“The Church that God uses...Sticks Together”
Acts 2:42-47
“Three ingredients surface in the book of Acts to show us God’s method of church growth: The inspiration of His Presence, the demonstration of His Power, and the proclamation of a
Person (Jesus).” J. M. MacKnight
In this auditorium this morning, there are thousands of years of collective "experience" in the church. I’m certain that many of you, like myself, can say that we’ve seen the church at its BEST and at its WORST. I wrote down a few thoughts of when the church is at its best and worst...not all are original. I think you’ll relate to some of these:
The church at its best...is WARM and INVITING.
The church at its worst...is COLD and UNWELCOMING.
The church at its best...is marked by COMPASSION
The church at its worst...is marred by CRITICISM
The church at its best...is committed to the GOSPEL
The church at its worst...is committed to TRADITIONS
The church at its best...walks by FAITH
The church at its worst...walks by SIGHT
The church at its best...is focused UPWARD and OUTWARD
The church at its worst...is focused INWARD
The church at its best...is a SPIRITUAL HOSPITAL
The church at its worst...is a SPIRITUAL MUSEUM
The church at its best...is believing its BEST DAYS are AHEAD
The church at its worst...dwells on the GLORY of DAYS GONE BY
When the church is at its best...everyone knows how much WE CARE.
When the church is at its worst...NO ONE cares how much WE KNOW!
***For the church, the challenge has always been “how to be IN the world but not OF the world.”
How do we act behave like “salt and light” without becoming contaminated ourselves?
For some groups the answer has been to make HARD rules and RIGID distinctions that would shield them and their children from becoming worldly...as if creating a “fortress” would keep the world OUT and Christians from wandering.
KEY THOUGHT!: WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE FIRST CENTURY CHURCH in Acts 2, you don’t see a group of believers who WITHDREW from their culture to avoid exposure to sin...rather, you see a group of believers who FORTIFIED themselves in their times together so they could ENGAGE their culture and proclaim Jesus.
***This morning, the outline contains 4 CHARACTERISTICS of the very first church and the result of the church living that way.
Acts 2:42-27
1.) They never got tired of THE BASICS (vs. 42)
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship,
to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
When you look at the “basics” listed in that verse, probably the only thing that jumps out as being “unique” to their experience would be “the apostles’ teaching”...because they had Peter and James and John, and the apostles with them.
• These men who had walked with Jesus
• Who had been with Him as He taught
• Who witnessed His miracles and healings
• Who had been promised the Holy Spirit and His guidance in their understanding of Jesus and His ministry (John 14:25-26 “All this I have spoken whil still with you, but the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”)
• Are NOW teaching and leading this new church.
BUT, lest you think that is an advantage they had that we will never overcome...remember what the New Testament of the Bible contains: Their EYEWITNESS account of Jesus and His ministry and all the Holy Spirit led and inspired applications of that truth for the CHURCH (first century to present!)
**When we READ, STUDY, MEDITATE ON and OBEY the Bible...WE are devoted to the apostles’ teaching too!
The 3 other basics:
“To the fellowship…” This does not mean they were committed to “getting together” (which often passes for fellowship in churches today) The best way to say that would be “They were committed to the shared life.” These believers were convinced that they had something of great value to share with each other. In Romans 1:11-12, Paul expressed it this way: “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong– that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” True biblical fellowship is when I share my LIFE, my GIFTS and my HEART with you...and am willing to receive the same from YOU.
• What does Paul say about the Body in 1 Corinthians 12? That each part NEEDS the other parts.
• Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
• “To the breaking of bread…” This refers to the breaking of bread as a remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice...what we would call “communion” or “the Lord’s table”. We shared communion last Sunday evening and do so every month. Some fellowships do it every week. The indication in the First Century church is that they took the bread and the cup almost every time they were together. SOMEONE would take the bread and the cup and remind them of the sacrifice of Jesus and would say “Our Master and Savior Jesus said that whenever we eat the bread and drink the cup we proclaim His death until He comes again.” A CHURCH THAT GOD CAN USE NEVER LOSES ITS CONNECTION TO THE POWER OF THE CROSS.
• “And to prayer.” Just read through the book of Acts to see how central prayer was to the first Church...They prayed together as they waited for the promised Holy Spirit. They prayed before they preached. They prayed before they went. They prayed before they sent. They prayed when they were before kings. They prayed when they were in prison cells. They prayed before they chose deacons. They prayed before they selected missionaries. Their power can clearly be traced to a dependence on prayer. As we said last week (in greater detail)...THE CHURCH THAT GOD USES PRAYS TOGETHER.
2.) They let GOD BE GOD (v. 43)
“Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.”
There is no doubt that God gave the apostles supernatural gifts (“signs and wonders”) to authenticate their message. The power to heal and do other miracles was given by Jesus to his disciples to show that their message and ministry was from God and as the church as established and the Scriptures were completed...those signs diminished. But the danger today is to assume that God CANNOT or WILL NEVER do anything supernatural. God is God! He can do anything He wants and wills to do.
• Can God heal today (as an example)? Absolutely!
• Does He need a “special” man or woman to do this through? No. But to what extent have we tossed out certain expectations because someone, somewhere has obviously “abused” it?
There is a real danger in us adopting systems that “put God in a box” (and I say this as someone who is not “charismatic”).
I don’t think the early church knew exactly what the ministry of the apostles would include, but they let God be God.
3.) The believers CARE FOR each other. (v. 44-45)
“All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.”
• Those who were a part of this church showed their commitment to each other in the way they shared their possessions with each other as there was need. (Acts 4:32 “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.”) This was not an early form of “communism” because it was completely voluntary and always motivated by love.
The simple question for us as a congregation would be...do you feel that we really pay attention to each other’s needs? Is what you have (be it a little or a lot) available to help and encourage those in your church family?
4.) They spend QUALITY and QUANTITY time with each other (v. 46)
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.”
***You’ve heard some people say, about their marriage or their parenting: “We don’t spend QUANTITY time together, but the time we do spend together is QUALITY time!” I don’t really buy that...I think healthy relationships need BOTH. These believers practiced both:
• They were in the temple courts, using the opportunity of the “daily sacrifices” and the thousands of people who would come to pray and worship then, to talk to people about Jesus, but then they went to each others’ homes… “broke bread” (this time talking about shared meals)...and refreshed and encouraged each other with Christian fellowship.
• I love the two words used to describe their heart-attitude as they fellowshipped together: GLAD and SINCERE. The smile on their face was genuine and the nature of their conversation was “without masks”. Real QUALITY fellowship will always begin with me being REAL...not pretending that things are BETTER than they really are so you think well of me...and not pretending that things are WORSE than they really are so I get your sympathy!
Do we spend enough time with each other to know what each other’s needs are? Can I be real with you and you with me???
4 Characteristics-
Commitment to the basics
Letting God be God
Caring for each other
Spending quality and quantity time together.
5.) We reap the RESULTS together. (v 47)
“Praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
• God was PRAISED. This praise was from the hearts and the lips of the believers. God has made us for FELLOWSHIP...with Him and with each other, and when we are properly connected, it gives us (and our Heavenly Father) great joy.
• The community APPRECIATED them. It won’t be exactly like this for long...persecution was coming...but as they lived out their faith in front of their friends and neighbors, there was a sincere appreciation for these believers. I think sometimes, we believe that to be a Christian is to be seen as SOMBER (even angry), NARROW and JUDGEMENTAL. I’ve found that I can be very positive about the differences in my life and explain why I do certain things and don’t do other things without looking or sounding like I’m condemning. The average person in Jerusalem, looking at the lives of these believers, could find no hypocrisy in the way they lived their lives. They RESPECTED the difference...and that can happen today too.
• New believers were COMMON. What has happened to you? What is the difference between your life and mine? **Evangelistic crusades have their place. **Tracts are helpful. There are all kinds of ways that people are confronted with the claims of Jesus. BUT the changed life...the man or woman or young person that has been transformed by their relationship with the LIVING GOD will always be the most effective witness. The people watching the lives of these Christians were struck by the sincerity of their devotion to God and each other. How amazing if someone were to come up to YOU after observing your daily life, or see the way we relate to each other as a congregation and say- “I want what you’ve got!” That was the daily reality of the church in Jerusalem!
I’m convinced of 3 things this morning:
FIRST- That if I say I love God, I also must love you, my brother or my sister. (1 John 4:20 “If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.”)
SECOND- That to love you will take a commitment of my time and energy and even my resources. James 2:15-16 “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?”
THIRD- When we are UNIFIED and DEVOTED TO ONE ANOTHER IN BROTHERLY LOVE, a hurting world will sit up and take notice! John 17:22-23 “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one; I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
I hope this is the kind of church we want to be...because it’s the only one the world will take seriously!
The church at its best...is WARM and INVITING.
The church at its worst...is COLD and UNWELCOMING.
The church at its best...is marked by COMPASSION
The church at its worst...is marred by CRITICISM
The church at its best...is committed to the GOSPEL
The church at its worst...is committed to TRADITIONS
The church at its best...walks by FAITH
The church at its worst...walks by SIGHT
The church at its best...is focused UPWARD and OUTWARD
The church at its worst...is focused INWARD
The church at its best...is a SPIRITUAL HOSPITAL
The church at its worst...is a SPIRITUAL MUSEUM
The church at its best...is believing its BEST DAYS are AHEAD
The church at its worst...dwells on the GLORY of DAYS GONE BY
When the church is at its best...everyone knows how much WE CARE.
When the church is at its worst...NO ONE cares how much WE KNOW!
