Don’t Fall Away! Be devoted!
Acts 2:42-46
April 16, 2023
Have you ever fallen away from something? Maybe it was that diet . . . you started and never finished. Maybe it was a workout regimen that sounded really good, but didn’t last. Or you hoped to read the Bible more or pray more and with great intentions you started and it all seemed to fizzle without your ever realizing it. Maybe it was simply going to worship on a regular basis and you started hot, but it was not a good finish.
That’s kind of what we’re talking about today . . . not bad finishes, because nobody wants that. I’m talking about FALLING AWAY. Having great intentions, but somehow you get derailed. Especially when it comes to faith issues.
It’s been determined and I think we would all agree, that we’re tired of online stuff. It’s great when we need it, but, we’ve learned a lot of people are jut checking out, they’re no longer engaging.
I think when it comes to zoom meetings and even online school, many are fed up and can’t be bothered. It’s easy to be in a zoom meeting and totally checked out.
I was on a preaching zoom meeting last week, and I learned how to blank my screen so I could scroll on the internet or play a game and nobody would notice. It only took me 3 years to learn how to do this, but now the possibilities are endless!
It makes me wonder what more we can do for those who are worshiping online. For some of our church family who are not able to attend worship . . . what more can we do to keep you engaged? I would love it if you would shoot me a message if you have any thoughts, because we value your presence.
While it may seem like we’re post-covid, one of my friends was called into duty to preach because his pastor had covid on Easter Sunday. So, it’s still around.
But this isn’t about coming back to church as a post covid event, it’s an overall pervasive thinking many fall into. You know what I mean? It’s like we say
I love Jesus, but I don’t like the church. Or I don’t need the church to worship God. There’s some who would say they love Jesus, but can’t be bothered with organized religion.
How is it the fire, the passion just fizzles out? It’s kind of like dating someone for awhile, and you like them, but say, I don’t need to be with you, but still want to date you. It’s kind of mindnumbing for me.
Maybe it’s a poor analogy, but how can we say we love Jesus, but don’t want to be with His people or serve, or read the Word, or pray or learn or give an offering?
Have you ever seen people in the underground churches in China when they get a Bible? They could be put in jail for being gathered together. In spite of persecution they’re there . . . together. They have so much joy when they receive a Bible. Watch this video - - -
VIDEO (from youtube)
Isn’t that great? I can’t imagine the joy they’re experiencing.
So, with that in mind, on this first Sunday after Easter, I was thinking about falling away. Last Sunday, in fact, last weekend was great. The play Friday, the movie on Saturday, worship on Sunday . . . and then Monday brings us back to reality.
Will we become complacent after the joy of Easter? Will we wonder if Jesus really forgives me after the bloody cross? A couple of weeks I watched the Passion of the Christ with my Thursday Bible study, and it was such a reminder of what Jesus did for us. How can I just let that go and slip away!?
So in as pastoral a voice as I can say this, if you’re watching this online, thank God for that. I’m so thrilled you’re able and willing to worship online. I’m so happy we have the technology to make this happen and to try to improve this.
If you’re here in the building, fantastic!! I’m glad you’re here, so we can be together.
If you say I’M JUST FED UP, then somehow I’m glad you’re here or online. Maybe you’re tired of watching online and wish you could be here, but can’t.
But if you’re fed up for other reasons, I guess, my question is this . . . . What are you fed up with? Many of us have that fed up feeling. Whether it’s politics, seeing the same names in the news all the time, reading horror stories of shootings and abuse and the innocent being taken advantage of. I’m with you . . . but . . .
The question I always have in the end is this - - -
what are you gonna do with what you got?
We should be hungry for the Word of God, because the world is not moving towards God, it’s moving further and further away. And how can we, yes, little ol’ you and I, how can we be the change agents so that people aren’t falling away?
Actually, I’m at a point in my life, where I want more of Jesus. I may be like Paul and not always do what I should, but for that very reason I want more of Jesus in my life. I want to hold onto Him more aggressively than ever before.
Jesus told us in John 15 - - -
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.
This is a constant theme throughout the Bible . . . abide in Jesus. Hold onto Him, don’t let go of Him. Understand, recognize, believe that you are a branch and you cannot bear fruit unless you are connected to the vine. And Jesus is the vine. He’s the conduit for all of life. It’s what He said in verse 5 . . . .
I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing.
While I can do good things apart from Him, if I’m connected to Jesus I can do greater things than I’ve ever imagined.
And if you want to talk about constant themes . . . it’s to abide, or dwell in God’s love and keep His commandments. Obedience to God. And what are His commandments? Mark tells us - - -
30 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” - Mark 12:30-31
Those are our commandments! Love God with your whole being and love your neighbor. So, that’s what we’re called to do, and if we were to be really honest, sometimes, they’re just not so easy to do! You with me?!
In a moment I’m going to ask you a silly, but really tough question, but first I want to read the greatest example of the early church . . . I want you to pick out key words as I’m reading the passage. I want you to hold onto those words or phrases, maybe even write them down, as something you want as well. The passage is found in Acts 2:42-47 - - -
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Isn’t that great! They were devoted. For me, as I read over that passage a number of times this week, that’s the phrase that came to me . . . they were devoted.
Devoted to God
Devoted to the Word
Devoted to worship
Devoted to one another - - - AND
Devoted to those outside the church
OK, here’s the silly, but tough question . . . Point to the person who is responsible for how devoted you are to God. Don’t point at me. Only I can point at me. I can’t devote you. I can only devote me. You see, we all choose, every day, every hour, one choice at a time, who and what we will devote ourselves to.
I get it! There’s so much temptation to focus only on ourselves and not worry about anyone or anything. And I know we can’t replicate the early church. But I’m struck by their devotion.
Devotion to Word, Worship and One Another.
Luke tells us they were so filled with awe at what was happening. That’s so cool!! That sense of awe when it comes over you. That church changed the world. Even though the days were dark, their lights were shining!
The Enemy will do anything and everything to distract, divert, and derail you from being devoted to God. Because without one of them you’re wide open to give in to temptation.
I want to focus on one of them. It’s the one another. Because it’s the least obvious. We all assume we should be devoted to God and worship Him.
Sometimes I’ve talked to people who tell me they were so excited and passionate about serving God, but something happened and the spark disappeared. At the same time, I know that it’s easy to get burned out and we need to honor the call for a Sabbath rest, whatever that looks like.
Yet, these people say, it’s gone cold. My relationship with God is cold and void. And I don’t want that to happen to you or me.
People say, “I don’t feel close to God anymore. God seems distant. Like He’s left me and gone on to another. Like there’s someone else more important than me.”
And I really believe if I asked 3 diagnostic questions, one of 3 things would be obviously wrong.
Very simply I could ask, “Have you been reading your Bible? Have you been talking and listening to God, that’s praying? Have you been worshiping and connecting with the people?”
Ummmmmmmm - - - - - - - - Nope! Nope! And nope!
Interestingly, the problem is also the cure. It’s the connecting to God, worshiping and being with one another. Take three of them, and call me in the morning.
I really believe the prospect of falling away is haunting the church. Because it’s so easy to do. When we do, we lose the connections. When we don’t see anyone for awhile, we just want to have a conversation. It’s easy to stop reading and praying and even worshiping. We don’t plan on it, it just seems to happen.
So, I believe God’s message for today is simple
Don’t fall Away!
Don’t buy what satan is selling. Because it’s never good.
Luke tells us in Acts 2:46 - - -
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
Every day they continued to meet together, they joyfully ate together, they were praising God and found favor with the nonbelievers and the church was growing as more people were giving their lives to Jesus. And miracles were happening!
OK, here’s where it gets more fun. At least for me. Because it’s Greek lesson time! In this passage, Luke tells us - - -
42 And they devoted themselves . . . .
46 And day by day attending the temple together . . .
Here’s the cool thing. The word in Greek for devotion is the same exact word used to say they were meeting day by day. They’re identical!!
So, what Luke is telling us literally, and this is what devotion means in Greek - - - “they continued to do something with intense effort, despite difficulty, they persisted.”
Luke could have rephrased it and said, they were devoted in attending the temple together. But that doesn’t sound great, but he still wanted us to see their devotion and persistence in coming together.
For me, this is a clue about how important it is to stay connected. How do we do it? In any and every way possible.
They met any way they could. Because that’s what the devoted do. They were devoted to the Lord and to one another. So, they devoted themselves to meeting together.
I read about a Christian couple from North Korea who were Christians. The woman’s husband became a Christian and was arrested, he died six months later in a prison camp. Then the secret police found her and she was brought to a camp where the dead would be left for days to rot.
Christians were tortured daily, but she decided to start a secret church. The only place they could worship the Lord, was in the bathroom. It was so putrid the guards would not go in there. They met in the toilets and she shared Bible verses she’d memorized with other prisoners. They silently sang so the guards would not hear in a place where if they were caught, they would have been killed.
Why? Because they were devoted.
As we get ready to close, I want to read you the words from Hebrews 10 - - -
22 LET US DRAW NEAR with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 LET US HOLD FAST the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
24 And LET US CONSIDER how to STIR UP one another to love and good works,
25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, - Hebrews 10
Do you hear the call? It’s on us! God’s there. He’s not moving away from us. He’s waiting for us to get devoted to Him, not just on the good days, but everyday.
It’s the call of God not to fall away as some are doing, but to keep the fire, the passion going so we can remain devoted to Him. Worshiping, and praying and reading and serving and giving and being one in the body.
Usually falling away is gradual. We don’t notice it, it’s usually not even intentional. But it easily happens because we give in to the ways of the world. Don’t Fall Away!
Falling away starts in our thoughts. I’ll take today off and sleep in. Nobody will miss me. Oh, we do miss you!! Next it becomes actions, or inaction. Maybe you got offended because someone else wasn’t perfect or you disagreed with their politics. Maybe church didn’t do “it” the way you wanted.
You didn’t even know it. You fell away. You just couldn’t be bothered this week. You’re still a Christian; a follower—at a distance. Sometimes you reminisce about how it used to be, maybe how you used to be. How fired up you were, back then in the crowd with everyone else singing. But now, you’re not. You think, “It’s the church’s fault.”
Here’s my answer to that. Repent. Change your mind. Be transformed.
Devote yourself. The Holy Spirit is with you. Whether you’re with us in the church or in what Acts would call the church that meets at your house, we can be joined together by the same Spirit.
Is there someone you need to forgive before you can come to worship? Jesus says do it. Ask the Lord to forgive you, if you’ve been falling away. Following at a distance. Forgive me, as I forgive, so I can worship you, who forgave all my sins. I don’t want to give up meeting together.
Devote yourself to the Lord!
