A Great Commission Community

Acts 2:42-47

Jawanza Kunjufu, who has written a book concerning black churches in America, says that only 10 to 20% of churches are empowering people to be bold witnesses for Jesus Christ. According to him, the other 80-90% of American churches fall into the entertainment or containment, just keeping their doors open on Sunday, categories. One reason for this is that in many churches, whether black & white, man-made opinions & traditions that have been handed down over the years are held in higher esteem than the Holy Scriptures handed down by God.

Ask you what you might think a silly question — Do you want this church to be like God’s church? This question needs to be asked because the church of today is slipping. Did you know that the United States is the third largest unchurched nation in the world? That North America is the only continent where Christianity is not growing. That more that 80 percent of all churches in the United States are plateaued or declining?

Spend a little time in Lifeway or Family Christian Book store and you will quickly find books on churches. In particular how to and what makes a successful church. We all know what a successful church is. Lots of people. Big building. Plenty of parking. Family life center. Great worship band. Talented drama team. Thriving youth group. Tons of kids. And last but not least, a championship caliber softball team. This is what you will find in a successful church—and there's nothing wrong with wanting any of these things—but there are two very important things to remember.

• These things do not, in and of themselves, make a church a great church.

• There are tens of thousands of great churches throughout the world that will never have most of the items I mentioned on the successful church list.

We have a tendency to equate successful churches with great churches, and that simply isn't the case. Having a lot of money, or a lot of people, or a good location, or a good marketing strategy is not going to make a church great. There are other elements involved.

Acts 1 & 2 review

Acts 2:42-47

This section comprises the first extensive “summary” in Acts.

V42 - In verse 42 the believers are said to have “devoted themselves” to four practices in their new life together. First was the teaching of the apostles. Just as the apostles had been instructed by Jesus, so they passed along that instruction to the new Christians. The second activity to which they devoted themselves was “the fellowship.” The Greek word used here (koinōnia) is one Paul often employed, but it appears only here in all of Luke-Acts. Its basic meaning is “association, communion, fellowship, close relationship.” The meaning of the third element, “the breaking of bread,” was joined with fellowship, specifically participating in the Lord’s Supper. The fourth and final element of their life together, another expression of their fellowship, was “the prayers."

V43- The longer summary gives a fuller description of the life of the entire Christian community. It begins in verse 43 by referring to the miracles performed by the apostles. The miracles are described with the characteristic combination “signs” and “wonders.” Wonders and miraculous signs authenticated the veracity of the apostles.

V44-45 – The selling of property and the common possession of the proceeds may imply that the early church expected the Lord to return soon and establish His kingdom. Holding everything in common was not socialism or communism because it was voluntary. Also their goods were not evenly distributed but were given to meet needs as they arose. They sold their possessions and shared with those in need. Though definitely not communism, this system of mutual ownership might be called “commonism.” Note the difference: Commonism says, “What’s mine is yours,” while communism says, “What’s yours is mine.”

V46-47 – Here it seems clear that the breaking of bread refers to the eating of regular meals. The joy of their salvation overflowed into every detail of life, gilding the mundane with an aura of glory. Life became an anthem of praise and a psalm of thanksgiving for those who had been delivered from the power of darkness. The Christian fellowship grew by conversions each day. Those who heard the gospel were responsible to accept Jesus Christ by a definite act of the will. The Lord’s electing and adding does not rule out human responsibility.

In this chapter, then, we have had the account of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Peter’s memorable address to the assembled Jews, the conversion of a great multitude, and a brief description of life among the early believers.

TODAY’S KEY TRUTH

A Great Commission Community focuses on what and who matters.

In verse 42 Luke defines the priorities of the early church. He tells us what really mattered to them. Listen. (v. 42) And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Let's look at how these apply to our church today.

a. The Apostles' Teaching . Remember, they didn't have the New Testament yet—most of the books wouldn't be written for a number of years—but they did have the teaching of the Apostles. These were men who had spent years at the feet of Jesus, learning all that he had to teach them. The apostles' teaching was authoritative; it was the word of God for the men and women of the early church. Their teaching eventually found its way into the books of the New Testament, and this is our authority. We need to devote ourselves to the apostles' teaching—which is the Word of God. If we want to be a great church, we need to be a church of the Word.

One of the goals of my ministry is to encourage those within my sphere of influence to make it a lifelong habit to spend time in the Word every day of their lives. God's Word is wisdom for those who need wisdom, it's power for those who are weak, it's encouragement for those who are discouraged, it is hope for those on the brink of despair, it is life for those who are facing death. There is power in the Word of God; if we want to be a great church we must become a church of God's Word. We need to devote ourselves to it. We need to preach it from the pulpit, we need to teach in our Sunday School classes and home Bible studies, we need to sing it in our worship songs, we need to memorize it word for word and hide it in our hearts so that we might not sin against God, and we need to learn to live it every day of our lives. What matters? The apostles' teaching—the Word of God.

b. Fellowship . Being with one another is a priority. Fellowship. The time we spent together talking, and eating, and laughing, and playing. These are important. What matters? Fellowship.

c. The breaking of bread . Luke is specifically referring to the communion service. Communion was important to the early church because it kept them connected to the death of Christ; it kept them mindful of his sacrifice. Jesus said:

"This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me. …This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." (1 Corinthians 11:24-25)

Every time the early believers came together for worship, they took communion. You want my opinion? I think it's a great idea. It's not always feasible in every church situation, so we can't allow ourselves to become legalistic about it, but it's crucial for the health of our congregation that we make the remembrance of his death a vital part of our worship. That's the key—it's not just the ritual of the wine and bread, it's remembering what it stands for. When we worship together — even on those Sundays when we are not able to partake of the communion ritual — we need to be careful to remember the significance of Jesus' death. It is because of his death that we live, that we can know God's forgiveness and taste God's mercy and experience God's power. The disciples were devoted to the breaking of bread so that they could remember the death of Jesus, and this matters to us, too. A fourth priority of the early church was:

d. Prayer . Be still and know that I am God...(Psalm 46:10)

My challenge to the church today is that we get into the habit of devoting ourselves to prayer. Let's make it a priority.

The Word, fellowship, remembering the death of Jesus, spending time in prayer. These are things which take place on Sunday morning—or, at least, they should. These are, of course, seven-day-a-week priorities, and we need to be especially careful to implement them in each worship service. When we come together, we need to take time to open the Word of God and let it speak to us. We need to spend time in fellowship with one another, enjoying one another's company. We need to take time to reflect on the death and resurrection of Jesus—we do this not only when we take communion, but also when we sing hymns. And we need to take time to pray. Not long, drawn-out stained glass churchy prayers, but simple and earnest prayers about the needs of the church and the needs of one another and our desire for God to move among us.

If we want to be a great church, we need to define what matters, and we need to design our worship services around it. But we also need to focus on who matters.

(v. 44) And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing with them all, as anyone might have need.

These verses answer the question, "Who matters?" You know the answer? It's not you and it's not me. It's we. We matter. The early church took community seriously. They spent time together in fellowship. They spent time together in each other's homes. They ate together. They shared with one another. They sacrificed for one another. They took care of each other. They understood the concept of community, and we have much to learn from their example.

This is where small churches today have an advantage. Everything we do, we do as a family. As our church continues to grow, we need to remember that we will never get past the community phase. We are, permanently, a community. A family. This will never change. We have to look out for each other. Paul said:

Do you want to know something I like about this church? It's sometimes hard to get you quiet. It's time for the service to begin and you're still chatting it up with one another. Do you know what else I like about this church? It's hard to get you out of here. Even 30 minutes after the service has ended, people are still hanging around talking, laughing, spending time with one another. I've been in churches where this wasn't the case.

The early church spent time together. They worshiped together. They went from house to house breaking bread together and sharing meals with one another. And they also took care of each other. They had the attitude that, "Your needs are more important than my wants. I'll sacrifice my extras if it will provide you with some of the basics." And the Bible says that they sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with one another. This did not become standard practice in all churches, and it didn't occur in Jerusalem as a result of heavy-handed legalism. No one was forced to give up their belongings—nothing like that. This sharing of resources happened as a result of love. Many of the early believers were extremely poor. It wasn't that they didn't have enough money to upgrade to digital cable—they didn't have enough money to buy food. And so some of the affluent believers sold some of their possessions and contributed the proceeds to be used to meet the needs of those who had nothing. The point here is not socialism but compassion. We don't live in a socialist society, but God has called us, the church, to be compassionate with one another and look out for one another. If we want to be a great church, then we need to nail down the question of who matters. We matter. The community of believers here. We're called to love one another—that's what a great church does.

We need to remember always that we are not a closed community. Listen to how Luke completed this passage.

(v. 47) And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

LIFE APPLICATION

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