Family Life

Text: Acts 2:42-47

Central Idea of the Text: The Acts 2 church set the pattern of faith and practice for the church to follow in.

Proposition: Life in God’s Family (the Church) is meant to be marked by regular habits and practices.

Purpose: All hearers ought to hear and evaluate how they are contributing to the Church being a church that is faithful to Jesus’ intention for her.

Intro:

Family Game night: what game you picking? Pitch? Uno? Yahtzee? Checkers? Chutes and Ladders? Monopoly? All classics and decent options. But there’s a particular game that always seemed to hold a special place with our family. Pick our your car. Pick out your person. And pick whether you are going to go to college or starting your career. Yes, it is the Game of Life.

The game of Life centers around living your life from High School to Retirement, cruising your car straight down the path of your life. But it’s a pretty linear path. You’re all going to stop and get married! You’re all going to collect some random number of kids in the car along the way. And you’re all going to get to experience a midlife crisis and pick a new career and salary along the way! Oh goodie! But … you might not land on those nasty tax spaces and have to pay your taxes. Oh how we all wish that was real life! And somewhere along the way, we will fight to steal back the $100 K per year card. Each of us look to retire with a million bucks in the bank so we can say we “won” at the game of life.

It’s a fun game that creates some great conversations with families, but we all know Life is never as straightforward and simple as a board game makes it out to be. But a family game night? Those things can be priceless memories in our families, gathered memories alongside things like regular meals together, sporting activities, special events, road trips, vacations. Real life in a family may be more complicated than a board game, but it can certainly be more meaningful and create a lifetime full of love and memories.

Transition:

Families are meant to be together, love one another, and support one another. And God, as he adopts each believer into his family of Faith, welcomes them into a household of faith, called the church. What is that family supposed to look like? We find out as we examine what God did in the early church following Penetecost. Today’s text is found in Acts 2:42-47. I hope you will read the text with me this morning.

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.

This is the Word of the Lord for us this morning.

Let’s pray: Lord, those who have been rescued and redeemed by the blood of Jesus this morning gather here with one voice acclaiming: “Jesus is Lord.” He is Lord in this place as we gather, and he is Lord of us collectively. As you set us apart and make us family, develop within your people and familial love. A love that seeks to bear with one another thru all things, believe the best for one another in all things, endure thru all things, hopes thru all things, a love that never fails. May the church be the people that we experience that kind of love with. Teach us to call one another brother and sister, and to love one another as such. Build your church, God. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

The book of Acts is a book of Action. Action of God and action of the Apostles. As we saw from the books beginning the first action of the church was to hang tight in Jerusalem. To sit, to pray, to wait on the coming of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to them. And as we saw last week, God keeps his promises! The gathered believers did not have to wait for long before the Holy Spirit came, bringing a miraculous moment of understanding of the Gospel Message. That’s what the speaking in other languages was about, and it’s a moment that even with all of our technology would put Google Translate to shame. Now I can visit a country and play pass the phone while I speak with them. But on Pentecost, God made a miracle that only God could do and that we can’t expect to recreate by our own authority.

That’s why, when it comes to what we expect from the gathering of the church, we ought to expect a little less of what happened in the first 80 percent of this chapter as every day occurences, and expect a little bit more of what our text today communicates when it comes to live.

And that brings us to discuss what happens to us from the point of our conversion to Christ. We just saw 3000 people baptized, turning from their sin and receiving Jesus as Lord. They too are receiving the GIFT of the Holy Spirit, and now they become part of this F word we see on our wall. A FAMILY of Believers. This word really shouldn’t be controversial. It is how the scriptures refer to us as the faithful believers, now using familial language. Jesus says in Matthew 12:50 “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” John testifies of the right that God gave us in Jesus in John 1:12–13 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Later John testifies of this Father & Children relationship in 1 John 3:1 “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” Paul calls Christ in Romans 8:29 “the firstborn among many brothers.” And Peter in 1 Peter 4:17 calls the church the “Household of God.” To call the church the family of God is very biblical. And the gathered believers here are my brothers and sisters in Christ this morning.

But it has become controversial in recent years among some pastors and church leaders. It has become so because, in their view, there are too many negative connotations associated with the word “Family”. I do understand where they are coming from in some sense, because we all know many people who come from broken families, from abusive homes, and in general may have many negative associations when it comes to the word family. At the same time, it is some of those same pastors and leaders who would also prefer that we not refer to God as our Father, the very title which Jesus taught us to use in speaking to God. Without chasing this Rabbit too much, I simply want to say that we should not allow situations to dictate what we do with standards. Are there imperfect Fathers? YES. But we also believe that there is a perfect Father, who exists and makes adopts his children into his family. Are there imperfect Families? YES. But we also believe that there is a perfect standard for the family and a perfect intention to which God is adpoting us and perfecting us in Christ Jesus. Do not allow sin, its results and effects, to dictate the terms under which we would understand God’s truth.

God has moved in Acts. The Spirit has arrived. And God is rescuing and binding together a Family of Faith, A Body of Christ, and a Spiritual House, all by the power of the Holy Spirit, given at our conversion. So … if the Spirit is here, then how should the church live day to day? What is everyday life in the family like? That is why verse 42 is so important, and especially the word “proskatereo”, here translated as “Devoted”. Verse 42 says that these 3000 believers now numbered with the initial 120 “devoted themselves”. This word in terms of linguistics is a present participle. That means it is implying that the other actions that follow are ongoing, continual things. They don’t just do them every once in a while. The church is doing these things weekly and daily.

The life of the church is a Devoted Life. As Acts 2:42 lays out the pattern we see four actions that the early church and every church ought to be devoted to. Let’s note those 4 actions that are part of the pattern and lifeblood of the church.

Body:

A Bible-Devoted Church

The first thing that this infant church is devoted to is the Apostle’s Teaching. Now, from the context for them, this is not hard to understand. The church in Jerusalem is speaking directly to the horse’s mouth when it comes to the teaching of Jesus. They have all 12 of the Capital A Apostles collected and sharing the teaching of Christ directly with the church as they have heard it. And if any of them misremembers it, they are there to correct one another. In other words, their individual testimonies eventually make up one testimony. That makes this church unique in all of history in the things that they could directly hear and understand.

But this does not then preclude us from making Church about whatever we want. We have the Apostles teaching as well. Let’s make sure that we cross the bridge and connect the dots to see how the devoted church of Acts 2 that walked and talked with the Apostles can share a common life with the church of 2025. Do we have the Apostles Teaching? It is quite certain that we do! And it is found in the book in front of you, the Bible. It starts with four books: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We have good reason to understand that these books are authentic to their original authors and apostolic ties. Two of them Authors were apostles, and share details that only true eyewitnesses could share. The other two (Mark & Luke) bear close relation to recordings of other disciples who were eyewitnesses.

So is that all that we need? Can we just have a 4 book Bible and be red-letter Christians? No, not at all. The resurrected Jesus makes it clear that the Old Testament scriptures are key to understanding who he is. When Jesus is risen and walking on the road to Emmaus with two believers, Luke 24:27 says “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Those two same believers noted in verse 32: “Did not our hearts burn within us while he opened to us the Scriptures?” This same Jesus is the one who had breakfast with his disciples and “opened their minds to the scriptures” (Lk 24:45) Therefore, Jesus bound the disciples testimony to the already accepted Old Testament writings.

But that is not all that God left us with. We have the remaining letters of the New Testament! From the pens of Peter, Paul & John (and a couple others) we have these great writings … the same writings of which Paul writes exist to make us “wise for salvation” (2 Tim 3:15). They are God-Breathed. They are as a sword, a weapon and a tool for the believer. Without them, we would lose our way.

This is one of the great blessings of the church of the ages that you hold in your hands this morning. That we can open it and read it is a true blessing. And this is something the church must never neglect to do. Churches that cease to read and study the Bible will cease to be churches quite shortly. Why? Because they will fall into sin and forget God’s desire and will for their life. Without the word, the church forgets: what Christ has done, the truths of God’s intervention in the world, the tasks to which we are called, the basic truths of life, family, the definitions of sin and the avoidance of the things for which Jesus died. Without God’s word, we will lose direction and purpose.

So for the Devoted Life of the Church, let us devote ourselves to the Word. Let us ensure that we open the book together. Let us press one another to be faithful in our handling of it. Let us open in in our studies, our small groups, and even in one-to-one settings. And let us devote ourselves each one personally to the Word of God.

A Relationship-Building Church

The second thing that we see the church devoting themselves to is “the Fellowship”. This maybe the most straightforward toward application in our idea of church. The word here is Koinonia, the word for fellowship, or participation. In other words, it is the togetherness aspect of church. We see several other aspects of this highlighted in verses 44-46. The believers were:

“All together and had all things in common.” Note that they were not just out there trying to do the Christian life alone. They were actively spending time with each other, seeking to know each other, and finding much that they had in common with each other. In other words, they were getting to know each other well.

“Attending the temple together.” They had times when they would centrally gather to worship the Lord. It was part of their togetherness.

“Breaking Bread in Homes together, sharing meals gladly and generously.” The sharing of meals and generous feasts with one another was certainly a portion of their time spent.

“Selling possessions and giving to others in their church family who had needs.” This points us toward the early practice of generosity in the church, that the practice of both the tithe (giving 10% to the Lord) and going beyond the tithe was in play within the early church. Because they knew one another so well, and trusted one another so much, they wanted to ensure that no one in the church went to bed hungry or unclothed.

We shouldn’t get so lost in the imaginging of this passage to think that this is some type of communist living ideal. It is not. It is simply believers seeking to live out the commands of Jesus when he gave the disciples the new command, that they would Love one another: John 13:34

John 13:34 ESV

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

That one verse and command is to be the gold standard for the fellowship of the church, developed thru genuine relational care in time spent, conversation had, and care given.

The devoted church must be devoted to Christ in terms of her Fellowship. Church, I will tell you this. I love our fellowship team, and the occasions on which we share a meal or participate in an event together. But even more, I love it when I see our church:

Sticking around after church to talk to each other.

Spending time at each others homes, or at dinner in a local cafe together.

Developing genuine care in offering your means or your service to those in the church that might have need of it.

These are the most organic ways that fellowship grows. We must devote ourselves to fellowship in both formal and informal ways. We need each other.

A Jesus-Worshiping Church

The third thing that the Acts 2 church was devoted to was “the breaking of the bread.” There has been a good bit of discussion as to what this phrase means. Is it simply about meals shared or is it about something else? I think it is good to understand this as something beyond mere meal sharing. The text already alludes to the sharing of meals in fellowship, but the indication of the article in the phrase is very intentional. “THE Breaking of THE Bread.” We are meant to understand that this is a specific, prescribed breaking, connected to a specific loaf of bread. Could this be anything else than the institution of the Lord’s Supper that Jesus instituted on the night he was betrayed? It is unlikely.

So, it would be good to understand that in their worship gatherings then, the breaking of bread and passing of the cup would have been central, and they would have been regular. Remember the word devoted? It is indicative of repeated, ongoing action. They were devoted to keeping that memory of the cross central to their gatherings. The Gospels recorded it, and the Apostles taught on it, in places such as 1 Cor 11:23-26, where Paul wrote:

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

The pastor preaches or teaches the Gospel message in the gathering, but the church also proclaims what Jesus has done when they take this holy meal together. It is a time for remembrance, a time for repentance, and a time for resolve to live our lives in light of the Cross.

We, as a church, take this seriously. We do this weekly. We call special attention to it thru a meditation. We allow for a time of reflection and repentance as the music plays. We take the meal together as a sign of our shared belief in Christ and his Cross. All Christians should take this and be grateful for the Grace shown to us on the cross. We sing songs that focus us on the Cross, and we sing songs that praise the Christ who hung there. A devotion to “the Breaking of Bread” still keeps the modern church gathering focused on the cross of Christ and His saving work.

A Prayer-Motivated Church

The final thing that the church devoted herself to is again something that is not foreign to us, and should be fairly straightforward. “The Prayers.” But like with the reference toward communion in the previous phrase, the notation is specific. The article “the” followed by the plural “prayers”. When we join this with the word devoted, we note that the church was a church that was praying a lot. It wasn’t just a cursory prayer at the beginning or end of a meeting. It was ongoing prayer, and petition related to specific things. Already in Acts, we’ve seen the church gathered in prayer, praying at both the beginning and end of the selection of Matthias as an Apostle, and before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Prayer has been the common everyday practice.

So what does this practice of “The Prayers” fully look like for them? We don’t fully know. But we can infer from the text that the prayers were frequent (perhaps with times assigned), and the prayers were fervent. It may look very much like the times we read of in the Old Testament, when Daniel went 3 times each day to his roof to pray to the Lord. What is clear here, is that prayer is not as some sideshow of the church that a few select elites ought to be doing, but it is an essential practice and tool of the church throughout Acts.

Church, let’s not just talk a big game about praying. Let’s actually pray. Let’s not treat them as a informational time to gather the latest news or gossip. Let’s treat prayer time as a transformational time, when we speak to our God and yield ourselves to his will. Let’s not treat prayer as something fleeting and cursory. Let’s treat it is substantial and central.

Do I think we are growing in prayer as a church? I do. Do I think we’re living by this standard? No I don’t. Until we just can’t wait to pray together, we’ve got work to do. My hope is at the end of this year in Acts, we look at the early church’s pattern and our church’s pattern, and they come closer to matching up with the Apostle Paul’s pattern in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing.”

What can God do with a church that is devoted in both word and deed to praying? I want to deepen our knowledge and our practice in these terms from the book of Acts with you together this year.

Summary:

This morning, in the scope of one short verse, we’ve seen a pattern laid out for the church to follow, from east to west and from then to now. There is no true church Jesus Christ that should avoid these things. We are to be a Bible-Devoted Church, being like the early Christians in their devotion to both hearing the preaching and reading the scriptures to be clear on God’s teaching to them. We are to be a Relationship-Building Church, a people who are not simply strangers and acquaintances, but are brothers and sisters in Christ, knowing each other better daily. We are to be a Jesus-Worshiping Church, taking communion together and singing the songs of the Savior rallied around the cross. And we are to be a Prayer-Motivated Church, lifting all praises and requests at all times before the throne of God.

Earlier I referenced the game of life, but we all know that in reality life is not a game. Life is reality, neither streamlined nor cute, and ultimately (unlike the board game) we are not going to count up the scorecard based on our money in the bank. We don’t ultimately win in life that way, and we don’t win in the church that way. I think it’s easy sometimes for us to look at our church and go: “Wow, we’ve got the biggest attendance in town.” or “Wow, look at all these young families attending our church.” or “Wow, look at this building we built while the other churches haven’t done anything in quite some time.” Aren’t we winning the game of Church Life here at ACC? Brothers and Sisters, I guarantee you of this: We are not winning as a church if we are not doing the basic things and growing in the basic things that Jesus called us to do, and that the book of Acts lays out a pattern for us to do. We are not here to be compared to other churches. We are here to be conformed to the image of Jesus.

To grow in being this Acts 2 church, we must press one another. Listen to these words from A.W. Tozer:

We Christians are the Church and whatever we do is what the Church is doing. The matter, therefore, is for each of us a personal one. Any forward step in the Church must begin with the individual.17

A. W. Tozer

Each step forward for the church begins with the individual. It starts with you. It starts with me. Is Christ your savior? Is Jesus your Lord? Does he have your heart? Then ...

Grow in reading the Bible. Read it with others. Be taught by other Christians. And hold you Shepherds to account to teach it to you.

Grow in being with other Christians. Stick around and get to know another Christian. Eat meals. Share your heart. Don’t miss opportunities to be with other Christians.

Grow in engagement in worshipping Jesus. Take what we do in Communion and the songs that we sing to heart. Weekly reflect and repent with God’s people. Don’t miss it.

Grow in prayer. Challenge yourself to do it, not just say you’ll do it. Practice it more than you talk about it. Make it a regular practice of circling up with believers for prayer.

This morning at second service we (sang/will sing) these lyrics: “The church is the hope of the world, it carries the message of Christ to the earth, She was built with nail-scarred hands, the gates of hell don’t stand a chance, so I’ll spend my life building the church of Jesus Christ.” I’m devoted to this, are you with me?

Invitation:

And perhaps this morning, you feel like someone on the outside looking in. What does it mean to be part of the church? It means that you are one of those who are being saved. And salvation is found in Jesus.

You see, the world is broken. We all know that it is because we see the signs around us in death and suffering each day. This is because sin is in the world. But Jesus died to take the curse of sin upon himself, and to rescue those who look to him by faith. So would you believe in Jesus and trust in him for salvation? Fill out a connect card and let us know what God is doing in your life. We want to talk to you about Salvation in Jesus, and about what we do to obey him in being baptized and beyond.