The Local Church

Introduction

When I first moved to Versailles, Erin and I would drive often through the rolling hills and horse farms. Mississippi is pretty invariably flat unless you are in the far northeastern part of the state.

I asked her often, “Do you think people ever get used to this?”

Perfectly manicured horse farms, rolling hills, and complete natural beauty.

And I have asked several of you and gotten different answers from each. In general, the answers have been,

Sometimes, the longer we look at something and live in something, the less appreciative of that thing we can become.

This happens in marriages and families, where we live, and our work.

We can become so familiar with something that we forget how special it actually is.

In many ways, I think this is why we are so casual about the local church. So many of us feel like this is a routine of our lives.

We come and go week by week, and somehow the routine causes us to forget that we planted ourselves here for a reason.

The local church is no less glorious than it ever has been.

It may be that you have become so familiar that you have forgotten how glorious it actually is.

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Explanation

Acts 2:42-43 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.”

“They devoted themselves”

Church became a major priority in the lives of the early church.

To “devote” yourself to something means to sacrifice other things in order to commit to that thing.

To say “yes” in devotion to something means that you will have to say “no” to other things.

We will always be able to tell our priorities - not by what we say they are - by what we will always say “yes” to and what we say “no.”

What do you say yes to above the chruch?

How often do you say no to the local church?

The local church revolves around the teaching of the Word of God.

The apostle’s teaching

I am not an apostle. But I teach from the words that the apostle’s wrote. In fact, apostolic authorship or one’s closeness to apostolic authorship was the first way that a book was considered Biblical canon at its formation.

We teach the words that Jesus gave to the apostles, and they taught to others.

We have been planted here to bring life to this community by preaching the truth of the Word of God.

1 Timothy 3:14-15 “I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.”

We are taught these words, and we are heralds of these words to our world. We are the outpost of truth.

In one of my doctoral seminars, a student was describing a postmodern building that was built on a college campus. Corridors led to nowhere. Stairs did not follow conventional guidelines. Doors opened to a wall. The point was the buildings did not have to be held to the conventional standards of our world. When he finished describing this building, my professor quipped, “I bet they didn’t do that with the foundation.”

As the local church, we must see ourselves as the foundation.

We herald truth.

The fellowship - The local church grants community that you cannot receive anywhere else.

We have a supernatural fellowship in the church.

In a culture that is increasingly isolated, we miss God’s calling to each other.

We are called to each other - to love one another, to encourage one another, and to spur one another onward.

We may scoff at the idols of wood and stone that made the Israelites stumble, but our idols are made from some wiring, silicon, a battery, and a piece of glass.

We are a more connected society than the world has ever seen, and we are a more lonely society than the world has ever seen.

It is because we are seen by many and known by few.

Your Facebook friends and Instagram followers are not your real friends.

You need your faith family, and your faith family needs you.

You have a faith family that is encouraged by your presence.

You have people within your faith family who need you to speak life to them.

You have people within your faith family who need to hear you sing.

You have people within your faith family who need your words of wisdom.

You are encouraged by your faith family.

Breaking of Bread and Prayers - The worshipped with one another.

The Lord’s Supper and prayer were also acts of worship for the early church.

Remarkably simple. That’s it. I have a question:

God moved among them.

The church is a supernatural family. God has to do something among us or nothing will happen.

We are not dependent upon good preaching, good music, the right music, the biggest children or student ministry ministries, the best community service projects, or the most spectacular events.

There are other communities that open and read and hear teaching from what they would consider a holy book.

Other communities give sacrificially.

Other communities worship.

But they don’t worship our God. Our has given us ordinary means to know Him, has supernaturally endowed us with his gifts, and inhabited our praise, worship, and service so that he might work in us and through us. That’s the difference.

We want to position ourselves in a way that God has to do something unexplainable by human devices.

Acts 2:44-45 “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.”

The first faith family was very concerned with the well being of one another.

One of the ways the Holy Spirit works in us is to grant us a growing concern for our faith family.

The first faith family was committed to giving and living sacrificially for something that was bigger than themselves.

Sacrifice was financial, but it was also time, heart, effort, and service.

Our God has given us 100% of everything that we own, and we give a portion back as a joyful act of worship because of what He has done.

Acts 2:46-47 “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

They were involved daily in the work of the church. They did community together.

The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community , but the person who loves those those around them will create community.

If your faith family isn’t what you think it should be, that could partially be a reflection upon you. God often opens our hearts to the blind spots of others so that we would help, not run.

They worshipped God consistently and continually.

A faithful family members goes to church, grows as a disciple, gives sacrificially, and takes the gospel to others.

God added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

1 Corinthians 3:6 “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”

I am the 30th pastor of Versailles Baptist Church. Faithful men - wonderful men of God - have come before, and faithful men will come after.

The great, beautiful truth is that all of what has happened here comes from the Lord.

We are but men, you are but men and women. God gives us everything.

He is ever gracious with his bride.

Invitation

Commit to the local church. Join in membership.

Give your life to Jesus and become a part of a vibrant community.