Ecclesiology – theological doctrine concerning the church
Ac 2:43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. Ac 2:44 And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. Ac 2:45 They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. Ac 2:46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— Ac 2:47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.
Now I don't know about you but This is what I consider a great church.
• We see that there is a sense of unity flowing out of the church,
• We see that there is life in this church.
• And While I believe that this is a great church I still don’t believe that it is the perfect church
• And the reason that I say this is because a church is alive and growing should continually grow / take on new forms.
• However, let’s look at the Acts 2 church and see what we can learn for our churches today.
The first thing we notice about this church is that the believers met together constantly.
• They didn’t consider church to be a Sunday only event
• A time where they all got together for an hour or so.
• The text tells us that they met constantly.
• This means that anytime that something was happening at the church
• This group of believers was there.
They would have been there for church work days, potlucks, youth activities, and so much more.
• But, when we read the text I can imagine them not only being there for these events,
• But also just hanging around the church waiting for something to happen.
• The church would have been a place where people gathered.
• These believers put the church at the center of their lives and then worked outward from there.
In today’s society we tend to do the opposite.
• People today have gotten so busy that they put church last instead of first.
• They have adopted the attitude that “If” nothing else is happening
• And “If” I feel like it I may stop by the church for a short amount of time
• Until something better comes along.
We need to reeducate our church families / the communities that we serve.
• Church isn't a place where we go when nothing else is happening,
• Church is the place where we can grow closer to our fellow brothers and sisters,
• While at the same time drawing closer to God Himself.
• The wonderful image of the cross shows both a vertical and horizontal line.
• The vertical is there to show peace and harmony between God in the heavens and us here on Earth.
• However, the horizontal line shows a peace and harmony between us and other believers here on Earth.
This is what the church in Acts displays so beautifully.
• It not only shows that they considered everyone on the same level
• But they took the necessary steps to make sure that everyone was taken care of.
• The text tells us that they sold their possessions / and shared the money with those in need.
• This is hard to swallow in today’s world, and we can see just how far we have backslidden from the early church.
Imagine if you would for just a moment that I were to stand here this morning, in the pulpit and tell everyone to sell their possessions
• And give that money to the church so that we could take care of the people with needs.
• I would be asking people to sell their boats, their cars, and their motorcycle,
• To sell all the unnecessary items that we clutter up our lives with.
• Kids would have to sell their IPods, I Phones game systems
• And everyone as whole would come together and take care of those who didn’t have a place to sleep and food to eat.
It sounds beautiful but it would never happen.
• I would be run out of town and thought to be a cult leader.
• But, this is exactly what the early church did.
• They worshipped together, they ate together, they lived together in a true sense of community,
• And through it all they praised God and they enjoyed each other.
Col 1:18 Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything.
Col 2:19 But they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For we are joined together in his body by his strong sinews, and we grow only as we get our nourishment and strength from God.
What we need to do is to retrain our people to understand that we are a part of one body, the Body of Christ.
• With Christ as the Head we should view Him as the leader in everything we do.
• Because, what good is a head without a body / a body without a head. We are one joined together for His glory.
• It is my role as a pastor to try and reverse the flow / that the world has taken and get them back to scripture.
• And While it may seem like we will never get back to the Acts 2 church,
• We can at the very least use it as an example and try to do what we can.
We need to encourage people to start putting the church first in their lives.
• We can encourage them to put God first in their lives.
• We can start looking at the church as a place of comfort, / that offers peace and love to a broken world.
• We can start to view it as a place where people want to take their meals together, and to worship together,
• And to try and understand that it’s not all about me, but instead it’s all about us.
• A group of believers that are trying to do what Christ has instructed us to do.
And what may that be?
Mt 28:18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. Mt 28:19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Mt 28:20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Christ has been given the authority and as members of His body that authority has been passed on to us.
• We have been commissioned, / instructed, / ordered, / commanded, and flat out told to go make believers of all nations.
• This doesn’t mean the nations of people that we like,
• It means everyone.
• It doesn’t mean that we pick and choose people who are on our own economic, social, age, and mental level;
• It means that we go out and tell everyone about Jesus Christ, and bring them into His body and family.
Then When we have done this we baptize them and we teach them to obey everything that Christ commands,
• This being to go out and make disciples.
• We have to equip these new converts,
• We have to get these new members of the family to do the family business, and that’s to make new disciples.
• It is an ongoing ministry that is not the sole responsibility of the pastor, the elder, the deacons, or a host of other ministry teams.
• It is the responsibility of every Christian to go out and proudly claim that Jesus is their Savior.
• This is what the church is, and needs to continue to be.
If we are going to move forward, and if we are going to take Christ’ command seriously this is what we need to be done
• But A lot of times we as leaders feel that the job is too much.
• When people in the church have their toes stepped on and they are complaining to elders
• It feels like we are all alone on the battle front.
• But, it is at times like these that Christ knew that we would need comfort
And we find comfort in the last words of the verse where it says
• “Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
No matter how tough things may seem to be,
• No matter how many people are against us,
• We can find comfort in the fact that Jesus is right there with us / that we are never alone.
• This can bring comfort to each one of us at the end of what may seem to be a very long day.
I guess what I want us to think about / Remember / Work towards
• Is that We need to put God first again in our lives.
• We need to put Him first in our country, / our churches, / our communities and / in each one of our lives.
• This kind of a commitment is going to take the help of every Christian
• Not just a selected few.
• It is time for a renewal of the Spirit,
• And He is the one that we need to rely on for guidance and direction.
