As a pastor and preacher, I often wonder if when I’m doing a series of sermons, if I continue the topic for too long, or not long enough. Now, I’m not looking for your answers. Because, you might say the topics are good, but don’t go on so long.
With that in mind, I want to keep talking about the church. Who were supposed to be and how it works. It’s easy to get caught up in all the things we don’t like, as opposed to what’s good about the church. I was reading an article by Pastor John Stott and it led me to look at Acts 2 in a little bit different way.
I’ve preached on this before and quoted some of this passage last week, but want to take a little more indepth look at it, because, I believe it describes who we should be as a church and what we should be doing.
As I looked at Luke’s message, it occurred to me that it’s a two-fold message to the church. I never considered this before. It’s a look at what the church should be collectively and individually. And what struck me is that we need to be doing both. You really can’t have a healthy well functioning church without us working together and separately.
So, let’s look again at Acts 2, and see what was happening and what we can learn and do - - - -
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. - Acts 2:42-47
If we were to ask the question, what are the distinguishing characteristics of a healthy church? How would we answer? I believe this passage gives us some of the answers, if not really all of the answers we need. Of course, after each answer, we can come up with subpoints, but my point is to show us what God wants the church to look and act like.
It’s easy to look at these verses and assume the early church was perfect and we’ve totally messed it up. But that’s not true. They had their issues all along. They had heresies, hypocrites, dissension, immorality and more which troubled the early church, just as they trouble the church today. But one thing to note is the early church was radically moved and renewed by the Holy Spirit.
So instead of asking what are the distinguishing characteristics of the church, we can ask what does a Spirit-filled church look like?
So, let’s jump into it. Luke wrote in Acts 2:42 - - - - -
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
The first thing we can see is that the early church was a learning church. It was a studying church. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. That's so important.
It had to be a remarkable situation. Imagine all of these new believers in Jesus. People who hadn’t gone through the Sunday school programs, and were just starting to figure out who this Jesus was. They were devoted to the teaching of the leaders of the church.
This also meant that they acknowledged the apostles as the teachers of the church, and submitted to their authority, which in some ways were authenticated — — by miracles.
So, what does that mean for us today? How can we submit to the teaching and authority of the apostles?
Firstly, what even does the word APOSTLE mean?
The word apostle comes from 2 Greek words which mean “from and to send.” It essence, it means “one who is sent.” It’s a person, man or woman who has been sent by God to teach and lead His people.
The apostle was commissioned with the authority to speak for and represent the One who sent him. The chief apostle in the New Testament is Jesus Himself.
The Apostles were called and commissioned by Christ and spoke with His authority. To reject apostolic authority was to reject the authority of Christ, who sent them.
The call then, is to be willing to listen and learn from those who have been sent by God to teach and lead.
So, on the one hand, we follow the teaching of those who are leaders. We make certain that the teaching is in accordance with the word of God.
And at the same time, we submit to the authority of the apostles as their teaching comes to us in the pages of the New Testament. We take the word of God as living and breathing as the writer of Hebrews tells us. And we look at the Word as the authoritative Word of God, used to instruct us and build us up and teach us and even rebuke us. It’s there to help us grow to better understand who Jesus was and is and how we can become more like Him. So, we take the words of those apostles as authoritative over us.
So, one of the characteristics of a Spirit-filled church is that it's a studying church, an apostolic church, a church that takes seriously the authority of the New Testament and seeks to submit to it today.
To go along with that the pastors teach and exhort from the Bible. The parents teach their children out of the Scriptures. The people of the church read and reflect upon the Scriptures in order to grow into maturity in Christ. The Spirit of God leads the people of God to submit to the Word of God.
A Spirit-filled church is also a caring church. A church which loves one another and cares for one another.
It comes in the word - - - - fellowship.
Luke tells us, "They devoted themselves to … the fellowship."
That's the Greek word koinonia. It comes from an adjective that means "common." Koinonia is about sharing what we have in common. Fellowship expresses what we share in together, what we have received together, what we participate in together.
That is the grace of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In 1 John 1, John wrote - - - -
3 Our fellowship [koinonia] is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. - 1 John 1:3
When we think of fellowship, we consider the fellowship we have with God. It comes through the grace, mercy and love of God. It’s our common unified belief in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
But fellowship or the ability to care for one another is also found in our relationships with one another. That’s the more common way to think of fellowship. We’re going to have food and fellowship. That means we’re going to interact with one another.
An important aspect to being a caring church is that we are willing to give together. It’s not about what we can receive from one another. Because if we are all giving to one another, that will take of the receiving.
We come to worship having already received from God, and now it’s our opportunity to give to one another.
Luke wrote - - - -
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.
The word COMMON is a derivative of the word koinonia.
What does it mean? Are we supposed to give it all away and hope for the best? I don’t believe so. That’s a relief!!
Notice what they had in their care and love for one another. They sold possessions and gave to all who had need. It doesn’t say they sold everything. They cared for their poor sisters and brothers who were less fortunate than themselves. They shared their goods. They shared their homes.
These people cared for one another and it was obvious to the world around them. Isn’t that true about us as well. When we see a brother or sister hurting, in need of a meal, or a ride, or a hug, we extend ourselves. We look at one another and ask how we can be of help. That’s part of who FBC is. That’s what we’re called to do. It’s who we’re called to be.
That’s why we have the M25 ministry. It comes from Matthew 25. If you have a need, if you need your light bulbs changed, new batteries in your smoke detector, if you need help with something in your home and we can help, we want you to ask. We want to be there and show our love for one another.
And that love was obvious to the rest of the world around them, as Luke ends this passage by saying the church was growing, because people saw the care and fellowship.
Another aspect of the church was that they worshiped together.
We see this as Luke tells us they were - - - -
42 breaking of bread and the prayers.
43 And awe came upon every soul
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread
They were having communion, they were praying, they were learning, there were miracles and awe, they attended worship together and ate meals together.
They worshiped in their homes and in the temple. They didn’t leave the temple. They may have wanted to see the people all worship Jesus. Yet, they continued attending. They didn’t abandon the institutional church.
What’s cool is that they really were practicing small groups and having Bible studies in their homes. That was probably a less formal way of worshiping. They made this a priority. I would assume they were more spontaneous and unstructured times of fellowship and worship.
Those are two important aspects of worship. Doing it formally, as we do here, but also having the opportunities to have small groups or Bible studies which is a form of worship which are more informal.
The formal worship draws us closer to God and the informal does the same. It meets the needs of different people in different ways. There’s always more sharing and talking at the Bible studies or small groups. You get to know one another better. For some people, that’s what Sunday School does for them. It’s a little more informal than worship and encourages a different type of worship and learning.
There’s a difference between the two, yet, both are very important and necessary.
Another aspect of their worship is that it was joyful. It’s hard to see that in this passage because our English translation is brutal! In verse 46, we read - - - -
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with GLAD and generous hearts,
The literal meaning of the word GLAD is - - - - wild joy, ecstatic delight, exultation, exhilaration.
exuberant joy; intense joy.
Yet, in English it’s simply translated as GLAD. They were thrilled, super excited and delighted to be sharing meals together in homes. They loved their small groups and it was evident to the world.
Think about it this way, and it applies to us as well - - - - -
God sent his Son into the world. He'd sent his Spirit into their hearts. How could they not be joyful over the mighty acts of God?
And the same should be true for us as well. With what we believe Jesus did for us, we should be excited and have this great joy. Coming to worship is not a downer, it should be a time of reverential joy and passion and excitement as we worship Jesus together.
Finally, they were also a church on a mission. They were changing lives. You could say they were evangelistic or at least mission focused.
If we concentrate on only verses 42-46, it’s an entirely inward focused church, but Luke tells us in verse 47 - - - -
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.
I love that line, having favor with all the people. As much as the new church was a sore spot to the Jewish elite, as much as there was early persecution . . . . they still found favor with ALL people. That tells us something about the inner workings of the church. They were doing it right. Even if they didn’t know what they were doing, they did it right.
They didn’t have mission and vision statements, they didn’t have formal committees, they didn’t have by-laws . . . . what they had was an excited, passionate, intense joy in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And whatever they did, they did in the name of Jesus and others witnessed it. Lives were changed. They were Jesus wherever they went.
I also love the way Luke wrote, “THE LORD ADDED TO THEIR NUMBER.”
They accomplished it through the preaching and teaching of the leaders. They had a common, shared love, fellowship. They had prayers and communion and small groups and had everything in common and gave to those with a need.
We can do the work, but only one gets the credit, and that’s the Lord, Jesus. He’s the head of the church. Through the Holy Spirit, He gives life to the spiritually dead, adding them to His church.
Those who were being saved, were saved on a daily basis. Isn’t that so cool! Every day there was another one or two or five new believers in Jesus. And they became part of the church.
Evangelism is continuous outreach into the community seeking to bring people to Christ and His community, this community.
That’s part of many things we do at FBC. It’s the upcoming Back to School Rally. It’s an opportunity for some family to receive school supplies and see Jesus at work. I hope when that night shows up, just 8 days from now, we can show that common love in Jesus. We demonstrate the grace and power of the risen Christ. And we do it not just with glad and generous hearts, but with super excited, exuberant spirits and proclaim the name of Jesus.
We don't need to wait for the Holy Spirit to come to get us to follow these 4 aspects of a spirit filled church. The Holy Spirit has already arrived and He’s never left the church.
Our responsibility is to seek the power, the direction, and the fullness of the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit is given His rightful place, we become a force to be reckoned with.
It’s my hope that FBC continues to be a church that learns together, and if you’re not, I invite you to start your learning. It’s never too late.
We’re also a church who cares about one another. We enjoy fellowship. Let’s continue to build on that as we check on one another and celebrate our unity.
We’re also a church who worships together. We’re blessed with our worship and the opportunities for Bible studies and Sunday School. We have lots of ways to do this. Even our technology is such that we can worship online and bless others.
And finally, let’s reach out to show the world Jesus by the way we live and talk.
