Communal Prayer (Acts 2:42–47)
Notes
Transcript
CPS: God designed his church to thrive as a people united together in community, including being a community of prayer.
Introduction
Introduction
Attention
Illustration
Problem
What's interesting about the early church in Acts 2 is that a belief in Jesus Christ and the impact of the Holy Spirit in their lives automatically drew them into a community of believers, and they felt an automatic connection into this community. The earliest example of a church immediately impacted by the Holy Spirit is a church drawn together to be a people united as one together. Acts 2:44 says,
44 Now all the believers were together and held all things in common.
Now, the idea of togetherness for many Christians is a mind switch for them. We're raised in a very individualistic, self focus, culture. What the Bible actually asks you to consider to put first is the aspect of community over the aspect of individualism.
From the very beginning, man needs community. It says in Genesis 2:18,
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him.”
There was only one thing that was not good for a human being in the garden before the fall. It was to live in isolation. We need each other. We are called to be a people of togetherness, of community.
One could even make the argument that God himself lives in community, in the Triune persons of God.
The need of God's people to live in holy community continued through the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. In Exodus 19:5–6, the nation of Israel was called to be a people of God’s own possession, a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation.” They were people who were to live communally as God's representatives on Earth.
It was important for each person to think of themselves as part of a larger community. They're individual sins didn't just affect themselves, it affected everybody around them. They were called to be a people holy and pure individually so that collectively the community we would be a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation.” Each person was responsible to the collective, to the community.
The responsibility to the community continues for the Christian in the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, Paul describes the church as being analogous to a human body and the human body is made up of many different members or parts. Each part is unique and each part has a purpose to the collective whole. He sums up the collectiveness of the church in 1 Corinthians 12:26-27 where he says,
26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.
In other words what happens to you is important to and affects all of us. You have a unique role and responsibility to the collective nature of the church, to the community of Christ.
The Bible warns us against isolation and what I would call “the isolation trap.” Proverbs 18:1 says,
1 One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound wisdom.
Let's take a look at that little by little. First off, it says in that first part of Proverbs 18:1 “One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires.” Just the first part of that verse couldn't be a clearer explanation of what we're seeing in society today. People are consistently falling into an isolation trap.
Walk down any street today and you will see people glued to their phones. Somebody was describing to me about an experience they had recently in a school lunch room. They walked into the lunch room, and normally you would expect that there would be a lot of noise as teenagers would be talking together. But in this lunchroom it was quiet as teenagers stared at their phones, sitting next to each other but not looking at each other.
The overwhelming amount of entertainment that we have today through the Internet and all of the streaming services where you could go through an entire day from morning to night and never experienced a minute of boredom is driving us more and more into isolation.
The verse says that the pursuit of isolation is a pursuit of selfishness, and the world is more than willing to give you all of the entertainment in the world to fulfill your individualistic desires. The Bible calls us to think communally and not individualistically, because the one who isolates themselves “rebels against all sound wisdom.”
Persistent isolation leaves one open to spiritual attack.
Think of a lion in an African jungle. The lion and the lioness are crouching behind the bush as they see a herd of antelope coming. They see a lone antelope veer off by himself, alone.
Now, what is the lion more likely to do? Is it going to go after the whole herd, or is it going to go after the one antelope that went off in isolation by itself? If we understand what a lion would do in that circumstance, we understand what the devil will do in the circumstance of a Christian without community. 1 Peter 5:8,
8 Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
The word for anyone there is singular. The devil is looking for the Christian who has gone away from the heart. I don't need the church. Isolation is not the Christian ideal. It is not good for men to be alone. You are called as a Christian to thrive in a community of believers.
Yet we are so individually minded, it is difficult to for the American Christian to grasp the idea of being necessary for a community of people. But the affects of isolation and not being communally minded on the individual are all around us.
We're living in possibly one of the greatest mental health epidemics the American Society has ever known.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health in 2021, approximately 21 million adults experienced at least one major depressive episode.
Anxiety disorders affect 40 million adults, about 19.1% of the US population.
The CDC says that suicide is the second leading cause of death among children ages 10-24.
There were over 106,000 drug overdose deaths in 2021, the highest ever recorded.
In a report in 2024 from the American Psychiatric Assocation, the headline read: “New APA Poll: One in Three Americans Feels Lonely Every Week” (1) What do people do when they feel lonely in 2024? According to the poll, 50% find a distraction (like TV, podcasts or social media).
If we're going to get out of the isolation trap, we've got to start thinking communally and not individually. As a Christian, thinking communally is an act of obedience to God and a submission to his will. Submission to the Holy Spirit in your life will drive you toward community thinking, and community is healthy for your soul!
The Bible shows us that being part of a healthy community is good.
This is the first point,
Being part of a healthy church community is good for everyone and healing for the soul.
Being part of a healthy church community is good for everyone and healing for the soul.
The evidence of Acts 2 is that when the Holy Spirit moves in the church, he draws people to bond together and to live together in community in Christ.
Acts 2:41-47 shows a church growing in community and fellowship. There was a sense of awe as miracles were happening in the church. And the stirring sense of God's power in this Holy Spirit community of believers were causing the believers to give up their materialism, give up their idolatry, and all the things that they thought were precious in this life, and instead seek to live to the benefit and love of God and one another.
They felt a responsibility to the community. Acts 2:45 says,
45 They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need.
Now, if you had a church running like this today, family members might be pulling you out saying, “Get away from that cult, they’re having you sell all of your stuff.” But what's happening here is not a prescription for the church that all of that the individual members of each church needs to just sell all their things and and give it away. Rather, what you’re seeing here is a church moving away from selfishness and toward a responsibility to one another.
See members of a church like, like people in a nation, when people are increasingly isolated away from one another, there will be a move toward selfishness. But when members of a church start thinking more communally minded, they start saying things like, “Hey, do you have a need? We can help.”
Acts 2:45 reflects the same attitude that Paul will later on describe in Philippians 2:3-4 when he says,
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.
4 Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.
See when you are communally minded, you start to get out of yourself for a bit. When you are communally minded, you start to see yourself within a collective hole, but also, you start noticing the needs of the people around you. And there is something healing and refreshing about that.
When you are increasingly isolated, there is a mental strain that happens on you, on your body and on your soul. You start to focus in on how everything around you is impacting you and your needs, and how everyone around you should be thinking of you first. That is mentally exhausting and it is detrimental for your soul. It doesn't bring spiritual health.
God has called us and built us to be a people who thrive in community. It is not good for man to be alone. Thinking communally is good for you.
I want you to observe the spiritual and mental health that derived from an early church who considered others as more important than themselves. Take a look at Acts 2:46-47,
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.
See what happens now, when a church is communally minded, there is a joy. There is an enjoyment. There is a sincerity and authenticity, a fellowship that blossoms out of people who look at others as more important than themselves, as people who see themselves as being within a collective whole, a people united together to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation to God.
The church is not a replacement for Israel. The church is a work of God at this time, but the church is called to be a people individually who are holy for the good of the whole church.
The church is meant to be a place of healing. The church as a people is a place of joy and fellowship, a place of Sabbath roast. It's also a place of God's healing work for the wounded. It's like a spiritual hospital for those who are hurt and broken. The Bible says in Galatians 6:1-2,
1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted.
2 Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
What you see here is a church that is a place for the restoration of people. It is a place where we can love you amidst your burdens, and a place where you don't have to walk with those burdens alone. But we can help you move those burdens off your shoulders and carry them together to the cross.
This summer, our church got to do some a couple events at the beach. What I love about San Diego beaches is that they have these awesome fire pits. I'd hadn't seen anything like it before and it’s such a cool thing. And when you light up a fire in the fire pit, if you put just one log in that fire pit, it's not going to do very much. It'll maybe smolder, light up for a little bit and then just be gone. You wouldn’t think of just putting one log or piece of wood by itself. And our guys don't do that here. What do our guys bring? They bring tons of wood and there's lots of wood piled up in this fire pit and it makes this huge roaring fire.
And in the same way, God, by his grace, did not design Christians to be isolated and alone, where your fire is at risk of just lighting for a little bit and smoldering out. When Christians find joy and fellowship with one another when they hurry the burdens of one another, when they see others as more important than themselves, they communally minded church, burns the the light of Christ high, so that everyone around can see and feel the warmth and the presence and the power of God in his community.
Being part of a healthy church community is good for everyone and healing for the soul.
Second,
A healthy church community thrives in community-based worship to God, including community-based prayer.
A healthy church community thrives in community-based worship to God, including community-based prayer.
Acts 2:42 describes four elements of the healthy community of a church. And it is important to note that each one of these are a community based activity. It says in Acts 2:42,
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.
Now, reading these in our English Bibles, it is obvious to tell that the first three of these are community based activities.
The Apostles Teaching: These early Christians were committed to learning from the Apostles about Jesus Christ. They were submitted under the leadership of the Apostles and the teaching of God’s word.
The Fellowship: Another community based activity fellowship is the Greek comes from the Greek word κοινωνία which describes a close association of mutual interest, a communion, a close relationship with one another. It was important for the church to be devoted to fellowship with one another.
The Breaking of Bread: Another community based activity, the breaking of bread we believe refers to communion, where the Lord. took bread, broke it. We're, as it says in Matthew 26:26, the Lord “took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is my body.” The church saw the sacrament of communion as an essential element of their community together.
The Prayers: Now, if it follows that the first three of these acts are community-based acts to be devoted to in Acts 2:42, the apostles teaching, the fellowship, and the breaking of bread, the last act of prayer is also a community-based act for the church to be devoted to.
This act of prayer as a community-based activity is a little clearer in the Greek, where the last part of that verse is literally, “the prayers.” The church was devoted to the Apostles teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers (plural).
The early Christian church likely followed the Jewish standard of regular communal times of prayer. Pastor Johannes covered this last week. Now our text today goes up to the last verse of Acts 2, but the very next verse Acts 3:1 says,
1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple for the time of prayer at three in the afternoon.
Was important to note from this is that Christianity is not divorced from Judaism. Christianity is the fulfillment of what Judaism was meant to be. Judaism spoke of a Messiah that was going to come for the Jewish people. The Messiah came in Jesus Christ. Christianity is simply the worship of that Jewish Messiah.
That does not mean that Gentiles are to become Jews. The early Christian church dealt with this issue. You see it in the in the New Testament. But what Christians continue to do in the New Testament is prescriptive for the church today. Christians in the early church were devoted to communal prayer, and Christians today should be devoted to communal prayer.
You might ask, “Well, what is more important: Individual personal prayer or community prayer?” And the answer is, yes. That’s like asking which leg is more important to have. You need both!
And while the Christian church historically did not keep the daily Jewish prayer times at the synagogue like in Acts 3:1, the Christian Church has historically through the years kept a regular communal time of corporate prayer as part of its worship. The famous preacher Charles Spurgeon said this about corporate prayer in the prayer meeting.
C. H. Spurgeon, “A Call to Worship,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 19 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1873), 218.
It is no statement of mine, suggested by unreasonable zeal, but it is the result of long-continued observation, when I assert that the condition of a church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer-meetings. If the spirit of prayer be not with the people, the minister may preach like an angel, but he cannot expect success.
What has happened to the church prayer meeting? Many churches have just given up on the prayer meeting itself. If people don't come to something the natural tendency of a church is just to cancel it.
Churches have become program-centric. Does this church have anything for my teenagers? Does this church have anything for single adults? Does this church have anything for married couples? Does this church have anything for fill in the blank? The modern attractional-church model has designed itself to appeal to the individualistic nature of people and create a consumer culture of church.
When church is viewed as a product to be consumed, your spiritual life will be nothing more than an individualistic pursuit. It will have no effect on the community as a whole. That is not the church that God designed. You’re not called to a church based on your own individual needs. Your spiritual life, including your prayer life, is meant to have an impact on the community as a whole. You're called to a church to be part of a holy people of God who gather together to seek the seek the power and the presence of God together as a church community.
Struggling to gather together is not a new thing. Being communally minded is something repeated in Scripture. The writer of Hebrews saw people neglecting to gather together and said this in Hebrews 10:24-25:
24 And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works,
25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.
Is something interesting to note here is that for the Christian to be obedient to Philippians 2:3 where we “in humility consider others as more important than yourselves,” or as the writer here says to, “consider one another in order to provoke love and good works,” each of these are done within the physical gathering of God's people together.
See when you gather together you have the opportunity to live in joy and fellowship with one another to carry the burdens of one another and to encourage one another more and more every day as we get closer and closer to the return of Christ.
We'll always have the tendency to think individually. When you think of the San Diego Padres, what do you think of? You probably think of individuals, the stars on the team. You think of Manny Machado hitting homeruns and making incredible plays a 3rd base. But if Manny stood on the field alone, he couldn't do much of anything. He wouldn’t be much of a star, he would just be a guy standing on the field. He needs a hitter to hit baseballs to him, a first baseman to catch his throws, a pitcher to pitch a fastball down the middle for him to hit. Each one of the people on the field is fundamental for him to shine. In other words, he needs a community of baseball players.
And as people in the Kingdom of God, we are called to a greater team. And we need you on this team. You won’t realize the need for the community of God's believers until you start to see yourself as part of a holy people of God called together to worship God in his presence, to seek him out and to know him. You need your brothers and sisters in Christ, and we need you.
And one of the ways that God has given us as a community to seek and know God together is through community-based prayer. Communal prayer draws us to draws us closer to God and to each other. It reminds us that we're not alone. It reminds us that we need each other. Prayer is powerful when it is shared together in community, because it builds up the health of our church.
What are some practical ways that we will grow together as a church in corporate prayer?
What are some practical ways that we will grow together as a church in corporate prayer?
First, we recognize that corporate prayer is part of our worship to God. It is first and foremost a God-focused activity. See, we get in trouble when we take corporate prayer and flip the importance to a man-focused activity. The Lord's prayer is not a suggestion. The Lord says in Matthew 6:9 ,
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.
He uses an imperative there to say I am instructing or commanding you to pray in this way. That instruction starts with a God-focus in our prayers.
What do we do in our prayer meetings? We open up and say, “Are there any prayer requests?” And then we all start sharing about our broken toe or a neighbor whose dog ran away or whatever else was going on. Sometimes this becomes a place to start running the rumor mill in the church. And then we wonder why no one attends the prayer meeting?
No one attends because we've made it about ourselves and not about God who seeks to have his presence among us. Prayer is more about seeking the face and presence of God than it is about getting our needs met. Get the priority of seeking the presence and power of God in your life, and the meeting of your needs will flow out of that.
That's what the Lord's prayer does. It begins with a focus on who God is. It's a focus on His Holiness, a focus on his righteousness, a focus on his kingdom power and his kingdom values in your life.
And after our minds and hearts are aligned with who God is, then the request for our needs flow out of that. That’s when we say, give us this day our daily bread. That’s when we say, God lead us from temptation. We say “God, I acknowledge that my needs must be met by you, for your Kingdom, and for your glory.”
And when we collectively, as a people of God, gather together in corporate prayer, with our minds and hearts focused on who God is, on his holiness and righteousness and power, when we seek his presence together, there will be power in this community from God like you've never seen, as it says in Acts 2:47 “Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”
47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Conclusion
Conclusion
I hope you will gather together with us this Wednesday at 7:00 PM for our second monthly prayer meeting together. If you need salvation today is the day to give your heart to Christ. If you need healing, today is the day to give yourself to Christ. And let us, as Christians, be a community-minded people, devoted together to God’s word, fellowship, communion, and prayer.
Prayer
Last Song
Doxology
24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you;
25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’
24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy,
25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.
You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!
https://www.psychiatry.org/News-room/News-Releases/New-APA-Poll-One-in-Three-Americans-Feels-Lonely-E
