Acts 2:42-47 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 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, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Intro: This past Wednesday night, our small group had a big mix of people who were new to the group and some who had been together for years. Just to help break the ice a bit, I asked everyone to go around the room tell how long each one has attended North River and why they still come. I’ll protect the confidentiality of the group by not quoting anyone directly, but the stories and perspectives offered were interesting. Some had been part of North River for ten years or more, while others were new. Most described strange reactions to their first encounter of this church that met in a warehouse. Some said they continue to come because of the teaching. Some made jokes about their first experience of our worship style, but find they continue because the worship draws them back. One spoke of North River friends as “my family”, while another described North River’s passion and goals for ministry.
Transition: The stories shared around that circle pointed out all at once the different values which draw us to North River and the common vision which binds us together as we look toward the future. This morning we are wrapping up this series about Vision and Values. As we do that I want to invite you to join me in looking at what makes vision happen. My dominant conviction is that whatever made vision stick which the earliest band of Christians will be the keys to our future as well.
Two Explosive Forces…
1. Devotion to the values of the original church.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 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, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people….”
a. Defintion: “Unswerving fidelity to a cause or to a person”.
b. Devotion and Fidelity reminds us of Marines.
1) The Marine motto is the Latin words Semper Fidelis = “always faithful.”
2) You don’t have to be perfect to have that kind of devotion. But it does take consistency.
3) Recently, I have been reading Stephen Ambrose’s book, Band of Brothers. The book describes the training and experiences of one company of paratroopers in World War II, tracing their steps from their initial jump on D-Day through the end of the war in Germany. At one point, these men from Company E or “Easy Company” were ordered into the battle for the Ardenne Forest. As they marched their way toward Bastogne, they passed other men who had run from the battle because they were outmanned and outgunned. Those men who ran stood in direct contrast to the paratroopers from Easy Company, whose men experienced such a bond of community that their wounded would often talk their way out of rehab hospitals before they were fully healed so that they would not have to fight later with some other group of less committed soldiers.
2. The Hand of God.
“And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
a. Luke (writer of Acts) infers that the Lord blesses those who are fully devoted.
b. There are evidences of the Lord’s hand throughout the Scriptures.
1) Joseph in Egypt: “The Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did”
2) The Lord’s hand was upon Abraham
3) The Lord’s hand was upon David as a shepherd, as a warrior, and as a king
c. Listen to these descriptions of the Lord’s blessing on the early church.
1) “Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.”
--Acts 5:14
2) “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of
priests became obedient to the faith.” – Acts 6:7
Our part in Making Vision Happen…
1. Devoting Ourselves to the values God has blessed.
• Steve Case from AOL – “A Vision without a plan of action is a hallucination.”
• Old Adage: “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.”
a. Teach what the apostles taught.
1) The first church of Jerusalem was a church on fire because of their devotion to the apostolic gospel.
2) New England is dotted with churches in decline because they felt it more expedient to water down…
3) The church always loses its edge when it moves away from the faith of the apostles.
4) Being devoted to the faith of the apostles is about content, not style.
b. Develop a devoted loyalty to the fellowship.
1) There is an Incredible degree of potential in the Community of Christ.
2) You are not just joining a club. You are joining a family.
3) I meet people who “church shop” for years… Sometimes I want to grab hold of them and just say
“Settle down somewhere” because they never fully experience or contribute to the fellowship.
c. Minister by meeting the needs of others.
1) “They had everything in common.”
2) Doesn’t’ mean they were socialists. Couldn’t have been – because some keep selling land…
3) Meant they met real needs as soon as they could instead of waiting for someone else to do it.
d. Worship and praise the Lord regularly.
1) They prayed together. They met in homes. They praised God together. They had public worship.
2) Being a Christian or a Christ-follower means more than just what we believe, Christians are marked
by their devotion to worshiping the Lord together. It shapes us. It changes us. It emboldens us.
e. Share the gospel with the expectation that Jesus saves.
2. Putting the Diamond in every heart.
a. The base paths illustrate how we balance the 5 purposes of Christ.
1) Fellowship Discipleship Ministry Mission Worship
b. Some things you should know about the Purpose Driven model:
1) Diamonds are forever.
2) It takes Time and Pressure to make a valuable diamond.
3) You only give diamonds to people you love.
4) The baseball diamond represents the spiritual DNA of the church.
5) Our goal is to put the diamond in every small group, in every ministry, in every heart.
3. Investing our Resources in ministry.
“All the believers had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.” Acts 2:44-45
a. Notice what is being described:
1) The first statement describes their Attitude.
2) The second statement describes their Actions.
b. Two ways to Invest:
1) Meet needs individually.
2) Meet needs through the collective efforts of the fellowship.
• In addition to their regular offerings, they sometimes made sacrificial gifts.
• Chapter 2 – Some sold possessions and goods and gave to others.
• Chapter 4 – Some even sold land or houses and put the money at the feet of the apostles.
• I want to encourage you to regularly invest in what God is doing here at North River.
a) Start by giving an offering to the Lord as part of your worship.
b) Then work as becoming a “principled giver” = what tithing is all about.
• Just talked with a new Christian this week who has started tithing… Great!
c) Many of us are in the middle of a 3-year “above and beyond” pledge for the building.
d) That is “sacrificial” – Will you join us in that effort?
• A friend who attends an Episcopal church in an affluent town nearby make a comment to me this week. They’re amazed at how a church like North River can manage to go from owning nothing to building this facility when they can agree on how to launch a small addition! He’s thinking that maybe he ought to start coming here!
c. Notice the two bi-products of these commitments:
1) They enjoyed the favor of all the people.
2) The Lord added to their number daily.
DEVOTE OURSELVES
PUT THE DIAMOND IN EVERY HEART
INVEST Your RESOURCES in God’s work
