Discipleship Matters: Engaging in Biblical Community
Acts 2:42-47
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
06-13-202
Review of series - what is a disciple?
This morning, we come to the end of our Discipleship Matters series (for now). Over these past two months, we have been exploring the difference between a fan of Jesus and a follower of Jesus.
We’ve learned that Jesus gave us a mission. It’s not optional. It’s the marching orders of the church. We know it as The Great Commission:
[Slide] Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
The main verb in this command is “make disciples” and we do that by going into our sphere of influence with the Gospel and not just making converts but disciples. Then we baptize them and teach them to obey Jesus’ teaching.
Then we learned that a disciple is one who loves Jesus passionately.
We learned that a disciple is one who loves their church family, the least of these, their enemies, and people far from God.
We learned that a disciple is one who handles conflict in a Biblical, Christ-honoring way.
We learned that a disciple is one who understands the Gospel clearly and is able to share it boldly.
We learned that a disciple is one who remembers what matters most.
This morning, we will wrap up our series by seeing that a disciple of Jesus is one who is engaged in Biblical community.
We are going to consider why it’s important to be engaged in Biblical community, why some people chose not to, and some benefits for belonging to Biblical community.
But first, I need to lay some groundwork and answer the questions - what is community and what is not and what is church and what is its purpose?
Turn with me to Acts 2.
Prayer
What is community?
I grew up in multiple communities. I was in the t-ball and then baseball community. I played basketball and was on a bowling team. I was in cub scouts. I attended five different schools. I was part of the chess club (and still had girlfriends).
As a teenager, I worked at the Mall of Memphis, one of the largest malls in the state of Tennessee. It was basically a small town and I knew most of the people that worked there.
I went to the University of Memphis and was part of the Honors Student Association.
Today, I’m part of the storm chasing community, my son Josh is part of the ham radio operators community, and my other son Austin is part of the Lancer owners community.
But belonging to those communities is very different than belonging to Biblical community.
Biblical community is not your family or friends and it certainly isn’t social media. I have 1,584 “friends” on Facebook and follow over 1,000 people on Twitter but that doesn’t mean that I have relationships with most of those people.
This younger generation is the most digitally connected and the most anxious and lonely generation ever.
Let me tell you another thing community is not that may surprise you. It’s not attending church. If you attend church, you share an experience with a group of other people but that doesn’t mean you are engaged in Biblical community with them.
What is Biblical community? Biblical community is doing life together and holding each other accountable to live our lives under the authority of Jesus Christ. It’s saying, “Let’s do our spiritual journeys together.”
And the primary way that God designed us to be in Biblical community together is the local church.
What is Church?
A church isn’t a building. Jesus didn’t die for a building. This building is where Chenoa Baptist Church meets but it isn’t the church. In fact, God forbid, if this building burnt to the ground, CBC would still be alive and kicking and we would meet in the field the next Sunday.
The church is always a people, never a place.
Here’s how John Piper defines “church,”
“A local church is a group of baptized believers who gather regularly to worship God through Jesus Christ to be encourage and challenged by the Word of God, celebrate the Lord’s Supper, all under the guidance of duly appointed leaders.”
Another pastor defines church this way:
“A local church is a group of baptized believers who join together in a commitment to help each other fulfill God’s purposes for the Kingdom and for their own lives.”
Church is not something we “go to” or something we attend, it’s a spiritual family we belong to.
Paul calls the church, the “body of Christ”
“And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” (Ephesians 1:22-23)
Let me make a statement that I will be repeating again and again in this sermon.
[Slide] The local church, when operating Biblically, is the hope of the world.
On Facebook this week, I asked people to write the first words that came to their head when they heard the word “church.” Here are some of their answers:
Worship, family, a safe place, giving, outreach, community, the body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, The War Room, and peace. There were also other not so positive words that we will explore in just a minute.
The First Church
Jesus gave the disciples their marching orders to “go and make disciples” and then He ascended back into heaven. The disciples spent time together in prayer until the Holy Spirit fell on them at Pentecost and they were able to share the Gospel in all kinds of different languages of the people that were in Jerusalem at the time.
Peter stood up and addressed the crowd. This was the first Christian sermon. It lasted about three minutes and three thousand people got saved.
Could you imagine being there for that event? The small band of Christian brothers and sisters went from 120 to 3,120 in one afternoon and the first first church was born.
It was a inner-city, multi-ethnic mega church with multiple staff and a tremendous outreach in their community.
What characterized this new church? What are the essentials to a church being the hope of the world?
Look with me at Acts 2:42:
[Slide] “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42)
The word “devoted” means to “continuing steadfast and with a single-minded fidelity to a certain course of action.”
What did they devote themselves to? What do healthy church’s focus on?
The Apostles teaching
This young church’s main focus was on the Word of God. And they actually had the apostles themselves teaching them.
Look at verse 43:
[Slide] “Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.” (Acts 2:43)
These believers were stunned and had reverential fear of God. There was evidence of God’s presence and power in this group of believers, and especially displayed in the ability of the apostles to perform miracles. These miracles authenticated their teaching ministries.
Can you imagine have Peter teaching your Sunday school class? Or James leading your small group? Or Matthew preaching on a Sunday morning?
Actually you can because they do. We have their words in the form of the New Testament. And this is what our focus is here at CBC.
In a big picture way, I have the honor of discipling you through the preaching of the Word each Sunday. And if you have been here regularly over the last three years, [average church attender is here 1.2 times a month] you would have gone verse by verse through
The Beatitudes in Matthew 5
The Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5
The Seven Churches of Revelation 1-3
The Lord’s Prayer
The Five Solas
Old Testament Heroes
The Book of Habakkuk
The book of Jonah
The book of Esther
The book of Galatians
The book of Titus
The I AM statements of Jesus
[Slide] If you are a part of the Wednesday morning bible study, you can add the book of James, I, 2, 3 John, Ecclesiastes, and the first 11 chapters of the Gospel of John.
[Slide] Starting next week, we will be doing a “Summer in the Psalms.”
Some churches focus on entertainment, or preaching to felt needs, or wild gimmicks to try to draw people in.
A heathy church is devoted to the Word of God and learning and growing in their knowledge and application of the Scriptures to their everyday life.
A disciple of Jesus is one who is individually and corporately drawn to the Bible to direct their life. This will safeguard new believers from errors.
B. To Fellowship
The Greek word used here may be familiar to some of you, it’s “koinonia.” This means to partner, to share in common.
As Baptists, we tend to think of this as potlucks and talking to friends before and after church. It is those things but it’s also so much more.
The Christian journey is not about being a lone ranger but on a team. Imagine a lone football player running around on the field alone. Or a single tuba player walking in patterns by herself. It just doesn’t make sense.
In fact, the word “saints” is never used in the singular in the New Testament.
John Wesley wrote:
“There is nothing more unchristian than a solitary Christian.”
One pastor listed what we share together in fellowship:
We share the same Lord - Jesus, the same guide for life - the Bible, the same love for God and people, the same desire to worship God, the same struggles, the same victories, and the same commitment to the ?Gospel.
We live in a era of desperate loneliness. [Slide] 90% of men report that they don’t have a close friend. People are bowling alone, playing video games alone, even eating alone.
In Genesis 2, God said that it was not good for man to be alone. We are created for community. But not just community but Biblical community.
How did this fellowship play out among these new believers? Look at verse 44:
[Slide] “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” (Acts 2:44)
During the feasts, Jewish people displayed extraordinary generosity. The early Christians, made this part of their daily DNA.
They were of one mind and they provided for those who didn’t have enough. This was not communism or socialism wealth redistribution . This was voluntary and done out of love.
Many of the 3,000 who put their faith in Christ, couldn’t go home because they would have been kicked out of the synagogue. So they stayed in Jerusalem and were provided for by members that had plenty to spare.
In Acts 4, Dr. Luke writes:
“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.” (Acts 4:32-35)
How did fellowship happen in the early church? Look at verse 46:
[Slide] “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…” (Acts 2:46)
Do you know the Greek word for every day? Every day! Daily they met formally together in the Temple courts. This was the large group worship service.
[side] What did they focus on there? Look back at verses 42 - “to the breaking of bread and to [the] prayers.” This means when they met together formally, there was a sermon preached, they took communion and they worshiped and prayed together.
But they also had small groups where they “broke bread together” with joyful hearts. This is another way you can be engaged in Biblical community.
We have two small groups on Wednesday night and one on Wednesday morning. We have a small group that meets on Sunday morning and an adult Sunday school class that meets before service.
We will be starting more small groups as we go forward to give each of you a change to be engaged in Biblical community.
By the way, we are moving on to phase two of our bringing the education building up to 2021. Phase one was the upstairs - the nursery, the pastor’s office, an administrative assistant’s office, the two and three year old room, and the four and five year old room. The floors were replaced and the walls were all painted. And guess how much it cost us? Nothing! We received a grant that paid for the whole thing.
[Slide] Now, we are moving on to phase two which is redoing our fellowship hall. It’s going to be a place where you can do one on one discipleship, small group Bible studies, large group seminars, and opportunities to hang out before and after service with friends. It’s going to be a beautiful space and I’m excited with what God is doing.
What were the results?
Let’s look at two now and we will come back to the third at the end.
“…praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.” (Acts 2:46)
Their worship was daily, joyful and simple. And they were well thought of by their community. The earned the respect of all the people by the sincere hearts, their devotion to each other and to the needy, and by their love.
Remember, the local church, when operating Biblically, is the hope of the world.
But what happens when the church doesn’t operate in a Biblical way? The result is a world of hurt and pain that people carry with them the rest of their lives.
I Don’t Go to Church
[Slide] On my Facebook this week, I put out a request to help me with my sermon and asked the question, “why don’t you go to church?” I asked for honesty, which I sure got, and told everyone I wouldn’t get offended, which I wasn’t.
Remember, I told you that in the mix of words to describe church there were some less than positive words that people posted? Here’s some of the rest - a place of judgement, exclusion, rejection, and a place that will hurt you the most.
Reading through all the reasons people don’t go to church broke my heart as a pastor and a Christ-follower. It also helped me to put their responses into several categories. I want to challenge you to hear what they are saying because it’s important.
Some people don’t attend church simply because they work on Sundays or have a job where they have to be out of town on the weekends. I’ve also said that I want to do a service on another night of the week for people who work on Sundays. For those of you who work on Sundays or people that you know that work on Sundays, remind them that they can watch the sermon on demand on my Facebook page anytime they want.
Do you want to hear the truth? It’s hard to go to church with small children. Maxine and I remember. Church, that’s why it’s so important to have a healthy, vibrant nursery and children’s ministry.
Take the difficulty of herding small children and multiple it exponentially and you just start to understand parents with special needs children. We are going to be training our children’s ministry workers to shepherd special needs children but that’s going to take time. Eastview Christian Church has an amazing special needs ministry that attracts families from all over this area.
Some people simply get out of the habit. With the pandemic disrupting routines for everyone, church attendance might fallen by the wayside. Hebrews 10:25 says:
"Let us not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing…” (Hebrews 10:25)
We see from that verse, that engaging in Biblical community is not optional, it’s essential to growing as a follower of Christ.
But it is also a habit. And if you got out of the habit you can get back into the habit.
Some people talked about just never finding a church that fit them and their family. After visiting many churches, several responded that they gave up.
* Some people have health issues that prohibit them from going to church. Or they are caretakers and have trouble getting help with their loved ones. This is one of the reasons why we stream our services on Facebook and post the sermon on demand later in the day on YouTube.
The younger ones that responding wrote about the church’s lack of caring for their community, the judgmental and hypocritical way many church attenders act in person and especially online. They wrote about the lack of diversity in the American church and responded with passion about how political the church has become and how damaging that has been. [And no Tonya, you don’t have to be a Republican to be a Christian!].
* They also wrote about how most churches don’t even try to reach out to their LGBTQ friends and the blatant racism in the church sickens them.
[By the way, I’ve been accused of talking about racism too much. I didn’t know I could talk about repenting of sin too much]
One young man who grew up in our student ministry and who is a very smart guy wrote:
“If I were to find a church that I felt actually preached specifically what the Bible says, while showing love and not having some outside agenda, then I would love to attend. I have yet to find that church since leaving home.”
But far and away the most common reason for not going to church was the hurt they have received at the hands of good old church folk.
Several talked about having medical issues and no one checking up on them. Several wrote about being mistreated, shunned, judged, condemned, gossiped and lied about and wonders if they will ever be able to feel like going to church again.
If that’s you, let me say that I stand with you and understand completely where you are coming from.
But I actually ended up going to seminary and becoming a pastor.
Maxine and I could not predicted the amount of hurt our hearts would endure over the next twenty years.
My mother used to say if you want to get stabbed in the back, join the PTA. If you want to stabbed in the heart, join a church.
I have pastor friend who has said, “There are two things you never want to see make from the inside - hot dogs and church. One could make you a vegetarian and the other might make you a Buddhist.”
When I first started preaching at CBC, I was asked to be the pastor and I immediately said no. I was done with being a pastor, except I wasn’t.
Yes, I’ve been hurt by people in the church. But I’m still here. Why? Because the local church, when functionally Biblically, is the hope the world and one of the most beautiful things on earth.
If you have been hurt by the church, would you please listen to the next section of the sermon carefully.
I had to learn that the “church” didn’t hurt me, people in the church did. My brother said that I need to stop focusing on people but simply gaze upon Jesus.
I used to say that I still loved Jesus but didn’t care for the church. But that’s like inviting me to dinner and then saying, “Well we love you but we can’t stand that Maxine.” The church is the Bride of Christ and Jesus died for the church. You can’t love Jesus and then hate what He loves.
I had to be carefully to not let a negative church experience sour me on all churches. There are plenty of churches that love Jesus, love their community, and make a difference.
I had to learn to give grace to my leaders. Pastors and church leaders are humans and we make mistakes. I had to learn to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume the best of them until they gave me a reason not to.
I’be been church leadership for half my life. I guarantee that I have caused hurt in people’s hearts. Not intentionally, but it is real nonetheless.
In the past seven years especially, I’ve had to resist the urge to talk bad about, gossip, or slander those who caused us pain. This has been harder than we thought but, as Dale Petre taught me, it’s one of the ways that I can be God’s man.
Then I had to forgive. Now, it’s important to understand that forgiveness is one time decision of the will and then a process. I’ve done several funerals at my old church and each time I’ve chosen to shalom those who hurt us.
If you are currently not in Biblical community because you are hurt, make sure you are in in God’s Word daily, find someone to talk to about it, and find another church to plug in to.
It’s funny, in the area of romantic relationships, when something ends poorly most of us ended up pursuing another relationship.
If the church was just a human invention, we would have destroyed it in the first 20 minutes. But 2,000 years later, the church is still growing and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
I’m going to let Jackie Hill Perry, Christian author, poet and spoken word artist have the last words of this section.
[YouTube - “How to Heal when the Church Hurts You” 2:51]
Why is Biblical Community so important?
Biblical community is life on life:
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17)
You cannot be sharpened or sharpen someone else from across an auditorium one time a week.
You can be a fan of Jesus and not live in Biblical community but there is no category in the Bible for a lone ranger Christian.
Remember that the local church, when functioning Biblically, is the hope of the world.
What are the benefits of belonging to Biblical community?
Biblical community is a place where you can take off your mask and be real.
I remember leading worship one morning and in between songs I said, “Some of you lied when you came in the door. You were asked how you were and you said fine. Why did you feel you had to lie?”
At that, a woman burst into tears and ran out of the auditorium. The most beautiful thing happened next. Five or six ladies immediately jumped out of their chairs and followed her out into the foyer. They sat with her and prayed for her.
In Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit, they did something that was completely ridiculous. They tried hiding from God. Why? Because for the first time ever, they experienced fear and shame.
When God asked Adam where he was, Adam replied:
“I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” (Gen 3:10)
In other words, God I messed up. Not only that, now I feel like I’m messed up. Adam hid and we’ve been doing the same thing ever since.
But the church is designed, when functioning correctly, to be what Christian psychologist Larry Crabb called, “The Safest Place on Earth.”
My friend Pastor Deiter Punt wrote that church is “a group of people that are messed up and need another and Jesus.”
I’ve led groups for men that struggle with sexual sin. I remember one man telling his wife that, for the first time in his adult life, he felt safe talking about his struggles. And in the context of that safety, he found healing that he never could alone.
I read this week a story from a small group leader that is an example of what happens when Christians live life on life together.
One of the people in his small group who had struggled with drug use, admitted to the group that he had visited an old friend that was a drug dealer. The small group leader asked him to empty his pockets. He did and placed a pipe and several bags of weed on the table. He sat there, overwhelmed with shame.
Just then, one of the women in the group, a middle class house wife that looked the perfect example of a Christian woman, got up and walked out to her car. She came back into the house without saying a word and put two prescription bottles that were not hers on the the table and said, “You’re not the only one.”
At this the tears began to flow and that group prayed for each other like they never had before.
If you’ve never experienced this, I feel sorry for you because it that’s the way we grow in grace.
Why do we feel that we have to act like we have it all together, pretend that we love Jesus more than we do, pretend we don’t have as many questions as we do, pretend our marriages are stronger than they are, pretend our children aren’t driving us nuts?
Can we stop pretending, please? Biblical community is not a social club is a hospital for hurting souls.
When you walk into Ray Ortlund’s church in Nashville, this is the sign that greets you at the door. It is also how he has begun every church service for the last 25 years:
To all who are weary and in need of rest;?to all who mourn and long for comfort;?to all who feel lost and worthless and wonder if God even cares;?to all who fall and desire victory;?to all who sin and need a Saviour;?to all who hunger and thirst for righteousness;?And to whoever else will come,?This church opens wide her doors?and offers welcome in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ:?the friend of sinners,?the lover of his enemies,?the defender of the weak, and?the justifier of those who have no excuses left!
They also have a mantra that I love:
I’m a complete idiot.
My future is incredible bright.
Anyone can get in on this.
2. Biblical community is how we grow as Christians.
Being in Biblical community helps to protect us from losing our focus on God and the mission of the church -to make disciples. It’s how we stay accountable.
Jeremiah tells us that our hearts are desperately wicked and we cannot trust them. We can rationalize and justify all sorts of sin on our own. But when we are in community, when we are accountable to others, they are able to point out our blind spots.
Biblical community is where we are discipled and disciple others. It’s where we can pour our lives into others and helped them grow as Christians. In turn, that helps us grow as well.
Biblical community is how we survive this crazy world’s problems. For those of you who are trying to navigate this world on your own, it doesn’t work. I can tell you that from experience.
We would not have survived the last 7 years without our tribe of friends loving us, challenging us, providing for us, praying for us and simply being there for us.
Biblical community is where we plug in and discover and use our gifts for the Kingdom. If you a born again believer, then you have spiritual gifts that you are supposed to be using to help others grow. We need you to unleash those gifts in Biblical community and you need our spiritual gifts. Biblical community is where you find your place to make a difference. And it doesn’t how old you are. If you’re not dead, you’re not done!
3. Biblical community is where you “one another.”
You simply can’t follow the one another commands by yourself. There are 58 one another commands in Scripture.
One third of them deal with the unity of the church:
Be at peace with one another (Mk 9:50)
Don’t grumble among one another (Jn 6:43)
Be of the same mind with one another (Ro 12:16, 15:5)
Accept one another (Ro 15:7)
Wait for one another before beginning the Eucharist (1 Co 11:33)
Don’t bite, devour, and consume one another—seriously, guys, don’t eat each other (Ga 5:15)
Don’t boastfully challenge or envy one another (Ga 5:26).
Gently, patiently tolerate one another (Ep 4:2)
Be kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving to one another (Ep 4:32)
Bear with and forgive one another (Co 3:13)
Seek good for one another, and don’t repay evil for evil (1 Th 5:15)
Don’t complain against one another (Jas 4:11, 5:9)
Confess sins to one another (Jas 5:16)
One third instructs Christians to love each other.
Love one another (Jn 13:34, 15:12, 17; Ro 13:8; 1 Th 3:12, 4:9; 1 Pe 1:22; 1 Jn 3:11, 4:7, 11; 2 Jn 5)
Through love, serve one another (Ga 5:13)
Tolerate one another in love (Ep 4:2)
Greet one another with a kiss of love (1 Pe 5:14)
Be devoted to one another in love (Ro 12:10)
One third stresses an attitude of humility:
Love one another (Jn 13:34, 15:12, 17; Ro 13:8; 1 Th 3:12, 4:9; 1 Pe 1:22; 1 Jn 3:11, 4:7, 11; 2 Jn 5)
Through love, serve one another (Ga 5:13)
Tolerate one another in love (Ep 4:2)
Greet one another with a kiss of love (1 Pe 5:14)
Be devoted to one another in love (Ro 12:10)
The rest:
Do not judge one another, and don’t put a stumbling block in a brother’s way (Ro 14:13)
Greet one another with a kiss (Ro 16:16; 1 Co 16:20; 2 Co 13:12)
Husbands and wives: don’t deprive one another of physical intimacy (1 Co 7:5)
Bear one another’s burdens (Ga 6:2)
Speak truth to one another (Ep 4:25)
Don’t lie to one another (Co 3:9)
Comfort one another concerning the resurrection (1 Th 4:18)
Encourage and build up one another (1 Th 5:11)
Stimulate one another to love and good deeds (He 10:24)
Pray for one another (Jas 5:16)
Be hospitable to one another (1 Pe 4:9)
These are not optional, they are commanded of followers of Jesus and the only way you can obey is to be engaged in Biblical community. ?
These aren’t general commands to do this to the world. These “one anothers” are first and foremost to be displayed to fellow followers of Jesus.
It’s were we learn to love people who don’t look like us, or think like us, or vote like us. It’s where we learn to see that people have infinite value because they are made in the image of God.
[Slide] Biblical community is where we gather, grow, give, and go. Speaking of going.
Rodeo Baptism
Look back to the end of verse 47 in Acts 2:
“And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47b)
First of all, who added to their number? God did. God is the one that makes churches grow. We are going to pray and trust Him to grow our little church.
Second, how often were people getting saved? Daily!
Third, how was this happening? Because these 3,120 Christ followers took Jesus’ words in The Great Commission seriously. That shared the Gospel and then discipled others to be disciples who make disciples who make disciples.
I want to end this series with a wonderful story about a rodeo baptism.
[Christie Todd Testimony]
