The Fellowship of Believers
Acts 2:42-44
Last week we looked at the workplace.
Workplace- Where God has us to make a living and where God has us to minister.
To understand that where God has us is strategic in kingdom building and you may be the only person to accomplish what is needed.
We may not always like it but it is where He has us for the time being until He opens or closes other doors.
Today God’s Spirit working in our lives and the part He plays in us spending time with each other.
Prayer-
Scripture- Acts 2:42-44
Introduction-
Last week was Pentecost Sunday and we sang worship songs about allowing the Holy Spirit of God to fill us, move us, use us, and to give us the strength to do more than we could possible do in our own strength.
I hope that is each one of our prayers.
Last week was also the wedding of the royal family. Maybe that is important to you, maybe not, but Bishop Michael Curry presented a powerful message for the world. I believe it was anointed and I believe that it showed the world that God can use man to bring his message through His Spirit.
Why was it powerful? Because the world got a taste of God’s anointing- The message was more than a man speaking words- those words touched hearts and touched hearts of people who make no claims of knowing God.
There was power there! Undeniable power that was more than just what a man could muster up.
It was what got people talking the next day.
Illustration- SermonCentral
There was a lady who worked in an enormous factory, one of the largest factories of its kind in the world. One day she confided to her pastor that she would have to quit. What’s the matter? Doesn’t the factory have enough orders to keep you busy? No, that is not it. They have more orders than we can fill, but they haven’t got enough electricity to keep all the machines going at one time, and my machine has to be shut down part of the week. I lose too much time and pay. The trouble is they have more machinery than power.
Where I am going with this?
We need power that is bigger than our circumstances and bigger than us to accomplish all that God wants for our lives and for us to do for the kingdom of God.
That is why that ragtag group of people went into the Upper Room and prayed that God would send the power of His Holy Spirit to work in us and through us to accomplish kingdom work!
Can you imagine what your house would look like if the power of God was allowed to move?
Your workplace?
your church?
Everywhere you went, the power of God followed you and people began to see God in a new light!
That one event changed their lives forever- They sought out God and He showed up.
Some concentrate just on the speaking of tongues
Some thought they must be drunk with wine.
Some wanted to leave it to someone else.
Some were confused by what is happening.
Acts 2:12-
“Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, what does this mean?”
I know a lot of people like that –Amen.
Amazed and perplexed-
Asking what does this mean? What does this look like for me?
Some said where do I sign up and some said this is not what I signed up for. Which one are you?
We forget that this whole church thing is not our idea.
It is Jesus Christ Himself who said that He would build His church and that the gates of hell would not prevail.
The church is not going away-
It is when we allow God to work through His church in the power of His Holy Spirit that we have seen the church do some amazing things.
I would like to see it happen and for it to start right here at Rosedale in such a powerful and fresh way. Amen?
Let you in on a little secret-
He will always come up with creative ways to reach people for Christ and He will find men and women who desire to see His Work go forth and He will use them in ways that fall nothing short of a miracle.
Peter came out of that meeting and reached 3000 people.
He opened his mouth and God used him to reach unbelieving people who saw God doing something.
Maybe like Bishop Curry delivering a message of love for a bunch of people who thought it was just a wedding for the royals.
The Precious Holy Spirit of God can refresh us, comfort us, challenge us, and at times bother us. Depending on what He wants to do in us. Amen?
Pope Francis puts it this way-
“The Holy Spirit bothers us. Because He moves us, He makes us walk, He pushes us and the church to go forward. And we like Peter at the Transfiguration: Ah, how wonderful it is to be here like this, all together! But don’t bother us. We want the Holy Spirit of God to doze off… we want to domesticate the Holy Spirit of God. And that is no good. Because He is God, He is the wind which comes and goes and you don’t know where. He is the power of /God, He is the one who gives us consolation and strength to move forward. But, to move forward, He has to bother us. It is much easier to be comfortable.”
Illustration-
In 1991, God spoke to my heart during a very rough time and told me that the next period of my life was going to be one of the toughest times of my life. I thought about it, I was hoping that I had heard God wrong, but it was just like He said… the toughest time I had ever gone through. I figured if God could give me a warning, He must have this… it was the only way that I made it through. His strength, His loving arms. During that time, I doubted God, I was mad at God, I tried to walk away from God, but as mad and hurt that I was, I knew God was helping me through. 27 years ago and I hadn’t thought about it for a long time. It again is real and a period of my life that has scares. God uses those times to get our attention and to show us how great a God we serve and how great a God that loves us.
So again I ask you how do you balance your faith?
Your family?
Your job?
Your church responsibility to build and be a part of kingdom building?
The answer is short but hard to do- it is allowing the Holy Spirit of God to work freely in your life.
To allow God to disciple you and teach you His ways.
Discipleship is not a ministry. Discipleship is not a program.
Discipleship is a lifelong commitment to reflecting Christ in our lives.
Back to our text- let me read it again in new light-
Acts 2:42-44 Read from Bible
They devoted themselves to the teaching of God’s Word-
They fellowshipped together and shared time with each other.
They prayed together and they had a relationship with their God
They allowed the Holy Spirit of God to change them and change others.
That is how you build a family, church, a relationship that lasts. You cannot do that without God.
(47)
“And the Lord added to their number daily those that were being saved.”
You cannot separate your life from God.
You cannot separate the fact that we need each other and play a part in each other’s life.
You try to do that by yourself and you will have struggles.
The word devotion in the text means
To persevere
To continually give attention
Steadfast attention and making necessary adjustments.
To faint not- giving up is not an option.
A state of readiness.
When you look at Gods word and apply these meanings- God’s Word will change you.
When you look at prayer this way, do you see why they grew in discipleship and relationship?
Do you see why the church grew-
God says He will grow the church, we just need to be the church and we need to be in that kind of relationship with God so He can use us.
Here’s the picture most have of church as we close this morning
Come together –sing songs
Hear a message by the pastor or a group perform
Prayer time
Benediction/ see ya next week
Disciples were the very first church. First Christians as we know them.
How we see church and the way church was for them is different-They didn’t have lights, microphones, and fancy music. They didn’t have these comfy chairs to sit in. They didn’t have an information center to get caught up on what Is happening! They didn’t even have these fancy Bible you have.
They lost some of their families and kicked out of the community because they had new beliefs.
They realized quickly that they needed each other and they could not do church by themselves.
They set church up and it grew and people were saved and were discipled
They listened to the apostles teach.
This would be the equivalent to a sermon on Sunday morning. But from the very beginning we see it set as the church learns and is taught together. It was not just information, it was that they were being taught and they were willing to be discipled.
They Had Fellowship
You laugh together, cry together, spend time together… just like you would friends and more than just a place of learning. You wanted to get to know each other better. It was intentional and deliberate. You challenge one another and you love one another.
They Broke Bread.
Community happens from eating together. We’ve lost some of this today.
We often just eat around our tv and families go out to eat everyone just stares at their phones. But eating together historical has been significant. Even back in Judaism God commanded that his people be hospitable. And the early church continued this. They would regularly eat together.
Family meant something- they did things together.
They Prayed
Last, but certainly not least is prayer…
Today we view prayer as something we do alone by ourselves, right before a meal, or by a pastor in public. And while all those ways of prayer are valid we have lost some of the importance of praying together. Prayer in the early church was not just something people did alone.
But something they practiced together. They would actually pray for each other and with each other.
Do you notice anything in common with these 4 practices established by the early church?
The all have strong elements of community.
They did these things together. They had close relationships with each other. All of these things were done together.
One of the biggest mistakes we can make is thinking that we can do life alone. With advancement of technology and all the good that has come from making life easier.
One of the biggest pitfalls is believing that we don’t need each other. Or at least living like we don’t.
The early church from the very beginning knew they needed each other and they remained plugged in. And that’s what we need to be reminded of today.
Amen.
