Passage: Acts 2:42-47
Intro: Growing up in the church as I have, I have seen many churches and heard of many others.
1. among most Christian churches, I found the same basic program going on.
2. opportunities to be instructed, Sunday School, worship services, kids clubs, VBS, Bible Studies, etc.
3. opportunities to get together, often around learning but not always.
-softball, picnics, retreats, camps
4. opportunities to eat either in a large group or a small one, or communion
5. and prayer opportunities, again sometimes in league with learning, other times by itself.
6. look at the bulletin today, you will see these four opportunities.
7. so that is what makes a church successful then, right? If it offers the programs, what else is there?
8. certainly the same Holy Spirit indwells us today.
8. the church in Acts was unusual, powerful, evangelistically effective. Why?
9. in obedience to the Holy Spirit, they…
I. Reprioritized Their Time
1. 3000 people joined the original 120 believers.
2. it is the most common name for the individual members of the church in Acts
3. they responded to Peter’s 3 minute sermon, repented and publicly confessed their faith in Christ through baptism.
4. now what?
5. v42 has a very powerful word, also v46
6. word means “adhere to, persist in, busy oneself with, be busily engaged in, be devoted to.”
Il) Longnecker in commentary (The Expositors Bible Commentary) defines it this way: “a steadfast and single-minded fidelity to a certain course of action.”
Il) several years ago, a few of us (at my suggestion) bought a 21 foot sailboat. I was rarely so single-minded as I readied it for action, fixed things and bought things. Jan was amazed at aher normally laid-back husband.
7. that’s the word that describes these people of the early church.
8. whenever the church met, they were there! And the church met every day!
9. I don’t see anyone with a whip in this passage!
10. doesn’t mean they quit their jobs, but “getting together with the believers” became an extremely high priority in their lives.
11. show me your calendar and I will show you your priorities.
Il) Satan makes this a favorite target. I introduced a new fish into my saltwater tank this week, and the more aggressive opponents are especially focused on keeping him from eating.
12. notice that there is a decided absence of entertainment in this listing of what the church did.
13. I’m afraid in the American church today, entertainment value is cherished above the simple truth.
Il) “In America God favors all of those who possess both a talent and a format to amuse, whether they be preachers, athletes, entrepreneurs, politicians, teachers or journalists.” Neil Postman, “Amusing Ourselves to Death”
Il) I once heard a serious Christian remark about a really fine preacher I know, “He’s like a stand up comedian”
15. the church is effective when it’s people make time for the really important work of celebrating our faith together.
II. Reprioritized Their Wealth
1. I looked at several sermons about this passage, and this part was given very little play.
2. we are uncomfortable because it sounds so radical, communal, communist!
3. but it’s a lot more simple than that.
4. these people, from every socio-economic strata, became a family.
5. they learned together, they ate together, they worshiped God together, they called each other “brother and sister”
6. they all had the same Father, and they all had experienced the same life-changing indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
7. and because they were family, they shared.
8. v44 powerful, radical. They “had everything in common”
9. there was no “mine” or “yours”, but only “ours”
Il) MacKinney family reunions were great! Lived together, sang together, played together. All those people packed in one car! And the food!! WE were all one big family for a week!
10. no one in this early church considered holding on to property in the face of a need in the family, (at least not until chapter 5)
11. because the body of Christ was a priority, there was no part of their life that was immune to that priority.
12. I’ve watched so many plans hatched over the years to separate believers from their money.
Il) “give to get” appeals to the flesh
13. here is God’s plan. You are part of a family, so act like it.
14. the family has needs. Spiritual needs, physical needs, social needs.
Il) many here are “breadwinners”. We sacrifice time, energy, in order to provide for our family. And we don’t see it as unusual or radical. It is what we are called to do.
15. we give so that children can learn about Jesus, so the lost can be found, so the Hewa people and the people of Africa and Mexico and Russia can learn about Jesus, to support the Gospel proclamtion
16. the greatest barrier to meeting the needs of the body is selfishness.
Il) we all cringe when we hear of a father who drinks up his paycheck week after week. Family starves because of his selfishness.
17. by the power of the Spirit the needs of the family take precedence over our desire to accumulate.
18, and in the process, we are freed from what Jesus calls “the deceitfulness of wealth”
19. by the power of the Spirit, these believers viewed their wealth as a tool for the benefit of others, and not as an end in itself.
III. God Reprioritized Their Purpose
1. there are two references to the response of those outside the church.
2. first in v43, “everyone was filled with awe”. Word is phobos,=”fear”
3. this kind of movement within a relatively small city could not be ignored
4. people were being radically changed, normal activity was being replaced with the abnormal.
5. and in addition, the apostles were doing signs and wonders in public.
6. secondly, vv46-47 tell the story in greater detail.
7. there was a spontaneous and attractive joy about these believers in Jesus Christ.
8. they were different! They had every reason to be down, but clearly their joy came from something other than the circumstances of their lives.
9. they were still under Roman domination, many were losing their property and goods, their leader had been executed and was absent, many were homeless and unemployed.
10. but their joy came from another source.
11. they were forgiven, they enjoyed a reconciled relationship with God, they had a bubbling fountain of joy indwelling their lives, the Holy Spirit, they were participating in a joyous family.
12. and this irrepressible gladness was contagious.
13. “the favor of all the people”; they were filled with love that spilled out to others.
14. “the Lord added…daily”
15. God was using them as He intended; to be the testimonies of the life-changing, life-giving power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
16. the apostles were teaching Jesus, and the church was demonstrating the change that faith in Jesus brings.
Il) vacuum cleaner salesman selling machine at a farmhouse. "If my vacuum cleaner won’t pick up all this dirt I just spilled, I’ll eat it." Farmers wife replies, "Here’s a spoon. We don’t have any electricity."
17. here is God’s clear purpose. The powerful combination of verbal proclamation and changed lives=salvation
18. this brings a whole new purpose to life
19. God put His whole plan in the hands of the church.
Conc. We do not exist to just “be a church”, but to be God witnesses concerning the life-changing power of Jesus Christ.
1. this change is manifested before a watching world in the reprioritization of our time, our wealth, and our joyful embracing of God’s purpose for us.
2. And this is the plan that God used to turn the world upside down.
3. Be part of God’s plan, and discover true purpose.
