Ten Marks of a Prevailing Church
Uncommon Fellowship
Acts 2:42-47
August 19, 2001
Intro:
A. [Welcome and Do-Si-Do, Citation: Cartoonist Sandy Silverthorne in Leadership, Vol. 11, no. 4].
"And now here’s the point in our service where I’d like you all to rise, turn to the person on your right, shake hands, turn around, bow to your corner, then alamand left with that sweet corner maid ..."
B. We enjoy our fellowship times here at Somerset, but if Somerset is going to be a church that will prevail against the gates of hell, there has to be more to our fellowship than this.
1. There must be some strong ties that bind us together.
2. There must be cords that cannot be broken if we are to storm the gates of hell.
3. So this morning I want to look at the second chapter of the book of Acts to see what we can learn about fellowship in the family of God; first we see…
I. The devotion of the believers
Acts 2:42, They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
A. This verse gives us some very good insight into the early church.
1. You see the church, as we know it today, started at the beginning of Acts 2.
2. Up until this time, everything was really Jewish.
3. All of the OT and the first four books of the NT were actually Jewish synagogue worship.
4. Not until the beginning of this chapter did the church as we know it today begin.
5. At the beginning of this chapter we see the coming of the HS to humans for the first time.
6. We also see the very first gospel message preached by the apostle Peter.
7. We also saw that 3,000 people were saved and baptized on that day.
8. That was the very first church service as we know it today.
9. So here we find ourselves today at the end of the first chapter of the church.
B. So what do we learn about those first believers?
1. Well, Luke, the writer of this book tells us some very insightful things about those first believers.
2. And since this is the Word of God, we can ascertain that these first believers, lead by the apostles who had walked with Jesus during His earthly ministry, would have some very important information for us today about how to do church.
3. You see, it really doesn’t matter how any church has always done it.
4. It really doesn’t matter what any particular denomination practices.
5. What really matters is what the Bible says and how the first church did it.
C. And this verse 42 tells us what this first church was devoted to.
1. This verse tells us what this church of three thousand devoted itself to.
2. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.
a. They devoted themselves to the teachings of the men who had spent the past three years walking with Jesus.
b. So what should the church today take from that?
c. The church today should devote itself to the apostles’ teachings which we find written for us in the Word of God.
d. We devoted ourselves to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word.
e. Nothing more, like opinions of men.
f. And nothing less.
g. We devote ourselves to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word.
3. Second Luke tells us that they devoted themselves to fellowship.
a. They were intentional about socializing with one another—on Sunday’s as well as throughout the week.
b. They purposely spent time with one another.
c. They devoted themselves to fellowship.
4. Third, they devoted themselves to the breaking of bread—which is communion.
a. They were intentional about the importance of remembering Christ’s crucifixion.
b. They partook of communion on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
c. They incorporated their remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice into their daily lives.
5. Fourth, they devoted themselves to prayer.
a. That was the final thing that Luke tells us that they were devoted to.
b. They were intentional about spending time with God; not just reading and studying God’s Word, but speaking to Him and opening their hearts up to Him through prayer.
D. Those are the four things that Luke tells us that the early church devoted itself to.
1. Those four things are what the very first believers in Jesus focused on.
2. Those are the four things that were the focal point of the first church of 3,000 people.
3. And the one of the four that Luke goes on to describe in the last verses of this chapter is fellowship.
4. And that is the one that we are going to focus on this morning as well.
5. The reason that I want to focus on that this morning in our 9th Mark of a Prevailing Church is that that is the one that we need the most emphasis on.
6. I believe we do a pretty good job of devoting ourselves to the apostle’s teaching.
7. I believe we do a pretty good job of devoting ourselves to communion.
8. I believe we do a pretty good job of devoting ourselves to prayer (although that will be the 10th Mark next week).
9. But I believe the one that we are the weakest in is fellowship.
10. I know that we are aware of this need and we are making strides to improve it, and so I want make to sure that we are all well aware of just how important it is and see if we can learn some things about how to improve in this area.
11. So that is the devotion of the believers; now…
II. The awe of the believers
Acts 2:43, Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
A. This verse tells us that the first believers were filled with awe.
1. God was doing miraculous things amongst them.
2. The way the church started itself was miraculous with the coming of the HS and 3,000 people being saved and baptized in one day.
3. But this verse also tells us that many other things were happening as well.
4. It says that there were many wonders and miraculous signs that were being done by the apostles.
5. I would say that they were actually being done through the apostles.
B. And I would also say that God wants to do and does do many miraculous things today as well.
1. But there is a couple of problems with that.
2. When we are focusing on the negative things and we are letting our self get in the way—we don’t talk about what God is doing when we socialize with others, we talk about other people.
3. When we are focusing on peoples’ short-comings (which everyone has), it is not possible for us to be filled with awe about what God is doing.
4. And when we are focusing on peoples’ short-comings, we don’t even expect God to do anything miraculous.
5. What we really need to do when we socialize is focus on what God is doing amongst us.
6. How God answered prayer!
7. How God healed Jenny!
8. How thrilled we are that God saved Henry!
9. How excited we are that so many people are coming to pray about their lives each week!
10. How fantastic it is that all of these new people are coming to church!
11. How God has given us all of this building space!
12. How God is supplying all of our needs!
13. How God is bringing us to unity!
14. How the love of the church is growing!
15. Do you see that when we talk about what God is doing, how different things can be?
16. Do you see the difference in the atmosphere when we talk about what God has done instead of what people have done?
17. Do you see what a difference a sense of awe makes in our fellowship and the life of the church?
18. And I believe that if we are filled with awe about what God is doing—God will do exceedingly more than all we can ask or image!
III. The closeness of the believers
Acts 2:44, All the believers were together and had everything in common.
A. The first believers were together and they had everything in common.
B. We are a diverse church.
1. We have rich folks and poor folks (mostly poor folks!).
2. We have old folks and young folks.
3. We have Democrats and Republicans.
4. We have healthy people and people with physical problems.
5. We have people who’ve been to church all their life and people who have just started.
6. We have people from very diverse denominational backgrounds.
7. I’m sure that the first church had all of this same diversity as well.
C. So how can a church full of people with this many differences be together and have everything in common?
1. Because those things don’t really matter!
2. Money doesn’t matter.
3. Age doesn’t matter.
4. Political persuasion doesn’t matter.
5. Health doesn’t matter.
6. Church background doesn’t matter.
7. What matters is what we have in common: We are all sinners in need of a Savior!
8. We have all been to the foot of the cross and seen what Jesus had to go through in order for us to personally be saved from hell.
9. We all have the same love.
10. We all have the same Savior.
11. We all have the same hope.
12. We all have the same Lord.
13. We’ve all had the same baptism
14. Therefore the things that really matter, we DO have in common.
15. And those are things we need to focus on when we socialize!
16. When we socialize we need to focus on God and what He has done.
17. When we fellowship together we need to focus on God and what He is doing.
18. When we fellowship we need to be filled with a sense of awe about what God is doing in our lives and in the church.
19. And when we focus in on God, we will be together and will have all things in common.
20. That is the only way to have a close-knit church family!
21. That is the closeness of the believers; and then there was…
IV. The generosity of the believers
Acts 2:45, Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
A. The first church didn’t have any qualms about sharing their money and possessions with those in need.
1. It was a natural by-product of their fellowship.
2. They were so excited about what God had done for them, they were not hesitant about sharing of their money and possessions with others.
B. And that is a mark of true love.
1. You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving.
2. If we are to be a truly loving community, we will give.
3. If we are to be a truly loving community, we will be generous.
4. Generosity is a mark of a loving community.
5. We won’t get upset every time the offering plate is passed.
6. We won’t get upset if the preacher teaches the apostle’s teaching about money and possessions.
7. We won’t get upset when the hat is passed to help someone out.
8. We won’t be embarrassed to have guests see us pass the offering plate because we enjoy giving.
9. We won’t be embarrassed for God to see how much we give because we are cheerful givers.
10. We don’t hesitate to personally help those who are genuinely in need.
11. Because we have so much in common and because we are so filled with awe about what God has done for us and because we love our brothers and sisters so much, we want to share with them.
12. The early church was not hesitant to sell some of their possessions in order to have something to give to those in need.
13. That is a mark of genuine fellowship: the willingness to give up something so that others can have something.
14. Generosity is a mark of fellowship that we must incorporate into our church in order to build ties that cannot be broken.
15. Generosity will help us to prevail against the gates of hell.
V. The worship of the believers
Acts 2:46, Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.
A. The temple courts is where the early church worshipped.
1. The temple was where the Jews met to worship.
2. Since this was the first church and they didn’t have their own place of worship, they went to the only place they knew of to worship the true God: that was the temple.
3. They didn’t actually go inside the temple to worship in this new way, but they worshipped outside the temple in the temple courts.
B. And notice how often they met together for worship: everyday.
1. They didn’t just get together to worship on Sunday, they met together to worship God everyday.
2. There are a lot of people that have enough trouble getting to church once a week and we might as well forget about everyday.
3. That doesn’t mean that we have less time that they did, because we still have the same 24 hours in a day that they did.
4. It means that we don’t make worship a priority like they did.
5. Because we have enough time in the day to do whatever we really want to do.
6. We make the time to do what has to be done and what we want to do.
C And if we are going to be a church that prevails against the gates of hell we are going to have to make a priority about worshipping with our brothers and sisters.
1. I probably don’t have to tell you that our attendance as been down an average of 10 per week from last year.
2. Is it because God has been blessing us less than last year?
3. Is it because the sermons haven’t been worth hearing this year?
4. Is it because the music isn’t what it used to be?
5. I don’t think so.
6. Are our people going on a lot more vacations?
7. Are our people having more family reunions?
8. Are our people a lot more sick than they used to be?
9. I don’t think so.
10. I believe that God is doing more this year than He has any other year, and yet worship attendance has dropped.
11. Is it because our people have lost interest in God?
12. I don’t think so.
13. I believe the reason is that our attendance has suffered this year is because our fellowship is not what it should be.
14. I believe our love has suffered this year.
15. I believe our unity has suffered this year.
16. I believe we have allowed our self to become too important.
17. But when get to the place that we have fellowship like the early church did, I believe that we won’t want to miss on Sunday mornings.
18. Other things will just have to wait, because we won’t want to miss this opportunity to see our brothers and sisters and worship God together.
19. When our fellowship is the kind of fellowship that the early church had, our worship will be exciting and meaningful and a priority.
20. Because, you see, worship and fellowship go hand in hand; which leads us to the next verse…
VI. The camaraderie of the believers
Acts 2:46, They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
A. The first believers had communion and ate meals together.
1. Why did they do that?
2. They did that to get to know each other.
3. They did that to have fellowship with other believers.
4. They did that to have relationships with other believers.
B. There is something about eating together that builds relationships.
1. We very rarely eat with people that we can’t get along with.
2. We very rarely eat with people that we get into an argument with.
3. It really doesn’t matter whether we eat together in a home or in the church or in a restaurant, there is just something about eating together.
C. Jill and I like to eat and play cards or board games.
1. We like to have people over to eat or play games.
2. I like to win. Jill really doesn’t care about winning, she just wants to fellowship.
D. Other people like other things.
1. Some people like to watch movies.
2. Some people like to work on a project together.
3. Some people like to watch sporting activities together.
4. Some people like to hunt and fish or play basketball.
5. Whatever it is, we need to find ways to build relationships and camaraderie outside the church.
6. We need to find ways to laugh together and have a good time.
7. Proverbs 17:22, A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
8. And I believe that a lack of laughter is what is making a lot of people spiritually and physically unhealthy and we therefore need to do a lot more of it!
9. A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
10. In order to develop fellowship, we need to have a lot of joy-filled camaraderie outside of Sunday morning.
VII. The numbers of the believers
Acts 2:47, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
A. Luke tells us that as a result of this kind of fellowship, the Lord was adding to their numbers daily.
1. You see something happens when God’s people have this kind of fellowship, other people see it and want it.
2. You tell me where else in this world you can find the kind of fellowship that these early believers had.
3. The sad thing is that the world does offer a lot of counterfeit clubs that do offer some fellowship, but not like the kind that these first believers had.
4. These people accepted one another just as they were without judging them or imposing their own rules upon them.
5. And sadly, that is the very reason that churches don’t grow today.
6. This is the reason why people turn to bars to get their fellowship.
7. This is why people look in all the wrong places: because the church is not offering the genuine fellowship that it started with anymore.
8. Because the Bible goes on to tell us that the there were extraordinary numbers of people being saved because of the genuine fellowship that they were enjoying.
9. Acts 4:4, But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.
10. As Luke tells this story, in Acts 2 the church started with 3,000 people and by Acts 4, the number of men is 5,000; so the total number was probably around 15,000.
B. [When God Builds a Church, Bob Russell, Howard Publishing, 2000, p. 199]
Bob Russell has said, "The church exploded in growth because the people loved being together. When you get a group of people together who genuinely believe something and who really enjoy each other, it’s such a contagious atmosphere that you can’t keep people away from it. People assume that smaller churches must have better fellowship and stronger relationships because everybody knows everybody. But churches that genuinely love one another don’t stay small very long."
Conclusion:
A. [Warmth Rather than Light, Citation: Jack R. Van Ens, Leadership, Vol. 8, no. 3.]
People join churches more because they want warmth than light.
We like to think it’s our stunning proclamation of the truth that keeps them in the pews.
Sermons may get them into church the first time, but what keeps them coming are friendships that foster inward awareness and support.
1. I believe our sermons are very helpful to visitors.
2. But is our fellowship warm enough to keep them coming?
3. Is fellowship one of our devotions?
4. Are we filled with a sense of awe about what God is doing?
5. Is there a closeness in our fellowship?
6. Our we generous with one another?
7. Does our fellowship contribute to our worship?
8. Is there a camaraderie amongst us?
9. Is the Lord adding to our numbers daily those who are being saved?
B. [Linked at the Roots, Citation: Blair F. Rorabaugh, Uniontown, Ohio. Leadership, Vol. 12, no. 2]
The article "What Good Is a Tree?" in Reader’s Digest explained that when the roots of trees touch, there is a substance present that reduces competition.
In fact, this unknown fungus helps link roots of different trees--even of dissimilar species.
A whole forest may be linked together.
If one tree has access to water, another to nutrients, and a third to sunlight, the trees have the means to share with one another.
Like trees in a forest, Christians in the church need and support one another.
C. Today I want to ask you personally who you are fellowshipping with.
1. Who in this church do you need to start spending more time with?
2. Who do you need to start laughing and crying with?
3. What is the person’s name?
4. And how are you going to initiate that fellowship this week?
5. With whom and by what means are you going to increase your fellowship beginning this week?
D. Or perhaps today you need to place your membership in this church and start getting serious about building relationships with other believers.
E. Whatever response you need to make, I want to encourage you to make it as we stand and sing, "Bind Us Together."
