God has specified.
3. But just like the used car that looks good, but runs terribly, we can have all the right forms for the church, but be spiritually dead as a doornail.
D. Today, I want us to realize that we must focus on more than just restoring the form of NT Christianity, we must also restore the heart of NT Christianity.
1. It is vital to restore both aspects of Christianity. Neither of them can be over-looked, and neither can be magnified over the other.
2. So, my aim is to help us understand and experience the heart of NT Christianity.
E. To accomplish this goal, I would like us just to read some of the accounts of the early church, and get a picture of what life looked like in the early church.
1. Then I would like us to consider what attitudes of the heart brought about that kind of life, and how we can restore that kind of heart and life in us.
I. The Actions of the Early Church – What did Christian life look like in the early church?
A. Acts 2:42-47
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.
B. Acts 4:23-35
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. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
“‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together
against the Lord and against his Anointed One.
27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 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.
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
C. Acts 5:10-16
10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
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. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil[a] spirits, and all of them were healed.
D. Acts 5:40-42
His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
E. Acts 6:1-7
1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
- Oh, those were exciting and challenging times for the church.
II. The Attitudes that Led to the Actions of the Early Church
A. First, they had a spirit of CONVICTION.
1. The early Christians had a conviction about the existence of God.
2. They saw His power at work in the miraculous healings, but they also saw His power at work in punishment against sin.
3. So, because of their conviction they had a holy fear of God and hatred toward sin.
4. Oh, how important it is that we keep this reality as a firm conviction.
a. Our God is a holy God who is all powerful. He is mighty and awesome.
b. His love and grace are great, but his wrath and judgments are real and just.
5. Our devotion to a holy God, should compel us to be purifying our lives. And not just some time when we have had enough sin, or when it is convenient, but now, immediately, without delay!
B. Second, They had a spirit of CONFRONTATION.
1. It was a spirit of courage, boldness and zeal, based on their convictions about God.
2. They trusted in God’s power and in his rewards.
3. They were willing to face resistance and persecution in order to be obedient to God.
4. God had told them to preach His word, and regardless of what individuals or governments would do or say to them, they were boldly obedient to God.
5. That was the heart and life of early Christianity, and that’s what enabled it to continue and grow.
6. Without confidence in the power of God, those Christians would not have had the courage to stand up and speak up for Jesus.
7. And oh, how we need the courage of God today for confrontation!
8. We need courage to be bold as we share the good news about Jesus and also as we confront people with the reality of judgment if they fail to accept and obey Jesus.
9. We need courage to be bold as we reach into each other’s lives and speak the truth in love.
a. Many of us know brothers and sisters in Christ who are living unproductive and ineffective lives in Christ, and they need someone who will lovingly and boldly help them see that.
10. Unfortunately, so many of us fear others, and the consequences of boldness, more than we fear and trust in God.
11. The courage of the early church was a key to their obedience and effectiveness – It helped them be bold and confrontational when necessary.
C. Third, they had a spirit of CELEBRATION
1. The early Christians knew the joy of their salvation.
2. They knew the reality of the death and resurrection of Jesus, many had seen it first hand.
3. For that reason they had glad hearts that praised God.
4. They celebrated because they knew they did not deserve their salvation; they knew their salvation was based on God’s grace; they knew their God was praise-worthy; they knew their eternal home would be marvelous.
5. Even when they suffered for their faith, they were filled with joy.
6. Do you know the joy of the Lord and his salvation? I hope so. It should make your heart sing. It should give you a deep sense of joy and peace.
D. Fourth, they had a spirit of COOPERATION.
1. That spirit of cooperation can best be described as community, fellowship, or oneness.
2. The early Christians loved to be together for worship, for study, for outreach and for fellowship.
3. There was such cooperation among them that those in need were supported by mutual sharing.
a. There was such a contentment in Christ that the early Christians no longer wanted to pursue amassing material things, but they began to liquidate and contribute to the needs of others and the mission of the church.
4. When the needs of some were being overlooked, through cooperation they organized a way to meet those needs.
5. The responsibility of sharing the good news and ministering to others fell on the shoulders of all the believers, not just the leaders.
6. When persecution hit, and the believers were scattered, they preached the word wherever they went.
7. Nowhere in this spirit of community and cooperation do I get the idea that people attended the church like we might go to the movies.
a. To go to the movies, we go to a theater, sit among strangers, leave a mess, and have no responsibility to the theater until the next time we attend.
8. Christianity is not like that at all.
a. We are to be connected with each other all the time. When we are apart, our thoughts are with each other - like best friends separated by miles.
b. When we are together, we are to be connected and attentive to each other’s needs. Ministering with each other and to each other.
9. Everyone in the church is to shoulder responsibility, and no one is allowed to remain anonymous and disconnected.
Conclusion:
A. In many ways, all that I want to say today can be summed up in a single word - COMMITMENT.
1. The early church was filled with people who had truly committed their lives to the Lord.
2. They understood the commands of Christ.
a. Jesus had told them to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, so that’s what they were trying to do. (Mt 22:37)
b. Jesus had told them that they could not be his disciples unless they denied themselves and took up their cross daily and followed him. They knew that if they were ashamed of Jesus and His words, He would be ashamed of them. (Lk 9:23-26)
B. Jesus calls us to the very same commitments to which He called them. We must love the Lord with our whole selves, and we must daily follow Christ, dying to ourselves.
1. Yet all of us struggle to make and keep those kind of commitments.
2. We are kind of like one of the characters from the comic strip “Shoe.”
a. One comic strip showed a male bird trying to pick up a female bird with classic “pick up” lines.
b. Since they were both birds, I guess he was literally trying to pick up a chick.
c. He said to the chick, “Listen, I don’t mean to be a pest. You say the word and I’m out of here.”
d. “Okay,” she said, “COMMITMENT!”
e. When she turned to him, he was gone!
f. Commitment is a word that makes many people run!
3. God requires commitment. He won’t accept and reward a single person without it.
4. Someone wrote this moving piece:
“I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my
sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze of sunshine.
I don’t want enough of Him to make me love a [homeless] man or pick beets with a migrant.
I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not the new birth.
I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.”
5. Whatever you do, don’t sell yourself short - Get all of God by giving him all of yourself.
C. It is NT Christianity that God planned and predestined, and it is NT Christianity that He purchased and presented in the first century.
1. Let’s commit ourselves to restoring both the form and the heart of NT Christianity in our church family. It is the ongoing work of God through his Spirit and His Word.
2. It starts with each of us being filled with a spirit of conviction, confrontation, celebration, and cooperation.
3. I want to encourage each of us to take a look at those four aspects of the heart of NT Christianity and consider which one you need to work in the most.
4. The main one for me is the second one – confrontation.
5. We need to seek God’s help to grow in these areas so we can be more pleasing and effective as we continue as His disciples, members of His church.
