...And there's more! Again!

So our reference point is Eden. Jesus came to make the way, show us the truth about life (as opposed to the lies that Satan and the rest of evil and “darkness” gives us), and He is the life…and that’s based on what true life, full life is…He was dead but it could not hold Him.

He’s showing us what we’ve lost. What we’re missing. What we sometimes can’t see....to expose the lies we’ve been told.

Longing - We are creatures of longing. When we misdiagnose the object of this longing, then we become frustrated and disappointed. Our longings for relationship often get frustrated in conflict. Our longings for satisfaction get frustrated in discontent. Our longings for significance get frustrated by our own inadequacies. J. R. R. Tolkien diagnoses the roots of our longing: “We all long for Eden, and we are constantly glimpsing it: our whole nature at its best and least corrupted, it gentlest and most humane, is still soaked with a sense of exile.” The longings of our hearts are frustrated from this exile, but these longings are properly satisfied in the dwelling place of God originally found in Eden. ~ GK Beal

So we’re going to cover the last part of Acts 2. This is specifically the birth of the church…and I believe even more than that...in this passage.

The questions we’re going to cover are simple: What do we see happening? Why? Hint....our reference point.

Quick review....the last couple of weeks we’ve looked at Jesus ascension into Heaven…He said he needed to leave so the next move of God could take place…and that was the gift of the Holy spirit promised first to the apostles…and then to all believers in Christ afterwards. And we saw that beginning last week at Pentecost...

This week we’ll look at the outflow of that event. God’s spirit coming back to live with people. A step closer to restoring Eden.

So let’s take a peak at culture for just a second. Human culture.

People, for the most part, are pushed and taught to live individualistically. We are pulled to live private lives without interference from the outside…and this could be other people or culture at large.

We’re glued to our screens sometimes in our own world of entertainment. And sometimes even social media has that false sense of community.

Recent data from just a few years ago showed that most people will hold an average of 12.3 different jobs in their life.

Around 4 years per job.

If you focus in even more…millenials are saying that they expect to change jobs every 3 years.

Remember when a star athlete would stay in a hometown just because they loved the place and the people…it was more about roots. And now its common to see an athlete shop around…to see who’ll pay them the most.

Relationships have taken on a different look…the idea of change seems very normal…even to the point of people having a number of marriages in their life…or not becoming married but having different live-in relationships.

Individualistic…not really committed to a family or a community.

The idea of community, commitment to a community is becoming rare…or even alien in this culture.

Like Tolkien noticed…we search and search for something that fully satisfies, fully signifies, and fully fulfills.

Unfortunately, if we don’t look to God…we look to ourselves.

Remember our reference point…what we lost. Community with God and each other.

Imagers of God…a family…in community…to love each other as we love ourselves…all while loving God with everything we have…no sin.

That was the goal. Multiply and fill the earth…cover the earth with the glory of God. And that would have happened…But sin separated us from God. His spirit separated from us…His presence somewhere else rather than in us.

So we are kind of fulfilling part of the master plan…we’re filling the earth…but with our own images. God is reversing that though and we see that beginning here in the first part of Acts.

I’m going to read Acts 2:42-47 and just listen for somethings that you maybe can key in on…as we think about our world/culture today…and our reference point of separation…separation from God and each other.

where we ended last week was this…and about three thousand were added to their number that day. The day

Acts 2:42–47 CSB

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. 44 Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. 45 They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

An incredible image of community…what true community could look like.

Outsiders looking in…I wonder what they thought.

I wonder if this is a picture of something to the world?

Something that the world desperately desires…longs after…wishes they were a part of …or more specifically…realizes they are missing.

Meaning…they are realizing this is what they were meant for…community with each other and community with God.

Not perfect…we know we’re in the broken world…but yeah…a picture of what was…and what’s coming.

And Jesus is at the center of it all.

Most all of these people grew up Jewish…with a huge connection to what that meant as the people of God…now God’s next move…through God’s people the whole world is going to be blessed…and they, that group 3000 + are the beginnings of this promise coming true. The promise of a new king…jesus…in the line of King David…just as promised...

And the new Kingdom.

All things…all things are being reborn…the curse of sin is being reversed…and they are there to witness and be a part part of God’s plan.

In one community -- the Village atheist was not a bad man. He just didn’t believe. He wasn’t interested in church…and there was only one church in the area. And this church was,-- well, mostly a social club. Heartlessly and spiritually dead—no conversions or decisions for Christ had been made for some time. One day the church building literally caught on fire, and everyone, the whole town ran to help extinguish the flames…including the village atheist! Someone noticed the village atheist and hollered out: “Hey, this is something, this is the first time we’ve ever seen you running to church!” The atheist replied, “This is the first time I’ve ever seen the church on fire!”

Quickly…what did we see in this group?

Verse 42 says....Devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and to the prayers or some translation just says prayer. In the next verses Luke details these things for us…expands them a little.

The Apostles were teaching…and the group, as Luke puts it…devoted themselves to the teaching. If this is God’s plan…they were all in. They wanted to know what the OT (as we know it now…then it would have been their Bible)…what those passages meant.

They wanted to see how Jesus fit in to all of this. They wanted to know more about Him…the one who is the way, truth, life…and what all of that meant.

The apostles are caring for these new believers. Shepherding them. Very much a model today for church leadership.

And…very much…the apostles were beginning to fulfill that part of Jesus marching orders…take this message to the ends of the earth. (what we call the great commission)

So in 43 we see people were filled with awe and that there were signs and wonders the apostles were doing. Healings etc. So what we see is the apostles were teaching…and backing up that teaching with verification…sings and wonders were often accompanied the teachings…God’s Spirit and God’s plan through history and scripture wasn’t just understood…God’s spirit was seen and felt....and everyone was filled with Awe.

They devoted themselves to the fellowship…meaning…this is more than just a social club. This is the beginning of the new Kingdom. And they, I think, had a sense of how important…how awesome it was to be a part of the group that would grow to keep spreading the news of Jesus…and God’s glory…all over the planet. They devoted themselves to each other…their fellowship.

Most all of these people grew up Jewish…with a huge connection to what that meant as the people of God…now God’s next move…through God’s people the whole world is going to be blessed…and they, that group 3000 + are the beginnings of this promise coming true. The promise of a new king…jesus…in the line of King David…just as promised...

And the new Kingdom…that they are now a part of.

And here in 44 and 45 Luke lets us know that part of what’s happening is this…this fellowship is sharing and serving each other. They had everything in common…they sold property to give as people had need. This wasn’t forced as in socialism or communism…this is from the heart. Those who had...gave. Those who needed...received. A neat, continuing picture, of Jesus washing the disciples feet. I have no doubt that there were very wealthy people in this group…and very poor. And it wasn’t that the wealthy sold everything and became poor…they just adopted the attitude that what they had was God’s …and they were content to give abundantly. They shared and served.

Verse 46 continues to talk about this idea of fellowship. The met together in the temple…everyday (which wasn’t uncommon for these Jewish people). They probably went there on nearly a daily basis for prayer… or faced that direction... at least three times a day as was what the law of Moses called them to. But now the context has changed. They are becoming the temple…God’s spirit living in each of them. They are praying in a new way…not feeling at a distance…but near God.

They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread. This means a couple of things…but mainly one. Continuing in verse 46 they continued to meet also in houses to break bread. This does point to what we know as communion…but in that time a meal was involved. It wasn’t just a Matzah cracker and a little cup of juice. It was bread and the drink for the meal…used to remember Jesus…to point to Jesus and what He did and who He is.

And how did they meet together and eat? It says they ate their food With glad and sincere hearts....and what did that lead to? Praise.

These were sincere people. No expectations of what the “church meeting” should be like. This was now life…living with God and with the people of God. Church wasn’t a building. It wasn’t a service. It was living a little closer to God’s first intentions…loving God with all you have and loving each other as yourself. All while giving praise to God.

And what happened as this group began to live life together…out of sincerity…?

God added to their number daily.

The apostles were teaching…the people were remembering Jesus and caring for each other. Spending time together…not living separate individualistic lives…searching in their own ways to satisfy their longings for life.

And out of all of this…praise filled the group.

They were beginning to learn again…what it means to love God with everything you have…and to love each other as yourselves.

This group was/is a picture of that. Love God…Love people.

This group was and is…even to this day…a picture (not a perfect one yet)…but a picture of what we lost in Eden

As Tolkien said…everyone has a sense of loss…somethings not right....we all feel like we’re in exile. We’re all missing what humanity had in Eden…living in the presence of God.

The church …us…we’re a picture for the world to see. We are witnesses to the truth. And we carry the message that Jesus is the key to it all. Let’s live this out well. We give the world the picture…the message…that all we searching for is found in Jesus and the Spirit He gives.

This is who we are.

I’m sure you know people who need this picture…not only this picture but this reality.

Let this idea grow in your heart…that you are a part of this movement …God drawing all people back to Him.