Grow In Community, pt. 2

Key Elements

In Acts 2:42-47, the early church began to reach more and more people and the key factor was their focus on community.

Main idea of the message: When the church of Jesus Christ prioritizes community, its members actively engage in church life and display a distinctive witness to the surrounding culture.

I want the people of Stone Ridge Baptist Church to grow in community by actively engaging in the life of the church and, in turn, displaying a distinct difference in the surrounding culture that draws others to Jesus.

Intro

In July of this year, a new wearable AI device is set to release called Friend. The tagline for the device is “always listening” and it’s made up of a microphone that listens to everything going on around the person wearing it. The designers of the device say that you will be able to tap and hold it to ask it a question but sometimes it will just send notifications to your phone and commentary about a conversation you just had. They also say the product is designed purely to offer companionship and is meant to develop a personality that complements the person wearing it, always there to talk with you about whatever is going on and provide a listening ear. One critic of this newly developed device says that “the idea of having an always-on AI friend versus an actual human relationship is sort of like a starving person eating junk food. It can get the job done in the short term, but it doesn’t nourish the person the way a healthy meal would. When it comes down to it, nothing can really take the place of actual relationships with actual people found in genuine community.”

Community with other actual human beings is a vitally important concept for all of us. We were created for community. We were created to be in relationship with other people as we grow and thrive in those relationships and ultimately, as we grow and thrive in our relationship with God. Which is the ultimate purpose of community in the church. As members of this church, this body of believers that God has placed us in, we are called and created by God to help one another grow closer in our relationship with God. This is the ultimate goal. And the number one way this happens in our lives, outside of our personal relationship with God, is through relationship in community with other followers of Jesus in the church. And if this is going to happen in our lives, then community has to be an important concept for us as followers of Jesus and members of Stone Ridge Baptist Church to grasp.

In the church of Jesus Christ, there are many components that are vital and important: Worshiping Jesus together weekly is important, Evangelism and learning how to actively share the Gospel with others is important, in the church we have many aspects of ministry that are all necessary components that have to be present for the church to thrive; but if community is missing then the church will suffer. Because community is the common thread that we see running all throughout the other aspects of church life. Community is the step we take as followers of Jesus and members of Stone Ridge to go deeper in our relationship with God and our relationship with one another.

Message

So, a couple of weeks ago as part of our Discover Stone Ridge sermon series, we began to talk about Growing in Community as we looked at the second step in our discipleship pathway or process here at Stone Ridge. (show pic) Week one, we began by focusing in on what it means to Love God Passionately, and then we continued by emphasizing community and looking at the importance of it in all of our lives. And we said that community happens here at Stone Ridge when Unity is our heartbeat, when Uniqueness is our strength, and when Mission is our shared journey. And today, we want to continue looking at what it means to Grow In Community here at Stone Ridge. How does unity, uniqueness, and mission specifically work itself out here in our faith family?

And to answer this question, today we are going to turn our attention to the book of Acts specifically Acts 2:42-47 and we are going to talk about how what we see happening in the early church in the book of Acts points us towards what God desires in the church today. And as we do, the main idea we are going to focus in on is this: When the church of Jesus Christ prioritizes community, its members actively engage in church life and display a distinctive witness to the surrounding culture.

Some context for us in Acts is important: The Book of Acts is an incredible book to read and study. Written by Luke, it is the record of the history of the spread of Christianity during the 30 years immediately following the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Leading up to our text today, Simon Peter has preached an incredible Christ centered sermon and it resulted in God moving by the power of the Holy Spirit in the hearts and lives of over 3,000 people who became Christ followers. So, that day, 3,000 people joined this newly formed movement of God called the church and they are immediately baptized. And then, in Acts 2, we begin to see the church mobilize for ministry and immediately have an influence on the culture around them. It says in Acts 2:42-47....

So, here’s what we notice. The early church of Jesus Christ proclaims the Word of God, the Gospel, 3,000 people are converted to followers of Jesus and they don’t just go about their daily lives like nothing has changed. No, they immediately begin to invest in the community of believers there and because of the ministry they are actively involved in, the surrounding culture is influenced. And that’s how God has designed the church to function. And let me just say this from the outset here, we as Stone Ridge Baptist Church have not been placed in the city of Alexander City right across from CACC to just sit and do nothing. We have been placed here by God to display a distinct witness to this city. Growing in community is important and it’s what we are going to talk about today, but we grow in community not for the purpose of keeping things to ourselves, we grow in community for the purpose of taking the Gospel of Jesus into this city and beyond, being used by God to transform lives for the Gospel. In fact, I love what my copy of Acts labels this section scripture, it says at the beginning of this text-A GROWING AND GENEROUS CHURCH. Man, what a description of the church in the community in which it has been placed. What an incredible reputation for a church to have, that they are growing and generous.

So, this morning as we look at our text today in Acts 2, and talk about growing in community, I want us to see four ways we actively engage in the life of the church which causes us to display a distinct difference in our city drawing others to Jesus:

1. We grow in community by participating in a small group. (vs. 42, 46)

Now, when I hear the word “participation” I can’t help but think of participation trophies. The word “participation” can carry with it a positive or a negative aspect today depending on the context in which it is used. But when it comes to participation trophies in youth sports, there are two sides to the debate. On the one hand, there are those who vehemently disagree with the concept of the participation trophy stating it makes young people ill equipped to handle disappointment later in life. On the other side of the issue, are those who see them as an opportunity to encourage everyone on the team not pushing them to win or lose but to connect and learn what it means to be on a team.

But when it comes to connecting in the church, participation is key. Participating means that we are actively involved, investing in some way, contributing to the betterment of the groups as a whole. And specifically, when it comes to growing in community here at Stone Ridge, the first step for all of us is participating in a small group of some sort.

Dr. Thom Rainer, who is an expert on church growth, says this about church members and small groups, “the health of the church is directly tied to the health of groups in the church. If you are not in a small group of some sort, a Sunday school class or a discipleship group, you are not contributing to the health of the church as a whole.”

This, on top of the truth we find in Scripture, reinforces the fact that small groups int he church providing opportunities for people to find community with other followers of Jesus is the first way we grow in community as individual Christ followers and ultimately how we become and maintain being a healthy church body. And looking at Acts 2:42, 46, we see the example set for us in the believers who made up the early church....

So, there are two main things we notice about the early church from the very beginning: their devotion to the Word of God and their devotion to one another and that devotion was daily and it was personal. We see in vs. 41 that the church had exploded with growth, they had added around 3,000 members in one day. So, if they were going to continue to grow and make disciples of these new believers, they needed instruction from God’s Word and they needed community with God’s people. And this was accomplished through daily worship in the temple in Jerusalem and by meeting together in homes for their own times of worship and study of the Scriptures. So, the early church from its very beginnings set the example of corporate worship together and also gathering for times of community with other followers of Jesus. You see, these new believers weren’t just content to meet once a week for worship as usual and then go about their normal lives, but their new found faith in Jesus and their love for Jesus caused them to want to seek to grow in community sharing their lives together as often as they could. And how did this happen? In Acts 2:42 it says “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.” They maintained a constant, healthy diet of the apostles teaching, they couldn’t get enough of God’s Word. They wanted as much of God’s Word as they could get. It says in Acts 2:46 “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,” they shared meals together which included remembering the sacrifice of Jesus by including The Lord’s Supper. Not only did they share meals together, but when they were around one another, there was a spirit of intense and sincere joy that was, no doubt, inspired by the common bond that they all had in Jesus Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit. You see, it was out of their relationship with God that they enjoyed fellowship and community with one another. The church was unified and through this unified pursuit of community together, God continued to work in and through them and daily people’s lives were being transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And just at the early church set the example of growing in community, we as Stone Ridge Baptist Church must do the same. And specifically for us that begins by all of us participating in a small group. And here at Stone Ridge, we want to make this as easy as possible for all of us. Because we recognize that all of our lives, depending on the stage of life we are in, don’t all fit into the same pattern and mold. So, throughout the year, we want to create as many opportunities as possible for everyone to connect in a small group of some sort. We want to make it as easy as possible, no matter where you are in life to get engaged in a group. Whether you prefer Sunday morning on campus or Sunday night on campus or midweek on Wednesday is easiest for you. Whether you prefer a traditional style of teaching or discussion or video driven or teaching geared towards a stage of life, we want to create the opportunity for you to grow in your relationship with God, grow in community with other followers of Jesus, and do life with other believers that will walk with you through the ups and downs you are going to face in life. Not just because it benefits the church as a whole, but first and foremost because it glorifies God and draws you closer in your relationship with Him.

But the key here is participation. And that only happens when we make the decision as individuals to get involved with a group not because the pastor and staff said we should or guilted us into it, but because we see the need in our lives for community with other believers. Community that goes beyond just a Sunday morning worship experience. Every person that I have ever talked to in the church that has taken the step from just attending worship on Sundays to getting connected to a small group, every one of them has, in some form or fashion, said “I don’t know what we did without this group of people.” And those who have been connected and gotten disconnected at some point, have been drawn back into the fellowship of the church through that small group of believers.

You see, as we look to the example of Christ followers in the early church growing and worshipping together and building relationships on a deeper level in small group community, we will see God move in the hearts and lives of people and we will grow in community in ways that are beyond our comprehension. At Stone Ridge, we grow in community by participating in a small group.

Next,...

2. We grow in community by serving in unity with fellow believers. (vs. 44, 45)

A distinct characteristic of the early church was the way they were unified in every aspect and that that unity specifically showed up in how they served one another and we see the perfect example of this in vs. 44-45...

• As a result of their love for God and their growing relationship with God and their love for one another and their growing relationships with one another, they were able to serve one another in unity. Because of their unselfish actions, they were able to meet the needs of those among them who were struggling.

• Many times in the life of the church, we find it challenging to be unified. For one reason or another, sometimes unity can be challenging for the Body of Christ. And, I think, it boils down to our focus as individual Christ followers and as the church. If we are focused on Jesus and pursuing Him, then serving together in unity will be a by-product of that. What an amazing privilege we have as followers of Jesus in the church to serve in unity together. Getting the opportunity to spend time with other followers of Jesus being a source of encouragement for them but also allowing them to be a source of encouragement for us.

Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer frames it well for us. He says, “It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brothers and sisters”. May we never forget that.” (Tony Merida)

• This unity found in the early church also marked these believers with radical generosity. They gave freely, generously, and sacrificially not only because they saw needs that they were compelled to meet but because Jesus had transformed their hearts and lives. Their stuff was no longer theirs but it was a gift given to them by God to use to meet the needs of others for His glory.

• So, what does serving together in unity with fellow believers mean for us as a church? Well, it might look like what we read about in the book of Acts where people sold their possessions so that the proceeds might be used to help those in need. It might look like us on a daily basis where we work or go to school or shop or hang out, meeting the needs of those God is bringing across our path. It might look like us coming together as a church to minister to needs in the lives of people in this community and continuing to do events that draw people to our campus so we can share the Gospel. Whatever it might look like, it definitely means us as a church doing whatever it takes to meet the needs of fellow believers and those God has put around us to create a pathway ultimately for the Gospel to be shared. And whatever we do, we do it together under the one thing that unites us and that is our faith in Jesus Christ.

• When it comes to small groups, there’s something about the experience of being together and growing in our faith in Jesus Christ as we dive deep into God’s Word together. There’s something about having those discussions and walking through Scripture together. But what really solidifies those relationships we have with one another as followers of Jesus is serving together. When we serve one another and others in this city in the name of Jesus together, it creates a bond that is hard to break.

• And as we grow in community by serving in unity with other followers of Jesus, God transforms us and transforms others.

• At Stone Ridge, we grow in community by serving in unity with fellow believers.

• Third,…

• 3. We grow in community by intentionally discipling others. (vs. 42,46)

• There’s nothing worse than sending a text and it gets misunderstood. Or receiving a text from someone and not really knowing how to take it. And a lot of times what we do is get offended. When, if we had just called the person and talked through it, we could have cleared everything up.

• Misunderstandings can sometimes be detrimental to those involved in the relationships where they occur. And discipleship is one of those things in the church that commonly gets misunderstood and because of that it has been detrimental to the church for years.

• For those of us who have grown up in the church or been a part of the church for any period of time, we have come to understand or misunderstand discipleship as information download or a group we attend once or twice a week, we think of it just as a Sunday School class.

• But when we look at the example of discipleship set for us in Scripture, this is only part of what we see. When we look at the example of discipleship as modeled in the life and ministry of Jesus and here in the life of the members of the early church, we see that discipleship in its Biblical context was and is based on doing life together. It’s a group of Jesus followers united together through their faith in Jesus Christ sharing in life’s victories and challenges and operating in their strengths and weaknesses. All with the intentional purpose of fulfilling the mandate Jesus had given His disciples and all Christ followers in Matthew 28 to go and make disciples.

• And it’s so awesome how we can see all the key aspects of Biblical discipleship taking place in the early church in this text:

o In vs. 42, it says that they “devoted themselves” meaning “ to attach oneself to without the possibility of the slightest separation.” Indicating their intentionality and their commitment as followers of Jesus to this way of life that would forever define these believers in the early church. And what were they devoted to?

• “the apostles teaching” meaning “a disciplined way of life.”

• “fellowship” meaning “intimate communion among a group of people with common goals.”

• “prayer” meaning “petition; basically lifting one another up to the Lord. We’re not talking about a scheduled time but for the early church it was intentional, extended prayer.”

• So, what does intentionally discipling others, doing life together, look like for us as a church? It means coming together around God’s Word, it means growing in relationships with followers of Jesus pushing one another towards Jesus, and it means knowing there are others who are daily, as a result of those relationships, praying for us and bringing us and our families before the Lord.

• Can all of that happen once a week in a large group worship setting? It can. But for Biblical discipleship to truly occur, it takes us going beyond that weekly large group worship time and taking the next step intentionally investing in the lives of a smaller group of people who we can honestly share the realities we are experiencing in life.

I’ve been a Christ follower since I was a junior in high school. I’ve been in ministry 20 + years and I thought I knew what discipleship truly was. I was meeting with a Sunday Morning Group once a week, I was attending or leading a discipleship group on Wednesdays once a week, Kristi and I were even hosting a small group of young professionals at our house on Sunday nights for Bible study. And all of that was good and all of that was necessary, but all of that was not discipleship. It wasn’t until I began to spend time with a group of pastor friends of mine who spent time intentionally investing in me and discipling me that I truly came to realize what discipling others means. It wasn’t until I began to intentionally pray and seek out other people that God wanted me to invest in and disciple that I truly came to realize what discipling others truly means. And over the last 10 years through doing life together with smaller groups of people centered around God’s Word, fellowship, and prayer I feel like God has opened my eyes to what true discipleship is more than ever before.

• And more than anything, that is what we at Stone Ridge want for all of you and for the people of this city. We want to be a church that makes disciples of Jesus. Not just a church that has great events or has a great worship experience, all of that is important; but none of that matters if we are not intentionally discipling others who in turn will disciple others.

• We grow in community by intentionally discipling others. And…

• 4. We grow in community by cultivating accountable relationships. (vs. 47)

• Let’s be honest this morning, accountability is not something that’s really high on our list of things we want in life. When we have it in our life, we see the benefit of it, but it’s not something that we naturally seek. Because accountability makes us accountable. It makes us transparent, it makes us vulnerable. But accountability is important, I would say necessary, because when there is no accountability in our lives that’s when we get in trouble. When there is no accountability in our lives, we get to the point we think we can do anything we want and we begin to tread into dangerous territory because we cross lines that should never be crossed.

• And when it comes to the church and growing in community, accountability is a must. In fact, everything that we have talked about up to this point-participating in a small group, serving in unity with fellow believers, and intentionally discipling others-all of those things must be grounded in accountable relationships.

• In relationships among believers in the early church, we see this aspect of accountability. Look at vs. 47, it says…

• Among the members of the early church, there was a love and respect for one another that genuinely came out of and overflowed from their personal relationship with God. Basically, they loved one another and liked being around one another. And it was evident in their relationships and their interaction at church but also in their daily lives. By worshipping together, seeking God together, and serving together they were able to grow in relationship with one another and that relationship provided accountability that was cultivated ultimately from the source of their relationship with God.

• And because the believers in the early church placed emphasis on growing in community and holding each other accountable through doing life together, the result was their reputation as the early church because a catalyst for the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the surrounding culture. The result of these accountable relationships among these followers of Jesus in the church was a distinctive witness in the surrounding culture. And what was the attraction? It was the Christlike love that was on display among those believers. You see, these Christ followers were following the instruction that Jesus had left them with and that they were being taught by the Apostles. It’s the specific instruction we find from Jesus in John 13:35 where He says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

• And this love they had for one another that existed in the accountable relationships they were cultivating with one another spoke volumes to the surrounding culture. So much so that it says at the end of vs. 47 that “Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

• The reputation that God was developing among the believers in the early church became a catalyst for evangelism and the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The way the surrounding culture perceived the early church laid the groundwork for Gospel transformation in the lives of people in their city daily. And this, in turn, gave the believers in the early church a wide open door for the Gospel. Think about that, the relationships we have with one another as followers of Jesus in the church feeds the reputation our church has in our city and that reputation can help or hurt the advancement of the Gospel in the lives of the people.

• How we treat one another, holding one another accountable in Godly relationships, has a direct affect or whether, as a church, we are able to reach our city or not. When we are known more for what we are for than what we are against, when we go to our city instead of always saying come to us, and when we begin to live out the Gospel that has changed us embracing accountable relationships with one another, that creates fertile soil for the Gospel to do its work.

• And that’s what we are beginning to see here at Stone Ridge. We continue to hear stories weekly of life change and how God is using you as followers of Jesus and members of this church to live out the Gospel of Jesus daily where you work and live. And God will continue to use us and He will continue to transform lives by the power of His Holy Spirit as we continue to be faithful and as we continue to hold one another accountable to the vision and the mission He has called us too.

Closing

• As I was preparing this message this week, I came across an interesting truth about the early church and I love this. It says, A few years after Acts was written, a man named Aristides commented on the reasons for the spread of Christianity. He wrote the following to the Roman Emperor Hadrian in AD 125 describing the reputation of the early church:

• “If one or other of them have bondmen and bondwomen or children, through love towards them they persuade them to become Christians, and when they have done so, they call them brethren without distinction. They do not worship strange gods, and they go their way in all modesty and cheer-fulness. Falsehood is not found among them; and they love one another, and from widows they do not turn away their esteem; and they deliver the orphan from him who treats him harshly. And he, who has, gives to him who has not, without boasting. And when they see a stranger, they take him into their homes and rejoice over him as a very brother; for they do not call them brethren after the flesh, but brethren after the Spirit and in God. And whenever one of their poor passes from the world, each one of them according to his ability gives heed to him and carefully sees to his burial. And if they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on account of the name of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to his necessity, and if it is possible to redeem him, they set him free. And if there is among them any that is poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food.” (The Apology of Aristides, XV)

• What an incredible description of God’s people! What an incredible reputation for the church to have in the surround culture! For the people of God to be distinctively different in society so that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not hindered but can fully do its work of transformation in the hearts and lives of people.

• May we at Stone Ridge prioritize community so that we actively engage in church life and display a distinct difference in our city pointing others ultimately to Jesus.