Devoted to the Basics

Introduction

Series Recap

Week 1 - Introduction and the ascension of Jesus

that the disciples would receive power to be witnesses to those in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the rest of the world

then Jesus ascends to Heaven where he intercedes for all believers while siting at the right hand of the father

Week 2 - All return to Jerusalem where they wait on the promise and they select Matthias as the Apostle to replace Judas

Week 3 - Last week with Roger

of course I gave him the difficult job of taking that big chunk of scripture, but he did a great job

the spirit came to empower them to share the gospel, the apostles share the gospel, and people believed the gospel

leaving off with 3000 people accepting Christ

Today - Devoted to the Basics

What are the basics of our Faith

it was a theme at Children’s Camp

Believe, Ask, Serve, Impact and Celebrate

If I were to ask you what are the basics to our faith… what would your mind come up with

In our passage today, Luke tells us the basics of what the early church looked like

their interactions and how they served the Lord and each other

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.

PRAYER!

How the passage it broken down

v42 is explained by the rest of the passage

remember this is history, not an instructional passage

meaning we do not have to repeat what they were doing to be a church

we do need to learn from the history of the first church and apply what we learned

We must be in awe of what it is that Jesus has done for us. When we live in awe, the devotion to doctrine, fellowship, and worship flow naturally.

Devoted to Doctrine

I love to talk about doctrine…

Doctrine - a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a Church

I enjoy reading about it, discussing it with different people and pastors

I enjoy going to listen different people talk about it

I had to realize that not everyone one who had a book, spoke at a school or conference had special insight or special understanding to doctrine

everyone has a different angle or belief that they come from when they look at scripture

we get into a lot divisions in churches and communities because of doctrine

there are catch phrases that one could use that would cause some to get anxious or defensive just in hearing

rather it be talking about tongues, calvinism

I have my opinion on these topics, doctrines

but I think that we get so caught up in them, whatever one is our favorite to talk about because we are not in awe of the gospel

Acts 2:43 (CSB)

43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles.

Everyone was filled awe and…

I am sure they were in awe of the signs and wonders, it is not just the signs and wonders

they are in awe of everything that God has been doing

they are only two months out from the resurrection!

it was not just the signs and wonders but the entirety what God was doing through them that left them standing in awe

the teaching and the miracles

The apostles teaching was verified by the gifts

the gifts were not something given just because the holy spirit had come

remember! what was the power in verse 8 given for, to be witnesses

the signs and wonders the apostles were doing verified that they were empowered by God

similar to Jesus, “So that you know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sin, stand up take your mat and walk.”

What did the apostles teach

what they had been taught

Jesus told them that they were clean, because of the word that he spoke over them

the word of God cleanses, and this word that Jesus taught them, they now were teaching others

they were taught by Jesus after the resurrection how the entire OT pointed to him

how he had to live, die and rise again to save his people

what they saw

that is how they knew the signs and wonders

they did and taught what they heard and saw

not what they felt, it was not teaching their emotions

your emotions and feelings are not doctrine

when we base our beliefs on feelings we become the barometer of truth,

if I am listening to somebody teach something that is making me feel bad, or simply isn’t making me feel good about me, then it cannot be true

God is love and wants me to feel good

God is not wanting you to be happy, he is making you holy

sometimes that feels bad because is will be removing the unholy things from your life

We cannot be persuaded by every wind of teaching

Titus - Elders are to be able to teach

meaning they know how to combat false doctrine

gnostic gospels - questions about them from different people lately that have read about them online

like the gospel of Peter and the Gospel of Enoch

What the gnostics believe - Jesus was not God because God was a separate entity and would not enter his creation

compare them to scripture

I would not tell you not to read… compare if they contradict, they are a false gospel, if it is false, then none of it can be trusted

We read scripture to know God and hear from God

reading a false gospel will lead you to a false god

it will change the way to salvation

it will change the character of God

we hold firm to the teaching of the disciples, the gospel that is unchanging

the only way to salvation

we do not chase after the signs and wonders that they were performing, but the truth that their signs pointed to

we should be in awe of all that God has done and is doing,

we should be in awe of the gospel and that is what links us together!

Devoted to Fellowship

We know that fellowship does not mean eating… but I feel obligated to make a joke about the two -

it is like one of those things that all pastors do, they teach it in seminary or something

it might be good one day to do a sermon series on biblical fellowship

but to spare you, it will just be a short part of the message today

Acts 2:44–45 (CSB)

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.

Fellowship = Holding all things in common

the word means alike, or likeness

we get the our word for coin from the greek word

we are not united because of a common worldly things

people naturally gather together with those who are like minded

it could be the love of a sports team, the hatred of another

I do not have a college team that I am just all in on… but I do tend to root for those that are against the Jayhawks.

it could be political lines

there are some here today that thought if there were more people in the church that were democrats than republicans you would not attend church here

it could be because you have kids the same age, in the same schools

my fear as a pastor, we are quicker and feel more comfortable being with people over worldly reasons than we do our spiritual likeness

community built on anything worldly fades when the worldly things change

maybe your kids are not in the same school, or on the same team

the common thing that brought them together was their love of Jesus

Their fellowship is selfless

Selfish fellowship only is sustained as long as you are getting what satisfies you

but as soon as you do not get what you want out of it, you no longer feel the need to participate

based on the love of Christ, means we love our neighbor as ourself - so for those in their community that had need, those that had sold so that it could be provided

everyone who had a need was taken care of

this means that they were so close, in fellowship that they knew what needs were in their community

how often do we hear about things our neighbors are going through and we say, I had no idea this was a problem

this was not communism taught by the apostles and to disappoint my German friend who has been excited about this text, it is not socialism either

not instructed - Jesus did not instruct them to give what they had to caesar so that the government could take care of the poor

not mandated by the apostles teaching or the new church community that they found themselves in

we will look later at Ananias and Sapphira who lied about what they sold their property for

they both separately dropped dead when they lied about what they sold the field for

not based on your desire to serve the other

but based on the needs of the others

this is one of those places that we have to remember Acts is a historical book, not an instructional letter like the epistles

Luke is not telling us this so that we know we must all begin to sell what we have and give it away

but it is in scripture for us to learn from

We give cheerfully, generously, and unashamedly

We give to those who need not because of a mandate, but because we love our neighbor as ourselves

I had one person tell me recently, if the churches did this more on a regular basis, maybe it would not be left for the government to do

we do not get to manage the gift

there are people who will take advantage of things

I am not saying that with benevolence that we do not pay directly to the utility company, we do not simply give cash

but we also do not sit back and criticize the other aspects of their life

we gave them $50 for groceries and they bought the name brand Oreos!

Will we get taken advantage of… probably

I am sure it has happened and will probably happen again

but we should be unashamed in our generosity

Fellowship based on the gospel leads us to know each other spiritually, loving each other on deeper levels than just superficial things

as such care for one another and take care of needs this way of life, leads to a community of worship

Devoted to Worship

We all know what a bandwagon fan is…

liking a team because it is trendy, or the team is doing good without being invested in it

in 2014 and 15 there were a lot of people that started cheering on the Royals,

they were fun to watch

they were winning

they have not been very good the last few years, suddenly not as many people are watching them

too many people are bandwagon God fans

when things are going good,

we love God, cheer for him

then we get to the point where we do not think that we need him

when things are going bad

we blame him for a while

then we realize our own fault and cry out to him

this is what it was like in the OT for the Israelites

when things were going good, they loved God

then the did not think that the needed God

then they blamed him in their difficulties

then they turned to him

Acts 2:46–47 (CSB)

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.

Worship is not just a part of the service

many for a long time made worship to be the music

preaching and hearing the word of God proclaimed is worship as well

Worship is not just on Sundays

back in the day… Church on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, Wednesday mornings…

now, Sunday mornings and Wednesdays for the kids, us adults are too busy

It is easy to say, that is the world we live in…

the different entities have put different things on these days and times that used to be no go zones

when I got here 17 years ago, not just no events on Wednesday nights, but practices got out earlier on those nights so that kids could make it to church events

now we have scheduled events on the school calendar

all of these things may be true… I am not saying that we should leave, boycott, or any of those things

let your voice be heard about it, respectfully

This is simply an illustration that we have put worship in our minds of a certain place at a certain time

it has been that way for a long time

and we are letting that time shrink more and more

The disciples got together with the bond of the gospel and led them to worship with one another

does this mean they only spoke of God? No…

but they did speak of God and all that he has done because of the awe they had for him

are you in such awe of him

they would break bread in their homes, go to the temple together, share the gospel together

they were together all the time, based on their love of the Lord

together in small groups in their home

this is where they would break bread together, pray together

breaking bread is not simply a meal

meals in this culture are an intimate thing

when they reclined at the table, was not in chairs like we have, but but almost laying

but when they would break the bread and give thanks, it would immediately remind them of the Lord

when we are together outside of this place are we doing things together that lead us to worship the Lord

are our conversations, our interactions even in the world, such that they lead us to worship

together in larger, corporate worship of him in the temple

they were getting together all the time in the temple to declare their love for the lord

The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved

does that mean that people watched them and wanted what they had, maybe some

but it also means that people could see the love they had for their savior, and they were so in love with him that they wanted to share it with others

One of the best things I remember hearing from a child at a volleyball game

they looked up at the stands and said, “Its like our whole church is here.”

may we be so in love with Jesus and hearing his gospel that we long to fellowship together, but that we do so in a way that leads others to Christ.

and prayerfully the Lord will continue to add to our number

Exalting Jesus in Acts Reflect and Discuss

Reflect and Discuss

1. What’s the most challenging aspect of this text for you? Why?

2. What’s the most encouraging aspect of this text? Explain your answer.

3. What are some contemporary challenges we face in imitating this early Christian community?

4. Which of these ten descriptions most resonated with you? Why?

5. With regard to these four vital signs, which is your local church’s greatest strength?

6. With regard to these four vital signs, which is your local church’s greatest weakness?

7. What are some changes you can make and steps you can take to address some of these weaknesses personally?

8. What is the biggest obstacle standing between you and deep, genuine relationships with other believers?

9. Do you think outsiders observing your local church would be attracted to the faith because of it? Why or why not?

10. How might you more fully devote yourself to the study of the Scriptures and prayer?